‘Woah!’ Trevor cackled, as Noah flipped over the half-pipe, the wood of the skateboard clattering against the metal bar. ‘Sick dive, brah!’
‘Thanks, brah!’ Noah laughed, skidding to a stop at the base of the ramp. ‘Learned from the best, dude!’
‘Oh, for the love of God,’ Mr. Andrews, who had been trying to mind his business on the park bench, rolled his eyes as he watched Noah run up the half-pipe to slap Trevor’s hands. ‘Don’t you two have somewhere better to be?’
‘Like where?’ Trevor asked, a dopey look on his face.
‘I don’t know,’ Andrews grumbled, glancing down at his watch. ‘School?’
‘Oh nah, we left school years ago,’ Noah guffawed. ‘Or did they kick us out?’
He frowned at the self-imposed question, seeming genuinely puzzled by it.
‘It doesn’t matter, man,’ Trevor said, slapping him on the back to drag him out of the dangerous line of thought. ‘End of the story is, we’re here to skate!’
He nodded, satisfied.
‘Why don’t you get a job? Become apprentices, learn how to do something basic, like a, like a…’
Andrews fumbled for a proper societal purpose they should be striving to meet.
‘Like learning how to do a log book service? Mechanic near Lockleys does those,’ Noah nodded.
‘No way,’ Trevor gaped. ‘I’ve also heard of that mechanic? What are the odds, dude?’
‘Like, cosmic, dude!’
‘Gnarly!’
‘Oh please,’ Andrews snapped, ‘everybody’s heard of them. They’re the best mechanic in this wretched town!’
‘Hey,’ Noah frowned. ‘Watch who you’re calling wretched, older dude. We happen to know people who live in this town.’
‘You don’t say,’ Andrews said, dryly. ‘And I don’t suppose any of them could teach you how to perform an auto service, or something similarly helpful to your common man?’
‘Actually, my brother could,’ Trevor admitted. ‘But he’s too busy with his software company at the moment.’
‘His… what?’
‘I know, dude, it’s mega complex,’ Trevor chuckled some more. ‘Like, what even is a self-replicating AI, y’know? Wild stuff.’
Andrews sighed, folded up his newspaper and left the park.