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    Fastback Beach
    Fastback Beach
    Fastback Beach
    Ebook66 pages55 minutes

    Fastback Beach

    By Shirlee Smith-Matheson

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    About this ebook

    Miles Derkach is in trouble. Along with two friends, he stole a car and went joyriding. When the dust clears, he is all alone and his friends have left, leaving him to take the blame—and the punishment—while maintaining his silence. Placed on probation and sentenced to community service, Miles begins working for a man who after suffering a stroke and not being able to drive, has kept his beloved hot rod under wraps in the garage. Seeing a chance to learn more about cars and pursue his dream of becoming a mechanic, Miles helps to restore the car. When the hot rod is stolen and Miles is the prime suspect, he realizes that he must confront his friends and stand up for himself.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOrca Book Publishers
    Release dateSep 1, 2003
    ISBN9781554696130
    Fastback Beach
    Author

    Shirlee Smith-Matheson

    Shirlee Smith-Matheson is the author of Prairie Pictures, Flying Ghosts, and City Pictures. All three titles were Canadian Children's Centre Our Choice selections.

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      Book preview

      Fastback Beach - Shirlee Smith-Matheson

      Brooklyn

      Chapter One

      The Mustang convertible sits in the parking lot of the ten-story apartment building, nicely hidden from view by a huge leafy poplar tree.

      Like it, Miles? asks Larry the Lark.

      Sweet, I say.

      Black paint gleams in the moonlight, shiny and sleek. I look up at the apartment block. Blinds are closed on most windows. The others are in darkness. No one is sitting out on balconies. It’s 11:00 at night. All good people are in their beds.

      Spider throws down his smoke and grinds the butt with his heel. Let’s move.

      There’s no backing down. Larry is already checking the doors. Locked, he mutters.

      No problem. Spider pulls a tool from a duffel bag he’s carrying.

      He’s got a Slim-Jim, Larry whispers for my education.

      Forget that! Spider says. "It’s a ragtop, man!"

      He is holding something in his hand. I hear a click and a long thin blade flashes out. Spider leans over the roof and I hear the rip as he slashes the tight canvas top. He reaches in to pull up the lock and in a split second he’s yanking the door open.

      Larry spins around the front of the car and jumps into the passenger side.

      It’s Clubbed!

      No sweat. Good scouts come prepared, says Spider. He grins — the first time I have seen a smile crack his face. He yanks up his sleeve and rips off a hacksaw blade that is taped to his forearm. He starts sawing at the wheel. There must be only a thin circle of metal under the padding. After just a minute of intense work, Larry spreads the wheel apart and Spider removes the Club. They work like a team. They must have done this before.

      What am I doing here? I stand in the shadow of the tree. My mind is racing. My heart is pounding. It’s happening. And I’m in.

      Larry reaches over to the steering column with a screwdriver and breaks the ignition lock. Spider flings the Club into the backseat and slips the five-speed gearshift into neutral.

      Push! Spider hisses. I go around to the back. Together we roll the car out of the parking lot and into the darkened alley. Get in!

      I scramble into the backseat. Spider and Larry jump in the front. Before the doors are closed, Larry sticks the screwdriver into the ignition switch, the engine roars to life and we’re spewing gravel.

      When we’re a couple of blocks away, Spider screeches to a stop. Let’s get some moonshine. I think he means booze, but his plan is to lower the top. Moonlight suddenly washes over us in a silver glow.

      Beauty! Spider says as we hit the freeway. No more second-rate junkers for us!

      I sit forward and watch the speedometer climb. Then Spider floors it. I fall back onto the leather seat.

      Hey, slow down! I shout.

      "You like speed! Larry yells back. Your old man’s a racer."

      Yeah, but on a racetrack. This … Another acceleration throws me back again.

      How did I get into this? How do I get out? Will I get out? Spider is screaming and yelling like some freak, which he is. Larry has been my friend since first grade, even though he’s gone a bit crazy since his parents split up. His mother moved off and took his little sister. He lives with his dad who lets him run wild.

      Go, man! Larry yells and taps a drum- beat on the dashboard with his fingers. It drives me crazy when he does that, as if he’s some kind of rock band drummer.

      At the turnoff to Fastback Beach, Spider stomps the brakes and the car fishtails. He straightens it but we’ve passed the turnoff, so he cuts a U-turn in the middle of the highway, laying rubber that smokes around us. Then we’re on the gravel trail leading down to the beach.

      Below us, white in the moonlight, stretch miles of sand. This is a perfect place for drag racing. Spider steps on it and the car jumps ahead. I put my hand down for balance and it

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