by D C Grant
Chapter Thirteen
He was drowning.
There was water in his nose and mouth. He couldn’t find the surface. His board had been ripped from his hands and the turbulent water had carried it away. He felt the pull of the leash at his ankle and it twisted him around. Then there was no more tension and he knew the cord had snapped. The water sucked him down. He was in a hole. He tried to crawl to the top but didn’t know which way was up. Water gurgled in his ears. It filled his nose and mouth. He couldn’t breathe.
He hit the floor with a thud. For a few seconds Josh struggled with his sheets until he realised he was not in the water. He was gasping, pulling in oxygen, thinking he had been deprived of it but it was just that crappy dream again. He let his head fall onto the carpet and waited for his breathing to slow.
He rubbed his sweaty face with a corner of the sheet, which, he noticed, was torn. He must have become tangled in it while sleeping and then ripped it when he’d fallen off the bed. It was a dream, just a stupid dream.
He rolled onto his side and got to his feet. It was light outside and his bedside clock told him it was 8.30 a.m. He might as well get up as he wasn’t going to get anymore sleep.
“Where’s Mum?” Josh asked his father as he made his way to the kitchen.
“She’s gone,” his father said despondently. He sat at the dining room table, staring into a cup of coffee.
“Gone? Gone where?”
“To her mother’s – your nana’s house,” his father said. “She’s staying there for a while. She said she had to get away until she sorted things out.”
Josh looked around and noticed that Cyndi’s things were gone from the lounge.
“She taken Cyndi’s too?” he said.
“Yes, but she said that you’d want to stay here, where you can surf. She took the car, too.”
Josh was stunned. He’d heard his parents fighting again last night, but he didn’t realise that things had become so bad.
“When is she coming back?”
“I don’t know, Josh. Will you stop asking so many questions?” He drank the last of the coffee from his cup and got up from the table. “I’m going for a walk,” he said.
Josh watched him as he walked out the door. He’d always thought of his father as a big man, but he seemed small and defeated as he descended the steps onto the lawn.
Josh left the kitchen. He didn’t feel like eating. He saw his father at the driveway, waving his hand in greeting to someone and Hayden came into view a second later, carrying his surfboard. Josh was surprised. He’d not expected him to come back after he’d stormed off the day before.
“Hi,” Hayden said as he poked his head around the lounge door. “Are we surfing today?”
“I guess so,” Josh said. “I’ll get my board.”
Surfing was much better than dwelling on the dream and wondering when his mother was coming back.
“You got wax?” Josh asked as they made their way off the deck.
“A-huh,” Hayden answered, patting a pocket in his boardies.
“Great, let’s go catch some waves.”
They set off down the road, in the direction of South Piha. As they splashed through the stream, Josh looked ahead to see if he could spot Gina, but she wasn’t on the beach.
He studied the sea conditions. The wind had changed direction overnight and was now coming from the northeast. After days of southwest wind, the swell was still rolling in towards the shore and the offshore wind was acting on the water to from a perfect wave, a long break that peeled away from Camel Rock and rolled to shore without breaks. And he was going to be stuck in the shallows with a grommet.
He decided that if Hayden couldn’t make it onto his board today, then he was going to give up on him and leave him to sort it out himself. But when Hayden made an attempt in the shore break, he was up on his board, balancing with his arms outstretched, not quite standing, but on his feet all the same. He was riding the wave. He continued the short distance to the shore and stepped off the board into the shallow water.
“How did you manage that?” Josh asked him as Hayden came towards him.
“I practised yesterday after you’d gone off with Gina. I got it right in the end.”
“Why didn’t you say something?”
“I didn’t think you wanted to know. You were involved with other things.”
Josh ignored the sideswipe and looked wistfully at the breaking waves.
“I think you’re ready for the real thing,” he said.
“You’re sure?” Hayden asked.
“There’s only one way to learn. You’re a strong swimmer so I don’t think you’ll get into any trouble. The surf’s good at the moment so if you’re going to make it, today’s the day.”
“Right,” Hayden said as he followed Josh into deeper water.
Josh showed Hayden how to pass through the breaking waves and to stay in the white water away from the surfers that were already up and riding. Hayden kept up with Josh as they made their way out to the backline and Josh relaxed, knowing that Hayden would be able to take care of himself.
Josh chose a spot away from the main body of surfers, straddled his board and waited for Hayden to catch up.
“I don’t know how to tell you how to do it,” Josh said to Hayden as he drew closer. “You’ll just have to try for yourself. You’re going to fall off so when you do, go for the white water, when your board will be ahead of you. If you get into trouble, just hold an arm straight up in the air and the lifeguards will pick you up. There’s only one way to learn and that’s by just doing it. Look, I’ll show you.”
Josh swung his board around as the sea welled up behind them, and paddled quickly to propel his board forward. The swell lifted the board and he was on the lip. He gave one last overarm stroke, then, in one movement, he was up on his board and carving down the face of the wave, his arms spread out for balance. He rode the wave for only a short distance, then flicked out and paddled back to Hayden.
“Go on, paddle,” Josh said as he reached him. “See if you can catch this one.”
Hayden copied what Josh had done, but as soon as he made an attempt to stand, he wiped out. He appeared a few seconds later, coughing and gasping for air.
“You’re supposed to close your mouth when you fall,” Josh shouted out to him.
Hayden, unable to speak, made an obscene gesture and Josh laughed.
“Try again,” Josh encouraged him.
Pulling a face, Hayden paddled forward and tried to catch the next wave. He fell off before he had a chance to stand.
“It’s not as easy as it looks,” Hayden admitted as lifted himself back onto his board.
“Never is, but you need to keep on trying until you get it right.”
“Or give up,” Hayden said ruefully.
“Too soon to give up,” Josh countered.
Josh watched as Hayden paddled forward, only to be thrown off his board again.
“Mind if I catch a few rides?” Josh asked as Hayden came towards him.
“Whatever, I’m not going anywhere,” Hayden replied.
Josh had seen an area of the sea that was building up a great left break. It had to be the way the swell was coming in, breaking over the sand bar and being formed by the offshore wind. Some of the other surfers had seen it too, but he was the closest to it. He paddled over, taking his time to assess the way the swell was building. He was still ahead of the other surfers and they would have to wait until he got his ride.
He watched as the swell as it moved towards him, then turned his board and paddled hard, rising up as the wave formed beneath him. He took off down the face of the wave as it broke, the lip forming at his heels as though it wanted to take a bite of him. .
He felt, rather than saw, the tube open up behind him and he crouched down as the tube drew him into the vortex. He was totally surrounded by water with only the opening in front of him to convince him that he was not totally underwater. The wate
r cascaded like a waterfall from the lip, throwing spray into his eyes. He concentrated on keeping his balance, keeping his eyes open in spite of the chunks of white water that bombarded his face. He was in the womb of the wave. He was about to be born again. He shot out of the tube as it collapsed behind him. He punched the air in delight and yelled at the top of his lungs.
Then he wiped out.
