This was a fast update, wasn't it? Well, I hope you enjoy this particular chapter. It is all about Otto and Roderick. Roderick gets his plan into action and sees a vulnerable Otto!
Hmm, one thing I forgot to say in the last update, has something to do with the date. The date I updated before the last one was March 10. And when I originally started this fic, it was October 6. I know you all are wondering what the significance of those dates are. Well, for me, they are important dates. March 10 was the tenth birthday of my younger cousin - the one I gave Reggie's Secret Admirer to and the one that started me watching Rocket Power in general - and October 6 is my birthday. Yay, now you have some irrelevant info! lol
Now, as always, I do not own anything dealing with Rocket Power. Klasky-Csupo has that honor.
Chapter 22: Roderick's Wise Advice & Otto's Revelation
It was now the next morning, the day of the anxiously awaited surf competition. It took Sherry a while, but she did call Reggie the previous night and explained that she could drive them to Spray Beach with no problems at all. Reggie was glad of this. That meant she wouldn't have to rely on the bus. After the phone message, she sent an Instant Message to Sam who said he'd meet them at about 10:15.
She and Clio talked quite a bit that past night and didn't watch much television. When they got sleepy, they headed back up to Reggie's room. After Clio was fast asleep, Reggie ran to the bathroom to get into her bedclothes and such. She was just as wiped as Clio was.
After she brushed her teeth, she grabbed her sleeping bag. She offered the bed to Clio since she was the guest.
She stayed awake a good while before finally drifting off, but she thought she heard someone talking in the background. It sounded like both Ray and Otto, but she was never too sure since she nodded right off.
"This is going to be so much fun!" Clio exclaimed as she brushed her hair. "I can't wait to see how well your friends can surf, Reggie."
"Yeah, neither can I," the girl replied sullenly. "Um, Clio, would you like something quick for breakfast?"
"No thanks. I'll get something on the way if it's okay with Sherry. When'd she say she was getting here?"
"I told her to get here no later than 10:30."
'Bossy,' Clio thought as she brushed her hair for the hundredth time. "Well then, we better hurry up. It's 10:00 now."
Reggie left her room to head downstairs. She saw that the door to Otto's room was open, which clearly meant that he wasn't in it. She was almost hoping to bump into him, just to say, "Sorry you won't be surfing today," or, "What Healey did wasn't fair!"
She went into the kitchen to see that Otto had eaten and left. A bowl of cereal it seemed. She also saw a note left for her. It was from Ray telling her that he'll see her at Spray Beach later on that afternoon, and to probably avoid Otto since he was still a bit peeved. It also said that she and Clio could help themselves to whatever they wanted.
"Wow, everyone's gone."
There was a knock on the front door. Reggie rushed to it.
"Oh, hey Sam. You're early."
"Mornin' Reg. It's better to be early than late I always say." He walked in. "Ready to go?"
"Not yet. Clio's upstairs, and Sher isn't here yet."
"Before coming over, I saw Roderick sitting outside on the steps at Twist's place. and I talked to him for a while."
"Yeah, he was going to ride with Lars and Twister."
"That's the thing, though; Lars and Twister left a hours ago, according to Roderick."
"They ditched him!"
"No, Roderick just chose not to go with them and to leave later with Mr. and Mrs. Rodriguez."
"Oh, well if that's all, I guess it's okay. Even Lars couldn't be that cold and heartless by leaving him behind. He's like a whole different person when Roderick's around."
Sam laughed. "Yeah, I noticed. He actually seems human."
They heard a horn honk. Reggie opened the front door. "Hey, it's Sherry and she's early!"
"Whoa, she's driving her brother's jeep!"
They saw Sherry waving to them. "Hey girlfriend," she called to Reggie. "Kent let me borrow it!"
Right at that moment, Clio made her way downstairs, her hair finally to her satisfaction, as well as her outfit. A spaghetti-strapped pink shirt and a pair of short, white shorts along with a pair of white sandals. Reggie was wearing sneakers, a white, plain t-shirt, and a pair of blue jeans, and, as always, she had her shades propped on the top of her head to keep her hair from falling into her face.
