Free So Different by Ruthie Robinson Page A

buses to school.”
    “You two don’t play on the same team,” he said.
    “Nope. I joined the derby two years before she did, and after I’d finally talked her into giving it a try, my team was full and she was assigned to a different team after her training. I still love her, though,” Casper said, grinning. He was quiet, leaning against the wall. He could hear the train rumbling off in the distance. As it drew closer, he watched as the fans stood and started stomping their feet.
    “That is one crazy ritual,” he shouted.
    “It fits with us, with derby, don’t you think? Or at least it used to. Derby is changing in a lot of ways,” she said.
    They stood quiet, letting the roar of the crowd settle as the train moved past and fans settled down. The lights dimmed and the two teams rolled onto the rink. He found Mariah, dressed in tight biker shorts, an equally small t-shirt, and knee-high socks. All her pads were in place—elbows, knees, wrists, and helmet.
    “She’s fun to watch,” Casper offered.
    “Yes, she is,” he said, watching as she stood in line, waiting to be introduced. She was something, Mariah Scary. He’d thought her pretty, but this was more than that. This was sex on wheels.
    “Mariah is tricky,” she said. Wasn’t that cryptic? “Hey, you want a beer?” she asked, a little abruptly, like she’d said too much.
    “Sure.”
    “I’ll be back in a second. You probably want to watch Mariah alone as she makes her way around the track,” she said, giving him a grin before turning away.
    He did, and stood up straighter as she was called onto the track. He followed her as she made her one loop around, leaning forward, her hands resting on her knees as she rolled around the track, gave a wave, and skated over to join her teammates. He was so interested; he hoped he hadn’t blown it with his bum’s rush. It had been a while and she looked so good; that was his only excuse.
    Five minutes later the game started. Just like his first trip here, eight women stood in front, two a little further behind them.
    “That is the start of the jam,” Casper said, moving to stand next to him, handing him his beer. She pushed his hand away as he tried to pay her.
    “You can treat me later,” she said and leaned back, crossing her legs at the ankles. He noticed she was an inch or two taller than him.
    “A jam?” he asked, turning his attention to the track.
    “A two-minute period. You see the two women in the back with those stars on their helmets?”
    “Yes.”
    “They are the scorers, also known as jammers. The women in the front are the blockers. Each team has four, and one of the four is a pivot. See the woman in the front of the pack, with the stripe on her helmet cover?”
    “Yes.”
    “She’s the pivot. The blockers want to keep the other team’s jammer from scoring while helping their own jammers score. The jammers have to make their way through to the front of the pack. The first one that does is the lead jammer.”
    They were silent as the ref blew the whistle and the women in front took off. A few minutes later, the ref gave the go-ahead to the two jammers. They watched as the jammers caught up to the pack, trying to move ahead of them.
    “See, the ref is pointing to the lead jammer now,” Casper said a few seconds later.
    Adam could see the Prissy Miss jammer had made her way to the front and was starting to make her way back around.
    “Once they make it through, the lead jammer can now score, but she has to go around and make her way through the pack again. This time she scores a point for every opposing team’s skater she passes,” she said.
    They watched as the Prissy Missies jammer made her way around, followed by the Brass Knuckles’ jammer.
    “Can the other team’s jammer score at the same time?”
    “Yep, but the good thing about being the lead jammer is you can call off the jam when you want to. The object is for her to score as many points as she can while her team