Skateboarding

A big thank you to Mads Song and PP for sharing their experience and giving me insights into skateboarding.

The story is inspired by a trip to Eindhoven, where there were really scateboarders at Stadhuisplein. 

Fin was relaxing at Stadhuisplein in Eindhoven, watching teenage skateboarders. They were a group of boys. A little girl with red blond hair was trailing behind. She tried to emulate the older kids, but wasn’t capable of pulling off the tricks the older kids managed to do. Fin, who hadn’t been skateboarding for years, knew what was wrong.

The older boys were poking fun of the girl and trying to get rid of her. Seeing she wasn’t wanted, the girl watched with drooping shoulders and barely kept from crying. The boys ignored her.

Thinking he should keep out of it, Fin realized he couldn’t. He approached the girl. Fin guessed she was about eight. “You need more speed.” He explained in English, hoping she understood him. “I’m scared.” “True, you can have bad falls. I had my fair share of bloody knees, scraped elbows and hands. If you wear protective gear the injuries can be minimized, though.” “Guy broke his wrist.” “That can happen.” The girl suddenly remembered she shouldn’t be talking to strangers and fled. Fin shrugged.

He was busy the next days and didn’t return for a while.

When Fin returned, the girl was there again and was now fully kitted out with a helmet, wrist guards and elbow and knee pads. Even so she was now better protected, she was still scared. Fin thought about his own children. If his daughter Casey would have been behaving that way, he would have gotten her out of her shell by tickling her ego. Casey was similar to him and if he had told her she wasn’t able to do it, she would have wanted to proof the opposite.

It wouldn’t have worked with his son Sol, who was self-assured and calm, doing only what he believed he could do or was right.

Explaining why speed was necessary and what technicalities the Bigspin trick involved was a better solution to nudge Sol in the right direction.

Fin tried to figure out how he would get over her fear.  He wondered if she could do the Ollie and the Shove-it. If she could do the latter she should have been able to learn how to perform the Bigspin. “Okay, so, you want to show the others how it’s done?”  The girl nodded vigorously. “Sure?” “Yes.” “What’s your name?” “Marigold van Waal.” “I’m Fin Noose.” “Are you American?” “Yes, absolutely right.” “Do you skateboard a lot?” “I did when I was younger. I was pretty good at it. So, Marigold, can you show me your Ollie?” The trick was normally used to jump onto, over or from obstacles or to avoid unfriendly terrain like stairs and grass. It involved popping, kicking and jumping on the skateboard at the same time, leaping into the air.

Marigold performed the trick perfectly. “Very good and now do the Shove-it.” The Shove-it demanded a 180 degree spin of the skateboard, to catch it at the right time and land on it. It proved more difficult for Marigold. “You need to spin faster and concentrate on catching the board. I’ll show you.” Marigold only noticed then that Fin wasn’t dressed for skateboarding. He was clad completely in black. The clothing looked expensive. Fin wore dress pants, a t-shirt and a formal jacket. Dress shoes completed the outfit.

Fin felt skateboarding was like riding a bike. Once you had learnt how to do it you didn’t forget it. He mastered the Shove-it at first try. While performing the trick, Fin explained what he was doing. Marigold watched closely and listened carefully. She realized she had to forget about her fear of getting injured and simply go on. It wasn’t that easy, though. Her next tries were bolder, but still not good enough. Marigold was about to give up, when Fin encouraged her to repeat the trick. “Better. Again.” Fin asked Marigold a few more times. Before she was going to be too exhausted, Fin gave Marigold a break. Marigold’s mother had given her a Kinder Bueno as a treat, so Fin and she shared it companionable. “What’s your favorite cake?” Marigold asked suddenly. “Oh, it’s depending on my mood, but I love any cake that involves chocolate. My wife makes a mean chocolate and dulce de leche cake. Sacher Torte is another favorite of mine beside coffee cake. My newest addition are cinnamon balls. They are so simple to make and so delicious. And yours?” “Boerencake met appel en kaneel.” Fin knew a few words in Dutch, so he could guess appel meant apple and kaneel was cinnamon. Marigold confirmed it. “Okay, ready for a few more tries?” Fin asked after Marigold seemed rested enough. “Yes, but can you show me again?” “Sure.” Fin repeated the Shove-it twice, then handed the skateboard back to Marigold. “Your turn.” Marigold got the hang of it and broke into a big smile, when she managed to do the Shove-it perfectly thrice in a row. “Well done! I would suggest you keep up the training and when we meet again I will show you how the Bigspin functions.” “Are you going away?” “No, I’m just going to be bogged down with work.”

Fin had completed his job within three weeks and thought it had been enough time for Marigold to improve.

He went to Stadhuisplein numerous times, but there was no sign of Marigold. Once or twice he encountered Marigold’s brother Guy and his friends. Fin didn’t want to let them know he had helped Marigold, so he didn’t approach the youth.

