Thirty-Four
Justice
While the girls went into the locker room to primp with Lola before the finals, Papaw whispered hoarsely in my ear. “Let’s sit in Ginger’s car for a few minutes and catch our breath.”
We strolled under a brilliant sun through the parking lot and settled ourselves into Ginger’s Pinto.
His tone became serious, and he placed a hand on my shoulder, his steel blue eyes staring into mine. “Your uncle would be proud.” He swallowed and wiped away a small tear. He pressed his lips together and placed his fingers to them, squeezing his eyes tight. His eyes opened slowly, and he held up a finger. “Hold on a sec. I’ve got something for you.”
He wandered to the back of the car, opened the hatchback and rummaged around in a backpack. When he hopped into the driver’s seat he was holding a bright red do-rag. “Remember this?” He unfurled it and handed me my Uncle Seth’s do-rag. I spread the fabric out on my lap, tears pricking the back of my eyes, my throat tight. Festively embroidered to the front of the cloth was the name of the shop, “Blue Tide Surf Shop.”
My voice sounded raspy. “I remember when we had these made up special. Uncle Seth was so excited about having something he could wear around town that everybody would notice.” My fingers gently caressed the material. “He had an artist friend of his design the logo.” I shook my head and let out a low laugh, my breathing slowing down as the memory took over. “He dragged me down to some sweatshop joint in San Diego to pick up a carton of the things. I must’ve been fourteen.”
Slowly, I turned the do-rag over and over in my hands, caressing the fabric. “I didn’t know there were any left.” I clapped a hand over my eyes, the memories of our time flooding back. My uncle Seth had taught me to surf, he taught me how to become a first-class motorcycle mechanic, he was even the person who had the birds and the bees talk with me. He didn’t know that I already considered myself the expert based on everything I’d picked up while hanging with my surfing buddies on the beach. Man, what I’d needed to learn. I was just a punk kid who thought he knew it all.
A small sob escaped my lips, and I held the do-rag to my nose, hoping for a scent of my uncle. “He loved this thing. He wore it everywhere.”
Papaw took my hands and stared into my eyes. “You’re going to make him proud today. I saw you and Lola out there. You have chemistry together. You’ve got something special with that woman, and I’m not just talking about your tandem moves.” He stared meaningfully at me. “It reminds me of what I had with your grandma. We worked together so well.” He let out a small laugh. “We didn’t exactly have everything in common. I never could figure out what she loved about her orchid garden so much. But I loved her. And when we needed to work on something together, even something ordinary like painting a room or hanging curtains, it was always special. Just being with her …
“That’s what it’s like with you and Lola. You don’t get to be my age without figuring some of this shit out.” He punched me softly on the arm. “You two have what it takes to make one heck of a life together, and I don’t want you missing out.” He grinned at me, his eyes crinkling. “You guys have what it takes to win today.” He picked up the do-rag and fashioned it over my head. He gave a shallow sigh. “You look just like him.” His voice was steady and strong as he gripped my shoulder. “Go show ‘em how it’s done.”
I hugged my grandfather, and all my senses came alive. I could feel the strength of his arms, the thud of his strong heartbeat. I inhaled the aroma that I always associated with my childhood—beer, sweat, a tiny bit of motorcycle grease, and surf wax. I pressed my lips together so I wouldn’t cry.
Lola and I would win this contest. We had to.
* * *
Lola and I stood at the edge of the wave pool, and I moved in closer so I could inhale her scent. I had never felt more connected to my playmate and lover. I held her hand remembering the first time we surfed together when we were twelve. I kissed her knuckles and gave her a wink. “We’ve got this Mrs. Hamilton.” Her hair blew in the breeze and her custom rash guard with the words Team Lola and Justice hugged her sexy breasts and her curvy body. I smiled, and we bumped fists.
She threw her head back with a nervous laugh. “Look out world. Here we come.”
We held hands extra tight. “Lola?”
She whirled her head around. “What?”
“I love you.” Three simple words that I wanted to say every day until I took my last breath. I gave her a gentle kiss on her sweet lips. She tasted like seawater and sunshine.
We entered the water behind Devin and Kristin, their tandem board flying through the water lickety-split. Devin’s dark hair was a blur behind Kristin’s flashy blond head, and I knew the final competition would be savage. My throat tightened.
The announcer’s voice came to life. “Welcome to the finals!” Upbeat music came over the loudspeaker, a harmonious Beach Boy’s song. “For our final heat of the day, our competitors Justice and Lola Hamilton versus Devin and Kristin Stonebreaker, we’re making things interesting. Our competitors will be surfing the reef waves. These steep, high-performance waves with a thirty-five second ride will challenge our competitors to up their game and pull out their most advanced tandem moves.
“We like to keep things entertaining around here, and we know your jaws are going to drop when you see the best in the West. I couldn’t be more excited about this competition, and I got just one thing to say. Competitors … are you ready to rumble?”
The applause was thunderous, and I heard Bobbie let out a high-pitched yelp. “Kick ’em where it counts!”
