Story Part II

Any of these would work. He should have just told the truth, she probably would have found it funny. Now he had to live his lie alone.
Eventually he mustered the courage to tell Olivia how he felt about her. He put their friendship in danger by trying to advance it to a place where most friends are afraid to go. Fortunately for them they were both on the same level. Outside of the rink they were bonded by molecular valence electrons of love. In the rink they had become rivals in a game that doesn’t hold back, but only Marcel knew the full story. Olivia had grown a bit envious of Marcel’s female persona, Mandy.
Mandy had become quite skilled as a jammer. The jammer is the skater who must break through the opponents defenses to lead the pack and thus score. Mandy was Olivia’s competition for being drafted from the “Fresh Meat” team and onto a real competitive team. Olivia was naturally a very competitive woman. Mandy became her infatuation. This was partially due to the fact that Mandy wouldn’t talk to her. There was a vibe of tension between the two skaters mostly because Marcel was trying to avoid being caught.
Marcel began having a hard time explaining why he was never able to watch his girlfriend practice. Olivia would vent about her frustrations about Mandy. Internally Marcel would chuckle, but he didn’t want to give away his secret. He had taken it so far. He was afraid that if he spoke up that she would think he was weird. At the same time he didn’t want to give up his new competitive skating routine.
The two continued to traverse the neighborhood together. Their street skating had become strength training for the rink. They would speed down 13th Ave along the hilltop overlooking the Willamette River and connect with Milwaukee Ave. Eventually they would enter onto a paved path into the Oaks Bottom. The path steeply heads down the hillside towards the river. Near the river’s edge the winding path ends and connects to a long straight path that leads to Oaks Park where the skating rink lies. From there they continue down the path that runs along the side of the railroad tracks. Blazing through three parks they headed towards the Sellwood Bridge and up the hill back to where they started. They dubbed the loop the jell-o maker due to how it made their legs feel after a couple of laps.
It was a dark and wet Saturday night when the team “Guns n’ Rollers” came looking to recruit a new player. The air was alive with sweat and possibilities. For some the extra pressure caused them to make bad errors. For others it made them shine. The rivalry Olivia felt for Mandy was as dangerous as a package from the unibomber. The more they played the more likely the explosion of defeat was going to be fatal. Marcel noticed the warning fuse that he had inadvertently lit and thought of a way to douse it out. He simply quit. He didn’t want to see his love filled with so much aggression or discontent, especially if it was aimed at him indirectly.
As he began to deviate his path from the rink he began to notice the gleaming hardwood floors. Each grain was at one time a vein of life. The strips of wood made his mind wonder through a thousand thoughts all at the same time. The floor was a mass grave for the genocide of the old-growth forest that used to grow in the area. The trees themselves had probably seen hundreds of years worth of life around them. They were the homes of thousands of creatures while alive. Now they were a house for skating. They had gotten to this point by being passive. If the trees had been aggressive they would have most likely been burned. These trees knew a neighborhood was being built here and if they wanted to be a part of it. If they weren’t apart of the structures they probably would have been burned. Aggressive trees are burned. They have too many knots to be good for building. Some aggressive trees have twists or curves that show their rebellion against gravity and wind. These too, are burned. Marcel thought about wanting to be a part of Olivia. He would have to give up or get burned. His mind found peace in thinking about these types of things. He gladly gave up.
He didn’t care if he didn’t skate again. He just wanted to know that Olivia would be happy so he calmly rolled off the floor and out the back door. Still dressed in drag he began to meander up a portion the jell-o maker hill to make his way home. As he was reaching the top of the hill his skates failed. A bolt must have come loose from the axle as he was straining to get up the hill. Feeling tired and contemplative he decided to sit and wait for the 70 bus to take him the rest of the way.
In his mind he had simply left and the problem was over. The reality was, the scouts had already made their decisions. Mandy made the team, and Olivia did not. Olivia was filled with disgust and rage when she found out that she had lost to a flake like Mandy. Tears of anger filled her eyes and caused her makeup to streak down her pale Portland skinned face.
She tore out of the parking lot in her rickety red little VW fox. The night had gotten extremely cold due to an arctic blast of air. The light drizzle from the day had transformed into patches of ice. The way home for her was up Tacoma St but the hill was very slick. Being a well traveled road it had gravel thrown down to help with traction for just such an occasion. The dripping eyeliner only made her eyes burn and water even more. As she approached her turn at 13th and Tacoma she lost control. Her watery eyes didn’t see the low gloss from the black ice at the intersection. For some reason there had been a water leak here earlier in the day and with the frigid temperature it had turned into a super shallow frozen pond.
Her car veered wide as she tried to make a right turn. The little fox was unable to regain control as it headed directly towards the number 70 bus pulling up to its stop and the corner. A large bump in the road had created an island of dry asphalt. The misguided car flung itself forward as its spinning tires hit the bump. The bus had come to a full stop and it looked as though the fox would escape but the bump changed its course. Instead, the little fox was spun all the way around the bus and smacked its driver’s side up into the passenger side of the bus.
The impact was hefty but the little fox really couldn’t do much damage to such a beast of a bus. The people on the bus had hardly even felt a jolt. The car was in bad shape however. Olivia too, was battered.
It only seemed like seconds before the fire trucks and ambulance were on the scene. The cold of the night seemed to be lifted and a haze of tragedy set in. A team of men pushed the mangled little fox away from bus. There was an urgent call for help. Olivia could hear the sound of machines cutting into her car.
A glimpse of consciousness here and there let her know that she was still alive. How she ended up being loaded into an ambulance is beyond her but at least she knows she’s ok. A man in a blue button up coat tells her that she hit her head pretty hard but she’ll be fine. But she overhears other people talking about another victim. She didn’t even realize the extent of what had happened.
Olivia pulled her head up to see Mandy staring at her. Why was SHE here? Olivia was embarrassed to have her rival looking at her misfortune. Olivia, filled with annoyance by her presence, stared deep into Mandy’s eyes. Her anger towards her had receded and was replaced with a kind of familiarity. She studied her face. She knew that structure. She knew those eyes. Those were Marcel’s deep brown eyes. She finally knew his secret.
She noticed the wig was completely cockeyed, and the skates were missing a wheel. Perhaps it was her delirious state of mind but she thought that maybe he had already heard what had happened and came to ensure that she was ok. She yelled for him to come stand by her. He didn’t move. His makeup also ran down his face.
Then there was a loud count to three followed by a grunt of heavy physical labor. The little fox was being moved again. This time it was to free the body it had pinned into the side of the bus.
Marcel was that body. As the car slid out his body collapse under it own weight. There was nothing left to hold it up. Marcel had become like the trees in the in skating-rink. He had let go and become a part of the history that makes up the community. His body was limp. No longer was he gazing into Olivia’s eyes. Instead, his warm blood ran across the intersection. Steam from his lost heat filled the cold air. His body was smashed but he seemed to be in a place of complete peace. He knew she loved him.
Overlooking the wildlife reserve is where Marcel now rests. On the third floor near the huge west facing windows is where you can find him. The mausoleum guards his ashy remains in a marble stone façade box of eternal peace. His skates accompany his view to the park below where he was once the protector.