"Come on, let's make dust!" Sherry called.
"Wow, that jeep looks...sweet!" Clio exclaimed while exiting the house with Sam.
"This is going to be awesome!" Reggie smiled.
Reggie picked up her pen and writing pad, which was right by the door, and locked up. She then hopped into the back seat with Sam. Clio took the front passenger side.
"Hey, is that Roderick?" Sherry asked, spotting the small boy by the Rodriguez house.
"Yeah, but he said he was going to come later along with Twister's parents," Sam explained.
"Hey Roderick! Aloha!" Clio called while waving.
He waved back and smiled weakly to them.
"We'll see you at Spray Beach, bro," Reggie said, also waving. "Are you sure you don't want to ride with us? We have some room in the back here."
"No, that's okay!" Roderick shouted back. "I already promised Aunt Sandy and Uncle Raoul that I'd ride with them. I'll see you guys there!"
With that, Sherry put the vehicle into gear, the music blasting out of the cd player, and pulled out of the cul-de-sac, making their way towards Spray Beach while she explained to the three teens how she had managed to get the jeep for the day.
As soon as they were out of sight, Roderick put on his helmet and pads, and made his way over to the Rocket place, the garage to be exact. Roderick had awakened way before Lars and Twister, so while trying to find something to do at such an early hour he mindlessly looked out of Twister's bedroom window while pacing around. What he saw was a certain thick-haired boy making his way to the garage. He opened the door, and closed it up right behind him.
If the boy's theory was correct, Otto was avoiding everyone and was going to come out after he knew everyone had left for Spray Beach. He was going to be right there, waiting for him.
Roderick had his skateboard under his right arm, just in case Otto tried to skate off. At least he'd be able to catch him that way. About five minutes after he'd arrived, the garage door slowly opened.
Otto was planning on skating their quarter-pipe, to help relieve him of stress. When the door was completely open, he was shocked to see someone standing there.
"Whoa! Roderick?"
"Hey O-man!" the boy responded somewhat cheerily. "What's up!"
Otto frowned. He really didn't feel like being bothered at the moment, even if it was one of his biggest fans.
He walked past him and climbed up the pipe, his skateboard in-hand. He skated gracefully, Roderick watching in awe. Oh how he wished he could skateboard like Otto. He never seemed to mess up, even when doing the most difficult of tricks.
"Otto, can I skate with you?"
"I guess," he muttered.
"Ooo, can you show me some tricks? I've been practicing, and I have a new board too!" He held it up for Otto to see.
Otto glanced at the boy as he stopped at the top. "A Variflex, nice."
Roderick climbed up onto the half-pipe and started to skate it alongside Otto who had started up again. Even though Otto would've preferred to be alone, he couldn't help but show off for Roderick, and give him some pointers while at it.
"Hey, wanna head over to Madtown or something?" Otto offered in a semi-friendly fashion.
"¡Sí, vale, O-man!" [Yeah, sure, O-man!]
Roderick gave him a thumbs-up and nodded. Otto figured that he meant, "Yes."
"But, first, can we talk for a little bit?"
Otto didn't say anything as he climbed back up onto the wooden ramp. Roderick stood on the ground and stared up at him. He knew that Raoul and Sandy would be leaving soon and he didn't want to be noticed when they drove by. He had done something a bit dishonest. He had lied to the entire Rodriguez family. He told Lars and Twister that he was going to ride with Raoul and Sandy, and he told them that he was leaving with Lars and Twister.
Just as he had predicted, Raoul and Sandy were making their way to their car. Both were speaking to one another about what had happened, and how they felt bad for Otto, but were also glad that Lars was in the contest and how he'd finally gone a whole year without doing something that would get him into a lot of trouble. Raoul even mentioned something about how Lars was finally growing up and how letting him get his own car helped aid to that.
Of course this was all said in Spanish, and Rod could only catch a bit of what they were saying due to the distance. Otto wasn't paying attention and was concentrating more on his skate tricks.
