Close Out

by Todd Strasser

  “How’d he get your cell phone number?” Booger asked.

  “Called the funeral home and got it from my mom,” Bean said.

  “Wow, I never would’ve expected that,” Booger said.

  Bean drove out of the hospital parking lot. “Dudes, this is a day we won’t forget for a while.”

  “You’re telling me,” said Kai.

  “What do you guys want to do now?” Booger asked.

  “I promised Shauna I’d stop by Ice Cream,” Kai said.

  “Is it okay if I drop you off?” Bean asked. “I’d just as soon not be driving around when this storm hits.”

  “No problem,” Kai said.

  “I’ll see you later?” Bean asked.

  “If it’s okay,” Kai said.

  “Hey, mi casa es su casa,” Bean said.

  “Is that like RSVP?” Booger asked.

  Bean groaned.

  Huge drops of water were starting to splat against the hearse’s windshield when Bean dropped Kai off at Ice Cream. Kai could hear booms of thunder in the distance. The normally crowded Main Street was almost empty, and the few tourists and vacationers who were still out were scurrying for shelter.

  Boom! Kai was pushing through the doorway of Ice Cream when the sudden crack of thunder made him jump. The lights in the shop flickered. Inside, a woman eating an ice cream cone gasped loudly, and a couple of little kids began to cry. Outside, the rain began to roar down in light gray sheets of liquid that made it almost impossible to see across the street.

  Kai went up to the counter. On the other side, Shauna was struggling to get her ice cream scoop through a pail of dark chocolate ice cream. When she saw Kai, she stopped.

  “What was it like at the hospital?”

  “Scary until the doctor came out and said he was okay.”

  “Thank God,” Shauna said again.

  “Jillian said he’s already talking about the Northeast Championship.”

  Shauna shook her head and rolled her eyes. “Sometimes I think there’s something wrong with all of us.”

  “If there is, I hope it’s something good,” Kai said.

  “Ahem.” A chubby man standing at the counter cleared his throat loudly.

  “Your cone is coming, sir,” Shauna said with forced cheer, and started to dig through the chocolate again.

  “You’re going to have strong arms by the time summer’s over,” Kai said.

  “I keep wondering if it’ll help my paddling,” Shauna said. She finished the chocolate cone. “Here you are, sir.”

  The man paid for his cone. Thanks to the heavy rain, no new customers had entered the shop. “Your regular?” Shauna asked Kai.

  “Uh, sure, thanks.”

  Shauna turned away to dip the scoop in warm water. At that moment someone stopped under the awning outside Ice Cream to get out of the rain. It was Jade, in a rain-soaked white T-shirt that left nothing to the imagination. With one arm pressed against herself in an almost fruitless attempt at modesty, she peered through the window, saw Kai inside, and waved.

  “Be right back,” Kai said to Shauna, and went out to join her under the awning.

  “Looks like you got caught in the rain,” he said, using every ounce of willpower to keep his eyes from drifting where they weren’t supposed to go.

  “Just my luck,” said Jade. With her free hand she tried to fluff out her rain-flattened short black hair. “So I heard what happened. Is your friend okay?”

  “Looks like it,” Kai said. “Thanks to the lifeguards and EMS.”

  “That’s good,” Jade said. “We’ve had surfers drown here before. Usually when they go out in storm surf and their leashes snap or they get hit in the head by the board. It’s such a nightmare. You just hate hearing about it.”

  Kai nodded. The rain had let up slightly, but torrents of water coursed down the sides of the street and flooded the storm sewers.

  “So you know that secret you wanted me to get Big Dave to reveal?” Jade asked.

  “Yes?”

  “He told me.”

  “Wow, thanks, Jade. You don’t know how much that means to me. And how much it’s going to mean to a lot of other people too.”

  “Wait a minute.” Jade suddenly stiffened. “I’m telling you. No one else. And if you tell anyone I said it, I’ll say that’s not true. Don’t forget. It’s not only Big Dave’s job that would be on the line. It would be mine, too. And I need that job.”

  Kai hadn’t thought of that. “Okay, I understand.”

  “So I don’t have to be nice to Big Dave anymore, right?” Jade asked.

  “Well, maybe just a little longer,” Kai said.

