The New Experience

Chapter 5

I woke up and looked at my clock. It was 9:45. Time to get the day started.

I rolled out of bed, stretched, got my towel, and cloth to take my morning shower. Not sure if it would be long or short this morning. I guess I'll shower until I feel like getting out.

After the shower I threw on a shirt, shorts and some Nikes. I went downstairs and started watching Sportscenter like always.

A half hour, later my dad came down the stairs. A couple minutes later my mom came down. They both walked by into the kitchen without saying a word. That was exactly what I wanted. I did not want to talk to them. I guess they felt the same way.

After they made their breakfast and went back upstairs, it was my turn to make mine. I went to the kitchen and looked around. I ended up making an egg sandwich with a pop tart and orange juice. That is a pretty good breakfast. It would have been better if it included sausages, but my parents ate them. I did not feel like making more either.

After breakfast it was more T.V. By the time I finished the show (which was Iron Man animated series) it was already 12pm. I wonder what my parents were doing. They were probably watching T.V too. Or they were preparing for later. Either way I did not care. It was about that time for me to leave anyway.

I went back upstairs to grab my wallet. I remembered that I had ten dollars saved up over a month ago that I left under some books in my drawer. I might go to the store and get lunch with it. Then again, I could always go to Dashaun's house and raid his fridge. I'll take the money just in case he is not there.

I decided to bring my bike too. It was another day with great weather. A nice ride today would be good. I got my bike out of my closet and put my bag of water on my back. Before I left I waited a second. I wanted to see if my parents were going to stop me. They did not say anything. The house was actually quiet. Probably my mom and dad went to sleep again. I did not have time to think about it. The day was getting late. It was time to leave. When I return the house would be different.

I loved my bike. It was a 20", 25 speed BMX bike. I watched the X Games and action sports. I had a dream of being the best African American skateboarder ever. Skateboarding did not really go as planned. I was nowhere near any snow to do snowboarding for the winter X Games. BMX bike riding was the next best thing. I was able to learn a couple tricks too. That was possible because there is a skate park in town (free admission).

That was where I was headed now. I was going to go for a ride, but I decided to go to the skate park instead. I had a move that I wanted to continue working on. On the way I passed Dashaun's house. I wondered if I should stop there and see if he wanted to chill. I decided not to do it right now. I did not feel like the discussion that I knew he was going to start. I rode by his house.

It took a good hour to get to the skate park. I was sweating a good bit. It did not matter because that was how I warmed up. When I get to the skate park I couldn't usually get right into it because this part of town was... not urban I guess you can say. Surprisingly, the park was not crowded. It usually was at this time. There were only ten people at vert and no one else on the other six sections of the park. That was good for me. I did not need fifty people watching me crash and burn. I looked at the clock on my phone. It was 1:15. It was time to get started. I wanted to be done by the time other people came to the course. I took my knee pads out of my bag and went to the mini half pipe. I drank a bit of my water and got started.

I knew how to do a 360. I also knew how to do a 540 and grind. The trick I've been working on is the tail whip. Seeing it on T.V made it seem easy, but that is with everything on T.V. It was really difficult. Took me two weeks just to work up the courage to dispatch from the bike. It took another two weeks to do the actual whip. The problem now was getting back on the bike and completing the trick.