Disclaimer,
Together with Zola and Sandy, I made my way to the beach. My arm wrapped around Sandy´s waist, kissing her cheek from time to time and my hand was holding Zola´s, who chuckled every time Sandy and I kissed. At the end of the small dirt road, I grabbed two board out of the shed. A smaller one for Zola and a special one for me. Sandy didn´t surf but likes to lie in the sun on one of the lounge chairs watching.
"It is just like riding on the front of my board." I said encouragingly as I paddled alongside Zola towards the big waves. "Just be very careful in the beginning. Find your balance."
I picked up the first wave, did my thing and was immersed by the water. Zola picked it quickly up and raced after me. Tricks or speed were still to difficult for her but she became more confident with each wave.
I was lying flat on my board while I was looking at her when somebody came paddling next to me.
"John." I said, nodding to him. "I didn´t know you could surf."
"Sometime, a really long time ago, I did it once. Now I'm here anyway, I want to see if I still have it in me." He said. With a smile on my face I, I took a new wave. John didn´t have it in him any longer, he lost his balance within seconds and swam back to his board. I finished it with a three-sixty and ended up in the water with a dive.
"Alan!" Zola came paddling to me. "How am I doing it? Am I better than John? "
"Way better." I whispered. "But don´t tell him."
She giggled when John came to us.
"This is great. Those waves, the sun. seriously. I don´t know how I can leave this place tomorrow. I wouldn´t mind to stay here for ever. You have here one of the best things you can have in life." He says when he stopped next to us.
"One of the first things Alan taught me was, that the best things in life aren´t things." Said Zola. "But I agree with you blondie, surfing is awesome. I go one more time. "
"Two waves and then we have to go cooking!" I yelled after her. I shook my head. "Who am I kidding. I'd rather skip dinner than stop now."
"Lets not starve us." John rubbed his wet hair from his eyes. "What´s the best thing in life?"
"The people you live with it. and the moments you share." I whispered while I watched Sandy rode the waves.
"You're good you know that. Really good. "
"Practice makes perfect. I come here as many times I could and surf for days."
"I mean with Zola, loser." Laughed John, "Surfing, yeah I believe that, but you're good with her. I see you care a lot about her."
"That ... thanks, that means a lot to me." I looked at the girl who rode the waves like she did it for years. "They accepted her pretty easy. Marcus seems to have a little doubt but I understand that. Sandy is his baby girl. Bat Lady P and Parker seem to have no problems with it. That means she is certainly safe until I´m back and I can also contact her, just in case. With the watch I mean."
"You're going to be a great dad for her. Maybe an even better big brother. One where all the other kids will be jealous of."
"A dad that everyone is jealous off isn´t always everything." I said gloomily.
"It's over for you huh. You're done with it at home." Said John gently. I nodded. "What did they say that made you so upset . I mean. You have heard this for years and never even blinked. What made this the last straw."
"Everything. He was commenting on something he does in everyday life. I understand it's different for me than for him, but it is hypocrite in my opinion. He asked Gordon what I was doing out of bed and then start screaming commands like I was a little child, while he was acting like a toddler. He said that James is the only reason that I successfully finished high school, which apparently is a miracle. I had to grow up and apparently was no longer a toddler who needed a babysitter. So I told him that I indeed no longer needed a babysitter and I left. I know I should have kept it together. And normally I can but both Gordon and Virgil stood with their arms crossed, looking at me as if I was a baby who deserved to be scolded at. Virgil chased me and squeezed my arm so hard that I received a bruise." I pulled the sleeves of my wet shirt up and showed him the fresh bruise. "That was the moment it was over. I lost my control and I may have pushed Virgil away me. Remember when you startled me at the station."
"I scared YOU? I was the one who lay on the ground."
"It doesn´t matter who scared who. You heard what I said to him. He told you."
"You said goodbye. What are you planning to do now?"
"My original plan. Cambridge and then to the front. I can help so many people there. I'll probably keep inventing stuff. If I have anything I think you could use, like the breathing device, I´ll send it to you. To YOU. We´ll keep in touch. You can do with it what you want with it. "
"Zola and Sandy? Do you want to leave them behind?"
"By that time, Zola should already be on the university and won´t need me any longer. Sandy knows that this is something that is important to me." I turned around and looked at my fiance on the beach. She was talking to Lady P but when she saw that I looked she waved to us. I blew her a kiss and she pretended that she caught him. "You can´t imagine better person." I continued. "She understands me like nobody else can. Sometimes even better than James. She knows when I need someone and who I need, she won´t push when I´m not ready. If I tell her what I want to do and I can explain why I want it. Then she´ll never say no. I know she hoped… is still hoping that I could make things right with my family. But she lets me do what I think is best for me and ultimately for us. We trust each other blindly and know that no one would ever do anything to hurt the other. If I tell her that it will turn out okay, then she trust me. She told me that Zola will be safe with her the next few days, so I know Zola is safe, Sandy won´t let anything happen to her. If you find someone who loves you and and loves you just the way you are. You hold on to her no matter what happens. I love her with every fiber in my body. I'm not going to let her go. "
Zola came to us. "I'm hungry." she announced. "And I´m tired."
I scooped her up and placed her on my board. John lifted her board out of the water and laid it across his board. "Shall we go and prepare some dinner?"
She nodded. John left we behind in silence. He had something to think about.