  Jade made a face. “Why? He told us what you needed to know.”

  “Yeah, but if I want to keep you out of it, then I have to find another way to prove it,” Kai said. “Can you give me a day to figure it out?”

  Jade frowned. “You know, I wouldn’t do this for anyone else.”

  “I’m just that irresistible, huh?”

  “Don’t kid yourself,” Jade said. “No one is that irresistible. This is the last favor, okay? I really can’t stand dealing with him.”

  “Gotcha.”

  Jade looked him straight in the eye. “And I’m getting a little tired of not dealing with you. I thought I was going to see you a little more often.”

  Kai swallowed slightly. “I hear you.”

  The rain continued to ease. With one arm still across her chest, Jade peeked out from under the awning. “Time to scoot.” She gave him a quick kiss on the lips. “You owe me. Big-time.”

  Jade jogged off down the sidewalk. Kai went back into Ice Cream. Shauna was down at the far end of the shop, polishing the glass display case. She had a frown on her face and didn’t look up when he came in. Kai waited for a moment. There was no vanilla cone with Reese’s Pieces anywhere in sight, and Shauna was clearly ignoring him.

  Kai turned around and left. Sometimes dealing with women was just a little too complicated.

  Twenty-three

  That night the storm blew through. The next morning Kai and Bean slept later than usual. The sun was already up when they got to the beach. The offshore breeze was crisp and cool. There was no doubt about fall coming. Kai wished he had a shorty wet suit, not so much because of the water temperature—it was still a comfortable seventy-two degrees—but because of the chill in the air.

  Lucas was already in the water on his board. Once again Everett was setting up his camcorder.

  The waves were perfect and chest high, clear blue-green under the cloudless sky. Tall plumes of rainbow spray peeled off the crests as they curled. You could have asked for a bigger day, but you couldn’t have asked for a nicer one.

  “Lucky you,” Bean said with a yawn as he and Kai walked down the beach, their boards under their arms.

  “What do you mean?” Kai asked.

  “I guess I don’t envy the idea of getting up each morning and finding Lucas waiting to hound you on the waves.”

  Kai shrugged. “It’s only for the next few days. I’ll survive.”

  They joined Everett on the dry side of the tide mark.

  “Hey, I heard Spazzy’s gonna be okay,” Everett said. “That’s great.”

  “Yeah.”

  “What a day, huh?” Everett asked.

  “Wouldn’t you rather be out there surfing?” Bean asked as he kneeled down and started to wax his board.

  Everett shook his head. “I like surfing a lot, dude, but this is what I’m really into. Look at those waves. See how the breeze is holding the faces open just a second longer than usual? You see those faces and dream about what you can do on them with a board. I see those faces and dream about the extra footage I’ll be able to get.”

  “You ever think about getting one of those waterproof cases, so you can shoot in the waves?” Kai asked.

  “For sure,” Everett said. “That’s next on the list. Just gotta save up the money.”

  Bean finished waxing and picked up
his board. “How’s the jellyfish count?”

  “Dropping,” Everett said.

  “Cool.” He trotted toward the water.

  Kai had purposely taken his time waxing this morning. Now that Bean was paddling out, he could speak to Everett alone. He had a special favor to ask him. Once Everett and Kai finished speaking, Kai paddled out and joined Lucas. As usual Bean was sitting farther outside on his long board.

  “Anything new on your friend?” Lucas asked.

  “Not since last night,” Kai said. “Good news is they’re pretty sure he’s going to be okay. But it was close.”

  “Hard to believe,” Lucas said.

  “What do you mean?” Kai asked.

  “That it happened here,” Lucas said. “Who thinks of this as a dangerous break, you know? Pipeline, sure. Maverick’s, of course. But Screamers in Sun Haven? It’s like a joke.”

  Kai thought back to the night, a month ago, when he easily could have died in this very spot had it not been for Everett. Then again, he’d made an incredibly stupid mistake, surfing alone in big waves—at least for Sun Haven—and in the dark. “I guess we forget that it can happen almost anywhere.”

  “Guess so,” Lucas said. He gestured into the distance, and Kai saw the dark lines of a new set approaching. “Ready?”

