At what the skaters called the grind rail, Pranthi learned that skateboarding had its risks. One of Jack's friends had been trying ever more outrageous tricks. Pranthi suspected that his bottle of water was more alcohol than water. He got sloppier as the afternoon progressed. She set up fifteen feet from the end of the rail. Close enough to have mostly sky as background, far enough back that the person designated to protect her from flying skateboards didn't have much to do.
Duckman flew down the ramp and hit the grind on the rail, but when he came off he tried a one eighty. The board snapped when he landed and he went down hard. He didn't roll neatly but landed in a heap. Pranthi feared he'd killed himself, but he came up swearing, picked up on half of his board and threw it against the
