In Too Deep (5 page)

When he walked into the bach his parents were sitting in the lounge with a woman and a boy of about Josh’s age. The boy glanced up at Josh from beneath a long, sweeping fringe and then looked away again, almost shyly.

“Hi, Josh,” said his mother as he came in. “This is Penny and her son, Hayden.” She stopped when she noticed his skinned knee. “What happened to your leg?”

“I fell on Pakiti Rock. I was going to the Gap, looking for you, Dad,” Josh said, grabbing a glass and making his way toward the fridge.

“We’ve been back a while,” his father said. “I went up to the store on the way back for a coffee and the paper. Your Mum said you’d gone to find us, but I guessed you’d be back in your own time.”

“Are you all right?” his mother asked, starting to get out of her chair. “Did you go to the club for first aid?”

“Chris had a look,” Josh said, twisting the truth a little. “He said it was alright, just needed cleaning out, which I did.” He grabbed the orange juice from the fridge.

“Will you be going surfing today?” his mother asked, settling herself back into her chair.

“No, I’ll just take it easy.”

“Oh, I was hoping you could take Hayden surfing.”

Josh remembered then that his mother had said something about teaching the boy next door to surf. He looked over at Hayden as he poured the juice into a glass. He had light brown hair, fair skin and long, thin limbs. He would get sucked under by the first real wave that hit Piha Beach.

“Can he swim?” Josh asked, knowing the question sounded rude but not really caring.

“Yes, I can,” Hayden said.

Josh found it hard to believe. “You have to be a strong swimmer to get out to the surf. It’s no use even trying if you can’t swim.”

“I can swim,” Hayden repeated. He sounded a little annoyed.

“Maybe tomorrow,” Josh said.

“That would be good,” his mother said. “Penny and I are going to the shops tomorrow. You and Hayden go surfing then.”

Josh, who was still in the kitchen, hid behind the open door of the fridge and rolled his eyes in exasperation, he didn’t want to babysit a grommet for the day. He’d have to think of a way to get out of it.

“I’m going to my room,” he said, taking the glass of fruit juice with him. He purposely closed his door just in case the two scheming women decided that it was a good idea for him and Hayden to ‘bond’. A few minutes later, to his relief, he heard the mother and son leave.

“I’m pleased you’ve agreed to teach Hayden to surf,” his mother said later, as they ate lunch.

“I didn’t agree. You just organised it for me.”

“Well, he seems nice.”

“Being nice doesn’t mean he’ll be a good surfer or that he’ll learn anything at all. It’s not as easy as it looks.”

“We know that,” his father said. “We just thought you could help, that’s all.”

“Well, I’ll give it a go and if he’s not much good, he can piss off.”

“Josh, that’s not very nice,” his mother protested.

“No one said I had to be nice. This is my holiday and everyone seems to be ruining it for me.”

“Josh, he just needs something to do, you know, to help him get over his father’s death,” his mother said.

“Who made me his crutch?” Josh asked.

“You don’t have to do this, Josh. All you had to do was say no.”

“I tried that, didn’t I? But none of you would listen but it’s all arranged now, so just leave it.”

He ate the rest of his lunch in resentful silence.

After lunch, he walked with his family to North Piha. His parents climbed the footpath to Te Waha Point while he built a sandcastle with Cyndi. He dug a deep moat around the lumpy looking construction and wished that he could build a moat around himself. It would protect him from Bevan’s attacks and from the changes in his life. He looked south where he could see Lion Rock and the Camel, one behind the other, standing strong against the waves. He should try to do the same, stand strong against the threat and not let Bevan spoil his holiday.

His parents started fighting after dinner. He was in his room, lying on his bed, reading an old surfing magazine when the raised voices reached him.

“You shouldn’t be going to the shops,” his father said. “We don’t have the money.”

“It’s my money!” his mother shouted. “I can do what I like.”

“But we’ve got bills to pay,” his father said.

“It wouldn’t be a problem if you hadn’t gone bankrupt.”

“Do you have to bring that up again?”

“Well, it’s hard not to.”

Josh grabbed his iPod and pushed the earpieces in his ears, but the music couldn’t block out the sounds of the fight.

His door opened slightly and Cyndi peered around the edge, a frightened look on her face and a doll in her hand. He sat up and smiled at her, removing the earbuds from his ears.

