Skateboard Tough Read Online Free PDF Page A

ranger and tells him to “git.” As though he were a stray dog.
    Once again he wished he could do something to convince people that kids like him needed a place to skate. An arena. But what could he do? Go to the town council? They’d laugh at him. There wasn’t anything …
    Then again, there
was
one thing he could do … write a letter to the editor of the
Springton Herald! That
might get somebody to start thinking.
    Vowing to give it a try, Brett got back on his skateboard and headed toward home. He suddenly felt energized, and he couldn’t wait to get his thoughts down on paper.
    As Brett wheeled past Mrs. Weatherspoon’s house, he noticed that she wasn’t in her usual spot.
Guess she finally got tired of staring into space,
he thought, relieved that he didn’t have to feel her ugly glare on him.
    Brett’s mother greeted him with an ugly glare of her own as soon as he walked in the door. Just looking at her flushed, unhappy face made him wish he had stayed out longer. Now what was wrong?
    “I was wondering when you were coming home, young man,” she said angrily. “I got a call from a woman up the street.”
    “Mrs. Weatherspoon?”
    “I don’t know. She didn’t tell me her name. But she said that you and another boy were skateboarding in front of her house and that you almost ran into a dog with your skateboard.”
    It
had
to he that nosy old Mrs. Weatherspoon,
Brett thought. That explained why she wasn’t on her front porch — she was inside, phoning his mom.
    “Look, Brett.” His mother lifted a finger and shook it in front of his nose as if it were a weapon. “I’m not going to stand for any trouble from you because of your skateboarding. It seems to me that ever since that skateboard was dug up you haven’t been off it for more than a minute. This is my last warning to you. One more incident like this — just one more, mind you — and that skateboard goes to the junkyard. Period!”

6
    F or the next two days Brett didn’t look at The Lizard even once, let alone skate on it. He was afraid that he might do something accidentally to give his mother an excuse to cart The Lizard to the junkyard.
    One thing he couldn’t get off his mind was Mrs. Weatherspoon. He knew she had squealed on him. But why? What had he ever done to her?
She’s just an old busybody,
he thought angrily.
    Since he wasn’t out skateboarding, Brett had plenty of time to compose his letter to the editor of the
Herald
. As his family watched the evening news, Brett looked at the TV screen without seeing it. He was deep in thought.
    “Well, no comment?”
    He glanced at his father. “Sorry, Dad. What …?”
    “Didn’t you hear that? Your Blue Jays just blew another one.”
    “Oh, they did?”
    “That’s what the man said. Weren’t you listening?”
    Brett shrugged, and shifted his position slightly on the lounge chair. “I guess I wasn’t,” he admitted.
    “What have you got on your mind?” his father asked. “Let me guess. That skateboard. The Lizard.”
    Brett shrugged again. “Partly,” he answered.
    “Partly?”
    “I’ve been thinking about writing a letter to the newspaper,” he said.
    “Oh? About what?”
    “About somebody building a skateboarding rink in town.”
    “A skateboarding rink?” his father echoed. “Hey! I think that’s a terrific idea! Why not?” His voice quickly dropped. “But I doubt it’ll work.”
    “You don’t think I should write a letter?” Brett asked, disappointed.
    “They might not even print it,” his father said. “This town seems to frown on skateboarding.”
    “But that’s because we skateboarders have no special place,” Brett said, giving voice to all the arguments brewing in his head. “If we had a place to skateboard, we’d be off the streets. We wouldn’t be a danger to other people, even though I don’t think we’re any more of a danger than kids who ride bikes, or motorbikes, or roller skates.”
    “I agree with your father,” his mother