the meet was at the same old place at raffles place amidst the gigantic towering skyscrapers and right above,the stars are shinin' lil glitters scattered amongst the midnite skies,a good indication that it ain't gonna rain.
the place was rather quiet for a holy day's eve.there was only this bespectacled chap with dark rimmed glasses with his cap on who,with a glance,looked like sid doughboy.
a pair of bright lights drew nearer as i looked at my rear view mirror,hoji and mimi were right on time.and soon after,a stranger,armed with a skateboard and a bulky Fuji Dslr clinged around his neck,shook hands with us and introduced himself.he's Sid's friend,who desperately needed to join us,to take pics of us and us skatin',some skate culture topic for his school project.hey,he's alright.
sid couldn't come,adil still no sign and nazir lavigne was nowhere to be seen but as i called his mobile,he mumbled that he's almost there to be wit us.
from the sidewalk to the bench,during that slow moments,like a cowboy swaggering from a western bar,that's the friendly security dude,walked out and as usual i greeted him.nice dude,always givin us sodas and cakes,but last night,he insisted of me havin his noodles,which of course,i declined,givin excuses like i'm full and just had my supper and all that,but him being real persistent,i had no choice but to accept that pack.turned around and offered the rest of the boys to join me,and only mimi decided to sat by me,with the pack of noodles in between us.seated in an awkward manner,i took the fork and lash a mouthful of swirly worms down my throat.
and,out of sudden,a burly man,walked to uji rashid's skateboard and grabbed it by its tail;rashid ran up to him,and like a cop in a tv series,he unzipped his jacket,flashed some badge or somethin which i really can't make out and without warning,and another 3 guys snooped up from my back.they were the notorious park rangers.
we were pre-warned by uji rashid,that he saw that ranger's van parked by the street,but we pay less attention.
one of them,an old man with beady eyes,was shoutin in a authorative manner,which i kinda dislike.he demanded I.D.s from uji and hoji.being dumb,my right hand searched my backpocket for my wallet,but the old man,looked at me and said,
"i didn't see you skatin' boy,so,consider yourself lucky tonite!!!"
i swear i saw horns pokin out of his temple.
sure hell hoji was on his board,but sure hell i wasn't sure whether he was practisin his 360 flips,all i knew,i was eatin with mimi,and that uji rashid was busy snappin' pics of God-Knows-What.
the old man took hoji's i.d. and when we protested that uji rashid didn't skate,and with a nod from the burly man,he decided only to take hoji's and pass it to an another man,who by then was already seated and preparin to write down hoji's particulars on a thick invoice-like stacked of papers.and no he ain't kiddin,those ain't no love letters;it's a park summon notice.
hot damn!i stood up,with the plastic pack of noodles still firm in my hands,i tried to negotiate in the most diplomatic way while mimi was reactin the opposite.but the no-nonsense old man said that there were signages all over the place indicatin no skatin;and mimi was shoutin like mad.he quickly scribbled hoji's particulars on that paper,bearing Nparks logo at the top,and my guess was right;the plead for leniency fell onto deaf ears.tore the front sheet and handed over to hoji,and during that very moment i was incredibly stunned that this shit,was actually happening to us.
years ago,we would run like hell,the very moment this park rangers appear on sight and we would play catch,and joked about it every time we got onto that conversation,but last night,we were caught off guard;ambushed,by guys who couldn't even last 20 metres if we start runnin,ambushed while sharin noodles,and the joke's on us,jack.
hear me dear God,we don't feel good no more,what harm can our urethane wheels do to the concrete ground,and NO we can't damaged the curb coz we can't ollie that high and due to age we sucked at that,the best we can do is just pop an ollie or two on the flat ground,some staggerin simple freestyle moves,cruisin around and enjoy each other's company,sharin stories and laughter,since it's so difficult to see each other these days,since it's so miserable and it's our chance to get off our daily stressful lives,our weird shifts and only once a week or fortnight,we would see each other sweaty faces,and yes i know those rangers are doin' their job well but shouldn't they just let hoji off with a verbal warning?what i think that it's totally most sensible,if they just do that,and as grown boys,we would comply and would have leave the place immediately,never to return again.now poor hoji would have sleepless night,just for that.and if only the skatepark had their lights on till dawn,oh boy!this won't happen.
the irony of our local boys,in most 'street' sports,football included-no ball games in most places,and since most of the youth won't be able to fork out some of their pocket-money and only the older boys who got enough cash for good lookin boots,shin pads,shiny jerseys with their names spread nicely on their back and working-adult girlfriends cheerin on the benchside,to play ball on a nice fenced up pitch with a fair ref on weekends,and since void decks and b-ball courts are strictly no-no for ball games;we won't be able to produce a ronaldinho or nando torres for that matter.and forever have to practise in the dark.(and did i mentioned about the street soccer courts are always hogged?)and most of the near future gen will be engulfed with less-interesting hobbies and grew fat,dull and non-active human beings livin their dream in a fantasy gaming world where that is the only place they can actually substitute themselves to be,fingers and palms grew twice the size with abrasions and swell and suffered gaming effects like anxiety,motion sicknesses and eye bags no ray-ban could hide.
hear me,dear God,have sympathy and mercy on us.