A short while later, Otto and Roderick heard the loud voice of a certain, balding neighbor with a bad comb-over. It was Merv Stimpleton and he was arguing with his wife, Violet, about how watching a surf competition was a waste of his time, and how he had more important things to do than "watching a bunch of hooligans making fools of themselves in the water".
"Oh Merv," the two heard Mrs. Stimpleton say while putting on her sunglasses, "the beach'll do you some good. And after the competition, there's going to be a celebration at the Shore Shack."
"That food is too dangerous to eat!" Merv complained. "Who knows what goes on in that beach-infested wasteland!"
"Oh quit all that now," Violet told him as she dragged him to the passenger side of the car, opening the door. "Now you behave, Merv, while we're there and you know the food at the Shack is y-u-m-m-y!" She giggled giddly.
He grumbled as Mrs. Stimpleton pushed him into the car. She then hopped behind the wheel and drove out of the cul-de-sac. About five minutes later, Mrs. Dullard - wearing a shawl - hopped into her car and drove out of the cul-de-sac. She too wanted to see the surf competition, even if she wasn't in perfect health, currently, but her cold was definitely better than what it was thanks to the tea Tito had given her.
After Paula had driven off, Roderick climbed back up onto the quarter-pipe with Otto. He took a seat. Being seated really made Otto look as if he was getting more air.
"So, um, can we talk now Otto?"
"No one's stopping you," he said as he skated back down the pipe.
"Well, um, I'm sorry you got kicked out of the contest," the boy blurted out.
Otto seemed to stop in mid-air after hearing him say that. His concentration broken, he ended up losing his grip on the board, and sliding down the smooth-surfaced structure, his skateboard rolling a slight ways away from him. Roderick hurried down to him and helped Otto up.
"Otto! ¡¿Estás bien?! [Are you okay/all right?!]" the boy asked in concern. "That was one major fall!"
"Why'd you have to bring that up!" Otto snapped at the younger boy.
"I-I'm sorry Otto. I didn't mean to get you mad."
"Stupid Healey, stupid Raymundo, idiot Josh for buggin' the Squid, messing me up...ruining my dreams..."
Roderick noticed that Otto was now staring blankly out into space, just muttering away. He didn't want to interrupt the older boy and let him continue to talk.
One thing caught Roderick off guard, though. He had mentioned-his mother. Without his realizing it, Otto seemed to choke up a bit, and had said, "I let you down, mom."
"¿Tu madre?" [Your mother?]
Otto broke out of his trance and looked down to see Roderick standing there. "You said something about your mother?" he asked curiously, an intriguing look in his big, brown eyes.
"I didn't say anything." Otto turned away from Roderick. At this point, he really felt like crying.
"Yes you did. You said something about your mother. This competition was for your mother?"
"You don't know what you're talking about!" Otto shouted loudly, his back still to Roderick. The boy quieted down, and lowered his head, his emotions finally getting the better of him. He was silently shedding tears, and his voice was a bit stifled when he spoke. "I never even got the chance to say goodbye to her, or to make her proud of me. As the years are going by, the few memories I have of her are starting to fade…"
At this point, Roderick realized that Otto was literally crying. Mr. Tough guy of Ocean Shores, California was crying. He turned to face him, and even though the dark lenses in his glasses covered it up pretty decently, it was still easy to see that Otto was now crying.
"Roderick, you don't know what it's like," Otto managed to say quietly. "Losing someone to a bad disease."
"Um, what did your mother die from?"
"Can...cer..." he said slowly. He felt stupid. He had totally forgotten that Roderick had had cancer.
"Cancer is no fun, I can tell you that much, O-man," Roderick told him gently.
"They didn't find out what it was until after she died…they found more cancer cells in her body that went undiagnosed," he murmured. "You lived, why didn't my mom? She was nice and we loved her, so why did she have to die..."
