Chapter Seven
The next day Josh reluctantly helped his mother with the things she’d prepared for Christmas lunch. He felt tired, drained, even though he’d just got up. He’d had a rough night. The bedclothes were a tangled mess, a testament to his tossing and turning, and he’d had that dream again – the one where he was drowning. It had left him feeling shaky.
“You haven’t had breakfast,” his mother said as he put his skateboard in the boot of the car.
“Not hungry,” he said and slumped down in the back seat.
His father locked the bach and got into the driver’s seat. As they drove up the hill, Josh looked back at the beach falling away behind him and wished that he was down there in the waves, not heading off to his nana’s house. They’d been at the bach for two days already and he hadn’t even put his toes in the water.
His nana enfolded him in a big hug when they arrived at her house, carrying with her the smell of stuffing and cinnamon. He could never understand why they had to eat a big cooked meal in the middle of a hot summer’s day. A barbecue at the beach would have been much better.
She handed him a Christmas present with a self-satisfied smile on her face.
“I know you’ll like this,” she said.
“Thanks, Nana,” Josh said as he unwrapped it.
It was one of the latest surfing magazines from overseas.
“This is great,” he said. “Thanks.” He was lying. He’d read a copy of it in the skate shop.
He took it to an armchair in the corner and turned the pages, looking at them without reading. It created a barrier between him and the rest of the family. He wanted to be left alone.
He wasn’t feeling well. He couldn’t say what it was. It wasn’t a headache or a temperature, but there was strange feeling in the middle of his chest, like when he ran the distance of North Piha Beach. Josh sighed as he turned another page of the magazine and wished that the day would end.
After lunch, of which he ate little, he took his skateboard and rode to the skate park. There was only one boy in the bowl, on what was obviously a new board. Josh waited for him to finish and then dropped in. Curving through transition, he lost it on the kickturn and bailed.
“Bugger!” he exclaimed as he landed heavily.
“Give it up,” shouted the boy who was watching from the side.
“Shut up,” Josh snarled as he left the bowl.
A group of skaters arrived, some of whom he knew, and he watched them for a while. They gave him a chance to ride, so he dropped in again only to find that he was not up to his usual standard. He tried a few tricks, realised that he was off form, so quit and walked back to his nana’s house. When he got there, he found that his parents had packed the car and were waiting for him. He eagerly got in for the ride back to Piha.
As soon as they arrived back at the bach, Josh jumped out of the car and ran to the dunes. From his vantage point he could see that the surf was quite small, but he would get a few good rides if he were patient enough. He didn’t really care – he just wanted to get into the water. It would be better at South Piha where the bar would give the waves more form. He ran back to the bach to fetch his board.
Josh took his new wetsuit out of his cupboard and put in on. It was late afternoon, the air was cool and he’d need the wetsuit as he planned to be in the water for a while.
He scrapped the old wax off his board on the front lawn, then re-waxed When he finished he said goodbye to his mother who was watching from the deck and made his way to the beach.
He headed towards Lion Rock, crossed the stream and walked onto South Piha Beach where he laid his board on the sand beside him and began to stretch his leg muscles. When he heard someone come up behind him, he turned to see who it was. His heart sank.
“Well, look who’s here,” Bevan said as he came to stand in front of Josh.
Josh let his hands fall to his sides, clenching and unclenching his fists. His heart thudded in his chest so loudly he was sure that Bevan would hear it. Josh was also aware that there was someone else just behind him, but he didn’t dare take his eyes off Bevan.
“So, what brings you here?” Bevan asked with a sneer.
“Live here,” Josh said. It felt like he had a golf ball in his throat.
“That right? And you think you can surf and I can’t?”
Josh shrugged. He didn’t want to provoke the bully.
The person behind him moved and came into view. He was shocked to see the girl he had met the night before. He saw recognition in her eyes, but she tried to cover it by sidling up to Bevan and putting her arm around his waist.
“Aw, leave him alone, Bevan,” she said, trying to pull him away.
“This is the guy who hit me with the bike, Gina,” Bevan said as a means of introduction.
“But you got him back for that didn’t you?”
“Yeah, I did,” he said with a crooked smile.
Josh could feel his blood coursing through his veins, delivering adrenaline to his muscles, and his brain told him to get out of there. He heard a footfall behind him and instinctively spun around to face the new danger.
“Hey, whoa,” said an older boy, his hands raised in a surrender position. “I’ve only come to get Bevan.”
“Rhys, meet Josh,” Bevan said.
“A friend of yours?” Rhys asked.
“Yeah, we’ve made contact in the past,” Bevan said, looking at Josh meaningfully.
Josh stared back.
“Come on, Bevan, we’ve got to go,” Rhys said.
“Sure thing.”
Gina took her arm from around Bevan’s waist and began to make her way up the beach. Bevan turned to follow her, then twisted around unexpectedly and lurched towards Josh as if to headbutt him. Josh jumped away from the imitation blow, tripped over his board and fell onto the sand.
Bevan laughed as he walked away. Gina giggled. Josh watched them as they walked up the beach and got into the black convertible.
He pushed himself off the sand, picked up his surfboard and looked at the waves. There was refuge in the water. Nothing could touch him out there. He took his board and ran into the sea.