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

Punished Together

Frieda Noose was searching frantically for her children. They had vanished during a shopping trip. She was worried something had happened to Sol and Casey. Frieda found out to her dismay they had hidden from her, but watched her closely and had some fun. Frieda wasn't amused. In fact she was fuming and barely kept her temper in check. Frieda was glad she had herself under control. The temptation to smack her seven and a half year old daughter and four year old son was there. Instead Frieda grabbed her kids by the hand and left the store with them, walking briskly. She was silent until they reached their car. Frieda barked at her kids: "Get in!" By now Casey and Sol realized their mother was upset with them. When they were all sitting at the back and the doors were closed Frieda started her lecture. "Don't do that ever again! I was so scared you were lost! Casey, you are old enough to know hiding from me is wrong and that I would be worried. Involving your brother is even worse! I'm disappointed in both of you! I'm considering going home immediately..." "But Mommy, you promised us to go to the toy store!" Casey protested. "Didn't I say we would go there, when you are good?" Casey had heard it, but it had gone in one ear and out the other. Sol's eyes filled with tears. He had been looking forward to check out dinosaurs and Lego sets. Suddenly the prank didn't seem that funny and seeing how disappointed their mother was, Sol felt guilty. He climbed on Frieda's lap, snuggled close to her and said: "Sorry, Mommy. I didn't want to scare you. I will be good. I promise." Frieda didn't say a word for a moment. She was still very angry. "It's okay, honey. You made a mistake and hopefully you have learned from it." "Yes, Mommy." Sol replied meekly. They hugged. Frieda turned a gimlet eye to her daughter. "So, Casey, do you think you behaved in such a manner you have earned going to Toys'r'us?" Even if Casey had inherited Frieda's black hair, heart shaped face and brown eyes, she was very similar to Frieda's husband Fin, who could be own minded and stubborn on occasion. Casey didn't want to admit she had done something wrong. She stared at her mother with crossed arms and a scowl on her face. Frieda tried to stay calm. When Casey still didn't answer after a tense silence, Frieda said quiet: "Answer me, please. I'd like to have your opinion." There was a bit of a threat in Frieda's voice, so Casey thought it was better to admit she hadn't been that good behaved, before she made her mother even madder. Frieda could get very unpleasant if she felt she wasn't taken serious. Frieda took into consideration to go to the toy shop, but thought she had to reward and praise appropriate behaviour and to punish serious misdemeanors, so she had to go through with what she had said earlier. Sol burst into tears and Casey sulked. Frieda comforted Sol by saying: "I love you two very much, but you caused me great grief today. Just because we don't go today to see toys doesn't mean we are never going. If you are two little angels for the next few days, I'm sure we can maybe even Daddy convince to go on an outing with us." The promise worked like a treat for Sol. He stopped crying pretty soon, not so with Casey. She refused outright to return to the mall for grocery shopping. Frieda was okay with that. She left Casey with the babysitter service of the mall, which made her daughter not happier. Casey had planned to black mail Frieda, but it had back fired.
Sol wanted to come with Frieda. He liked helping his Mommy fetching and choosing groceries. He generally wasn't holding a long grudge and was easy going like his mother. He looked like a miniature copy of his father.
After the completion of their tasks Sol and Frieda picked up Casey. Frieda had regained her psychological balance again and her anger was gone.

At dinner Casey was still sullen. Knowing her daughter Frieda wasn't surprised. It took Casey a day or two to let go of events that upset her. Fin, who had managed to be home for the meal, but hadn't had time to catch up with Frieda, sensed the undercurrents and was wondering what had happened.
He and Frieda found a quiet moment. Fin wasn't amused about the prank. He understood his wife completely. Whenever the kids misbehaved and Frieda deemed it necessary to net out a punishment, he backed her up.
The kids knew playing out a parent against the other didn't work.
Fin brought the kids to bed and had a chat with Casey. Fin and Casey's thought processes worked similar, so he could easily walk in her shoes. He managed to explain to Casey why Frieda was disappointed and angry and made Casey understand her mother better. It helped keeping the sulking to a minimum and the next morning Casey was back to normal.