  “Not quite,” Kai said. “I want to enjoy one ride before it becomes work.”

  Lucas didn’t reply. Kai spotted a promising wave and paddled over to catch it. He purposely took it early and out on the shoulder, did a lazy bottom turn, and then stayed in the face making nothing more than small adjustments and corrections to keep from outrunning the wave. Nothing showy. Nothing that would have earned a big score from any judge, but relaxing and enjoyable just the same. Long past the point where he should have kicked out, he stayed on the board, hopping it and fooling around, just because he didn’t want the ride to end.

  Lucas also caught a ride in that set, but Kai didn’t see it. He only saw that Lucas was paddling back out at the same time he was. Soon they were both sitting outside again. Meanwhile Shauna and Sam had arrived separately and were waxing their boards.

  “Ready?” Lucas sounded impatient.

  Kai was tempted to ask what the rush was, but he thought he already knew the answer. Lucas was eager to get some hard charging in before the waves started to get crowded. Kai had agreed to be his sparring partner until the Northeast Championship, so it wasn’t fair to give the guy grief.

  “Sure,” Kai said.

  On the next wave Kai ripped, trying to force three or four moves into the space where he normally performed two. In a way it was sort of interesting to see how much you could pack into one ride. Kai could see the challenge. But he also saw how it could get old really fast.

  They surfed and checked Everett’s video for the rest of the morning. Now and then Bean joined them on the beach to watch. Shauna came out to Screamers, generally waiting for the others to catch waves before she took hers. Kai nodded at her a couple of times, but she ignored him, as if she was still angry from the night before. Derek arrived, and Kai couldn’t help noticing how friendly and chatty she was with him.

  By midmorning, when the onshore thermals started to blow the waves out, Kai was nearly exhausted. Being Lucas’s sparring partner was hard work. But he couldn’t say he hated it.

  “Want to go see Spazzy?” Bean asked while they wrapped their leashes around the tails of their boards.

  “Definitely,” Kai said. He found himself glancing over at Shauna and Derek, who were sitting side by side on the sand looking out at the ocean.

  “Interesting combination,” Bean said. “Does it bother you?”

  “You kidding?” Kai said. “No way.”

  They started up the beach. Lucas was reviewing his rides with Everett, but Kai had lost interest.

  “Looks like Lucas is seriously gung ho about this contest,” said Bean.

  “Yeah, I noticed,” Kai said.

  “How’s it feel to be his sparring partner?”

  “Tiring,” Kai said. “Every time I turn around he’s right on my heels. I keep asking myself, Why am I doing this? Why would I want to do Buzzy Frank a favor?”

  “Maybe you’re enjoying it,” Bean said. “A little competition can’t hurt.”

  Kai winced inwardly. A little competition had once hurt him horribly. The scars on his leg were nothing compared to the scars inside.

  They got to the parking lot. Each time Kai saw the hearse it reminded him of the tires Goldilocks had slashed. Kai didn’t know what it had cost Bean to get all those tires replaced. He just knew it wasn’t cheap. Of course, Bean, being the kind of guy he was, had never said a word about the money, but it still bothered Kai big-time.

  “Hey, you weren’t going without me, were you?” Shauna trotted up the beach carrying her board and slid it into the back of the hearse.

  During the drive to the hospital Shauna sat between Bean and Kai. No one spoke. It was unusual for the three of them to be so quiet. Shauna didn’t look in Kai’s direction, and Kai didn’t look in hers. Finally Bean said, “Nice waves today.”

  “Yes,” said Shauna.

  “You’re catching more and more of them,” said Bean.

  “Thanks,” Shauna said. “I had a couple of rides today that felt really good. Like I was going sideways right in front of the curl. But it’s hard to stay there.”

  “It’s about controlling your edge,” Kai said. “You’ll get it.”

  “I used to have this friend who took time to show me,” Shauna said. “I don’t know what happened to him.”

  “Ouch,” Bean said, even though the comment had not been directed at him.

  “Maybe your friend didn’t know you still wanted help,” Kai said.

  “Or maybe he just got so distracted by tight bikinis and wet T-shirts that he forgot,” Shauna said.

  “Yeow, it’s getting hot in here,” said Bean.

  “Maybe there’s more going on than meets the eye,” Kai said.

