Cut Back Page 7

  “Be my guest.”

  Spazzy sat down. While he was still making weird movements and tics, they didn’t seem as intense as on previous days. For a few moments they sat quietly, watching Shauna and Bean.

  “I can’t believe they’re surfing Screamers,” Spazzy finally said.

  “For now,” said Kai.

  “You mean, if Lucas and his friends come, they’ll have to go back to Sewers?”

  “Probably”

  They watched Shauna go for a wave, pearl nose down, and bite it in the suds.

  “She just learning?” Spazzy asked.

  “Yeah, but she’s totally stoked,” said Kai.

  “That’s so cool,” Spazzy said. “The other guy’s good. I’ve seen him before. Really knows how to hold a trim line and Walk the board. You hardly ever see young guys surf that way anymore.”

  “You watch a lot of surfers?” Kai asked.

  “Every chance I get. Of course, it’s better when my sister isn’t around.”

  “She the one who came down to the beach the other day?” Kai asked.

  “Yeah. Major pain in the butt.”

  “The way she was dressed, looked like you were supposed to go somewhere,” Kai said.

  “Nah, she dresses like that all the time. She’s just … ah, forget it.”

  Kai gave him a curious look. Like it was okay if Spazzy didn’t want to talk about her. But also okay if he did.

  “Well, she’s not just my sister. She’s my guardian, too. Like, my parents died and she was left in charge.”

  “They died?” Kai winced.

  “Yeah. Nine-eleven.”

  “The World Trade Center?”

  “Flight Seventy-seven. The one people forget about.”

  “Huh?”

  “Crashed into the Pentagon,” Spazzy said. “I know it’s not really fair to say everyone’s forgotten about it. It’s just that when you say nine-eleven most people think of the twin towers. Or that plane that went down in Pennsylvania because the passengers fought back. Hardly anyone talks about the plane my parents were on, and the people who were inside the Pentagon. Altogether there were over two hundred.”

  Kai nodded slowly. What he didn’t say was that the numbers didn’t matter. It could have been one person who died. But if that one person was your mother or father, or anyone who was a big part of your life, it was a huge loss all the same.

  “Wasn’t your sister a little young to become your guardian back then?” Kai asked.

  “The whole guardian deal didn’t take effect until she turned eighteen,” Spazzy said. “Before that my aunt was in charge, but my sister’s like one of these people who’s been forty years old since the day she was born, you know? Like super-responsible and all that garbage. Actually, it’s a major pain.”

  “How come?”

  “She’s way too protective,” Spazzy said. “It’s like she won’t let me go anywhere or do anything.”

  “She’s afraid you’ll get hurt?”

  “That’s what she says, but sometimes I think she’s more afraid of how people will react,” Spazzy said. “Like they won’t understand or they’ll be scared, or they’ll say something mean to me. Sometimes I think she’s more freaked about the whole Tourette’s thing than I am, and I’m the one with the problem.”

  Out at Screamers, Shauna finally caught a wave and turned the board down the line. She wobbled for a moment and windmilled her arms as if she was about to lose her balance, but then straightened up and had a nice little ride in the pocket. She had the funniest expression on her face. Like she couldn’t believe she was actually doing it. The wave closed out, and Shauna launched herself off the deck into a backward somersault and splashed into the water. Then she jumped up with her arms raised into triumphant fists and let out a whoop.

  Kai couldn’t help smiling.

  “Want to know a secret?” Spazzy said.

  “Okay.”

  “I surf.” Something about admitting that made Spazzy get a little hyped up. He started blinking, then twitched and licked the back of his hand and sniffed it.

  “Serious?” Kai asked.

  “For sure. Been doing it for three years. See, at this school I go to the whole point is to encourage us to try everything we want. So I wanted to surf and Santa Barbara’s got some pretty good point breaks. You go about fifteen miles south and you’re at Rincon. So a lot of people around Santa Barbara surf and there’s this one teacher, Mrs. Lantz, she took me out and taught me.”

  “You could surf that?” Kai pointed out at the knee-highs now rolling into Screamers.

  “Aw, come on, that’s tiny,” Spazzy scoffed. “This one place we usually go, Campus Point? You get bigger waves than that almost every day. And in the winter it can get major. I mean, eight, ten feet.”