"It was just her time to go. When I was sick years ago, I wondered the same thing, why I was living and why I was suffering, and then I realized it wasn't my time to go yet. Neither my time here on this earth nor my purpose had been served yet. I, apparently, have something more to do with my life here before I do go."
"But...I miss her. She left." He sniffled a bit to hold back more tears. "It-it's the sun. The sun's irritating my eyes."
Roderick humored the older boy on that. "I'm sure your mother is in a much better place, Otto, and she's probably always looking over you." Otto just stood there, not saying a thing as he stared at the younger boy. He wondered how he could sound so optimistic.
"Oh, so she knows of how much of a loser I am since I can't surf in this one competition that could maybe launch me a career," he answered sarcastically.
"I think your mother would be happier to see that you're living out a healthy life than whether or not you surf in a competition, Otto. Your mother would love you no matter what you do, just like your father does."
Otto hmmphed and crossed his arms stubbornly. "Yeah right! If Raymundo loved me, he would've let me surf today!"
"I didn't hear everything earlier," he scratched his head, "but why wouldn't he let you surf?"
"Because of that stupid kook, Healey. He had to punish me in some way for whomping Josh, and he could either suspend me from school for the rest of the school year, or either keep me out of the competition today, so Raymundo chose for me to skip the competition."
"But, you would fail school if he would've chosen suspension!"
"So what! Who cares if I would've flunked-" Otto stopped shortly as something came to mind...
~*~*~*~
"I'm glad you're here, Otto. I really miss you and your sister." She took in a deep breath and stared up at the ceiling. "Well, I just want to let you know that I'm glad that you made it to the first grade."
"Me too!"
"Otto, I want you to promise me that no matter what, that you'll always do your very best."
"Do the best?"
She nodded. "Yes. You're very good at what you do, like your sports; I notice you're very good on that skateboard and those skates of yours, and I want you to do great with it, but don't let it mess up your school work."
Otto nodded. "Maurice….er…Twister's brother was talking about pro skaters and how he's going to be a pro skater by the time he's ten!"
Olivia laughed. "Don't count on that. He'd have to be a bit older before doing that, at least a teenager before concentrating on going pro anything. At least 15 or 16, but he still shouldn't let it interfere with his schoolwork, and that shouldn't be the only thing he concerns himself with. School should always come first!"
"Schoolwork," he murmured. "School."
"Huh?"
"School. Mom always told me and Reg to do our best in school, and one of the last things she told me before she died was to try my best in anything that I'll do, but to never let it mess with my schoolwork. Mom was always into that."
"Seems like Uncle Ray made the right decision, then."
"I-I guess so." Otto felt a bit embarrassed and selfish. How could he have said the things he had to Ray? How could he let his anger get in the way of logic?
"You didn't let your mom down, Otto-man! Instead, I'm sure she's really proud of you for coming as far as you have. You stood up to a bully for a friend and you have extra time to do the best you can before school lets out for summer. Even though you missed this competition, there'll always be a chance of another statewide one. Statewide competitions are yearly anyway. Just practice up for the next one and blow the competition away!"
Otto sighed. "I've been a complete jerk to everyone lately, Rod. I've been so intent on being the best surfer this state has ever seen that I turned on my family, my friends. I even got annoyed with Reggie. None of us are on speaking terms because of me being such a punk."
"I've been like that a couple of times, O-man. My karate tournaments. Last year, I was so determined on winning by any means necessary; I became cranky towards everyone, and didn't want anyone to stand in my way when training for it. Even Arturo stayed away from me since I was so preoccupied with being the best since I had never lost a tournament!"
"What happened?"
"I lost my first round," he replied with a small smile.
"Dude, you lost! How can you smile over something like that?"
"It was a good thing that I did. See, I felt like I was indestructible and unbeatable that year; that I was the best in the world, and that no one could tell me otherwise since I had won so many tournaments. I learned that day that there's no such thing as the best anything and remembered that practicing martial arts is about self-respect, honor, and becoming one with your inner self and in-tune with your body. During that time, I hadn't shown that at all, nor did I practice it since my main focus was on being the best and beating everyone. I probably would have won it if I'd approached the tournament in the way that I should have."