Frieda asked Fin after the kids were asleep if he and his brother Mike had ever been punished together. She knew she was walking on treacherous ground and might open old wounds. Fin thought about it for a moment. "Well, let's put it that way we might were in trouble at the same time and sometimes got a warning smack in front of each other, but that was it. In most cases Mike managed to wriggle out of the situation by claiming I was responsible and my parents believed him, so I was the one, who ended up with a sore bottom. I remember only one occasion, when we were both punished for the same thing at roughly the same time, but in separate rooms." "Why were you spanked?" Fin grinned. "Our neighbor, Mike and I were in disagreement. I was around nine and Mike eight. Mike and I loved at the time nothing more than playing soccer in our garden. A few of the shots went wild, and well, the ball ended up in the neighbor's garden. She was an old lady and very proud of her prize winning flowers, so she was very disturbed and annoyed about it. She always swore at us, talked to our parents about it, who told us off, and confiscated our ball, when it happened again. Mike and I were very angry about the mistreatment and swore to get revenge. I came up with the idea to climb over the wall and pee on Mrs. Tomczyk's terrace. Stupid - I know." Fin and Frieda giggled. "Mike agreed it was a brilliant idea, so when we both had to wee we sprang into action. As bad luck would have it Mrs. Tomczyk was at home and saw us. She was quite fast I can tell you." Fin smiled at the memory. "We didn't even have a chance to zip up our trousers, she had us grabbed by the ears and we were on our way home. Mom and Dad were outraged about our little prank. They scolded us right in front of Mrs. Tomczyk. Of course we had to apologize and Mrs. Tomczyk was promised we were going to be punished. I knew what it meant for me. I wasn't sure how our parents planned to deal with Mike, though. We were ordered to our rooms. Waiting was awful. I tried to figure out if I was going to allowed to keep on my underpants or if I would be caned on the bare and how many strokes I was going to get. It didn't take long until I heard Mom and Dad approaching. I shivered. Mom entered my room, cane in hand, without knocking. To my surprise she was alone. Normally - no matter who spanked me - both parents were present during my punishment. She told me off about my disgraceful behavior again. I listened with one ear, because I thought I had heard Mike cry out. I heard him again, this time louder, so I knew he was being spanked as well. It was a small comfort. My mother told me to lower my pants and to bend over my writing desk. I only realized then that I had opened my window earlier in the day and hadn't closed it yet. I didn't dare ask my mother to move again. She said: "You are going to get four strokes." I was dreading it and hated the three ft. long cane. It inflicted so much pain." Fin was silent for a moment. His blue grey eyes had changed color and were more blue than grey, a sign he was upset or angry. Fin continued. "Mom was merciless. She brought the cane down with a flick of her wrist, hard. As always for a few seconds I didn't feel anything and then there was the searing pain. Even so I knew what to expect, the stroke took me by surprise and knocked the air out of me. My mother waited until the fire in my behind was a bit subsiding, before she lined up the next lash. The pain from the second stroke merged with the first. It was unbearable and I cried out. My eyes filled with tears. I hoped I could hold them back a bit longer. It didn't work. I burst into tears, when the cane landed at the center of my buttocks. I nearly jumped up, because it hurt a great deal. Holding on for dear life, I waited and waited... Mom took her time. Finally she flicked the cane across my sit spots. I screamed at the top of my lungs and I cried now unrestrained. I was so concentrated on the fire in my behind, I didn't hear Mom telling me I could get up. She repeated herself a couple of times, before my body functioned more normally again. I wasn't happy about Mom's tries to comfort me. When she hugged me I tensed, so she gave up, frustrated. Mom had just hurt and humiliated me, so I thought she was two faced and not serious about consoling me. I was also upset, because I thought it was unfair Mike got away relatively easy. Okay, he got - I would guess - something between eight and sixteen smacks and they definitely hurt, but while his pain was gone by the evening, I was still smarting the next day and it was impossible for me to sit. Any signs of his spanking would have vanished within hours; my tramlines stayed for two weeks. Mike had the higher embarrassment factor, because he was spanked on the bare. Not that my underpants offered a lot of protection from the cane. My brother had the lighter spanker. Dad always was a little bit softer than Mom, but he made me cry as much as Mom did. Of course I couldn't say anything about my feelings. I feared I would make it worse for myself if I would bring it up, so I kept quiet. Like Casey I was holding a long grudge, but I was better than she is. I think on this occasion I ignored my parents for a week." Frieda didn't know if Fin wanted comfort, but thought it couldn't hurt. She put a hand on his tanned arm. "I'm sorry." "Hm, it wasn't the worst caning I've got and one of the fairer ones. Mike and I were so careful afterwards the soccer ball never again ended up in Mrs. Tomczyk's garden, so I guess we both had learned the hard way." Frieda and Fin looked up startled. They thought they had heard Sol sobbing. Frieda went to investigate. She found Sol behind the kitchen door, crying. "What's wrong, honey? Did you have a bad dream?" Frieda crouched down. "I was thirsty and I... I heard what Daddy said." Frieda picked up Sol and brought him to the kitchen. She thought it was better Sol spoke with his father. Depositing Sol on Fin's lap, Frieda made hot chocolate for all of them.
Sol was hugging Fin tightly. "What's bothering you, sweetie?" Fin asked. "Your Mommy and Daddy weren't nice to you." "No, unfortunately they weren't." Fin confirmed. "I'm sad about it." "That's very generous of you, Sol." Fin smiled against his will. He was proud Sol showed empathy. Frieda and he must have done something right. "You don't have to be sad, though. I'm still alive. Growing up the way I did made me decide I wanted to be a different type of father, so all's good." "Don't you miss your Mommy and Daddy?" Since there was no love lost between Fin and his parents and they had parted acrimoniously a long time ago, Fin didn't. "No. It is better for all of us if we don't see each other. We have our own lives." "I would miss you." Sol said seriously. "I would miss you too, sweetie, but we don't want to go different ways, so we don't have to miss each other. Or do you plan to be a big boy and move out tomorrow?" Fin asked with a twinkle in his eyes. Sol giggled. "Noo." He said. "I'm happy to hear it." The hot chocolate was ready and Sol had asked all his questions and seemed satisfied with the answers. After his thirst was quenched he went to bed.
Fin checked later on his sleeping children and was amazed how deep he felt for them. Love was a strange thing. Fin had come a long way. At first he didn't want children. His biggest fear was he would turn out as brutal and uncaring as his parents. Frieda's pregnancy with Casey was an emotional roller coaster ride for Fin, but he fell immediately in love with his daughter when he held her in his arms shortly after she was born. It wasn't the same with Sol. Fin had originally wanted a second daughter and was convinced Sol would be a girl. For about one and a half months Fin had felt betrayed Sol was a boy. Fin realized he was heading down the same path as his parents had with him, corrected his behavior in time and learned to fall in love with his son too. Now living without Sol would have been unthinkable for Fin.

The kids were very well behaved for the next few days, so their reward was to visit the toy shop as promised and their Dad was also coming with them, which was a highlight for them.

  ©2014