  Kai looked at him. “You surf in eight, ten feet?”

  Spazzy grinned. “No. I’m just saying it’s not that uncommon out there.”

  “Short board or long board?” Kai asked, testing him.

  “I got a six-four Channel Islands tri-fin for good days and a eight-six Water Hog for all the rest,” Spazzy said. “Al Merrick lives right there in Santa Barbara. That’s where his factory is. There’s a whole store with nothing but his boards.”

  “Sweet,” Kai said. “So how come you’re not surfing here?”

  “With my sister around?” Spazzy said. “Get real, dude. She doesn’t know anything about it. When we re out in California, she’s up at Stanford most of the time going to college. But out here forget it. She’s watching me twenty-four-seven. You saw her the other day. She freaks if I even go near the water.”

  “So where’re your boards?” Kai asked.

  “Back in Santa Barbara in Mrs. Lantz’s garage.”

  “That’s a bummer.”

  “Not really. I could always buy a board here and hide it somewhere. That’s not the problem.”

  “The problem’s your sister?” Kai asked.

  “That’s part of it,” Spazzy said. “But even she can’t watch me all the time.”

  “Then what’s the rest of the problem?” Kai asked.

  “Mrs. Lantz and I have one rule,” Spazzy said. “She’ll let me ride anything I think I can catch. But the deal is, someone’s gotta be out there with me.”

  Shauna had climbed back on her board and was riding in on her stomach. She reached the shallows, tucked the board under her arm, and started running toward them, shouting, “Did you see it? Did you?”

  Kai nodded. “Way to go, champ.”

  Without stopping, Shauna dropped the board on the sand and threw her wet arms around Kai’s neck. “I did it! I rode sideways! I had a real ride! Oh, it was so cool! Like how the board slips around and you have to hold the edge. Oh, I can’t believe it!” She pulled her head back, looked Kai right in the eyes, and kissed him hard on the lips.

  Eighteen

  At T-licious, Kai spent the day putting price tags on T-shirts and heat transfers. Pat looked pale and sickly, as if the idea of selling garments at anything less than total rip-off prices made him ill. Kai knew things were really bad when a shapely woman came in and tried on a shirt in the changing room, and Pat didn’t even bother to go into the back and watch on the hidden video camera.

  Kai took dinner early and walked down to L. Baiter & Son, the only funeral home in Sun Haven. Outside the two-story brick building Bean was moving the yellow traffic cones that said FUNERAL TODAY off the street. He was wearing a black suit, white shirt, and black tie. His long black braid was tucked under the collar of the shirt.

  “Have a nice day?” Kai asked.

  Bean smirked. “Oh, yeah. Driving dead bodies around always puts a smile on my face.”

  “Someone’s gotta do it,” Kai said.

  “That’s what my old man always says. Along with, ‘There’s lots of green in black.’”

  “Like green as in money and black as in funeral homes?” Kai guessed.

  “You got it. Another one of his favorites is that
it’s steady work,” Bean said.

  “As long as people keep dying?”

  “Right. Burying loved ones isn’t the kind of thing families want to do themselves. So what’s up?”

  “You gonna be around later?” Kai asked.

  “Sure. You want to come by?”

  “Where?”

  Bean pointed at the second floor of the funeral home. Kai looked up and saw green curtains on the windows.

  “You live in the funeral home?” Kai asked in disbelief.

  “Hey, dude, it’s free and it’s my own place,” Bean said. “It sure beats living at home or paying rent.”

  Kai could have pointed out that it might have been free, but that it also meant spending each night in a building that contained dead people. But he had a feeling Bean already knew that.

  “Catch you later,” Kai said, and went back to T-licious.

  It was close to 11 P.M. before Kai got back to the funeral home. He went around to the back and passed several hearses, including Bean s. Kai pressed the doorbell. From inside came the sound of footsteps coming down a staircase, then the clicking of locks being undone, and the door swung open. Bean stood in the doorway wearing a long black-and-white-checked robe. His long black hair hung loose over his shoulders. He blinked as if for a moment he couldn’t figure out why Kai was there. Then he seemed to remember. “Hey, dude.”

