Free Mamba Point by Kurtis Scaletta Page A

the door shut. I wondered if he was mad at me for making other friends.
    “We can play the game later!” I shouted.
    He opened the door again.
    “What time?”
    “When I get back from skating?”
    “I guess.” He looked at me holding the skates. “Who’re you skating with anyway?”
    “Eileen. Do you know her?”
    “You’re skating with
Eileen?”
    “Yeah, so?”
    “She’s really pretty.”
    “She’s okay.” I tried to play it cool but broke out in a huge grin. She
was
really pretty, wasn’t she?
    “She has a boyfriend, you know.”
    That was news to me, but I pretended not to care. “We’re just skating.”
    “Have fun.” He shut the door again.
    The skates were dark blue, with bright yellow lightning bolts on the sides and yellow wheels. They looked brand-new. I bet they’d never been used. I kicked off my shoes and tried them on. They were too big, but they would do. I would need to wear two or three pairs of socks. I hummed to myself as I changed back into my sandals so I could get upstairs without risking my life.
    “Where’d you get the skates?” Mom asked.
    “They’re Matt’s.”
    “Oh. Well, have fun.”
    Eileen had told me her last name was Campbell, and I found her number in the embassy directory by the phone after tossing my sandals in my bedroom and putting on an extra pair of socks. I’d never called a girl at home before, but it was easier than I thought.
    “I’ve got wheels,” I told her.
    “Great. Do you know where the car wash is?”
    “Oh, yeah.”
    “Let’s meet there.”
    “Okay. See you in like five seconds.” I hung up.
    I was starting to like this continent. I didn’t even care ifEileen had a boyfriend. Was he skating with her? No, I was. Like the song said, I could get it if I really wanted, and all I had to do was try, try, and try.
    I got to the car wash first. I saw Charlie, but only had a second to speak to him.
    “I think I have that
kaseng
thing,” I whispered.
    “It’s a folktale,” he said, looking sideways to see if anyone was paying attention to us. “You have a mamba?” he asked.
    “Yes.”
    “How did you find it?”
    “It kind of found me.”
    “Someone’s here.”
    He looked away, moving a few things around on the rug. I looked at the statues, and noticed for the first time that some of them were of naked people with exaggerated body parts. I gulped and moved over to look at the masks.
    “Buying something?” I heard Eileen ask behind me.
    I turned around. She looked really cute, wearing white boot skates with pink laces and wheels. For about two seconds I felt like I owned the world. Then a curly-haired guy came up behind her. He was older than me by a year or two, and had cool skates that looked like Adidas basketball shoes with wheels attached. I guessed he was the boyfriend Matt told me about.
    “Hey, nice disco skates,” Eileen said.
    “I know. Um, they’re Matt Miller’s.” I didn’t want her thinking they were
my
taste.
    “You’re friends with
Matt
?” There was something funny in her voice. Not
You know Matt? He’s awesome!
but more like
Ew, you’re friends with Matt?
Maybe not that, either, but there was something funny in her voice. What was surprising about being friends with Matt?
    “His dad and my dad are old war buddies. Besides, he lives in my building. Why?”
    “Just that nobody knows Matt,” she explained. “He barely goes outside, and he doesn’t talk to anyone. He never goes to parties or anything. I don’t think he’s ever said one word to me.” Then Matt’s crazy, I thought.
    “He’s all right. He’s just …” I didn’t know what he just was, though. “He’s shy, I guess.”
    Her boyfriend reached us, skating awkwardly. “Hi, I’m Bennett.” He offered a hand to snap-shake but started to roll and had to pinwheel his arms to keep his balance.
    “I’m Linus.”
    “Like with the blanket, right?”
    “Like with the disco skates,” I corrected him. He gave me a little “gotcha”