Thirty-Seven
Justice
Lola and I stood on the sand next to the humongous trophy that had been arranged on a velvet cloth covered table.
I was so worried about Lola, and all I could think about was getting her leg stitched up. We held hands, and I gazed into her eyes. “You, young lady, are heading straight to the hospital as soon as this is over.”
Her hand trembled in mine. “I’m fine.”
Surf music played while a hush came over the crowd. “Our judges take this seriously,” the announcer said. “And we need to carefully tally the scores but meanwhile, get your smartphones ready and pull up your Instagram account or whatever the heck you’ve got. Be ready to record history. Because we here at the Knight’s Ferry Wave Pool love a good old celebration.”
I squeezed Lola’s hand and swallowed hard. Devin and Kristin stood a few yards away, and Devin just had to get one last dig in. “Get ready to celebrate my redevelopment award, Justice.”
The contest had been a whirlwind of emotion. I had talked Lola into marrying me and as I gazed at her, this gorgeous woman who I’d met as a kid, my best friend, my soul mate, my playmate, I felt a deep and profound feeling of contentment.
My wife.
No way would I ever let her out of my sight again. I didn’t care if we had to live on beans and rice. Didn’t care if we had to start with nothing and live in her tiny bohemian apartment while I built up my motorcycle repair business and Lola cut out patterns for her swimsuits out of brown paper bags on our kitchen floor.
I would create a wonderful life for the woman of my dreams. I would make love to her every night as the sun set into the Pacific Ocean and we lay spent in each other’s arms, exhausted from a hard day’s work, a satisfying surf session, and a hotter-than-hell lovemaking session where I would spank her butt the way she loved and claim her as mine. I would happily make love to Lola and come inside her over and over until she was pregnant with our babies.
I would never leave her side, not even for a weekend trip. Lola and I would vacation together, weekends in local surfing towns if that’s all we could afford because all we needed was each other.
I smiled, picturing the two kids we once were, running hand-in-hand into the ocean and splashing each other. There wasn’t anything I needed more than that one feeling. When I thought of what made me happy in life—what made us happy—I realized that the happiest moments I’d ever had were those times where we’d done nothing more complicated than going down to the corner store, buying some penny candy, and working on a jigsaw puzzle together.
Love.
That’s what love meant to me. Being with Lola, the one person who made the small things in life precious, who made me wonder why anyone would ever feel the need to pile up stacks of hundred dollar bills when life was happening right in front of them every second. Lola even made a trip to the Laundromat fun.
Uncle Seth had plenty of girlfriends, but the shop was his life. He didn’t get to experience what Lola and I had. Maybe he would’ve found a love like ours, but his life was cut so short.
My throat felt tight thinking about Devin’s bulldozers showing up and viciously razing the Blue Tide Surf Shop that had meant so much to my uncle.
I squeezed Lola’s hand, and she gave me an anxious smile.
It was all over now.
Whatever the outcome, we’d done our best.
The crowd seemed to be in a hypnotic lull as surf music played and the announcer finally spoke.
“Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, cats and dogs. We have arrived at the moment you’ve all been waiting for. It’s been one heck of a crazy weekend here at the wave pool, and the competition has been fierce.
“We’ve seen the best tandem competitors—couples from California all the way to Tasmania. We’ve seen wipeouts, laughter, tears, and injuries.
“Our sponsors have been crazily generous with their time and money, bringing together the biggest purse in all of tandem surfing history. One hundred thousand dollars will go to our lucky winning couple. But make no mistake about it. Luck had nothing to do with it. Our couples are the biggest talents around, and I for one can’t wait to get my picture taken with each and every one of them.”
Lola and I held hands tightly and watched as the head judge whispered something in the announcer’s ear and handed him a piece of paper.
His voice came back to life with a chuckle. “Well, well, well, I won’t keep everyone in suspense any longer.
“Are you ready to crown your winners?” The crowd went insane with applause.
“Devin and Kristin Stonebreaker, Justice and Lola Hamilton, take your places next to the trophy.” He cleared his throat. “Tandem contests are judged by a straight point system taking into consideration surfing style, degree of lift difficulty, and length of ride.
“It was oh so close. Our winners edged out the second place team by two-tenths of a point for the win.”
His voice became ecstatic. “Please help me congratulate our winners of the one hundred thousand dollar grand prize at the first annual Knight’s Ferry Valentine’s Day Wave Pool Extravaganza! Congratulations to Justice and Lola Hamilton!”
