Free Roller Hockey Radicals by Matt Christopher
Authors: Matt Christopher
backbreaking, sweaty work. But none of the Skates or the Bad Boys
complained. They could all see the money adding up, quarter by quarter, dollar by dollar.
Through the car wash, the yard sale, and the bake sale, Kirby met a lot of people in town.
Of course, there were some people who didn’t want to help out, either because they thought the paving should be paid for by
whoever wanted to use the lot or because they thought skaters were a nuisance. But most people gave at least a little to the
cause. They seemed to like the idea of young people trying to do something good for themselves and the town.
It was the hottest time of the summer, though, and that wound up being the hard part. Kirby would come home exhausted after
taking his turn working at the bake sale or yard sale or car wash. Sometimes he’d take a shower, but other times, he was too
tired even for that and just flopped down on his bed to rest.
By the end of the second week, they had been done it. Three thousand dollars in cash had been raised. When they all showed
up at the weekly town council meeting and handed the money over to the mayor, he was speechless — which was saying a lot for
Mayor Huggins.
After a few seconds, he managed to say, “I’m — I am — what a surprise! I congratulate all of you; you’ve done an — an outstanding
job!” Turning to his town council, he added, “I want this work done as soon as possible! When can we start?”
“Tomorrow,” one of the council members replied. “I’ll get a work crew on it first thing in the morning.”
“Splendid!” Mayor Huggins was beaming.“Again, let me congratulate you all. You have done Valemont a great service. Your town thanks you, and I thank you.”
Three days later, the parking lot had been cleaned of all litter and freshly, beautifully paved. Instead of white lines for
parking spaces, the town had actually painted a hockey rink — complete with faceoff circles, goal creases, and a blue line
across the center!
Gathering for their first game on the new rink, the E Street Skates stood opposite the Bates Avenue Bad Boys.
“Hey, you!” Lainie yelled at one of the Bad Boys as the two teams prepared for the big game. “Don’t spit out your gum here.
You’re ruining our new rink! What’s wrong with you?”
“Oh. Sorry,” the player said, and picked it up, not even giving Lainie an argument.
Boy, Kirby thought, Lainie sure is tough. When she gives orders, people listen. He wished he was more like that.
Marty was there with his parents, but he wasn’t in uniform, and he wasn’t playing. His shoulder had healed — mostly. But the
doctor and Marty’s parents were not ready to let him take a chance of hurting it again so soon.
Marty had told the Skates he’d be ready in about another week. For now, he could coach them, but they were going to have to
beat the Bad Boys without him in the lineup.
That wasn’t going to be easy, either. The Bad Boys were really charged up. Not only had they failed to beat the Skates last
time, but the Skates had gotten more signatures and raised more money than they had.
The Skates tested the new surface for a while, getting used to the feel of the pavement. Then Marty brought them into a pregame
huddle. “Okay, guys. They’re probably going to come out playing rough and trying to scare us. But we’ve got a big audience
today,” he said, indicating the crowd that was congregated outside the rink’s boundaries. “So if the Bad Boys do anythingmore than touch you, be sure to scream like you’re in extreme agony, and I bet the adults will make them stop. Other than
that, Trevor, you need to keep an eye out for Kirby. They’re expecting you to take all the shots. So if they double-team you,
Kirby will be free.”
“Okay,” Trevor said, frowning. “But don’t worry, I’ll be able to get the shots off.”
“Maybe,” Marty said. “Nick, you have to stay back the whole time. No more
complained. They could all see the money adding up, quarter by quarter, dollar by dollar.
Through the car wash, the yard sale, and the bake sale, Kirby met a lot of people in town.
Of course, there were some people who didn’t want to help out, either because they thought the paving should be paid for by
whoever wanted to use the lot or because they thought skaters were a nuisance. But most people gave at least a little to the
cause. They seemed to like the idea of young people trying to do something good for themselves and the town.
It was the hottest time of the summer, though, and that wound up being the hard part. Kirby would come home exhausted after
taking his turn working at the bake sale or yard sale or car wash. Sometimes he’d take a shower, but other times, he was too
tired even for that and just flopped down on his bed to rest.
By the end of the second week, they had been done it. Three thousand dollars in cash had been raised. When they all showed
up at the weekly town council meeting and handed the money over to the mayor, he was speechless — which was saying a lot for
Mayor Huggins.
After a few seconds, he managed to say, “I’m — I am — what a surprise! I congratulate all of you; you’ve done an — an outstanding
job!” Turning to his town council, he added, “I want this work done as soon as possible! When can we start?”
“Tomorrow,” one of the council members replied. “I’ll get a work crew on it first thing in the morning.”
“Splendid!” Mayor Huggins was beaming.“Again, let me congratulate you all. You have done Valemont a great service. Your town thanks you, and I thank you.”
Three days later, the parking lot had been cleaned of all litter and freshly, beautifully paved. Instead of white lines for
parking spaces, the town had actually painted a hockey rink — complete with faceoff circles, goal creases, and a blue line
across the center!
Gathering for their first game on the new rink, the E Street Skates stood opposite the Bates Avenue Bad Boys.
“Hey, you!” Lainie yelled at one of the Bad Boys as the two teams prepared for the big game. “Don’t spit out your gum here.
You’re ruining our new rink! What’s wrong with you?”
“Oh. Sorry,” the player said, and picked it up, not even giving Lainie an argument.
Boy, Kirby thought, Lainie sure is tough. When she gives orders, people listen. He wished he was more like that.
Marty was there with his parents, but he wasn’t in uniform, and he wasn’t playing. His shoulder had healed — mostly. But the
doctor and Marty’s parents were not ready to let him take a chance of hurting it again so soon.
Marty had told the Skates he’d be ready in about another week. For now, he could coach them, but they were going to have to
beat the Bad Boys without him in the lineup.
That wasn’t going to be easy, either. The Bad Boys were really charged up. Not only had they failed to beat the Skates last
time, but the Skates had gotten more signatures and raised more money than they had.
The Skates tested the new surface for a while, getting used to the feel of the pavement. Then Marty brought them into a pregame
huddle. “Okay, guys. They’re probably going to come out playing rough and trying to scare us. But we’ve got a big audience
today,” he said, indicating the crowd that was congregated outside the rink’s boundaries. “So if the Bad Boys do anythingmore than touch you, be sure to scream like you’re in extreme agony, and I bet the adults will make them stop. Other than
that, Trevor, you need to keep an eye out for Kirby. They’re expecting you to take all the shots. So if they double-team you,
Kirby will be free.”
“Okay,” Trevor said, frowning. “But don’t worry, I’ll be able to get the shots off.”
“Maybe,” Marty said. “Nick, you have to stay back the whole time. No more