Read Online Snowboard Showdown by Matt Christopher - Free Book Online Page B

“Would you like to say that real loud, so Mami and Papi can hear you?”
    “I said shut up!” Freddie said, raising his voice just enough but not too much.
    “Ooh, Freddie's feeling cranky tonight,” Dondi said, smiling mischievously. “Maybe I can cheer you up. Want to hear about
     the movie we saw? Me and Clarissa?”
    “Jerk!” Freddie spat out. “I hate you!”
    “Aw, shucks, brother,” Dondi said. “That's not very sporting of you. And I heard you were quite the sport today. King of the
     halfpipe peewee league, huh? Got a big plastic trophy too, I see. Very nice.” Dondi picked up the trophy and tossed it from
     hand to hand.
    “Get your hands off it!” Freddie leapt up out of bed and yanked the trophy from Dondi's grasp.
    “Touchy, touchy,” Dondi said, backing up a step. “Sorry I spoiled your big day,” he said. “But Papi is right, you know. Brothers
     shouldn't compete. It's immature.”
    “Oh, so you're the mature one now,” Freddie said. “You don't compete. Not much. Tell me you didn't go after Clarissa just
     because you guessed I liked her.”
    “Me? Would I do a thing like that?” Dondi asked, batting his eyes innocently.
    “You know you did,” Freddie said.
    “Well, maybe I did and maybe I didn't,” Dondi said. “You'll never know, will you? But I'll tell you one thing—even if I broke
     up with her tomorrow, she'd never go out with you. 'Cause she knows what you're really all about.”
    “Get out of my room!” Freddie shouted. “Papi, Mami, he's in my room! Get him out of here before I kill him!”
    “I'm going, I'm going,” Dondi said. “Don't be such a sore loser, squirt. She just likes me better than you, that's all.”
    Before Freddie could say anything, Dondi was out the door. Freddie pulled the blankets over his head and fought back the tears.
     He was going to get even with Dondi, one way or another. No way was he about to let his brother get off so easily.
    In fact, Freddie knew exactly what he was going to do next. He was going to take up downhill boarding. If the past was any
     indication, before long he'd be better than Dondi at it. And this time, Dondi wouldn't be able to run away from the competition.

12
    O n Sunday night it snowed. Boy, did it snow—eight powdery inches by Monday morning, when the sun finally came back out. “Yes!”
     Freddie said, looking out the window. A radio announcement confirmed that school had been canceled for the day. “I've got
     to go outside and do some street boarding!”
    “Out of my way, dork!” Dondi said, racing past him to the coat closet. The boys jostled each other, reaching for their coats,
     gloves, hats, scarves, and ski boots. But the jostling was good-natured for once—the sight of all that fresh snow had banished
     all bad thoughts from their heads. Then it was a headlong sprint for the garage to grab their boards.
    “We'll be able to shove off right out the garage door!” Dondi said gleefully. The Ruizes' driveway ran downhill, and their
     street dropped off to theright. There would be no cars out on the back streets for at least a few precious hours because the plows would be busy cleaning
     up the main roads.
    “I'm going to run by Steve's house,” Freddie said. Steve lived just around the corner.
    “Okay, I'll follow you,” Dondi said, lifting the garage door and strapping on his board.
    Freddie whooshed out of the garage into the powdery snow. He and Dondi had the street totally to themselves. There was not
     a track or a footprint anywhere. “Whooooo!” Freddie shouted as powder flew everywhere. The wind stung his face, and the sun
     shone brightly off the snow. Behind him, he could hear Dondi yelling happily at the top of his lungs.
    Freddie skidded to a stop in front of Steve's house, sending a sky-high shower of snow into the air. Steve must have seen
     him because he threw open the front door and called, “I'll be right there!”
    A few minutes later, the three were boarding all over the