As we sat in the lineup, all the muscles in my body were on alert like a panther ready to hunt. I squeezed Lola’s thigh. “Remember everything we practiced.”
She tapped my head. “I like that do-rag. Gives me some ideas for my clothing line.”
I grinned. “Focus on the waves, babe. We’ll plan your award-winning do-rag line later.”
The announcer’s voice came to life. “And the first wave goes to Devin and Kristin. Check this out, folks. They’re going right for a high scoring foot to hand.”
Devin held Kristin’s feet while her body stood erect, her arms in a victory pose.
Lola’s voice was a hiss in my ear. “They’re trying to steal our signature move.”
Lola was right. The foot to hand had been one of our crowd-pleasing lifts.
I patted her thigh. “It’s okay. We’ve got plenty more up our sleeve.” The wave started to break behind us. “Here we go. Let’s show them our pendulum.”
We paddled hard, and that’s when we found out that, sure as fuck, the reef waves were, steeper, faster waves. But that was okay. Lola and I had practiced for this. I picked her up, and she moved into the perfect pendulum while I held her upside down, one of her legs bent, the other sticking skyward.
Loud rock music played, and the wave felt like it went on forever, the water rushing underneath the board. My hair whipped in the breeze, perspiration soaking through my do-rag. Lola and I felt like we were one person. Our bodies fused together along with the wave. This is where we were born to be. Lola and me in the water. Surfing. Making love with the waves. I inhaled, and a feeling of lightness filled my chest. We’re doing it, babe. We’re going to win!
We ended our ride to the raucous cheers of the crowd. I flipped Lola around, and we threw our arms up in the air. I gave her a quick kiss, but we needed to get back out there fast. We paddled back to the lineup and sat next to Devin and Kristin.
“Don’t get too confident, Justice,” Devin said. “That move isn’t worth much. Is that all you’ve got?” The wave started to break behind them. “Come on, Krissie. Let’s put this thing to bed.”
Kristin stared at Devin, and something in her eyes confused me. Was she mad at him? Whatever it was it didn’t seem to affect their performance.
We watched as they executed a perfect front arch split.
Heat filled my body and my muscles clenched in readiness. “No fucking way is he taking our shop.”
I had already started to think of the Blue Tide as mine and Lola’s. Spending the past weeks with her had been like slipping into a comfortable pair of pajamas. I smiled to myself. A sexy pair of pajama pants that I wanted to yank down so I could pull out my hard cock and sink it into Lola’s sweet pussy. I shook my head and focused on the contest as the next wave broke.
“The needle stand, right?” Lola said.
“You got it babe.”
This move required a special brand of balance, as I had to hold onto one of Lola’s ankles while she stood on my shoulder and lifted her other leg high up alongside her body and grabbed her foot.
We did it perfectly.
We crossed Devin and Kristin paddling back out to the lineup and the look on Devin’s face was one of demonic intensity.
The next few waves went spectacularly for Lola and me. Every time I glanced at the jumbotron, my breath caught and dang it if I wasn’t impressed as all get out over our eye-catching lifts. Unfortunately, Devin and Kristin were just as much the show stoppers.
The way both of our teams took turns with showy moves you’d think we had to get them just right to avoid a firing squad. In a way, that’s exactly what it was. For me, anyway.
“We’re getting quite the show,” the announcer enthused. “Check out these tandem moves! Makes me want to become a contortionist and get out there with them. Hoo boy are these teams giving each other a run for their money. Let’s see what they pull out of the hat now.”
As we waited for the next wave, I patted Lola’s thigh and teased her light-heartedly. “I can taste the champagne and caviar now.”
She squealed her laughter. “I am ready to celebrate.”
Next up in our strategy was an advanced move called the javelin. It required a hell of a lot of arm strength. I needed to hold Lola by one arm, our arms intertwined while her body became horizontal and she held one arm up in the air.
The wave picked us up, and I huffed out a breath and lifted her onto my shoulders, then swung her up into the move that could win us the contest with a maximum score of three point three for this lift alone.
“We … got … this.” I could see our shadow as the afternoon sun reflected our silhouette into the wave pool and Lola’s body seemed perfectly straight and gracefully poised.
The wave rushed underneath us, and I felt Lola’s grip loosen. “I …” She let out a strangled gasp. “I … can’t …”
And in one moment gone horribly wrong, Lola’s arm lost strength, and her body tumbled so hard and fast that I barely had time to react. “Lola!” My arms reached out, and I heard the crowd let out horrific gasps as I watched Lola dive headfirst into the wave pool.
The wave rushed fast behind me, and I was thrown off balance. The water overtook me, and the surfboard went one way while I went the other. I held my breath for the inevitable wipeout of the rushing wave and plunged underwater. Damn it! I held my breath and tried to relax. There was no use fighting the surge of the wave pool.
When I popped up, my head swiveled frantically around for signs of Lola. “Lola!” I finally saw her arms break the surface and I stroked hard toward her.
That’s when I saw the blood.