A Final Spin at the Everett Skate Deck
It’s Friday night.
The floor of the Skate Deck whirls, spins, pulses with light speckling the darkness. It smells like old wood varnish and bodies in motion.
We rent skates from the man with a baseball cap and a ponytail who says, “Gracias, amigos.” We hit up the candy crane that picks up rubber toys. We win three ducks in a row. Then we hit the rink and start rolling for what will be an hour and a half of lights and magic.
Hitting the rink for lights and magic // Richard Porter
This is a place outside of time. It’s packed. Decades blur. Moms in bellbottoms, teens in cutoff jean jackets and mullets. Light up skates. Sparkly sequin skates. Different ages, races, genders all moving together in oblong harmony as we navigate the oval.
TLC’s “Don’t Go Chasing Waterfalls” comes over the speakers. Suddenly I have all these memories of light-up roses and playing Mortal Kombat II in the Skate Deck arcade, fifth grade.
This will be nothing soon. This condemned building in Silver Lake is destined to be taken down and turned into condominiums. Same with the beloved Alfy’s Pizza parlor next door.
Friday night lights Everett-style // Richard Porter
But tonight it’s children skating hand in hand with their parents; lovers skating hand in hand with lovers; friends laughing and racing each other. For now, this is a definite communal space where the world spins in a way that is somehow both ordered and chaotic. Each person is an improvisation of choreography on eight wheels.
Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” starts playing.
My five-year-old daughter is an excellent rollerskater. She looks up at me while we’re skating and says, “This is the most fun I’ve had in my life!” In that moment I feel the same. I really do. Roller skating on a Friday night makes you forget worries. I let the feeling of fun wash over me. I let fun rule the moment in this place that has seen so many first loves, birthday parties for children, slow skates to love ballads.
Having the most fun she’s had in her life // Richard Porter
Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody. With somebody who loves me.
Soon enough, the condos. But for tonight, the Skate Deck is here. And we’re here. And that’s all that matters.
Everett Skate Deck
9700 19th Ave SE
Everett, WA 98208
(425) 337-0202
Richard Porter is a writer for Live in Everett.