  “If this isn’t a good time,” Kai said.

  “It’s cool,” said Bean. “Come on up.” He turned and headed up the stairs. Kai followed, noticing that the walls of the stairwell were covered with old movie posters. One or two had to do with surfing, but most did not. They reached a small landing with a door. Rather than go straight in, Bean knocked. “Hey, Pauline, we got company. You decent?”

  The door opened and Shauna’s cousin Pauline stood there clad in a man’s longsleeved white oxford shirt. Kai had a feeling it was the same shirt Bean had been wearing earlier that evening.

  “Oh, hi.” Pauline smiled and blushed slightly.

  “Visiting Shauna again?” Kai asked as he and Bean went into the apartment. The scent of freshly burnt incense hung in the air.

  Pauline bit her lip and glanced at Bean, who cleared his throat. “Actually, Shauna doesn’t know Pauline’s in town. And neither do Shauna’s parents, if you get my drift.”

  “Gotcha,” Kai said, and looked around. Bean’s apartment appeared to be two rooms. The room they were in had a small kitchenette in one corner, a couch, and some comfortable-looking chairs facing a small entertainment center in another corner, and a desk with a computer in another. Covering the walls were movie, surf, and music posters. On guitar stands were an acoustic and an electric guitar. An amp stood against the wall. Some shelves in the entertainment center were filled with CDs. All in all not a bad crib, considering the rent, and as long as you didn’t think about the downstairs neighbors.

  Pauline yawned and covered her mouth with her hand. “I’m wasted, guys. Hope you don’t mind if I go to bed.”

  “No problem,” said Bean.

  Pauline gave Kai a wave. “Nice to see you again, even though I’m not really here.”

  Kai waved back. Pauline went through a door into what Kai assumed was the bedroom.

  “Think I could go online?” Kai asked.

  “Sure,” Bean said. “I’ll get you going.”

  Bean logged on and then let Kai sit at his desk. He went over to one of the chairs near the entertainment center.

  “Feel like some music?” Bean asked.

  “Sure.”

  Bean put on a CD, the volume low in deference to Pauline in the next room. The music was instantly familiar to Kai. Retro rock from a long time ago. He’d heard snippets of it here and there all his life, but had never really paid attention.

  “Who is it?” he asked.

  “Pink Floyd,” Bean said. “Dark Side of the Moon. One of the all-time greats.”

  “Kind of old though,” Kai said.

  “Nineteen seventy-three,” Bean said. “But believe me, worth listening to.”

  “I believe you,” Kai said.

  Bean sat down in one of the chairs and started to read Surfer. At the computer Kai typed in the URL for Ethan’s Web site. It loaded fast, and the photos of surfers, kayakers, hikers, snorkelers, waterfalls, Mt. Kawaikini, Polihale Beach, and the Kilauea Lighthouse mostly looked new or at least recently updated. So it was safe to assume that his mom’s old boyfriend, Ethan, was still there.

  Kai logged off and got up from the computer. “Thanks, dude.”

  Bean looked up from his chair. “Finished already?”

  “Yeah, just had to check something,” Kai said. “I’ll get going.”

  “Don’t feel like you have to,” Bean said.

  Kai jerked his head toward the bedroom. “You’ve got company.”

  Bean glanced at the bedroom door, then nodded. “Catch you tomorrow.”

  Kai went down the stairs and let himself out. Sun Haven was quiet now. The dark air was warm and moist and still. Since it portrayed itself as a family resort town, there were hardly any bars or other sorts of places where people could hang out late at night. Clearly the city fathers wanted it that way, and that was why they were putting pressure on Curtis to shut down the Driftwood Motel, which attracted an “undesirable” crowd. In the case of Sun Haven, “undesirable” meant anyone who wasn’t willing to eat in expensive restaurants and shop in expensive stores.

  Even on Kauai, Kai could remember people complaining about the big new resorts and condo complexes being built. Thinking of Kauai made him think of his mom and Ethan and the life they’d had there. He wondered if he would ever go back. The thought made him feel lonely. Without actually planning it, he found himself standing across the street from Tuck’s Hardware. Jade’s apartment was on the second floor. The light was on behind the curtain and Kai saw her silhouette pass twice. It was late, but he didn’t feel the least bit sleepy, nor did he want to go back to the Driftwood and share that small room with Sean and the snoring Alien Frog Beast Chief Hockaloogie.

