Trent Reedy - Stealing Air

“I’ve seen some of those boys at the skate park.” Grandpa flicked ash out the window. “I don’t understand how they can go so fast on those things.”

Max grinned behind his ice-cream cone, and Brian nodded at him. Grandpa had no idea just how fast a skateboard could go.

Finally, Grandpa pulled the truck into the gravel driveway back at his farm. He reached over and crushed his cigar out in the ashtray. “You boys have fun and take a look around. I’ve got to check on some things in the house.”

Then it was just the three of them, standing out in the driveway, licking their ice-cream cones with the sun low in the west. Nobody said anything at first, and Brian made sure Grandpa had gone inside. “Thanks,” he said to Alex.

Alex frowned over the top of his ice-cream cone. “For what?”

“For not telling my grandpa about Frankie, and for not being mad about me taking your money at the skate park.”

“Your grandfather’s totally cool,” said Alex. “He pays really well for the garden work, mowing, and other jobs I do around here. And as for the money you won…” He laughed. “If Frankie hadn’t ruined all the action, I would have probably made my ten bucks back on the commission.”

“Your commission?” Brian asked.

Alex glanced at the door to the house, like he too wanted to make sure Grandpa was really gone. “I arrange and keep track of all the bets in our class. Then I take a five percent cut of all the winnings.” He started toward the barn, motioning for Brian and Max to follow. “Five percent may not sound like much, but it adds up. Basically —” He took a huge bite out of his crunchy cone and spoke with his mouth full. “I never lose.”

Brian followed Alex into the barn. A couple horses shifted in a stall in the back. The stinging, salty smell of manure burned his nose and eyes as Alex led him to a wooden ladder in the middle of the building.

Brian stopped when he noticed Max had fallen so far behind. “Max, you coming?” he called.

Alex started up the ladder. “Yeah, Mad Max, hurry up.”

Max sighed and joined them. Brian watched them both. Something in Alex’s voice and Max’s slowness and silence was sounding alarm bells in his mind.

“Come on,” Alex called down from up in the hayloft. “You’ll love this.”

Brian and Max joined him. Giant bales of hay were neatly piled to form a mountain all the way up to a big opening in the front wall near the roof. Bits of dust swirled in the beam of light. Max sneezed. Alex took hold of the end of a rope that hung from the rafters and climbed up near the top of the haystack. Brian backed off to the side to get out of the way.

Gripping the rope in both hands, Alex took a running leap off the hay, swinging a dozen feet above the floor of the loft. He kicked his legs at the farthest reach of his swing, then swooped back to land on the haystack. “Dude! You have to try this.”

It did look fun. Brian climbed the hay, took the rope, and stared at the big empty space down in front of him.

“Scared?” Alex asked Brian.

“Nope,” Brian answered. This seemed just like pulling off a skating trick. If he took too long, he’d end up skater spooked. He ran back a few paces, then sprinted forward and pushed off as hard as he could. Out into the air, swooping like he was falling, down toward the wood floor, then up and away toward the other side of the barn. The horses whinnied in their stalls far below, but he flew over them, untouchable. At the far end of the swing he seemed to hang there, weightless and floating, before gliding back through the air to land on the hay. “Awesome!”

“Good swing,” Alex said.

“Want to try it, Max?” Brian said.

Max shook his head. He was standing off to the side with his arms folded over his chest. He looked angry or sad or something.

Brian frowned. “Come on, Max, it’s like flying. Or as close to flying as I’ve been since my dad sold his plane.” He looked up to the dusty rafters. “I just wish the barn roof was a lot higher. We could get an even bigger swing.”

“I appreciate the offer,” said Max. “However, I’m okay just watching.”

Alex rolled his eyes. “Whatever, Mad Max.”

Max let out a long breath. He took off his glasses and rubbed his eyes. “Do you miss flying, Brian?”

Was he serious? Brian launched another swing, kicking his legs at the far end before sailing back to the hay bales. “I miss it more than anything. There’s nothing better than—”

“If you want to fly, let me show you something.” Max went down the ladder before Brian or Alex could ask another question.

Brian shrugged and started to go after him. He stopped halfway down the ladder when he noticed Alex hadn’t moved. “You coming?”

Alex shrugged too and made for the ladder. “I guess so.”

Max waited for them at the bottom.

“Where are we going?” Alex said.

Max led them out of the barn, then down to a large shed by the barbed-wire fence on the west edge of the property. He peeked around the far corner to the house, checking to make sure Brian’s grandpa wasn’t watching, then turned back. “I want to show you what I have inside this building.”

Alex let out a loud sigh. “Nobody has been in this old shed for years, Max. The padlock on the doors is all rusted. We’d have to cut the lock to get in.”

“I never said I entered through the door.”

“Oh, what? Did one of your dorky Star Trek books show you how to build a transporter?”

That was mean, but Max didn’t seem to notice. He pushed back a branch from a raspberry bush and lifted a piece of plywood to reveal a big hole dug out beside the wall. “We enter through here.”

Alex bent down to look closer. “What is that? Some kind of animal den?”

“No,” said Max. “I just go in through—”

“Oh, Mad Max,” Alex said, “you’re lucky that whatever dug that didn’t claw your face off.” He chuckled. “It could have been a badger, Max. A badger would have killed you.”

“It’s not a badger den,” Max said.

“It could be,” Alex said.

“Badgers aren’t even indigenous to this area. They mostly live in—”

“Who cares about badgers?” Brian said. “Who cares what dug the stupid thing? What’s inside?”

Max looked hurt. “Well, I dug it. It’s a tunnel. Follow me.” He crawled down into the hole. The last thing Brian could see were Max’s legs sticking out from under the wall, almost like the first dead witch in The Wizard of Oz .

“This is stupid. I’m going home,” said Alex.

“Don’t you want to see whatever it is he’s so excited about?”

Alex shook his head. “Listen, man. You’re new here. The rest of us have lived here forever. Max used to be okay when we were little kids, like playing with toys and building forts and stuff.” He picked up a small rock and threw it across the fence into the field. “But then he got all nerdy. He’s too smart for his own good. Nobody cool really hangs around him. He actually put on a Star Trek uniform and shaved his head to be Captain Kirk at Trekfest last June.”

Captain Kirk was never bald. “You mean Captain Picard?”

Alex raised an eyebrow. “Dude. Seriously.”

Brian turned away toward the tunnel. Stupid. Alex was clearly a cool guy, the sort of friend Brian needed if he wanted to make more friends in this place. Hopefully he’d forget what Brian had just said. He also hoped Max hadn’t heard any of it. He couldn’t just leave Max in there waiting. But if he went in alone, Alex might think Brian was just like Max.

“I’ll give your five bucks back if you go in there with me,” Brian said.

“What?” Alex asked. “Why?”

“I just… I don’t want to go in by myself.”