Author's Note: Hey, look, a new chapter! Please enjoy!
Chapter Ten
Vintage Surf Tour
Dude Dawn Patrol. Just the dudes, sans Johnny front-desk. Reef, Broseph, Lance, Ripper and I, shredding up The Office as the sun began to rise. Surfer after surfer, we all took our spots in the lineup, and rode in each wave as they approached. There was, without a doubt, no better way to spend a morning than on the waves.
At some point, Reef, Broseph and I were paddling slowly. "We'd better get back before we're late," Reef said. "Again."
"One more wave, bro!" Broseph said.
"One more sick ride it is!" I declared. We decided that, instead of each having one more ride, we'd have the same one. We managed to get all five of us on Ripper's board, and as the wave reached its peak, we leapt into the air off the board, howling like wild men. It was a good morning.
XxXxX
As we walked back, we found the girls and Johnny already outside. Without missing a beat, Fin and Reef began bickering about something or other. I didn't really care, until Broseph said, "That the new Stoked! Magazine?"
"Yes!" Exclaimed Fin, happily. "Elaine Beachly scored the cover! Girls almost never score the cover!"
"That's because they suck, compared to guys," Reef said. I sighed as the girls all gasped.
"Oh dude," I said. "Why man, why?" The girls slowly began walking towards the hotel, and the three of us watched Johnny chase after like a sad puppy.
"For the record," he said. "I think girls are better at… just about everything!"
"Aww, that's sweet," Emma said. "That's why you'll have a girlfriend." She gasped. "You should ask Samantha from the golf course out!" Johnny stopped walking, feeling defeated. Reef and I chuckled, as the girls walked further away.
"So deep in the friend zone, bro," he said to Johnny, putting a hand on his shoulder.
"I mean, Samantha is pretty hot…" I tried. He just sighed, and we continued walking.
XxXxX
As I was returning from the beach (did you know that room service delivers to the beach?) I saw two familiar faces moving in my direction. Fin and Reef, both in their surf gear and with their boards, were heading down the path to the beach.
"What're you guys up to?" I asked them. "Did Bummer let you both off early or something?" Fin quickly pressed a hand to my lips to keep me quiet.
"Shut it, Nate!" she hissed. I nodded, and she let go of my face. "We're ditching, and going to settle once and for all who the better surfer is, guys or girls."
"You want in on this, man?" asked Reef. Oh man, I really did. Not even to surf, just to watch the competitive antics of my two friends. But I sadly shook my head.
"Can't dude," I said. "Kelly's got me on a leash today—with a choke collar!" Reef laughed.
"Sucks to suck, dude," he said. "Come on Betty, let's hit the waves!" He gently nudged Fin, and ran off towards the waves.
"You are such a kook!" Fin exclaimed, running after them. I sighed, wishing I could join as well. Instead I just wheeled the small serving cart back into the DR. I returned it to its designated spot, and walked to the kitchen. Emma was rinsing off a plate.
"Hey," she said. "You look bummed. Kelly making you stay late again?"
"Fin and Reef are ditching work together," I corrected. "Surf competition between the two. Sort of a "Battle of the Sexes." Probably 'cause of what Reef said this morning, you know?"
"That wasn't cool of him," she said. "Girls can so be better surfers than guys! You don't think guys are better surfers, right Nate?"
"Well, definitely not all guys," I said. "Yeah, the top surfers are guys right now, but I know tons of ladies who could out surf tons of guys. Fin can, Lo can… heck, you can surf better than some of my buddies back home." She blushed slightly.
"I had a good teacher," she said honestly. I smiled slightly.
"Thanks," I said.
"Oh, I was talking about Broseph…" she said. I opened my mouth slightly, but then just hung my head. Well, that kind of hurt. But then she started giggling, and gently punched my arm. "I'm kidding, dude. You were a great teacher."
"Thanks… for real," I said. "Hey, if you ever want me to show you a few moves or anything, you know where to find me."
"Hey, yeah," she said, smiling brightly. "You want to go out after our shifts?" I grinned.
"It's a date!" I said happily. She smiled again, and walked off to take someone's order. Just then, Lo walked in past her, and over to me, smiling like a lunatic. "What's go you so happy?"
"Daddy just gave me a chance to help him out!" she squealed. "If I can think of a good way to get more guests by noon, there's no way he won't let me back in the penthouse!"