  “All I know is, depending on where the eye looks there’s already way too much to meet it,” Shauna said. Both Kai and Shauna stared straight ahead as they spoke. Neither looked at the other.

  “Time to get some fresh air in here.” Bean brought both windows down and let the breeze blow in.

  “Hey, maybe it’s my imagination,” Kai said, “but it sort of looked like there might be other teachers interested in the job.”

  “Some surfers do manage to think about other people,” Shauna said.

  “Great, so then there’s no problem,” Kai said.

  “Who ever said there was a problem?” Shauna asked, crossing her arms and staring straight ahead.

  “Forget the fresh air.” Bean brought the windows back up and reached for the dashboard. “This calls for AC.”

  They rode the rest of the way in silence. Bean parked in the main lot of Sun Haven Hospital. It was noon and they were inland where the sea breeze didn’t reach. The blistering midday sun reminded Kai that while the first hints of fall might be creeping closer every morning and evening, the middle of the day still belonged to summer.

  As they walked toward the main entrance, Bean pointed at the black Mercedes station wagon with the California plates. “Julian’s here.” Inside they rode an elevator up to a brand-new pediatric wing. The light yellow walls were smooth with new paint and lined with brightly colored photographs. The floor was polished and glossy. Kai and his friends stopped at a nurses’ station.

  “Looks more like a NASA tracking station than a hospital,” Bean said, pointing at the many computer terminals and monitors.

  “If I ever get sick, this is definitely where I want to be,” added Shauna.

  A nurse directed them to Spazzy’s room. The door was open. Inside, Spazzy was sitting up in bed, reading Surfer magazine. Jillian was sitting in a chair reading a book. When Bean knocked, they both looked up. To Kai it was hard to judge who had a bigger smile.

  “Dudes!” Spazzy said. But despite his
suntan, Kai thought he seemed pale underneath.

  “Hey, man, waz up?” Bean held out his hand. Twitching and jerking, Spazzy managed to slap Bean’s and Kai’s palms. Shauna leaned over the bed and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

  Spazzy actually blushed. “Hey, if girls are going to kiss me, I might try drowning more often!”

  “Caleb, that is absolutely not funny,” Jillian said sternly.

  “Hate to say it, dude, but your sister’s right,” Kai agreed. “I mean, we were totally freaked yesterday.”

  “Okay, okay,” Spazzy said. “Hey, want to hear something cool? The doctors said they’ve never seen a kid my size barf up so much seawater.”

  “Oh, Caleb,” Julian groaned.

  “Any fish?” Bean asked.

  “You mean sushi, don’t you?” said Shauna.

  “So what’s the story with today?” Kai asked. “Know when they’re going to let you go?”

  “Any time now,” Spazzy said. “We’re just waiting around for the doctor to check me out. I’ll be back in the water tomorrow morning.”

  “I beg your pardon,” Julian said.

  “Aw, come on,” Spazzy said. “I’m fine.”

  “Doctor Levine said he wants you to rest,” Julian said.

  “Hey, what did I do last night?” Spazzy asked. “What am I doing today? What’ll I do tonight? You know, too much rest can be bad for you.”

  Julian rolled her eyes. “We’ll see.”

  There was a single rap on the door, and a tall man in a white coat strode in. “So, how are we today, Caleb?”

  “Hey, Doc, tell my sister I’ll be okay to surf tomorrow,” Spazzy said.

  “Uh …” Caught by surprise, the doctor turned to Kai and his friends. “I think we’ll need some privacy.”

  Bean, Shauna, and Kai understood. “We better take off,” Bean said. “Catch you later.”

  They left the room and went back out into the hall, pulling the door closed behind them.

  “Sounds like the old Spazzy is back,” Shauna said.

  “For sure,” said Bean.

  They walked back down the hall to the elevator. Bean pushed the button. While they waited, Kai noticed a large metal plaque on the wall. In raised bronze letters were the words “John Fraser Moncure Pediatric Wing,” and under it were the names of various people on the hospital board, the architect who’d designed the wing, the construction company that had built it, and a long list of donors who’d contributed money to the venture. One name featured prominently on the hospital board and among the list of donors was Elliot “Buzzy” Frank.