Read Online Skateboard Renegade by Matt Christopher - Free Book Online

again,” Zach said. “Sorry. You all should have done it when you said you would. So too bad.”
    “You all look stupid,” Zoey piped up, stepping forward. “Why do you all want to look so freaky?”
    “This your sister?” Brian Jeffers asked.
    “Uh, yeah,” Zach said, wishing he could make Zoey disappear—and Lorena along with her. “Yeah, this is Zoey. She's nine. And
     that's her friend Lorena. I'm … I'm baby-sitting them,” he fibbed.
    “Oh. Gotta make some ducats, huh?” Brian said with a wink and a nod.
    “He's not baby-sitting us!” Zoey contradicted. “We're not babies!”
    “Quiet, Zoey!” Zach said through gritted teeth. But it was too late. All the guys cracked up.
    “Yeah, we're big girlth,” Lorena added. “Thack's giving uth thkateboarding lethonth.”
    Oh brother,
Zach thought.
That's all I need. Now they're gonna be imitating poor Lorena's lisp all afternoon.
    “Oh, that'th tho thweet!” Brian mimicked, drawing a huge roar from the other boys.
    “Shut up, Brian,” Zach scolded him, putting his arm around Lorena's shoulder to comfort her. He could see the tears already
     forming in her eyes.
    “Thack'th nithe,” she told Brian. “Not like you. You're not nithe at all!”
    “Tho thorry,” Brian joked, starting another round of laughter.
    Lorena, bawling, broke free of Zach and ran into the house.
    “There. Are you happy now?” Zach said to Brian. “You made her cry. Nice going.”
    “Oh, Thack!” Brian said, still not done. “You're tho thenthitive!”
    Zach gave him a little shove. “Cut it out,” he warned.
    Brian smirked. “It must be the Amherst Academy effect,” he said. “Makes you all soft and gooey and nerdy inside, so you want
     to spend all your time with little girls.”
    “Shut up, I said,” Zach muttered threateningly. “I had to give them lessons, okay? I had no choice.”
    “Oh? And why not?” Brian wondered.
    “I … borrowed some money from Zoey,” Zach said, motioning with his eyes toward Zoey, who was still there in the driveway watching
     the confrontation. “For the haircut and the ear piercing.”
    “Yeah, right,” Brian said. “Don't give me that baloney. You didn't even get your ear pierced.”
    Zach drew back, surprised. “I did too,” he said. “Here—see?”
    Brian examined the hole in Zach's ear. “Oh,” he said. “So you did. My mistake.”
    “That's right,” Zach said, nodding to show he was righteously offended.
    “See, I just figured since you were using a clip-on earring, you hadn't done the dirty deed.”
    “A-a clip-on earring?” Zach stammered.
    “Yeah. You dropped it at Moorehead Park. Here. I kept it for you.” He handed Zach the diamond stud.
    Zoey's eyes went wide, and she came closer to get a better look. “Hey!” she cried. “That's
my
earring! Zach, you thief! You stole my earring, too!”
    “Whoa, dude!” Brian said laughing so hard, he could barely stand. “You're wearing your little sister's jewelry now?” He backed
     up, exchanging humorous glances with the other guys. “Okay, I'm outie. Come on guys. See you sometime, Zach, huh?” They all
     skateboarded off, leaving Zach there in a state of total humiliation.
    But the worst was yet to come.
    “I'm telling!” Zoey shrieked, running inside before Zach could stop her. “Mommy! Daddy! Zach stole my money and my earring!
     He let the other boys make fun of me! Mommy! Daddy!”
    Zach sank to the pavement and sat there, his head in his hands. “This is it,” he said to himself. “This is what they mean
     when they say, 'You've hit rock bottom.'”

10
    I t was the beginning of a long, painful month for Zach. His parents grounded him until he repaid Zoey all the money he'd taken
     from her piggy bank. They forbade him to go skateboarding without Zoey, which pretty much meant he was confined to the driveway
     and the sidewalk of their block.
    Kareem called once, to say the boys were hanging out in back of the A&P, whose parking lot was so