Wait.
Did he just say we won?
The world came into sharp focus as adrenaline raced through my system and I let out an earsplitting whoop, fist raised in the air. “Holy—Lola we did it!” Next thing I knew, confetti rained down on us as the loudspeakers blasted “Surfing USA.”
Lola’s hand flew to her mouth, and I grabbed her up into a strong embrace and twirled her around. “We did it! We won!”
Lola’s mouth was on mine as the crowd went into a frenzy and the photographers closed in on us, clicking furiously. I peeked up at the jumbotron and saw both of our faces, larger than life. We had never looked happier.
When I gently set Lola down, Devin stood so close to me I could smell his overpowering cologne. His fists curled, and he hissed in my ear. “Don’t get too cocky. I’m demanding a recount.”
Devin practically frothed at the mouth when he glared at me. “This isn’t over, Justice.” He pointed to the wave pool. “I’ve got footage from my videographers. I’ll demand a replay of the entire contest. Every single second of it. You and Lola think you can get away with this phony marriage thing of yours and take the shop.” He pointed to himself. “It’s mine.”
Kristin grabbed her husband by the arm. “Let it go, Devin. This was all a mistake. We never should’ve entered.”
He whirled around. “I’ll tell you about mistakes. I should’ve bought the shop years ago. It’s mine!”
Kristin turned on him, and she looked like a wild animal. “Shut up, Devin! When we get home things are going to change. I’m not your doormat anymore.”
Kristin shook Lola’s hand. “Congratulations, Lola. You deserve this.”
Devin marched at a fast clip toward the parking lot. He gave one final glare my way. “This is far from over.”
But it was over.
Devin may’ve had the millions, but it would never be enough to make him happy.
Papaw, Ginger, and Bobbie raced toward us in a blur.
Bobbie flung her arms around Lola and me. “We won! We won! We won!” She jumped up and down and danced a jig with a laughter that bordered on maniacal.
Ginger placed a hand on Bobbie’s shoulder. “Sweetie, we know they won.”
Bobbie bumped hips with Lola and gave her a high-five, gave me an extra hard fist bump and then took Ginger by the hands and twirled her around. Her usually serious face took on a look of absolute glee.
Bobbie pushed her eyeglasses up on her nose. “No, Ginger, you don’t get it. We won.” She jumped up and down again and held her smartphone up for everyone’s inspection. “Lola and Justice were the fifty-to-one underdogs.”
Papaw placed an arm around Bobbie. “Calm down kiddo. We don’t bet on sporting events. Too risky.”
Bobbie threw her hands up in the air. “Justice gave me ten grand and Lola gave me ten grand. I placed the bet, and they each won an extra five hundred grand!”
Lola and I stared at each other. We spoke at the same time.
“What?” Lola said.
“You placed a bet too?” I said.
“I gave Bobbie my ten grand from the Mystic Seaweed sale,” Lola said.
I slapped my thigh. “I gave Bobbie my ten grand from the shop sale.”
Ginger placed her hands on her hips. “Well, will you look at that. My niece really does know her way around the betting arena.”
Papaw held his hands in a “T.” “Time out guys. What the hell’s going on here?”
Bobbie started talking fast. “It’s like this, Mr. Hamilton, a fifty-to-one bet pays out fifty times the amount. Lola gave me ten grand, Justice gave me ten grand. They each won an extra five hundred grand from the bet alone.” She squealed with delight. “They’re millionaires!”
The reporters thrust their microphones in our faces. “What are you going to do with the money?”
“Any plans for a surf trip to Tahiti?”
“Do you think you’ll renew your vows?”
“How did you two meet?”
“Any tips for a happy marriage?”
The reporters were relentless.
“You placed sporting bets? What made you so sure you’d win fifty-to-one odds?”
“Any plans to compete in another contest?”
I took the microphone out of one of the reporter’s hands and placed a protective arm around Lola. “What do you think we should do with the money, Mrs. Hamilton? Should we buy a new tandem board? One with the name of your business painted on the deck?”
Lola gave me that gorgeous smile I would never tire of looking at and kissed my cheek. “Mrs. Hamilton thinks that’s a great idea.”
Two of the contest assistants strode into the fray with an oversized check made out in the amount of one hundred thousand dollars.
“Stand close you two,” said the photographer. “And smile real big. This goes on the cover of Surfer magazine.”