"I don't think I get that."
"That's okay, just remember Otto that there is no such thing as the best anything. You can have things like personal bests. You're the best at what you, yourself, do, but not in the entire world, and I think that's what your mother meant. To do the best that you can, not to go overboard with it."
"I guess I get that, but it still hurts that she's gone, Rod. I think about her everyday."
Roderick smiled and nodded in approval. "That's really good."
"What is?"
"That you still think of your mother, and that you carry her around with you everywhere you go."
"What?" He put his hand down his shirt, and pulled out a golden object, which was hanging around his neck. "You mean this? I always keep this with me, 'cept for when I'm surfing. I sometimes keep it when I'm shredding up Madtown. I just make sure nothing happens to it."
Roderick's eyes went wide as the sun reflected off of the metal object, creating a nice, golden beam of light. "Whoa, what's that?!"
"Raymundo gave it to me a few years ago. It belonged to my mother. She found it when scuba diving one time. It's a pendant with a golden, Spanish doubloon."
"Wow, Otto! That's cool and even better!" the boy exclaimed as he got a bit closer to Otto to look at the shiny, golden object. "You carry her memory around with you in that pendant, and her spirit in your heart. I'm sure she's very proud of you since you think of her so much and so often. You are motivated to strive through your mother's words."
Otto slipped the pendant back under his shirt. He usually never let anyone see it, in fear of losing or misplacing it. He knew that if he took it out and showed it off to others that they would want to hold it or something. He'd give up his skateboard and even his custom-made surfboard before sharing his pendant with anyone, and that included Reggie.
"Otto, could we go to Spray Beach to watch the surf competition?"
"What for? I'm not in it."
"I-I know," the boy answered timidly, "but you should show that you're not really mad at Uncle Ray anymore and to also show that you're a good sport and-and that you understand why those decisions were made."
Otto thought this over for a moment. He really didn't want to go, but what the boy said did make sense. He had been a bad sport lately, and he really did need to apologize to Reggie for being such a jerk lately and to Ray for his outburst.
"I don't know, Roderick. What if they don't want me there?"
"Of course they would," Roderick insisted, "and I'm sure Cuz Clio would like to talk with you, O-man! She hasn't even seen you yet."
Otto's eyes lit up suddenly. "Clio's here?"
"Yeah. She was looking forward to seeing you in the competition," he explained. "You didn't see her yesterday at the Shack?"
"She was at the Shack?"
"We all were and Reggie's friend Sherry was there too."
"You guys heard me yelling at Raymundo yesterday? You all were there?"
Rod nodded.
'Damnit! Ugh, I don't even want to know what Clio thought of me after that!' Otto inwardly groaned. "I guess we can go. We can catch the bus to Spray Beach."
"Alright! Let's go! Spray Beach, here we come!"
"Yeah," Otto feebly nodded. "Are you up to skateboarding up to the Pier?"
Roderick dropped his board to the ground, made sure his helmet was tied on tight, and gave Otto a thumbs-up. "You bet I am, bro!"
"Let's get Otto-matic! Let's go!"
"Last one to the Pier is a lame-o!" Roderick teased as he skated fast.
Otto let Roderick skate ahead, hoping that the boy knew what he was doing. He too knew of his condition. Sure he was a bit more energetic than say a few years ago when the cancer was at its worst, but he still wasn't 100% cured.
While skating, Otto was thinking over Rod's words. For a kid, he sure did know a lot. All these years, trying to be the best skater and surfer in all of California and then this one competition he had promised to win because of his mother seemed almost pointless since the one main thing his mother was always concerned about was learning. He had missed that one important aspect. School is important. His mother tried to drill that into his head before she died and he had totally disavowed any knowledge of it. If Ray had let him surf, then that would've probably let his mother down and it would've been irresponsible as well if he had.
'I finally understand,' the boy thought while nodding slowly, as he and Rod made their way towards the Pier...