Rogue Wolf

Ch 2 parkour

The parkour video is a few guys running the roofs of Hong Kong. When Jax takes to the roofs, this is how he moves. Keep the way they enter the shopping mall in mind for later.
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I heard voices when I woke up- a guy's husky laughter mixed with my mom's moans. Needing to escape the disturbing sounds, I headed out my window, down to the streets, before I got sick.

I spent the afternoon the way I usually did, doing my favorite thing.

Parkour.

It was the art of continual movement: flips, spins, swings, jumps, and leaps. It involved gymnastics. It took body strength at my current level. It was balancing on the edge of a wire. It took focus and commitment. It was almost like dance. It was the one beautiful thing in my life.

I began when I saw a video back when I was eleven. Parkour was why I had faked the papers to school myself. Parkour was my true life, the part of who I was that belonged to no one else. This is when I knew I was alive in the most primal sense. When I moved, the ugly parts of my life stop existing. There was only the now.

I headed through the few regular courses I ran around town. Movement was my specialty and my escape in more than one sense. I felt free when I ran, alive when I jumped. Every obstacle wasn't an obstacle, it was merely a challenge; and challenges were meant to be overcome.

Leaps over and against walls, up and over fences. Flips and back flips, feet against the side of buildings. Swings around poles. Up, knowing which open spaces I could jump. This city was my playground. I lost myself in the constant flow of my movement, letting all my frustration out in my swings, steps and landings. My path led me through different parts of the city. There weren't too many areas I hadn't been in during the last six years.

After a few hours I took a break, leaning against an old billboard on a rooftop.  I wasn't ready to head home to stick my nose in the door, just so my mom would know I was still around. I never stayed home long before I went back out for my evening activities. I sighed, unable to get those sounds I woke up to out of my mind. I didn't know why they were bothering me more than usual. It wasn't the first time I'd heard my mom earning her keep. I pictured the city in my mind, trying to get a feel for what area fit my mood.

There was a small group of teens and young men that did a bit of light parkour regularly, mostly leaps and hurdles. I knew their course. It ran exclusively on their apartment building rooftop. When they ran, they ran one at a time, evenly spaced out, about ten minutes or so between each runner. I always figured they were part of gym or something. I'd snuck in and run different parts of it on occasion, when I knew they wouldn't be there. It was a challenging run with obstacles they didn't bother with. I hadn't managed to run all of their course yet, just most of it.

I decided to push myself today. This morning's sounds had me edgy, and still upset. I had gone into areas I didn't usually bother with today. I usually kept out of areas that had a heavy gang presence, avoiding possible conflict. Intruding on claimed turf was reckless, something I usually wasn't. Today had been different. I decided to keep my reckless streak going.

I headed across the rooftops.

Timing and hiding was everything. I planned to start in the middle of their open timeframe, between runners. There were a few areas where they would see me if I stayed on that schedule. I would have to hide in a few places, wait for the next guy to go by, wait five minutes, go for part of the course before hiding and getting back in the middle of their timeframe again.

I felt a strange excitement. I usually went out of my way to avoid being noticed. The challenge I set for myself today was more than just running their course. Today I ran the risk of getting caught. My heart beat faster in suspense, but I wasn't anxious. Even if they did catch me, what could they do? Chase me away?

The risk was low and my excitement was high. This was a new level of living. This was feeling, feeling in a way I didn't have to be afraid of. It had been so long since I'd let emotions flow wild. I didn't even try to contain or bottle what I was feeling. I couldn't remember the last time I'd been excited about anything.

A memory snuck in.

The Christmas I was six maybe? Some drunk dude that my mom had invited over had fallen over our small tree. When I had fussed, the guy had slapped me to the ground. My mom didn't even get mad at the guy, just told me to go to my room, Christmas presents unopened. My excitement back then had died, drowned in pain and tears. I didn't like remembering such things.

I set the past aside as my determination grew. I watched the next runner come out of the door, counting the time. Sprinting, I ran, fast. I could almost feel laughter bubbling up as I hurtled over fixtures on the roofs. After a particularly tall leap, I did a shoulder roll as I landed. Where the runners went around what was probably an ac unit, I leapt high, backflipping off the solid surface, moving in the opposite direction of the runners. Sliding behind an exhaust vent, I crouched down, waiting.

I could feel my heart beating beyond the excursion. I had never felt so alive! I heard the next runner go by. They didn't know I was here. The thought had me grinning. I counted out the minutes, planning the moves I had ahead of me. I ran again, consumed by my love of movement. There was a skylight in front of me and I made ready to jump. I was mid-leap when I got tackled; me and whoever came up behind me falling together on the far side. My heart was in my mouth even as my cheek got scraped on the rough rooftop. I was grateful we didn't fall through the glass.

"What the hell dude! There ain't no reason to..." I started to say.

The guy punched me across the jaw. Next thing I knew he threw something over my head. Despite my struggles, I was quickly bound, hands tied behind my back.

"Bring him," was growled out.

Shit. I really hoped this was some kind of initiation thing. If they were a gang, well, I knew enough about how things worked, I should be able to talk my way out of it.