that.”
“Yeah, I do.”
“He might not though,” I said.
“If he can’t surf, he’ll wind up killing himself.”
“Shut up, Zeke.”
“I’m serious.”
“Why would you even say that?”
He held up his forearm to me, and there it was, tattooed in black letters: Surf or Die .
“Because I would.”
tuesday
chapter eleven
“No point taking our boards,” Zeke said, coming in from the balcony and pulling shut the sliding door. “The ocean’s asphalt.”
“I hope it picks up for the kids’ thing tomorrow.”
“They’ll dig it whatever.”
“Zeke,” I said, “did you hear anything else from Anders?”
“No, I think he’s screening my calls.”
“Why would he—”
“I don’t know. He’s acting weird lately.”
He wasn’t the only one.
“Shall we run to the beach?” Zeke said, turning to me. “Burn off some off those donuts we ate for breakfast?”
My trainers were wet from being left on the balcony, where they got caught in an early-morning tropical shower, so I laced up my old Converse All Stars instead.
Zeke did not seem impressed.
“You’ll get shin splints,” he said.
“Says who?”
“Me,” Zeke said. “Go put on some kicks.”
“Stop worrying. I’ll be fine. Let’s go.”
Running along the crowded streets of Miami Beach felt amazing. There was a buzz and an energy there that I hadn’t felt anywhere else in the world. Zeke seemed to know his way around and took us down a few alley shortcuts, where dumpsters, wooden pallets and cardboard boxes were the most attractive part of the scenery. Halfway down one of these alleys, I stopped for a breather and called Zeke back.
“What’s up?”
I reached up and kissed him. “Thanks for this holiday,” I said. “I really appreciate it.”
He beamed with happiness at this and it occurred to me that maybe I didn’t tell him often enough how I felt. Didn’t tell him how much he meant to me. I just sort of assumed he knew. The idea of sitting him down and going through my feelings made me feel queasy it was the sort of thing my art student sister, Lily, would do, or my dad, and I avoided it. Maybe that was a mistake.
I was self-aware enough to realize that wasn’t the whole story. I was embarrassed by the love burning inside me. Afraid of the intense devotion that slid around my throat. What if he used it against me?
I pushed him against the wall of a building and kissed him more fiercely.
There was a sound of someone clearing their throat. When we looked up, a young wealthy-looking guy in a sports jacket andchinos was staring at us from about twenty feet away. His sheltie ran over and licked me on the knee.
To my mortification, this man seemed to think I was a hooker, because he shouted to Zeke, “Hey, man, when you’re done, can I have a turn?”
Without missing a beat, Zeke answered, “No thanks, dude. I’m straight.”
The guy looked confused and then walked off, while I laughed myself into a stitch.
When we reached the beach, Zeke kicked off his trainers and stretched out on our beach blanket. “You’re not going to go sleep again, are you?” I said.
“I didn’t sleep so good last night. Couldn’t stop the wheels turning.”
“Thinking about Burnsy?”
“Yeah, I really hope he’s gonna be OK. Plus, I think I’m like deficient in iron or something. I had crazy restless legs and ended up pacing round our room for two hours straight.”
I’d evidently been completely out for the count, as I’d slept through all of this.
“You should be on multivitamins, Zeke, especially since you’re a vegetarian. I’ll buy you some.”
We were sitting near the lifeguards’ booth, and while Zeke slept I went to talk to them to find out what was happening with the shark situation. The rumor was that earlier in the day the shark flags had been flying, courtesy of a giant hammerhead eating a ray not even a hundred yards out, but the blood had cleared and the shark seemed to have moved on. They didn’t
“Yeah, I do.”
“He might not though,” I said.
“If he can’t surf, he’ll wind up killing himself.”
“Shut up, Zeke.”
“I’m serious.”
“Why would you even say that?”
He held up his forearm to me, and there it was, tattooed in black letters: Surf or Die .
“Because I would.”
tuesday
chapter eleven
“No point taking our boards,” Zeke said, coming in from the balcony and pulling shut the sliding door. “The ocean’s asphalt.”
“I hope it picks up for the kids’ thing tomorrow.”
“They’ll dig it whatever.”
“Zeke,” I said, “did you hear anything else from Anders?”
“No, I think he’s screening my calls.”
“Why would he—”
“I don’t know. He’s acting weird lately.”
He wasn’t the only one.
“Shall we run to the beach?” Zeke said, turning to me. “Burn off some off those donuts we ate for breakfast?”
My trainers were wet from being left on the balcony, where they got caught in an early-morning tropical shower, so I laced up my old Converse All Stars instead.
Zeke did not seem impressed.
“You’ll get shin splints,” he said.
“Says who?”
“Me,” Zeke said. “Go put on some kicks.”
“Stop worrying. I’ll be fine. Let’s go.”
Running along the crowded streets of Miami Beach felt amazing. There was a buzz and an energy there that I hadn’t felt anywhere else in the world. Zeke seemed to know his way around and took us down a few alley shortcuts, where dumpsters, wooden pallets and cardboard boxes were the most attractive part of the scenery. Halfway down one of these alleys, I stopped for a breather and called Zeke back.
“What’s up?”
I reached up and kissed him. “Thanks for this holiday,” I said. “I really appreciate it.”
He beamed with happiness at this and it occurred to me that maybe I didn’t tell him often enough how I felt. Didn’t tell him how much he meant to me. I just sort of assumed he knew. The idea of sitting him down and going through my feelings made me feel queasy it was the sort of thing my art student sister, Lily, would do, or my dad, and I avoided it. Maybe that was a mistake.
I was self-aware enough to realize that wasn’t the whole story. I was embarrassed by the love burning inside me. Afraid of the intense devotion that slid around my throat. What if he used it against me?
I pushed him against the wall of a building and kissed him more fiercely.
There was a sound of someone clearing their throat. When we looked up, a young wealthy-looking guy in a sports jacket andchinos was staring at us from about twenty feet away. His sheltie ran over and licked me on the knee.
To my mortification, this man seemed to think I was a hooker, because he shouted to Zeke, “Hey, man, when you’re done, can I have a turn?”
Without missing a beat, Zeke answered, “No thanks, dude. I’m straight.”
The guy looked confused and then walked off, while I laughed myself into a stitch.
When we reached the beach, Zeke kicked off his trainers and stretched out on our beach blanket. “You’re not going to go sleep again, are you?” I said.
“I didn’t sleep so good last night. Couldn’t stop the wheels turning.”
“Thinking about Burnsy?”
“Yeah, I really hope he’s gonna be OK. Plus, I think I’m like deficient in iron or something. I had crazy restless legs and ended up pacing round our room for two hours straight.”
I’d evidently been completely out for the count, as I’d slept through all of this.
“You should be on multivitamins, Zeke, especially since you’re a vegetarian. I’ll buy you some.”
We were sitting near the lifeguards’ booth, and while Zeke slept I went to talk to them to find out what was happening with the shark situation. The rumor was that earlier in the day the shark flags had been flying, courtesy of a giant hammerhead eating a ray not even a hundred yards out, but the blood had cleared and the shark seemed to have moved on. They didn’t
Similar Books
