DropZone

4

‘It’s for my birthday,’ said the middle-aged man at the counter. Ethan was taking bookings at the FreeFall reception. It was early in the morning and people were flooding in to head off into the sky. He wished he was one of them.

Ethan had had a busy few days since taking the job and, with the week drawing to a close, was only now beginning to settle into the place, get a feel for how to do things – and for how to not sound like a total tit when anyone asked him what skydiving was all about. He could now tell people what happened, what the training involved, what the equipment was. Even his mum and his sister had been impressed – not just because he had a decent summer job, but because it was something out of the ordinary; something he really enjoyed.

Ethan looked up and saw that the man’s smile refused to let go of his face. There were three other younger men standing behind him. The guy gestured to them. ‘They thought it’d be fun to throw their dad out of a plane for his sixtieth.’

Ethan smiled as the man handed over a voucher for a tandem skydive, then turned back to his family. As Ethan logged the details into the computer, he listened to the guy chatting with his sons and a well-dressed woman – presumably his wife. They were all laughing and joking, as if jumping out of a plane to celebrate a birthday was a normal thing to do.

He typed in the man’s occupation. And paused. ‘You’re a vicar?’

The man nodded.

During his first few crazy days at FreeFall, Ethan had seen plenty of people from all walks of life sign up to jump out of a plane, but never a man of God.

The vicar winked at him. ‘At least I know where I’m headed if something goes wrong.’

It was lunch time before Ethan had a break. He sat down on a tired picnic bench and pulled a magazine he’d found in the FreeFall shop out of his pocket. The cover showed a skydiver upside down and smiling.

He flicked through, staring, between mouthfuls of bacon and bread, at the pictures. OK, so he didn’t really understand everything that was in the mag, but he was still fascinated by it. And with all the time he’d spent at FreeFall, he was beginning to wonder whether he could ever find the money to have a go himself.

‘I’ve still not made the front cover,’ came a voice from behind Ethan. He looked round to see Johnny pulling up a chair. He was in his skydiving suit and carrying what looked like a small surfboard.

‘Bit far from the sea, aren’t you?’ said Ethan.

‘I do freestyle,’ said Johnny. ‘And let me tell you, surfing through the air on this thing beats doing it on the sea.’

‘I’ll take your word for it.’

Behind Johnny, Ethan saw the minibus pull up, fill up and drive off, taking another group down to the plane that waited just out of sight on the runway.

‘I need to get some binoculars,’ he said as the minibus disappeared. ‘I want to see what it’s like when people actually leave the plane.’

‘Only way to really see that is to do it,’ said Johnny. ‘How’s the job?’

‘Busy,’ said Ethan, lifting a can of drink to his mouth and taking a swig. ‘But fun. This morning I had a vicar in to do a tandem. Nuts or what?’

Johnny reached over and ripped a chunk off Ethan’s sandwich. ‘Takes all sorts,’ he said, stuffing the sandwich into his mouth. ‘Speaking of which, what do you do when you’re not here – other than the joy that is school work and exam revision?’

‘Sod all,’ said Ethan. ‘You’ve seen where I live. Jumping off the roof seems like a good idea more often than you’d think.’

Johnny laughed. ‘That bad?’

‘Worse.’

Johnny didn’t press him, but Ethan continued – he couldn’t help himself. ‘Jo, my sister, she’s all right, and Mum’s your typical mum.’

Johnny raised an eyebrow.

‘You know… Can’t help feeding you or commenting on what you’re wearing.’

Johnny nodded a knowing smile.

‘But my dad’s a tosser.’ Ethan’s voice was angry. ‘The sooner I leave home the better, to be honest. Either that or I kill him.’

He fell silent for a moment. The last thing he wanted to do was talk about his dad; have him ruin what he was doing now, here, away from the flat. Wasn’t that part of the reason he had come to FreeFall anyway? To get away from his dad – to be somewhere he couldn’t be affected by him? So he focused on finishing what was left of his lunch – which wasn’t much, thanks to Johnny.

The sound of the plane taking off thrummed through the air. Ethan turned with Johnny to watch it go airborne.

Johnny leaned back in his chair. ‘Got any plans?’

‘How do you mean?’ said Ethan.

‘You know, travelling or uni or whatever.’

Ethan shook his head. ‘Finishing my A-levels will keep Mum happy, and after that, well, I’ve thought about the Royal Marines.’

‘Seriously?’

‘Yeah,’ said Ethan. ‘I just can’t stand the idea of an ordinary life in a shop or an office. And I don’t want to end up like my dad. He’s the best reason you could ever meet for mindless violence. Steals from Mum… never has a job for more than a few months… drinks.’

