Chapter Two

Every evening that week found Ralph in the backyard again, working on his footing, getting to a standing position from both laying on the board and sitting on the board, and vice versa.

It was now the day before the contest. Ralph had the board on the ground and several hand weights scattered about, though, currently, he was using a jump rope.

Ralph worked his way through some exercises, mixed with practices in stance on the board, along with popping up and lying down, simulating the movements.

He did the workouts without the jammies, in a wet suit, exactly the way he planned to ride in the competition, as the wet suit was mandatory for it. The practices on the board were fluid, smoothly done as if he'd been riding constantly, rather than going without for ten years. Ralph had attributed it to the fact that he had been good... damn good, he'd thought. He'd only ever made one real mistake while surfing, which happened to be what made him give it up for so many years.

There was, however, something that Ralph was not aware of. He was being watched this time. A man with dirty blond, spiked hair sat in a car across the street in just the perfect angle to see the portion of the Hinkley backyard that Ralph was using. The man was impressed and also angered. With that man in the contest, he knew, that his plans would be shot out of the water, so to speak. He had to do something about him, something that couldn't be linked directly to him, atleast until it was too late...

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At his desk in the Federal Building, Bill sat, mulling over files. He had a few leads as to who was running the drug ring. Unfortunately, the time at the beach had turned up several possible matches. He glanced at one photo again, of a young man with spiked, blond hair.

Bill made a face and muttered, "Typical."

He knew something would go down the next day at the surfing competition, but he also knew he'd have Ralph there with the jammies, under the assumption that Ralph would be wearing them for the competitions. Unfortunately, Bill didn't know about Ralph's practices without the suit, which always came after Bill would leave, muttering something about heat stroke.

Bill put all of the papers back into the file and stood, tucking the folder under his arm. He decided to look over the files a little more once he got home.

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The next day, the sun was bright and the beach was crowded. Contestants milled about, mixed with onlookers and anyone else, interested or not, also.

The surf boards of the contest entrants were lined up, being inspected by several judges. However, one of the judges, with brown curly hair, paid especial attention to a particular blue board with white and black stripes. He glanced around, palmed a small bottle he pulled out from the waistband of his shorts... and proceeded to pour it over the underside of the board. He smirked and moved on to inspecting the next board.

Meanwhile, Ralph and Pam were spreading their towels out on the sand, with a cooler off to one side and an umbrella standing behind them. True to what he'd decided, Ralph was not wearing the jammies, but they were in the station wagon. Instead, he just wore a wet suit in case he needed to wear the jammies, just to be safe.

Pam nudged Ralph and pointed as he looked up. Together, they watched Bill approach, dressed in khaki pants, Hawaiian shirt, and floppy blue hat. Ralph grinned and got up, then jogged over to meet Bill.

"Glad to see you're not in your three-piece today, Bill," Ralph teased.

Bill made a sound of annoyance, then glanced Ralph over. "Are you wearing the jammies, kid?"

"No, they're in the car," Ralph replied.

"Why aren't you wearing them, Ralph?" Bill asked.

"Because that would be cheating, Bill! I can't do that," Ralph said, as they joined Pam. "I really think I could win this on my own."

"Ralph, be serious! If you wear the jammies, you'll win no problem and maybe even get us a lead on who the ring leader is!"

Ralph folded his arms over his chest. "I'm doing this under my own power. They're starting up in a few minutes, so I need to get going." He leaned over and gave Pam a kiss.

"Good luck, Ralph. I'm sure you'll do great," Pam said.

"Thank you," Ralph replied, then turned to Bill, expectantly.

"You won't need good luck if you wear the jammies," he said.

Ralph just rolled his eyes, then turned and jogged off to where the other contestants were lining up.

"Bill, Ralph will do just fine without the suit. He knows what he's doing," Pam said.

"He'd better," Bill griped, taking up a seat on Ralph's towel.

