Andy McNab - DropZone

Johnny walked over, still filming. ‘As I said, life’s too short not to,’ he said, a huge smile on his face.

Remembering that moment high above the earth, the sensation of falling from the plane, Ethan could think of only one thing to say.

He swung round to face Sam. ‘When can I do it again?’

Sam and Johnny looked at each other and grinned.

Ethan was sitting on the sofa with his mum and Jo, watching the DVD of his jump. It was a couple of hours since he’d done the tandem with Sam, but he was still buzzing. And Jo hadn’t stopped laughing.

‘Check out your face!’ she said. ‘You look hysterical!’ On the screen Ethan’s face was being buffeted by the wind, his cheeks rippling.

‘I was doing a hundred and twenty miles an hour,’ he told her. ‘It’s pretty difficult to keep a straight face!’

‘I can’t believe that’s you,’ said his mum. She was sitting on the edge of the sofa, her hands clasped together. ‘Weren’t you scared?’

‘Not really,’ said Ethan, and he wasn’t lying. ‘You don’t have time to be scared. Sam just gets on with it, takes you through the training, and before you know it you’re at the door of the plane! Then you’re out. It’s such a rush!’

‘No way am I ever doing that,’ said Jo, watching as Sam pulled the ripcord and the main canopy exploded behind them. ‘It’s insane.’

‘It’s amazing,’ said Ethan. ‘Best thing I’ve ever done.’

The screen flicked to Ethan and Sam coming in to land.

‘Sam looks very forbidding,’ said his mum. ‘Does he ever smile?’

Ethan laughed. ‘He’s terrifying, but great.’

As though in response to Ethan’s mother’s question, Sam looked at the camera and smiled. Ethan didn’t think he’d ever forget that moment. To have people like Sam and Johnny proud of what he’d done… It felt great!

The DVD finished and Ethan asked, ‘Want to watch it again?’

His mum and Jo nodded and he pressed PLAY.

The screen showed Ethan in the plane, strapped to Sam. But as they watched the footage again, the flat shook to the sound of the front door slamming shut. Dad was home.

Ethan saw his mum’s eyes close, her head fall forward a little. He moved to stop the DVD before his dad came into the lounge, but he was too late.

‘What’s this then? Playing happy families, are we?’

Ethan turned. His dad was leaning against the doorframe, finishing off a can of lager. For a moment no one said a word. The only sound came from Ethan’s tandem skydive on the TV.

‘That your new boyfriend?’ His dad was pointing at the TV with the can in his hand. ‘Bit old for you, isn’t he?’

Ethan said nothing. He wasn’t going to let his dad ruin this. No way. So he went over to the TV, ejected the DVD and put it back in its case.

‘I hope I haven’t spoiled anything,’ said his dad. ‘Put it on, son. I want to see it.’

‘It’s finished,’ said Ethan.

As he made to leave the room, his mum reached up and touched his hand. ‘I’m really proud of you.’

Ethan smiled. ‘Thanks, Mum,’ he said, and headed for the door.

But his dad was blocking the doorway. ‘Where are you going, son? Come on, let me watch it. Make me proud,’ he said sarcastically.

‘Get out of my way,’ said Ethan, and heard his mum and Jo coming up behind him.

‘Ethan,’ said his mum. ‘Don’t…’

He stared at his dad. For a moment no one moved, then his dad stepped to one side, a fake smile slapped across his fat face. ‘After you,’ he said.

Ethan edged his way past, but as he did so, his dad snatched the DVD from his hand.

He snapped round. ‘Give that back.’

His dad looked at the DVD, then waved it in front of Ethan’s face. ‘I just want to watch it, son, that’s all.’

‘Don’t call me that. Don’t call me son,’ said Ethan. He lunged for the DVD, and missed.

His dad laughed, then held the DVD out. ‘Go on, then,’ he said. ‘Take it.’

Ethan reached for the DVD and his dad threw it down the hall. It clattered into the front door.

Ethan turned in fury. ‘You bastard…’

But his mum immediately stepped between them, pushing Ethan away. ‘Don’t,’ she said. ‘Please, Ethan, don’t let him spoil it.’

‘Yeah, listen to Mummy,’ said his dad, and laughed.

Ethan moved towards his father, but his mum resisted and he thought better of it. Instead, he went to pick up the DVD. It seemed fine. He turned round to see his dad still sneering at him, but his mum was smiling. And so was Jo. And that was enough.

The day after the tandem jump Ethan was helping out in the shop at FreeFall. The buzz was still ripping through him.

Johnny had come in to buy a magazine; he was staring across the counter at Ethan.

‘What?’ said Ethan.

‘Think you’ve got it bad, mate,’ said Johnny.

‘Got what?’

‘The addiction. Some people jump once and that’s enough for them – been there, done that, got the T-shirt. But others – you, for example…’

‘What about me?’

‘You want up again, don’t you?’

Ethan nodded.

‘Can’t think of anything else, can you?’

Ethan shook his head.

‘Like I said,’ Johnny sighed. ‘You’re addicted, Eth.’ And with that, he turned to leave.

Ethan called him back as some of the other regular skydivers came to look around the shop.

‘I’ve been thinking,’ he said. ‘What do I do next – you know – if I want to get into this? At least if I know what it’ll cost, I’ll have something to aim for.’

‘The AFF,’ said Johnny. ‘Accelerated Freefall. It’s the course we all did: Kat, Natalya, Luke. Even Jake.’

‘Sounds cool,’ said Ethan.

‘Oh, it’s cool all right,’ said Johnny. ‘Zero to hero in a week.’

‘A week? No way.’

‘That’s why it’s called accelerated,’ said Johnny. ‘If the weather’s good, in one week you’re jumping solo. There’s lots of one-on-one tuition. It’s pretty intense. Loads to learn. No time to think. Hell of a rush.’

Ethan remembered hearing a few people talking about the AFF, but he’d never taken a booking for it. ‘Why don’t more people do it?’

‘Because it costs about fifteen hundred quid,’ said Johnny. ‘And that’s a lot of cash.’

Ethan ran the figure around in his mind. It didn’t get any smaller. ‘Bollocks,’ he said.

‘Steep, isn’t it?’ said Johnny. ‘Got anything tucked away?’

Ethan shook his head. ‘You’ve seen where we live. We all chip in together. We’re not exactly poor, but no way have we got that amount of cash just sitting in the bank…’

‘What about the job?’ asked Johnny. ‘Could you save up?’

Ethan shook his head. ‘It’s a great job, but I’m hardly raking it in.’ He attempted a smile. ‘Hey, at least I managed to bag a free tandem. I mean, how many people can say that, eh? And a couple of weeks ago I’d never have thought I’d be able to do something like that.’

‘There’s nothing stopping you doing another tandem,’ said Johnny. ‘Or you could do a static line jump.’

‘I guess,’ said Ethan. He knew about static line jumps, but he wasn’t really interested. Jumping from a plane and having the canopy open automatically just didn’t seem to have the same buzz about it as skydiving. And you didn’t get the freefall rush either. It was just a jump from the plane and then a glide down. That was it.

Ethan tried not to think about how much he wanted to do the AFF – and how much he couldn’t afford it. He smiled at Johnny. ‘Anyway, thanks for the DVD. Couldn’t stop watching it last night. The soundtrack sucked though.’

‘We use the same one for all the DVDs,’ said Johnny. ‘Even the training one. Can’t beat a nice bit of eighties metal!’