‘Nice,’ said Johnny.

‘What about you?’ asked Ethan. ‘You’re no longer at school now, so what next?’

‘I forget the plans and just get on with living. It’s more fun that way.’

Ethan shrugged. ‘Maybe for you. But I wouldn’t mind at least having some idea of where I’m going.’

Johnny laughed. ‘I figured there was another reason Sam hired you.’

‘Why’s that then?’

‘He just thinks people should have a purpose,’ said Johnny. ‘Or be given one.’

‘He’s quite a scary bloke,’ said Ethan, thinking back to his interview. ‘Seems nice enough, but he looks bloody hard.’

‘Ex forces,’ said Johnny. ‘And if you let on you’re thinking of joining up, he’ll have you doing push-ups and bleep tests before you know it!’

‘Really?’ said Ethan.

Johnny nodded, his face almost serious. ‘And he’s a world-class skydiver.’

‘Does he teach you?’

‘Me and a few others,’ said Johnny. ‘He wants us to be the best skydiving team there is. He works us hard, doesn’t stand for any messing around, but there’s no one better.’

Ethan looked up, trying to see if the plane was over the DZ yet.

‘Listen out for a drop in the sound of the plane’s engines,’ said Johnny, following Ethan’s line of sight. ‘That means it’s slowing down so people can jump.’

Immediately after he spoke, Ethan heard the change in the sound of the plane. A few seconds later, tiny dots dropped into the sky like erratic flies. Straining his eyes, he followed the dots as they grew larger. He soon realized that one of them was actually made up of a number of dots; a group doing a formation dive. The dot exploded. Parachutes burst into life and drifted down like confetti.

‘Check these guys out,’ said Johnny as the four skydivers from the formation came in above them. ‘They’re swooping.’

Ethan didn’t have a chance to ask what swooping was: in quick succession, the skydivers turned into the DZ at an impossible speed. He watched as they sped through the air, only inches from the ground, then pulled into a perfect landing.

As they touched down, he noticed their parachutes; they were the smallest he’d seen – more like power kites.

‘Cool, eh?’ said Johnny, grinning. ‘A swoop’s a high-speed landing. The control you need is amazing. It’s unbelievably difficult. Which is why I’m the best.’

Ethan ignored Johnny’s comment and said, ‘Those parachutes – they just don’t look big enough.’

‘They’re Raiders,’ said Johnny. ‘Small, fast and scary. And the word’s canopy, not parachute. If you’re gonna work here, you may as well sound like you know what you’re talking about.’

‘You tried one?’

Johnny shook his head. ‘Sam’s got some on order for us though – me and the rest of the team, that is. Want a go?’

Ethan saw the challenge on Johnny’s face. ‘Yeah, no worries,’ he said. ‘I reckon it’s easy. It’s just people like you want to make the rest of us think it’s difficult so you look cool.’

‘But anyone can skydive,’ said Johnny, and Ethan saw a wild spark in his eyes. ‘And it is easy. Just look around you!’

Ethan did just that. Like every other day he’d been at FreeFall, he was amazed at the variety of people who had all signed up to jump: pensioners, teenagers, mothers… even vicars.

‘Statistically it’s safer than driving or crossing a road,’ Johnny told him. ‘You’re more likely to get hit by a meteorite than be killed skydiving.’

Ethan rested his can on the table and looked directly at Johnny, who shrugged.

‘OK, so some of that may not be strictly true.’

‘That is a surprise.’

‘But you’ve just got to try it!’ said Johnny, and Ethan saw that wildness fire up again. ‘It’s the most awesome thing ever. It could make you almost as cool as me! It’s a life-changing thing!’

‘Yeah,’ said Ethan, getting up from the table to head back inside, ‘and so’s the money I’d need to do it.’

At the end of the day Ethan was just making for his bike when a voice called, ‘Ethan? Got a minute?’

He turned to find Sam striding towards him.

‘How’s your first week been?’

Ethan started to reply and found he couldn’t stop. All he could do was spill out everything he’d done that week – how much he’d enjoyed it, the people he’d met, how he was still amazed by the whole skydiving scene, loved watching people jumping, coming in to land, their faces carrying the biggest smiles. He couldn’t remember being so enthusiastic about anything in his life. It felt good.

‘Here,’ said Sam, handing Ethan some forms. ‘A banking form so I can pay you direct into your account. The others are parental and health forms.’

‘What for?’ asked Ethan, and read the answer on the forms as Sam spoke.

‘Perk of the job. You get a free tandem skydive. With me.’

Ethan wasn’t given a chance to respond; Sam was gone.

Walking to his bike, he slipped the forms into a pocket. He couldn’t wait to get his mum to sign them.

