Trouble Will Find You
2023; University of Missouri; Volume: 46; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1353/mis.2023.0014
ISSN1548-9930
Autores ResumoTrouble Will Find You Ann-Marie Blanchard (bio) Click for larger view View full resolution Silhouette from a photo by Phil Roeder [End Page 70] Violet sped towards home and vaped till the cabin smelled like Pink Lady apples. She wore the sweat of competition. The judges at the X Games Sydney said she'd surfed the concrete like water, had the grace and power of Peggy Oki. There'd been something bolstering about her mates' nearness amid pulsing crowds as she competed on home turf and dominated. Recalling their chants, she slipped the Jeep into cruise control and relaxed. She was so almost happy that she forgot she had a passenger, so almost happy that she didn't recognise her own body in flight on a 6 × 10-foot billboard. [End Page 71] "Surprise, babe," said her mum, who was also her manager. The billboard targeted tweens and sold her nickname—a joke that'd stuck—Get Violent! Her animated body made her look like a sexy dinosaur demolishing a city. The last thing she needed was more fame; shooting ads for Vans already stole time away from her sport. It wasn't like she hadn't known about the video game—the producers had strapped her up for days on end to document how to animate her body—but then Violet told her mum she wanted to bail. Fuck capturing her body for consoles. Her mum wasn't always an excellent listener. Pulling over, she silenced her mum's favourite Bon Jovi song about living while you're alive. Her mum explained why selling her daughter's body to teens' consoles was worth the cash. "I'm doing you a favour," she said, running her hands across her leggings. "You've already done all the work. And listen, you're twenty-four, babe. Your body won't let you compete forever." Violet glared at a sound barrier that safeguarded suburbia from the freeway. She'd felt strangled by commitments since going pro at thirteen. Back in her acne days, she and her mum had needed the cash—badly—yet saving them from eviction had stunted her growth. "Don't worry about the video game," her mum said, nodding towards the billboard. "Worry about the Olympics." Checking her blind spot, Violet stomped on the Jeep's accelerator. _______ Violet couldn't have imagined she could get more famous, but with Get Violent's release, she found herself in figurine form at Target, crashed into fans and their fanatic comments all over social media, and got letters from a teen who wanted Violet to be her adoptive parent. At comps all over the world, the crowds multiplied so alarmingly that the sea of screamers shook Violet till she fumbled basics. Her one remaining safe zone became her nocturnal skate with the crew on those rare weeks she got home, until one night when they arrived at their favourite abandoned warehouse to find a massacre of teens with pristine boards flanking the entrance. Her crew tried to barricade her, but an acne-smattered girl fought through and clung to her hips, crying, "Will you be my mum?" A tear leaked from Violet's eye, not because the kid was pathetic but because she remembered yearning for a carer rather than a manager back when her skin was at its worst. Shaken by the kid, Violet skated home and searched for her mum throughout the immaculate rooms of the house she'd bought as soon as [End Page 72] her winnings afforded them permanent shelter. On an oversized couch, her mum watched a documentary about a darling American singer. When a stalky fan broke into the singer's apartment, Violet noticed her own hand trembling. Crawling against her mum's side, she whispered, "I'm so tired." "Go get some sleep," her mum said, stroking Violet's hair. "Olympic qualifier training starts tomorrow. Can you even believe it? Skating in the Olympics? Who ever thought this day would come for your sport? You're about to make history." "Mum?" "What is it, babe?" "What if I don't—" "Don't what?" "Never mind." The following morning, Violet had the worst fall of...
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