"Nice!" I said, exchanging a high five with her. "So, what've you got idea wise?" Her smile slowly began fading away, until she looked at me, wide eyed.
"Oh no," she said. "What am I supposed to do?" I held up my hands to calm her.
"Hey, hey, it's all good," I said. "Find something… surf related. This is the Surfer's Paradise hotel, after all."
"Surf related," Lo repeated. "Got it. Thanks Nate, I owe you one."
"Yeah yeah," I said, with a shrug. "Just remember to invite me to your next off the hook penthouse party, yeah?" She nodded, and hurried off.
XxXxX
Emma and I got off our shifts around 12:30, and immediately headed for The Office. I had asked Lo if she wanted to come, but she said she was way too busy. Something about vintage something or other. I don't know, probably a purse or something. Sometimes I just don't get chicks.
Anyway, Emma and I were alone, out in the water. "Okay, for a cutback, you need to build up a lot of speed," I began explaining. She had told me that Fin was teaching her how to do an aerial, so I figured I would cover cutbacks. "Once you're going fast enough, move to the top of the wave, and then quick turn your hips."
"Right towards the barrel?" she asked.
"Right towards the barrel," I confirmed with a nod. "Then, after a second or two, twist yourself again, back in the direction you were going. Or, if you don't think you can go all the way, just ride the first cut all the way off the wave." She nodded.
"Okay, I'm going for it!" she exclaimed, and began paddling.
"Vaya con dios!" I shouted after her. A line from Break Point, which has pretty much become mainstream with surfers since the nineties. It's Spanish for "Go with god," Keanu Kole's last words of the movie.
I watched Emma pop up, and begin riding the wave. So far so good. She picked up speed, just as I had instructed. Then she swiveled her hips, and went towards the barrel. She should cut out in two seconds. She should cut out in one second. She should've cut out by now. And… barreled. "Oh!" I said, with a wince, as I watched her board fly into the air, without her on it. I paddled over to where the wave had crashed, and stopped next to her as she came up, sputtering.
"How was… that…?" she asked, between gasps for air. I smiled.
"Not bad," I said. "Could use a little bit of work, though. Your board's over there, by the way." I pointed to where it was, a good twenty or thirty feet away.
"Give a girl a lift?" she asked, with a sweet smile. I shrugged, and pulled her up on my board. As I sat in front, paddling, she pulled her legs up onto the board along with her body. Just then, she tapped my back. "Is that… Broseph? There, on the beach." I looked to where she pointed, and saw that it was, in fact, Broseph. He was waving his arms, clearly trying to get my attention.
"Yeah, it is," I said. "Let's see what he wants. After we get your board, of course." Once Emma had reclaimed her magenta board, we paddled towards Broseph. "What's up, bro?" I asked him.
"A huge truck just pulled up to the hotel," Broseph explained. "Lo told me to come find you two. Come on!" I exchanged a look with Emma, shrugged, and followed Broseph. We quickly made our way to the hotel, stopping only to drop our boards off at the staff lodge. Once we were there, we found Broseph was correct: there was a huge truck pulled up. Lo was talking to some tan dude standing near the truck. The tan dude opened the doors to the truck, and Emma gasped. We ran up, ignoring Lo, to get a better view.
"They're…" I said, at a loss for words.
"Beautiful…" finished Broseph. We were staring at a truck load of the oldest, most famous boards in history. I recognized almost every one of them. Kelly Slater, Eddie Haiku, and more. The tan dude smiled.
"Ah, the mark of true surfers," he said. "Hey guys, I'm Kai." We managed to wave, but only barely, because we were so awestruck.
"So… who unloads all the boards?" Lo asked Kai.
"Usually just me and the social coordinator at the hotel," Kai said. "Guess that'd be you." I could already tell Lo had other things in mind.
"Hey guys," she said, turning to face the three of us. "How'd you like to unload the boards while I show Kai around?" Our eyes grew wide, and our mouths broke into grins.
"For real?" asked Emma incredulously. "We get to touch them?"
"I don't see why not," Kai said with a shrug. "Just be sure you're really careful with them. They're irreplaceable." Emma, Broseph and I nodded our heads vigorously.
"Great!" Lo said, taking Kai by the arm and walking away. "Come on Kai, I'll show you the beach." We quickly ran inside, and began ogling all the boards.