  Suddenly Jade’s curtain rose and she stood at the window wearing a plain white oversize T-shirt. Her head snapped up when she saw him. Then she smiled, pulled up the window and leaned on the window sill.

  “Can’t sleep?” she asked.

  Kai shook his head.

  “Me, neither,” she said. “It’s funny how some people can sleep no matter what, while others have the hardest time. As if they’re haunted by ghosts who won’t let them rest.”

  “I know what you mean,” Kai said.

  “Want to come up?” Jade asked.

  Kai crossed the street.

  Nineteen

  The waves picked up overnight, and there was a nice early morning offshore breeze. Kai went down to the beach at sunrise. Buzzy and Lucas were already there. Kai paddled out through the shoulder-high surf.

  “So what about Fairport?” Lucas asked when Kai got there.

  “What about it?” Kai said.

  “You gonna show us what you’ve got or just pretend to be a soul surfer forever?”

  “Come on, Lucas,” Buzzy said. “Forget him. Let’s focus on work.”

  Lucas gave Kai a knowing look—as if he’d already decided that Kai would be too chicken to compete—and then paddled over to his father. Work, Kai thought. Buzzy thinks surfing is work.

  Since they were all on short boards, they collected around the same spot near the jetty where the swells started to break. Once again Kai let waves pass for Buzzy and Lucas instead of trying to catch every good one that came in. He still managed to get his share of waves.

  The rest of Lucas’s crew began to show up. As usual Runt and Sam gave Kai some serious stink eye. Everett nodded. The new guy, Derek, didn’t even look in his direction.

  Down on the beach, Booger, Bean, and Shauna arrived and waved at Kai. Bean and Shauna paused to zip up their wet suits and wax their boards. Booger slipped on his fins, jumped in the water, and started out throu
gh the waves. Kai looked back to see if any sets were coming. Nothing real promising at that moment. He turned and looked back toward shore. Booger was still kicking out. Only he wasn’t headed toward Sewers. He was headed toward Screamers.

  Like deer going still, Kai could almost feel the sense of alertness flow through Lucas’s crew. Even Buzzy grew quiet.

  “What’s he doing?” Runt asked. No one answered. It was obvious what Booger was doing.

  “Man, I knew it,” Sam grumbled. “I just fricken knew it.”

  Lucas’s whole crew was now watching Booger kick toward them. At the same time, they were shooting looks at Kai from the corners of their eyes as if waiting to see what he’d do. Kai had to fight the desire to smile. Good for you, Booger, he thought. He hadn’t thought the kid had it in him.

  “This isn’t happening,” Sam grumbled. “No fricken spongehead is movin’ in on this break. Everett, you know what to do.”

  It seemed to Kai that Sam said this loud enough for Lucas to hear, as if he was really asking Lucas what he thought. Lucas didn’t say a word, as if his answer was, it was up to Sam.

  Kai also knew what Sam was planning because they’d once done it to him. They’d wait until Booger caught a wave. Everett would drop in on him to try to ruin his ride, but also to distract him. Meanwhile Sam would be on the next wave. While Booger was busy dealing with Everett, Sam would run him down.

  Everett turned and gave Kai a questioning look. Kai shook his head slowly. This meant war and they all knew Kai was willing to fight.

  Booger got out past the break and clung to his bodyboard, his eyes darting this way and that, looking at everything and everyone except the waves. Kai could see he was freaking. He winked at the kid to try to let him know things were okay and he was proud of him for making such a gutsy move, but Lucas’s crew was vibing Booger bad. If vibes had been sounds, the air would have been a black roar.

  A set was coming in. Booger looked around, trying to assess whether any of Lucas’s crew was going to take the first wave. Usually the better surfers let the first wave in a set pass, knowing bigger waves often followed. Kai had a feeling Booger knew this and would try to take the first wave because he thought no one else would. That’s exactly what the kid did, spinning his bodyboard around at the last second and kicking with all his might to get into the pocket.