Velocity

Part three

December 2009, Madrid, Spain

"I don't know about this." He mumbles looking down at his feet. "You'll be fine." I roll my eyes because of how scared he is. I pull my beany a little further over my head, trying to cover as much exposed skin as possible.

"No, I'm not. What if I fall?" He now turns around to look at me with panic in his eyes. I chuckle softy. He really pretended like he was going to die or something. "In that case, your butt will hit the ice." I say dryly. "Ha ha. What if I fall on my head or something?" he really sounds worried.

"You won't because you are the most talented person I know. I'm sure that if you can drive a kart like that, you can skate too." I pat his shoulder to comfort him. I brought him to the rink today because it's winter. And winters in Spain are a little different from the winters we had back in England.

Carlos is still standing in the entrance to the ice, his hands clasped around the side barriers, keeping him from falling standing on his skates. I was wearing my white figure skates and I gave some black with red ice hockey skates to Carlos, hoping it would give him a little more balance.

He sets one foot on the ice, almost falling down. I place one hand against his back, giving him a little support. "You can do this." I whisper in his ear. He places his second foot on the ice, still holding on to the barrier like his life depends on it.

He pushes himself off, so he glides a little bit further on the ice. "I'm doing it Rai, I'm doing it." He shouts and I can hear the happiness in his voice. "Yes, you're doing it." I say with a laugh. He looks like an idiot right now.

He has he arms spread for balance. His knees are bend so he is closer to the ice in case he falls. The red with yellow beany on his head is way to big, causing it to slide down, almost covering his eyes. He had a scarf draped around his shoulders, but because he is moving his arms so much, it now dragging after him like some sort of tail.

Just as I want to enter the ice, I hear something close to a scream. I look up, my eyes meeting his as he falls down. He is desperately looking for something to support him, but all he grabs is air as he smacks to the ice with a hard blow.

I enter the ice and skate to him as fast as I can. Where I come from all the kids can skate. Even the four-year-olds. I hadn't really thought about fifteen-year-olds that couldn't skate. But here he was. "Are you okay?" I ask as I sink down to my knees at his side.

"Yes, my bones broke my fall." He says as he takes my hand so I can pull him up. "You better did not really brake a bone." I say knowing I sound just like his father. Even thought Carlos loves karting, it's something he had to do from his father. "Yes, dad. I'm fine." He sighs.

I push my hands against his chest, checking of his bones are all in the right place. I take his hands and I move his arms around until Carlos has had enough and pushes me away. "I'm fine, Raina. Really." He looks down right into my eyes when he says that.

My Spanish roots are in charge when it come to growing. I have my mother to thank for that. My dad is a 1.87 meters tall white man from England, and I stand here looking at Carlos while I'm not even 1.40. "If you say so, I believe you." He says patting his chest another time, even though I don't know why.

"Come" I wave my hand gesturing him to follow me. I skate forward to the middle of the ice, and I make a pirouette. My feet move just like they used to do, like I never left the rink to begin with. I turn, spin and twist around Carlos, while he tries his best to just stand on his skates.

"How did you become this good at skating?" He asks with an admiring look on his face. "I always went down to the rink with my dad when we lived in England." I answer as I skate towards him making a last second turn, just missing him.