"No way…" Emma said. "Mark Hoe, Sinowa Beache, Eddie Haiku…"
"No way, there's a Jessie Oki board, he's my idol!" Broseph exclaimed.
"Whoa…" I said, at a loss for words at what I was seeing. Before me stood an impossibly tall, wooden board, with intricate tiki carvings. "The Duke Hamilton vintage balsa wood board!"
"This was ridden into the biggest wave paddled into in… history!" Broseph exclaimed. We just stared for a moment, and then Broseph and I both fell to our knees, bowing to this beacon of surfing goodness. "We are not worthy!"
XxXxX
About thirty minutes later, we had gotten almost all the boards set up in the lobby. Broseph and I had done most of the heavy lifting, but Emma had pitched in a bit. The two of us were slowly pushing the Duke board into the center of the lobby.
"Man, this took longer than I thought," Broseph grunted, straining to move the heavy glass case.
"Well," I said, through gritted teeth. "It would've gone a lot faster if someone," I looked to Emma. "Hadn't pretended to ride the Eddie Haiku board, in the middle of the van!" Emma shrugged apologetically. We got the case in position, and stepped back to admire our handy work. The Kahuna, who had showed up some time ago, walked over and put an arm around each of our shoulders.
"Looks good, compadres," he said. "If this hotel thing doesn't work out, maybe you can be, like, interior decorators or something." I snorted.
"Nah, I'm good," I said. "What about you Bro?" I turned to Broseph, but he didn't respond. He was staring at the Duke board, a confused look on his face.
"You say something, bro?" he asked. Not to me though. He asked the board. After a pause, he continued talking to it by saying, "You're in a glass box." MY eyebrows furrowed in serious confusion. I waved my hand in front of the tan teen's face.
"Earth to Broseph!" I called. "You in there, man?" He shook his head, as if coming out of a sleep. Kahuna put a hand on his shoulder.
"That board speak to you, man?" he asked.
"Whoa," said Broseph, eyes wide. "That was heavy!" I slowly started inching away, before things got even weirder. I moved over to the front desk, where Johnny was admiring the boards. Emma ran over to us.
"Have you guys seen Reef and Fin?" she asked. "They are going to freak when they see these!" I furrowed my eyebrows.
"They're not back yet?" I asked. I checked the time on my phone. "They ditched work earlier, but that was, like three hours ago. I figured they'd have shown back up by now. What could be keeping them?" Emma gasped suddenly.
"They're totally hooking up!" she nearly shouted, with a squeal. "I have to tell Lo!" and she ran off to do just that. I shrugged, and turned back to Johnny.
"So…" I said, trying to make idle chit chat. "How's your shift going?" He shrugged.
"Can't complain," he said. "Bummer has me posted here for a little longer, since so many reservations are coming in with the board tour here and all."
"How many do we have?" I asked.
"We're booked solid for the rest of the week!" Johnny said.
"Lo's so back in the penthouse," I said, and he nodded in agreement. "Think she'll throw any more parties? And invite her favorite summer staff?"
"I don't know, but I hope so," Johnny admitted. "I've never been on the fun end of a hotel party, just the end that has to clean up afterwards." Just then, Emma, Kai, and the heiress we were just discussing walked into the lobby.
"I want all the details!" Lo exclaimed, probably talking about Fin and Reef. I interjected, with a finger in the air.
"We don't know for sure that they're hooking up," I reminded them. "They left on a surfing competition, remember?"
"But now they're probably smooching somewhere exotic!" Emma exclaimed.
"Oh, I love summer romance!" Lo said with a squeal. Kai, Johnny and I exchanged a look that unanimously said "chicks, huh?" Just then, the very large and imposing Mr. Ridgemount walked towards us, with a woman who I assumed was his wife by his side.
"The display looks great honey!" he exclaimed. I wanted to say that it was Broseph and I that had set everything up, but decided against it after seeing the man's size. Six foot five easy. "I've got to hand it to you Lo, you pulled it off. I'm proud of you." He walked off, a smile on his face.
"This calls for a celebration!" Lo said, after her dad had left. "Who wants to go to the spa?"
"I could go for a massage," Kai agreed. The two started walking off.
"Watch the show for me for an hour?" Lo asked Emma. "You're the best, thanks." Without giving Emma the chance to respond, the two walked away. Emma looked like she wanted to say something, but didn't get the chance. She sighed, and I put an arm around her shoulders.