Ralph waited, as patiently as he could. He was excited, ecstatic even. He couldn't wait to get out there...

His turn came up and he jogged out to the water. Ralph put the board in the water, then sat kneeling on it and paddled out using both arms. Just as he'd practiced, he stood up in one smooth motion and rode the first wave. Now, he just needed two more. The second wave was larger, but nothing he couldn't handle.

But the third wave proved to be the problem. Ralph lost his balance and fell into the water, still a part of the wave.

Gasps and yells rose up from the beach.

Pam and Bill stood up. "Bill, where is he?" Pam asked.

Bill shook his head. "I don't know, Counselor, I don't see him."

Most of the other contestants paddled out and looked around for Ralph, but all they came up with was his board. What seemed like forever, had been only about five minutes, but one of the lifeguards finally pointed out Ralph nearing the shore and called out. Two of the guards ran to meet him.

Both Pam and Bill also ran down the beach to meet Ralph, who was now being helped out of the water by the lifeguards, one holding onto him, the other walking along side. As they neared, they could see Ralph nod. The lifeguard holding onto Ralph let Bill take over. He took one of Ralph's arms and wrapped it around his shoulders.

"Ralph, what happened? What hurts?" Pam asked.

Ralph shook his head. "I'm not sure. I just lost my balance." He grimaced as Bill set him down on the towel. "Feels like I twisted my knee." He rested a hand on the still slightly bent left knee. "And on top of that, the water was freezing!" In response, Pam draped a towel around his shoulders.

The young man with the spiked, dirty blond hair ran over to them, Ralph's surf board under his arm. "Hey, man, sorry you got worked like that." He set the board down. "Looked like you might've won."

"Thanks," Ralph replied. The young man nodded and jogged off.

Bill watched him run off, then turned and crouched next to Ralph. "Kid, I think you've been set up. The guy's practically on the top of my list of possible ring leaders." He took hold of the surf board and pointed at the underside of it. The finish wasn't smooth as it should've been and felt rough to the touch.

Ralph ran a hand through his hair. "But why take me out, though? Unless..."

"Unless he knew how good you were and felt threatened by it. He wants to win this thing to have a good payoff," Bill said.

"He probably saw you practicing, Ralph," Pam said.

Ralph leaned back on both arms, wincing. "Well, he's got his way, now. I can't go back out there like this."

"What if ya put the jammies on?" Bill suggested.

Ralph bowed his head, then shook it. "It's the only way. There's only two rounds to the contest and if I don't make it through the second, I can't beat that guy."

"C'mon, up and at 'em, Ralph. I'll help you up to the car so you can change," Bill said, then helped him stand up.

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There were still ten minutes before the second round began when Ralph and Bill returned, Ralph now had the jammies on under the wet suit. Ralph was walking better and only felt a small twinge of pain from the injury.

Ralph, newly waxed surf board tucked under an arm, rejoined the group of contestants and spoke briefly with the judges, assuring them that with his knee wrapped up, he'd be able to continue.

Several minutes passed, and the second round began. Ralph watched as the young man with the spiked hair jogged out to the water and paddled out.

Ralph focused on him as he stood up, ready to ride the first wave. The look on Ralph's face became pure concentration, and mere seconds later, the young man fell off his board, into the water. Ralph gave a slight smirk.

He came trudging up the beach, dragging his board after him, muttering. A few other contestants then took their turns without any problems, from nature or Ralph.

Then it was Ralph's turn again. He paddled out, glancing around the water, searching out a wave. He found one he liked and stood up. Keeping his balance, he could feel the suit working to keep him standing. Not only could he feel the difference in his knee, but he felt it all over. Though Ralph was sure the green guys had no idea what surfing is, it felt like the suit certainly did. Ralph was barely doing any of the work himself as the suit basically took over control.

He rode the waves perfectly. As he walked back up the beach afterward, he kept an eye on the young man he'd caused to wipe out.

That young man also had an eye on Ralph.

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