No sooner had Ethan pushed through the front door of the flat than Jo stopped him in the hall.

‘Dad’s here,’ she told him.

‘So?’ said Ethan. ‘Where’s Mum? I’ve got some forms for her to sign.’ He could hear the TV blaring in the lounge. A loud burp rode over it, followed by a guttural laugh.

‘He’s drunk.’ Ethan could see the warning in Jo’s eyes.

‘You’re not telling me everything, are you?’ he said, forgetting about the forms in a second. ‘What’s he done?’

Jo hesitated, then said, ‘It’s Mum, but she’s OK. He just shook her up a bit. He didn’t hit her. She’s going out to work in a minute.’

Ethan turned and walked down the hall.

‘Ethan,’ Jo called after him. ‘Don’t-’

But he was already in the lounge, kicking over the half-empty lager can that was propping the door open.

He found his dad sprawled on the sofa like a beached whale. The reek of alcohol stung his nose; on the floor a half-eaten kebab rested on greasy paper next to a pile of empty lager cans.

For a few moments Ethan stood there, watching his dad’s fat, pale belly rising and falling, bursting through the buttons of his shirt.

Then his dad turned and looked up at him. ‘What do you want?’

‘What did you do to Mum?’ Ethan’s voice was cold, hard.

‘I just got her to shut up, that’s all. Don’t worry, son. I didn’t hurt the precious little thing.’

Ethan hated the way his dad called him ‘son’. He didn’t want to be reminded. He stood there clenching his fists. He could feel his nails biting into his skin. His dad went back to watching the TV, cracking open another lager.

Ethan walked over to the TV and turned it off.

‘What the hell are you doing?’ his dad shouted, dragging himself up out of the sofa. ‘I was watching that!’ He swayed slightly and took a deep pull from the lager can.

‘I want you out,’ said Ethan. ‘We all do. Take what you want and fuck off.’

His dad leaned closer and Ethan gagged at his breath. It smelled like a pub carpet. ‘You orderin’ me around?’ he demanded. ‘Who are you to order me, eh? I’m your dad, get it?’

He tried to shove Ethan out of the way, heading for the TV, but Ethan stood his ground.

‘You’ve gone too far,’ he said. ‘Hitting Mum, that’s too much. I want you out.’

‘I didn’t hit her. I just shook her a bit, that’s all.’

‘I don’t care,’ said Ethan. ‘I don’t want you laying a hand on her. Just go.’

‘My flat, my rules,’ said his dad. ‘Just who the hell do you think you are? Think you’re something special, is that it? You’re a nothing, Ethan, worse than nothing. Now get out of my way.’

As his dad reached to turn on the TV, Ethan grabbed the greasy collar of his shirt and threw him back onto the sofa.

He landed awkwardly, and roared, ‘Right, you little bastard! Now you’re gonna get it!’

Ethan didn’t move. He was ready for this, had been for years. He clenched his fists.

But then they both heard the scream from the doorway, and turned to see Mum and Jo.

‘Stop it! The pair of you! Just stop it!’ snapped Mum.

‘Mum,’ said Ethan. ‘He-’

‘I’m not interested,’ she said, tears welling up in her eyes. ‘Don’t be like him, Ethan. Don’t let him win.’

Ethan’s dad leaned closer, and laughed. ‘Yeah, Ethan, do what your mammy says, there’s a good little boy.’

Ethan lifted a hand to shove him backwards, but Jo rushed in between them.

‘It won’t help,’ she said. ‘Just leave him be.’

His dad laughed, moved past Jo to switch the TV on again, then slumped back onto the sofa.

Ethan shook his head and walked out of the room. As he passed his mother, she reached out for him, crying now, but he was too wound up to stay in the flat.

‘You’re going to have to throw him out one day, Mum,’ he told her, making for the front door. ‘Count on it.’

Then he was outside, the door shut behind him.

He took a moment to calm down, then walked on. As he did so, he felt something in his pocket and pulled out the forms Sam had given him – the ones he’d wanted his mum to sign so he could do a tandem jump. Too late now. He wasn’t about to go back to the flat for a while, so he’d have to try and catch her in the morning.

Looking at the forms brought Ethan back to himself, made him remember what he was doing with his life now. He wasn’t going to let his dad ruin what he had at FreeFall. So he focused on that, and the fact that soon he might be jumping out of a plane himself. His mind instantly filled with all the faces of the skydivers – the wild look in Johnny’s eyes – and the thought that he might soon look the same.

The thought sent excitement coursing through him, adrenaline flooding his system, making his stomach turn a somersault. It wasn’t the first time.

It wouldn’t be the last.