"Don't worry, surfer girl," I reassured her. "I'll help you watch the show. And…" I looked to Broseph, who was still staring at the Duke board, drooling slightly. "And so will Broseph." She smiled.
"Thanks, Nate," she said. "You're a good guy." I shrugged, and Emma walked off to do something or other. I noticed that Johnny didn't look too pleased with how chummy I was getting with Emma, but he didn't say anything about it. I shrugged it off, and walked over to Broseph so I could watch the boards for the next hour or so.
XxXxX
About 45 minutes in, my stomach started growling. I tried to calm it down, but I was mad hungry, and my stomach wasn't having any of it. "Chill, belly," I assured it. "I'll fill you in a second." I walked over to Broseph, still ogling the boards. I was a little worried about the dude, to be honest. "Yo Bro, I'm gonna run to the staff house and get some grindage. Want anything?" He wiped his face, as if just waking up, then turned to face me.
"Uh, yeah guy," he said. "Got the second half of a hoagie in the fridge." I raised an eyebrow.
"Didn't you have the first half, like, a week ago?" I asked, sure the sandwich would've gone bad by now.
"So?" he asked.
"Your funeral," I said with a shrug. I started walking to the staff house, but decided to take the back exit. Even though I'd need to walk through the hotel, it would end up being a shorter walk than the other way around.
About half way through the trip, I spotted something that made me stop walking. A golf cart, left unattended. I weighed the options in my head. Well, I thought. No one's using it. And I'm feeling pretty lazy right now. "Golf cart it is!" I said aloud. I sat on the cushioned seat, and turned the key, which had been left in the ignition by the previous user. As the cart roared to life, I stepped on the gas. Even though I could probably jog to the staff house faster than this, if I needed to get somewhere really fast, I could kick it into high gear.
I was just slowly riding along, when I heard hurried footsteps behind me. I slowed the cart down, and turned back, only to see Emma racing up after me, a pained expression on her face. She caught up to me, and jumped aboard the cart.
"Go to the staff house!" she practically screamed.
"Why?" I asked, confused. "What's going—"
"I have to pee so badly!" she said. "Lobby bathroom's closed. Now drive Nate! I'm gonna burst!"
"Okay, okay," I said. I jammed my foot on the gas pedal, and the cart began zipping forward. "If you pee in this cart, I'm not helping you clean it up. Have fun explaining it to Bummer." She just winced, hands in her groin, as she tried to control her bladder. Jeez! I thought. The golf cart quickly tore along the path leading to the staff house. We stopped outside the porch, and Emma leapt off the cart. She ran inside, bounding the stairs two at a time as I went to get some food. The sigh of relief from the bathroom upstairs could be heard from the ground floor, followed by a flush. I chuckled as I grabbed a bag of chips for myself, and Broseph's hoagie (which smelled awful, by the way.)
"That's better," Emma said, with another sigh, as she walked into the kitchen. "Thanks for the lift." I chuckled. "So, what were you doing on that cart anyway?" I held up the food in my hands.
"I was hungry and lazy," I said. She made a quizzical look at the hoagie. "It's Broseph's. You want anything?"
"Nah, I'm good," she said. "Now come on, we should get that cart back before Bummer notices it's missing." I nodded, and we walked back outside to get the cart back to the hotel.
XxXxX
Once the cart was parked where I'd found it, the two of us walked back into the lobby. I munched on some chips, offering Emma a few, which she accepted. We walked past most of the boards, when suddenly we stopped in our tracks, simultaneously realizing something was wrong. Emma gasped as we both turned around, and exclaimed at the same time, "The Duke board is gone!" The wooden board was no longer in its glass case. Johnny walked over, confused.
"The what board?" he asked.
"The fourteen foot wood one!" Emma exclaimed. "It's the most valuable board in the whole show!"
"This is bad…" Johnny said. "Really bad." We nodded. Just then, as if to make things worse, Mr. Ridgemount walked over. The expression on his face almost made me scream in fear.
"WHERE. IS. THIS. BOARD?" He asked, gesturing to the empty glass case. Emma, Johnny and I all began to stammer and stutter, but we were soon relieved of our discomfort. "I'm going to have a word with Lauren about this. You all stay put!" And he walked away. We all breathed sighs of relief.