Fin was a bit concerned what had happened to the little girl, so he followed Guy. He was relieved, when he found out she was at home and seemed okay. Fin continued to be at the usual meeting point. It paid off. After a few days Marigold was already showing off her skills, when he arrived. She had perfected the trick and was ready to move on to the Bigspin. Fin explained: “Okay, you have to ride with your front foot on the front bolts and your back foot on the toeside of the tail. You must shove the skateboard hard. The main force is your back foot. You have to jump in the same direction as the board. Spin it 360 degrees and you will have to rotate 180 degrees in the same direction. You catch the board in the air just before you complete your rotation and land.” “Uh, that sounds complicated…” “It’s not as difficult as you believe. Lots of training should get you there. I’ll show you.” Fin tried to do it as slow as possible, so that Marigold could follow. Marigold shook her head. “I couldn’t see it.” Fin repeated the trick. It still didn’t work. “Come back tomorrow. I’ll bring my video camera. You can film the trick and watch it in slow motion. I think that should work.” Marigold agreed. The next day Marigold filmed Fin perform the trick. They studied it carefully and Marigold began her first tries. One ended badly. Marigold fell awkwardly and split her lip in the process. It hurt a great deal. Fin expected Marigold to burst into tears. She felt she was not a little girl anymore and suppressed the need for bawling. The only outward signs were her watery eyes. Fin was concerned. “Let me see.” Fin suggested. “Are any teeth lose?” Marigold shook her head. “Good. You look like Dracula.” It made Marigold smile. “We better staunch the bleeding and clean your wound.” Fin was worried Marigold might had a concussion or the split needed stitches. He had clean tissues and gave them to the girl. She pressed one of them on the wound. It bled profoundly and the tissue was soaked through fast. Fin advised her to take a bigger wad. He knew from own experience a cut lip could bleed heavily. He was relieved when the bleeding stopped after a few minutes and more tissues. “Does anything else hurt?” Fin checked. “No. Ouch!” Using Marigold’s lips was painful. “I’ll bring you home now.” “No! I can’t come home looking like this!” Marigold protested. “Okay, let’s go to my hotel room and get you cleaned up. Then we’re taking a taxi to your house.” “Okay.” Fin was glad the Dutch had a less suspicious mind and didn’t think he was a pedophile, just because he was “hanging out” with Marigold.

Marigold was impressed by the hotel Fin was staying at. It was the former Philips light bulb factory and he was staying at the original Art Deco Building. The ceilings were very high and the overall feel of the floors and room industrial. Marigold completely forgot about her throbbing lip or the blood on her blue shirt when she saw the writing desk. In a previous life it had been a work bench. “Wow!” She exclaimed and couldn’t resist to touch it. The desk felt unusual and nothing like her father’s oak wood. “I’ll get some ice for you, while you clean the wound.” Fin directed her to the bathroom. The door was immensely high and heavy. “I’ll be back in a sec.” Fin was a bit impatient when he returned and Marigold had been dawdling. She was inspecting the mini bar closely. She jumped guiltily, when she saw Fin’s stormy look. “Sorry. I just… I’m scared of washing out the wound.” “It will hurt a bit, but it’s for your own good.” Marigold still made no signs to go to the bathroom. Fin sighed, thought for a moment and told her about his own children and how they dealt with something unpleasant or painful. His son was slightly younger than Marigold and Casey a bit older. “Sol always dreads to get any wound cleaned. He wants to hold on to his favorite soft toy dragon, called Grisu, and then I have to tell him the story about the blood cells fighting germs.” “Does he cry?” “Sometimes. It depends how bad it hurts.” “And you let him?” “Of course I do.” “He’s a boy he shouldn’t.” “Says who?” Fin asked mildly. “My Mama and Papa.” “Hm, well, I sometimes cry too, and I’m a man.” “My Papa never cries.” Fin didn’t want to get into a discussion about what men and boys should or shouldn’t do. “Can we agree we don’t agree on the subject?” “Okay.” Marigold wasn’t interested in an argument. “Casey on the other side is very brave and wants to get it behind her immediately, even if it’s painful.” “I think Casey has the right attitude.” “Okay, let’s clean the wound then.” Fin was careful, so it wasn’t too bad.  Afterwards Marigold rested, using the ice cubes wrapped in a towel to cool the injury and reduce the swelling, on Fin’s king sized bed and watched the Disney Channel while he took care of her shirt.

The stain didn’t vanish completely. Fin hoped Marigold’s parents had a stain remover and a few more washes would get rid of the spot. He dried the shirt with his hairdryer and it was as good as new.

“Ready to face your parents?” “Yes.”

The taxi ride was short. Marigold lived at the De Bergen neighborhood of Eindhoven, not far from a riding school.

Mrs. van Waal was shocked what had happened to her daughter. She was grateful to Fin. Marigold and he had decided to leave out he had been teaching her. “Can I offer you something to drink? Maybe a coffee?” “No, thank you. I have a few things to do…” Fin said good bye and took the taxi back to his hotel.

Mrs. van Waal was concerned and discouraged Marigold from skateboarding. Marigold was a bit shaken and not sure if she wanted to keep it up in the first place. Interesting enough was supportive and told her it was like riding a horse. “You have to get back in the saddle, when you have fallen off.” Mr. van Waal said: “It’s your decision, but if you really like it you should keep doing it and improving. I guess one of the tricks did fail, didn’t it?” Marigold confirmed. Feeling encouraged she returned to Stadhuisplein and with the help of her brother perfected the Bigspin. They got closer in the process. Fin watched from afar. He was glad the siblings were closer and shared a passion. His job done he returned to his own family.

©2016