Smartystan

Vestin Go fixed the bolts on the board. With complete concentration, he peered at the tiny pieces and worked the structure of the mode of transportation. As he finished, he sensed that glorious sensation of having finished something with aplomb. That rich aura of satisfaction washed over his entire being. He sighed like a weight had been lifted from his soul.

The shop boasted every style of fitness gear and various decks and other skating materials. All colors combined to make a panoply of hues. His phone rang. He noted the ID. “Of course.” he cleared his throat.

“Hi.”

“Hello, how are you, Mr. Go?”

“I’m well, I’m free to do an interview in about an hour.”

“How about right now?”

This seemed like a journalistic ambush. Go motioned for one of his assistants, James Washington, to lock the door. Then he relented. Go made the unofficial, international sign of “come back,” with his hand. Delaware Channel 30 personnel soon poured into the space. Ida C. Harris, medium chocolate colored and standing at 5’10” towered over Go’s slight five-foot-six frame. He didn’t, nevertheless, appear intimidated.

“Mr. Go, you have made billions in cryptocurrency. Why do you spend so much time on skateboards?”

“I’m focused on the markets, but I’m totally enamored by the boards.”

He felt like this could be puffier than he had anticipated.

“Now that you have the new land mass that once was the state of Delaware, how do you feel about the men and women of average ability who are trying to destroy and disrupt this oasis of intelligence?”

Wow, he thought. Maybe the puff piece was really a torrential rain cloud.

“My staff is of average to very good mental capacity. I would take them any day over the alleged, thoughtful scoundrel. They are trustworthy and dedicated to reality and show their competence in everything they do.”

Ida smirked a bit. It was a clean little smile with edges of derision framing the corner of her mouth. “So why aren’t they living in this new promised land?”

“It’s simple. They didn’t pass the tests. Does that make them any less honorable? Of course not. I couldn’t pass the test off the bat either and neither could Covey-––”

“Dr. Strong.”

“Yes,” Go replied. “The first time he failed. So did Belinda. We obviously passed but it’s a toughy.”

During the interview, Go continued to polish the boards and affix the bolts. And Washington checked inventory. It was like the cameras didn’t exist. It was like Go showed himself to be so entranced by his chance to keep the place running, to keep the blood pumping through the space. Again, Ida shot another question. “There has been talk of people with middling mental efficiency still getting past those gates. What do you think about that?”

“There are many ways people can get into the area. We’re actually pretty lax. I know that it seems like an injustice for some people to have to take tests and others have only bypassed the various places of entry. Those who graduated past the exams have a greater amount of access to other places and activities in the new country. I think if you’ve fought this much, you deserve to be amongst the brightest minds from all over the world. They’re not really concerned with the folks also who have lesser intellectual capabilities. It’s only the ACA who has a problem. I just think they’re mistaken.”

Ida bathed in the spectacular lighting and the pristine things up for sale.

“How many shops like this do you own?”

“So far, this is the only one.”

“Why is it still here? Why haven’t you packed up and shipped all of this stuff into the new country?”

Go snickered politely. “I’m too selfish to let this place go. No pun intended.”

“Selfish? Selfish how?” Ida asked.

“I mean I’m too full of myself that to have this shop nestled in the new nation would distract from the amount of spiritual essence I sense when I work. Here, crypto is my love, but this is my passion.”

Ida stood on her toes and motioned for her crew that she wanted to wrap.

“Any final thoughts?”

“Absolutely. Everyone of low, average, or high intellectual capacity can visit Go with It Board Shop. We even have a half-pipe in the back.”

“Thank you for your time, Mr. Go.”

“It was a pleasure to the point of ecstasy.”

Ida’s eyes grew wide then she chuckled. She turned to face the exit. Go grinned. He felt he had delivered answers that shouldn’t be edited or distorted. The smooth touch of the underbelly of the board felt like glass to the touch.

“What was all that?” Washington asked.

“You’ll see it on the eleven o’clock news.”

“C’mon. Tell me.”

“Alright, I said I’m staying on the outskirts of Delaware to sacrifice my life for all of you workers.”

“Yeah, right.”

“No, seriously, I just said I’m not selling. Crypto made me a billionaire and I’m going to support the new country as well as the already established pleasure centers like the one in which we stand.”

Washington’s face looked peculiar, like something both annoyed him and amused him at the same time. Like in a video game where a player finds himself stuck on a level or phase of the game. Then he laughed lightly. “Cool.”

He then returned to the mini-indoor park and practiced the advanced move the Ultralift. Go continued to watch the markets as well as the clientele which marched in with hopes of not just grinding tricks on his half-pipe but engaging with ideas. He wanted it, too. To see faces of kids from six to sixty-six, wanting to know the ways of the board for a brief lesson in how to best invest in various currencies on the blockchain. A euphoric sense shot through him. He felt light and airy as if he had been intoxicated. He, yet, was as sober as a traffic cop. While he watched the customers debate over prices, he closed down his shop on the Web where he earned a cool eight million dollars in one day. Once again, a smile crept onto his face. He placed a helmet on his head and pads on his knees after the last customer left and he locked the door and everything else. He called his girlfriend Anna Singh.

“Show’s over,” he said to her.

“They interviewed you, too?”

“That’s right.”

“We must play,” Anna said.

She arrived in similar gear. Upon locking the door behind her, the couple found each other and kissed.

“Let’s see some aerials that actually lead to a landing with you,” she said with a smirk.

“You know, I was just about to tell you that.”

The back door swung open and then shut.