6. Still Only Thursday

Chapter 6 Still Only Thursday Marvin sat on a stool in the kitchen. He stared at the wall. He'd been sitting that way ever since he got home from school. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. Should he look his fear in the eye and ride down Suicide Hill? Or was that stupid, like taking drugs? Officer Watson had said that sometimes the bravest thing you can do is say no to your friends. He knew his friends wouldn't think he was being brave. They'd think he was scared. And they'd be right. He was scared of Suicide Hill. But maybe he was smart to be scared. His father had told Linzy she had to stand up to her fears. But Suicide Hill was different than thunder and lightning. He could get hurt going down Suicide Hill. Thunder and lightning couldn't hurt Linzy. No, that wasn't true either, he realized. Maybe thunder

couldn't hurt her, but if she got struck by lightning, it could kill her. Maybe Linzy was right. Maybe lightning could come through the computer. Going down Suicide Hill wasn't as bad as being struck by lightning. He didn't think he'd be killed going down Suicide Hill. Maybe just break an arm and a leg. Other kids have ridden down Suicide Hill, he reminded himself. They didn't get hurt. So? Other kids have taken drugs, too. Just because other kids do something, that doesn't mean you should, too. If your friends jump off the Empire State Building, that doesn't mean you should, too. But Nick and Stuart weren't even jumping off the Empire State Building. They just expected him to jump. Maybe his friends had forgotten all about Suicide Hill. Nobody mentioned it once today at school. All anyone talked about was Officer Watson and the lie detector. He never felt more confused in his life. He wished he could practice riding his bike. He needed to see how the brakes and gears worked. He remembered the man at the bike shop telling him never to use just the front brake. He was supposed to use

the back brake, or both brakes together. If he tried to stop using just the front brake, the bike might flip over on his head. The front door opened. "Hey, Mar," said Jacob. "Hiya, Marvin," said Nate. Nate was Jacob's best friend. They threw their backpacks on the counter and attacked the refrigerator. "I hear you're going to ride down Suicide Hill," said Nate. "Uh, maybe," said Marvin. "You better not wimp out," said Nate. "Some of the guys at school said you were a baby, but I stuck up for you. Now my reputation is on the line." Marvin didn't say anything. He couldn't believe middle school kids had been talking about him, a puny third grader. "Can I ask you a question?" he asked his brother. "Sure," said Jacob, his mouth full of cookies and pickles. "How do you know which is front and which is back?" "What?" asked Jacob.

"Well, I haven't really ridden my bike a whole lot. How do you know which brake is for the front tire, and which one is for the back tire?" Jacob thought a moment as he swallowed a mouthful of food. "Right is back, left is front," he said. "No, wait. Right is front, left is back. No, I think I was right the first time. Left is front—" "Left is back, right is front," said Nate. "No, right is back, left is front," said Jacob. "You sure?" asked Nate. "I think so," said Jacob. It always took Marvin a moment to figure out his left from his right. He knew he wouldn't have time if he was speeding down Suicide Hill. "I really don't think about it when I'm on my bike," said Nate. "It just comes natural." "You don't want to brake just with your front brake," said Jacob. "Your bike could flip over." Marvin nodded. He'd heard that before. "Suicide Hill is so steep, you should probably use both brakes all the time," said Nate. jmkfho. "What about gears?" Marvin asked.

"What about them?" asked Nate. "Do I need to shift gears? Which gear should I use?" "High gear," said Jacob. "Low gear," said Nate, at almost the same time. "Low gear going up, high gear going down," said Jacob. "I thought it was high gear going up, and low gear going down," said Nate. "No, low up, high down," said Jacob. "I don't really think about it when I'm on my bike," said Nate. "It just comes natural." Marvin didn't think it would come natural to him. "You won't need to worry about gears going down the hill," said Jacob. "You'll coast almost the whole way. But remember to lean into the turns." Marvin didn't know what that meant. "You have to lean your bike way over on the sharp turns," Nate explained. "Have you ever watched a motorcycle race? They lean way over the whole time." Marvin had never seen a motorcycle race. He didn't want to do any fancy riding. He just wanted to get down the hill alive. "I'm just going to try to keep my bike

straight up," he said. "You can't do that," said Jacob. "You have to lean into the turns. Otherwise you'll slide off the path and you'll go over the cliff." "It comes natural," Nate assured him. Jacob and Nate went on up to Jacob's room. Marvin stayed where he was, staring at the wall. Well, it's only Thursday, he told himself.