The bike wasn’t really that big.
He shifted the gear back to 5. Then he shifted one notch further, to 4.
He made a U-turn and continued up. the hill. It was a lot easier to pedal now that he was in a lower gear. He shifted to 3. Even better.
He had to keep on shifting gears as he continued following the road higher and higher. After a while both
gears were pointed at 1, and it was still hard to pedal.
Ahead of him, the road made a sharp turn to the left. A steel barrier prevented cars from going straight.
But Marvin wasn’t in a car. Using his right-hand brake, he stopped his bike. He got off and walked around the barrier. He took several long, deep breaths, then looked over the edge of Suicide Hill.
8
The Hill
Where was everybody? Marvin wondered if maybe they all got tired of waiting and went home. Or they could be waiting at the bottom of the hill. After all, why should they struggle to get to the top?
“Hello!” he shouted. “I’m here!”
There was no answer.
He couldn’t see the bottom of the hill. His eyes followed a dirt path that zigzagged through some rocks, then disappeared behind a large bush. He couldn’t see anything beyond that.
“Anyone down there?” he called.
A van stopped on the other side of the barrier. Marvin turned around to see his mother. She got out of the van and stepped over the barrier. “Since Nick and Stuart weren’t riding with you, I thought I’d better make sure you were all right.”
Marvin was glad to see her.
“I dropped Jacob, Linzy, and your dad at the bottom of the hill,” she said. “They wanted to see you come down.”
“Was anyone else there?” asked Marvin.
“No.”
“You sure?” Marvin asked.
“I didn’t see anybody.”
“Do you know what time it is?”
His mother checked her watch. “A couple of minutes after twelve.”
“What about Nate?” Marvin asked. “Did he come with Jacob?”
“No.”
Marvin couldn’t believe it. Although, now that he thought about it, Nate had never said he was coming. And none of Marvin’s classmates had talked about Suicide Hill since that day at lunch. When was that? Wednesday? Three days ago.
He shook his head and smiled. He had been so worried about what everybody else thought. But nobody else really cared.
“So this is Suicide Hill,” said his mother, peering over the edge.
Marvin nodded.
“It’s steep, isn’t it?”