It seemed only moments passed before Lo and Kai ran back to the lobby. "Oh no!" yelled Kai, running up to the empty case. "No, no, NO!" he banged his head on the case. "Oh, my dad is going to kill me!"
"It was here when I left," tried Lo. "I left Emma in charge."
"This was your job," Emma said. "I only left Broseph in charge because I had to pee so badly." I held up a hand.
"Hold up a sec," I said. "You left Broseph in charge of the boards?" She nodded. "Broseph? With priceless, legendary boards."
"Okay, I see how bad that sounds now…" Emma said. "But I really had to go!"
"Well, I think I know where the board is," Johnny said. I exchanged a look with him, and we both nodded. There was only one thing Broseph would do with the Duke Hamilton surfboard. Surf.
XxXxX
We hightailed it to the beach, knowing Broseph would be there. I had considered that maybe he had taken it to the Office, but the walk was too far. He'd want to get on the water as soon as possible. And when we arrived, I realized Johnny and I had been right. There was Broseph, still visible even with the setting sun, carving it up on the giant wooden board. We all began shouting, trying to call him back in. Well, all except Kahuna.
"Yeah!" he yelled, pumping his fists in the air. "Shoot the curl, dude! Cowabunga!" I almost told him to knock it off… but then I saw Broseph again. He was carving it up out there! The waves seemed to be tailor made for this board, seriously. He landed a 360, and just when he started nose riding… BAM! Huge wave came down, and brought Bro down with it. The girls gasped, and we stood there, holding our breaths. Then, Broseph's head popped up out of the water, and he gave us a thumbs up.
"He's alright!" I cheered.
"But where's the board?" asked Emma. Just then, the fourteen foot Duke board shot up from under water. It flew into the air, and we all cheered. It looked like Broseph got his ride in, and no one got hurt. …Until a shark leapt out of the water, biting the board, and causing it to split apart. Our eyes went wide.
"That's it," said Kai. "I'm dead."
"I'm dead-er," said Lo.
"I'm seriously reconsidering surfing this spot in the future," said Johnny, still staring at where the shark had been.
Broseph began swimming to shore, and Kai picked up a small piece of the board that had floated our way. "I might as well admit it," said Lo. "I'm going to spend the rest of my summer as hired help."
"Hey, maybe not," I said. "Maybe we can put it back together, or…" I looked at the small wooden shard in Kai's hands. It was splintered all over, no hope of repair. "Uh… actually, never mind."
"Was the ride worth it?" I asked Broseph, as he took his place beside us. "If the board's toast, it must've been, right?"
"I charged a ten footer on the same board one of the greatest surf legends ever rode!" Broseph said. His eyes were wide, and filled with wonder and amazement. "Today… was the best day of my life…" I gave him a pat on the back, as he adopted an expression of contentment.
"Wow," said Lo. "That almost makes it worth it." Emma nodded in agreement, but Kai didn't seem to think so. I shrugged.
"Come on," I said, beginning to walk down the beach. "Let's try and find all the pieces before the sun sets all the way." The others nodded, and we began our search.
XxXxX
Emma, Broseph and I collapsed on the couch on the porch. The rest of the night had been spent searching for the remaining pieces of the destroyed Duke board, and had ended with us finding Reef and Fin in a…compromising position. They had stammered something about being lost at sea, except they were only ten minutes from the hotel. All I know is, I'm glad I didn't go with them for the competition this morning.
Emma, sighing, said, "That was the longest two hours of my life!" I nodded, and elbowed Broseph in the gut. He grunted, but didn't retaliate; he deserved it, for making us look up and down the beach for so long. Just then, Lo walked out on the porch. She sighed heavily, and slumped in a chair.
"How'd your dad take the news that the Duke board was totaled?" I asked her.
"How d'you think?" she said glumly. "I'm on 'probation,' whatever that means," she said. "No way I'm getting out of this grungy staff house now!"
"Hey, it's not that bad," tried Emma. "You've got us, right?" Broseph and I smiled cheekily, giving Lo thumbs ups. The rich girl sighed again, but smiled after a minute.
"I guess," she said. "Maybe this summer won't be all bad. Thanks you guys." Then she stood, and moved to the door. "I'm going to sleep."
I nodded. "Yeah, about time I hit the hay too," I said. I got up, walked up the rickety stairs, and collapsed on my bed, the day's events all floating out of my mind as dreams flooded in.