“What’s wrong, Cyndi?” he asked, although he knew what the answer was.

“Why are Mummy and Daddy shouting?”

“Sometimes grown-ups shout at each other.”

“Why?”

“They’re just cross.” He got up from his bed and came over to her. “They’ll stop soon. I’ll take you back to your room and I’ll stay with you a while, okay?”

She nodded and he guided her back to her bedroom. His parents were still fighting and didn’t see them moving down the passage. He tucked Cyndi into her bed and sat in the chair next to it. He pulled out one of her storybooks and read to her softly by the dim glow of her night-light until her eyelids closed and her breathing slowed. His parents finally stopped arguing but an uneasy tension permeated the house. Josh put down the book gently and crept from the room to his own bed.

Everyone seemed to be out when Josh got up the next morning. Then he saw Hayden sitting on the deck and groaned. He’d hoped that his rudeness yesterday had put him off, but obviously it hadn’t. He went out to have a look at Hayden’s surfboard. It was brand new with not a trace of wax on it.

“Niiiice,” he said when Hayden looked at him expectantly.

“Really? My uncle bought it for me. Said I should give it a go.”

“It’s going to need wax on it first.”

“I’ve got some here,” Hayden said, pulling out a new block of wax from his pocket.

“You’ll need to rub it on top of the board. I’ll get my board so you can see.”

Josh went back inside the house, brought out his board and laid it alongside Hayden’s.

“Mine’s got too much wax on it,” Josh said, holding out a scraper. “Here, use this, it’ll get it off and then you can wax my board too.”

“Yeah, sure,” Hayden said eagerly, taking the scraper from him.

“Don’t go too hard,” Josh warned him, “or you’ll put a ding in it.”

“Okay.”

Josh looked towards the road. The breeze was in his face and beyond the dunes he could hear the waves crashing on the sand. Surf was up.

“Where is everyone?” he asked.

“My mum and your mum went shopping and they took your sister with them. They went in my mum’s car. Your father went somewhere in his car. He said it would be alright for me to wait until you woke up.”

‘Great,’ Josh thought. “I’ll grab some breakfast,” he said as went inside.

After breakfast, Josh changed into his boardies and put on a rash shirt. When he went onto the deck, Hayden had just finished waxing the two boards.

“Good job,” Josh said as he picked up his board. “Let’s go.”

Together they walked across the road and up to the sand dunes. The wind was in his face, a cool southwesterly, the waves were over 2 metres, a bit messy but some good rides possible. The tide was on its way in. He descended to the beach with Hayden behind him.

“Where are we going?” Hayden asked as they walked.

“Over there,” Josh said, pointing south with his free arm. “Where the other guys are riding.”

“It looks rough.”

“It’s fine if you know where to go.”

“Do you know?”

“Sure do,” Josh said as he walked towards Pakiti Rocks. When he’d figured out where the rip was, he put down his board and began his stretches. His muscles were still a little tight, but a good day in the water would put that right.

“What shall I do?” Hayden asked.

“You can watch,” Josh said. “You might pick up some tips.”

“I’ve been watching since I got here. I won’t learn anything by watching.”

Josh wound the new leash from his board around his ankle, securing it with the Velcro strips. “You need to watch someone who knows what they’re doing.” He picked up his board and began to head into the waves.

He felt Hayden’s hand on his shoulder. “Wait, aren’t you going to help me?”

“Not today,” Josh said as he pushed Hayden’s hand off his shoulder. “Surf’s too good.”

“But I waxed your board,” he said, disgruntled.

“Yeah, thanks,” Josh said as he made for the water.

Hayden called out something that Josh couldn’t hear over the sound of the waves. He assumed that it wasn’t pleasant. He didn’t care. The guy had been pushed onto him and he saw no reason to be friendly. Let him go crying all the way home to his mother.

He used the rip running towards the Camel to get him out to the backline where he greeted a few of the surfers that he knew.

“What’s the rides like?” he asked the nearest surfer.

“Well, the waves have closed out, but you can still get a good ride if you time it right.”

Josh nodded and straddled his board to watch the sets come through. As a good wave began to build up behind him he started to paddle, ready to catch it. Some of the other surfers were paddling too, but he was up and riding first. It was his wave. The white water foamed around him as his board sliced through the shoulder and he picked up speed, feeling the strength of the surging water beneath him. He turned and curved upwards, slashing through the lip, then cutting back to carve the face again. At mid-break he kicked out, falling onto the back of the wave which carried on towards the shore without him.

