I adored how youthful and carefree he could be at times. It showed how strong his soul was and how it had resisted the shit that his family had put him through. I welcomed seeing his youthfulness and the boy in him that had once been trapped.
After we were dressed, we drove over to the parking lot to the beginner slope. As we made our way to the lodge to check in for our lesson, Ryan moved his arms quickly, as though he were running. He was doing it on purpose to make noise with his nylon ski jacket.
Once we checked in, we were given the boots that we’d use for the day. Ryan had decided that he wanted to try snowboarding rather than skiing, which I thought suited him perfectly. We collected the skis and snowboard and waited on a wooden deck for the enclosed gondola.
“My hips are kind of made for the snowboard motion,” he playfully said as he made more nylon swishing noises with his clothes. “It’s kind of like surfing motions. Kind of. I hope.”
It was such a temptation to reach out and kiss him, but I knew public displays of affection often made him uneasy. My fingers itched to touch him, though, so I reached out and tugged the edge of his beanie down to cover more of his ears. When the gondola arrived, a handful of other people filed in ahead of us. Ryan and I stood close to one of the sides and looked out the window as we climbed the mountain. About halfway up, Ryan nudged me with his elbow and then leaned closer.
“I farted,” he said under his breath. “These pants are great.”
“Are they keeping you warm?” I asked.
“Oh yeah. Plus, I just created my own warmth too.”
Even though I’d skied plenty of times in my life, I wouldn’t dare miss watching Ryan take a lesson on snowboarding by heading out on the slope ahead of him. While Ryan and the instructor were going over a few basics, I went into the café to get some coffee. A woman and her two little kids were getting hot chocolate ahead of me and the little boy started running in place. With blushing cheeks, his older sister grabbed his arm and told him to stop.
“You’re making noise on purpose,” she hissed at him.
“It’s fun! I make swishy noises!” he exclaimed.
The sister urged him to stop, which only encouraged him to make more noise with his pants and jacket. The boy, who might have been five or six years old, pulled out of his sister’s grip and bumped into my leg as he backed up. Both of the kids stopped and apologized to me.
“You two!” The mother turned and looked at me. “I am so sorry. It’s his first time skiing, and he’s more excited about the noises he can make.” She smiled and rolled her eyes at her son.
“It’s no trouble at all. I have one just like him. He’s also enamored by the noise he can make in his snow pants and jacket,” I said and smiled.
Once I had my coffee, I went back out onto the deck. I leaned on the wooden railing and looked out over the slope for Ryan. He would watch the instructor and then he’d mirror it. In no time at all, Ryan had mastered the beginner’s slope. It wasn’t a surprise to me that he had picked it up so naturally. Ryan was one of those guys who was simply good at anything athletic he tried.
Ryan shook the instructor’s hand as they parted, and Ryan looked up to the deck for me. I waved so he could find me, even though there weren’t a lot of people around. Snow was lightly falling here and there, and it was cold outside. I finished my coffee just as he climbed the steps to the deck.
“Well, how was it?” I asked. I noticed how red his cheeks were and gestured for him to stand near the outdoor heater. His cheeks were red from a combination of the cold and being active.
“It was great! It wasn’t hard at all. I didn’t even fall yet! I almost fell once but was able to balance and re-center.”
He spoke enthusiastically and commented about how the instructor said he was a natural. I reached out and tugged his beanie down over his ears some more.
“Wonderful, Ryan. I had a feeling you’d pick it up quite quickly. Are you ready for one of the bigger slopes?”
“Pfft.” He huffed and rolled his eyes as he swatted at the air. “I was born ready for this stuff.”
“Let’s go, then.”
As we headed to the top of the slope, he issued a challenge.
“Want to race to the bottom?”
Ryan’s tone was energetic and almost begged me to accept his challenge. While I knew he was excited to exert his skill and compete, in the back of my mind was the reminder that this was his first time on the slope. If he felt he was competing, he could lose focus and fall or hurt himself.
“I don’t want to have to take you to the emergency room, my boy. How about we go easy on the first run? If you’re still feeling like a race on our second run, we’ll go for it.”
“Okay,” he agreed.
We stepped into the bindings, and Ryan adjusted his beanie and then looked at me to see if I was ready.
“I’ll see you at the bottom, Ryan.”
“I’ll be waiting for you on a bench,” he said and laughed.
