Part 8 (1/2)

His mum and Jo nodded and he pressed PLAY.

The screen showed Ethan in the plane, strapped to Sam. But as they watched the footage again, the flat shook to the sound of the front door slamming shut. Dad was home.

Ethan saw his mum's eyes close, her head fall forward a little. He moved to stop the DVD before his dad came into the lounge, but he was too late.

'What's this then? Playing happy families, are we?'

Ethan turned. His dad was leaning against the doorframe, finis.h.i.+ng off a can of lager. For a moment no one said a word. The only sound came from Ethan's tandem skydive on the TV.

'That your new boyfriend?' His dad was pointing at the TV with the can in his hand. 'Bit old for you, isn't he?'

Ethan said nothing. He wasn't going to let his dad ruin this. No way. So he went over to the TV, ejected the DVD and put it back in its case.

'I hope I haven't spoiled anything,' said his dad. 'Put it on, son. I want to see it.'

'It's finished,' said Ethan.

As he made to leave the room, his mum reached up and touched his hand. 'I'm really proud of you.'

Ethan smiled. 'Thanks, Mum,' he said, and headed for the door.

But his dad was blocking the doorway. 'Where are you going, son? Come on, let me watch it. Make me proud,' he said sarcastically.

'Get out of my way,' said Ethan, and heard his mum and Jo coming up behind him.

'Ethan,' said his mum. 'Don't...'

He stared at his dad. For a moment no one moved, then his dad stepped to one side, a fake smile slapped across his fat face. 'After you,' he said.

Ethan edged his way past, but as he did so, his dad s.n.a.t.c.hed the DVD from his hand.

He snapped round. 'Give that back.'

His dad looked at the DVD, then waved it in front of Ethan's face. 'I just want to watch it, son, that's all.'

'Don't call me that. Don't call me son,' said Ethan. He lunged for the DVD, and missed.

His dad laughed, then held the DVD out. 'Go on, then,' he said. 'Take it.'

Ethan reached for the DVD and his dad threw it down the hall. It clattered into the front door.

Ethan turned in fury. 'You b.a.s.t.a.r.d...'

But his mum immediately stepped between them, pus.h.i.+ng Ethan away. 'Don't,' she said. 'Please, Ethan, don't let him spoil it.'

'Yeah, listen to Mummy,' said his dad, and laughed.

Ethan moved towards his father, but his mum resisted and he thought better of it. Instead, he went to pick up the DVD. It seemed fine. He turned round to see his dad still sneering at him, but his mum was smiling. And so was Jo. And that was enough.

The day after the tandem jump Ethan was helping out in the shop at FreeFall. The buzz was still ripping through him.

Johnny had come in to buy a magazine; he was staring across the counter at Ethan.

'What?' said Ethan.

'Think you've got it bad, mate,' said Johnny.

'Got what?'

'The addiction. Some people jump once and that's enough for them been there, done that, got the T-s.h.i.+rt. But others you you, for example...'

'What about me?'

'You want up again, don't you?'

Ethan nodded.

'Can't think of anything else, can you?'

Ethan shook his head.

'Like I said,' Johnny sighed. 'You're addicted, Eth.' And with that, he turned to leave.

Ethan called him back as some of the other regular skydivers came to look around the shop.

'I've been thinking,' he said. 'What do I do next you know if I want to get into this? At least if I know what it'll cost, I'll have something to aim for.'

'The AFF,' said Johnny. 'Accelerated Freefall. It's the course we all did: Kat, Natalya, Luke. Even Jake.'

'Sounds cool,' said Ethan.

'Oh, it's cool all right,' said Johnny. 'Zero to hero in a week.'

'A week? No way.'

'That's why it's called accelerated,' said Johnny. 'If the weather's good, in one week you're jumping solo. There's lots of one-on-one tuition. It's pretty intense. Loads to learn. No time to think. h.e.l.l of a rush.'

Ethan remembered hearing a few people talking about the AFF, but he'd never taken a booking for it. 'Why don't more people do it?'

'Because it costs about fifteen hundred quid,' said Johnny. 'And that's a lot of cash.'

Ethan ran the figure around in his mind. It didn't get any smaller. 'b.o.l.l.o.c.ks,' he said.

'Steep, isn't it?' said Johnny. 'Got anything tucked away?'

Ethan shook his head. 'You've seen where we live. We all chip in together. We're not exactly poor, but no way have we got that amount of cash just sitting in the bank...'