The ride exhilarated him. There was nothing that could beat the thrill of surfing, the ability to stay on his board and manipulate it like it was an extension of his feet. He loved to feel the power of the wave beneath him as his board carried him to shore at speed, with no time to plan a move too far ahead because the wave constantly changed and it was only possible to react with instinct. Any mistake resulted in a wipe out which was instant and final, but after a wipe out there was another wave to catch, one that would be uniquely different to the one just ridden. It was the attraction of the next wave that made Josh turn around and paddle back out.

When he reached the backline he looked towards the shore for Hayden, but couldn’t pick him out amongst the people on the beach and he presumed that he’d gone home.

He continued to ride while the tide came in, catching a few good rides, but the wind eased in the early afternoon and the swell dropped. One by one the surfers left, knowing that the good rides had gone for the day. Eventually, Josh went in too, catching one last wave to the shore. When he walked out of the water, he was surprised to see Hayden sitting where he had left him.

“I thought you’d gone home,” Josh said as he approached him.

“You told me to watch so I sat and watched.”

Josh wasn’t sure if there was a touch of sarcasm in his voice.

“Did you learn anything?”

“Not much. It’s hard to see what you’re doing from here, but I had Gina to talk to,” he remarked casually as he stood up.

“Gina?” Josh repeated. He looked around; thinking she might still be about, but he couldn’t see her. Turning back to Hayden he said, “Does she have long blonde hair and a sort of pixie face, with blue eyes?”

“That’s her,” Hayden said with a nod.

“Did you see Bevan?”

“Who’s Bevan?”

“He’s her boyfriend and he’s trouble. You want to stay away from him.”

“I didn’t see any boyfriend.”

Josh turned and walked off down the beach with Hayden following him.

“How long have you known Gina?” Josh asked, trying to sound casual.

“Just met her today. She came over once you went into the water. She was watching you. I don’t think she was really interested in me.”

“What?” Josh said, stopping to face Hayden.

“Yeah, she was watching you the whole time. Do you know her?”

“No,” Josh said. “I don’t know what she was up to, but you shouldn’t get involved with her. Her boyfriend will beat you up.”

“Well, she came and talked to me. I can’t stop her doing that,” Hayden said.

“It’s your funeral,” Josh said with shrug and walked ahead, wondering about Gina and her apparent interest in him.

He forgot about Gina as he approached the bach. There was a strange car parked in the driveway and the boot was open. A man was on the other side of the car, partially hidden from view. He was hammering something into the ground. Josh couldn’t believe it, knowing he’d seen this before. He ran forward to confirm it. A real estate agent was erecting a ‘For Sale’ sign outside their bach. His father stood at the front of the car, watching the man work. Josh strode up to his father, his anger flaring as he confronted him.

“Couldn’t you wait?” he demanded.

“For what, Josh? This is the best time to sell.”

“Wait until the holidays are over.”

“Then everyone will be gone. The time to sell is now.”

“You sound like a real estate brochure, Dad. Did he put you up to this?” Josh asked, turning on the real estate agent.

“It’s my decision, Josh. We have to do this. The bank wants it.”

“I thought we had more time,” Josh cried. “I thought the bank was going to do the house first. This is all bullshit!”

He threw down his surfboard and his father jumped back as it bounced on the ground at his feet. Josh shoved past Hayden and advanced on the newly erected real estate sign while the agent backed away hastily. Josh kicked the sign and the flimsy board buckled, pulling the two poles out of the ground.

“Josh, stop this,” his father shouted as he grabbed his arm to pull him away.

Before Josh knew what he was doing, his hand had curled into a fist and he drew his arm back, ready to punch his father in the face...

Then two strong hands clasped his forearm tightly and pulled it back. His fist stopped short and his father hopped back, out of striking distance.

“Don’t, Josh,” Hayden pleaded, maintaining his grip on Josh’s arm with surprising strength. Josh struggled but could not free his arm so he rolled the saliva in his mouth and spat at him. The spit slid down his father’s cheek.

Then he shook off Hayden’s hands and took off down the road before his father had time to react.