Close Out (9 page)

Kai imagined lying down in the back of the hearse. “I'll get in the back,” he volunteered.

“No way,” Booger said. “You lie down back there and we'll never get you out. You're in front. I'll get in the back.”

Kai did as he was told. Shauna sat between him and Bean, who appeared to be having some difficulty getting the key into the ignition. Finally Shauna reached over and helped him get the key into the slot.

“What
were
you guys up to last night?” she asked.

“Playing Robin Hood.” Bean yawned. He
turned the key, started the hearse, and pulled down the driveway beside the funeral home.

“Personally, I always think using headlights is a good idea when driving in the dark,” Shauna said.

Bean groaned and flicked on the headlights.

By the time Bean pulled into the parking lot next to the boardwalk, the first dull hint of daylight had started to appear in the east. They got out of the hearse and went to the back to get their boards. It was Kai who noticed something different.

“Hey, guys,” he said.

Everyone stopped what they were doing and looked at the rows of shiny new green parking meters.

“When did this happen?” Bean asked.

“Must have been last week when none of us were surfing,” Shauna said.

Booger went over to one of the meters and read the fine print. “Eight
A.M.
to six
P.M.
Twenty-five cents for ten minutes.”

“That's a buck and a half an hour,” Bean said.

“What a pain,” Booger said.

“Just another way to give surfers grief,”
Kai said. He went over and gave the meters a closer look. “See what they did? Made it an hour limit. Then you have to come back and feed in six more quarters.”

“I get it,” Shauna said. “It's a pain, but not that bad if you're on the beach. You just walk up and feed in the quarters and walk back. But if you're out surfing, it means coming all the way in, leaving your board on the beach, walking to the lot, feeding the meter, going back, and then paddling all the way out again.”

The big yellow Hummer pulled into the lot. Lucas and Buzzy got out. Lucas was wearing surfing trunks, but Buzzy was in khaki slacks and a light blue polo shirt, so he was probably just dropping his son off. He saw Kai and his friends huddled around the meter.

“Residents will be able to go down to town hall and buy a parking permit for the summer so they won't have to feed the meters,” Lucas's father announced as if he could read their minds.

“What about nonresidents?” Kai asked.

“The resorts and hotels will issue temporary parking permits based on length of stay,” Buzzy replied.

“All the resorts and hotels?” Kai asked.

“Those who are members of the chamber of commerce,” said Buzzy.

Curtis, of course, was the last person in the world who would ever join a chamber of commerce, so anyone staying at the Driftwood would be unable to get a temporary parking permit, and thus would be forced the feed the meter all day. By now Lucas had taken his board, crossed the boardwalk, and started down the beach. Buzzy got back into the Hummer and left.

Bean checked his watch. “Guess that means we can surf for free until eight. Then I'll have to start feeding the meter. This afternoon I'll go over to town hall and get a permit.”

They picked up their boards and started toward the beach.

“You know what's amazing?” Booger said. “It's like Buzzy Frank has forgotten that he was once a kid who loved to surf. As long as Lucas can surf, he doesn't give a crap what happens to anyone else.”

“Survival of the fittest,” Bean said.

They crossed the boardwalk and headed down the beach. The waves were waist high, coming in sets.

“Oh, man.” Bean grunted in appreciation. “Am I glad to see this.”

“The intervals seem a little longer than usual” Booger said, referring to the time between the waves.

“So it gives you a little more time to get into position to catch a wave?” Shauna guessed.

“You got it,” said Kai.

“Primo conditions,” Bean said as he kneeled down and started to wax his board. “Thank you, Kahuna, for giving us this day.”

Kai also started to wax, but out of the corner of his eye he noticed something strange. Lucas had not gone into the water. Instead he was standing at the tidemark and staring down at the sand.

“What's he doing?” Booger asked in a low voice.

Kai looked more closely and saw that the sand near the water was dotted with jellyfish. Most were either clear shapeless blobs, or clear and flat like a see-through pancake. But here and there were larger ugly jellyfish with reddish brown centers and short tendrils. Now Kai knew why Lucas had not gone into the water.

Bean continued to wax his board.

“Uh, Bean?” Kai said.

“Don't sweat it,” Bean said as if he knew what Kai was going to say. “I know it's kind of disgusting, but the clear ones won't hurt you.”

“What about the big ugly red-brown ones?” Booger asked.

“Try to stay away from 'em,” Bean said.

“That's easy for you to say,” Booger said. “You're on a board most of the time. But I'm in the water.”

“Sorry, Boogs.” Bean strapped on his leash and headed for the water. “But neither rain, nor snow nor gloom of night shall stay this noble courier from the swift completion of his appointed rounds.”

“What's he babbling about?” Booger asked.

“I think it's like the post office motto, or something,” said Shauna.

“He's postal, all right,” said Booger.

Meanwhile Kai finished waxing and, trying not to think about the jellyfish, followed Bean into the surf. It felt great to be back in the water again, and the first few paddles were okay, but then Kai felt something gelatinous brush against his fingertips. He automatically jerked his arm out of the water. Looking down
he saw four or five small clear jellyfish, barely visible below the surface. It was gross, but so far Bean was right. Unlike the small blue-and-purple man-of-wars that sometimes appeared around Kauai, and could deliver a searingly painful sting, these jellyfish seemed harmless.

Kai continued to paddle, occasionally feeling that eerie gelatinous sensation of a jellyfish brush against his fingertips or palm. Finally he got outside where Bean was sitting on his long board, waiting for a wave. Straddling his short board, Kai was in the water up to his rib cage. Jellyfish floated around him, and now and then he felt one slide past his legs.

“I guess you've surfed in these things before,” he said to Bean.

“Every August, dude. Look, they're not so bad.” Bean dipped his hand into the water and actually picked up a clear, pancake-shaped one. “These guys are pretty cool. Watch.” Bean pulled his arm back and whipped it forward, throwing the flat round jellyfish like a Frisbee.

“I'm not sure whether that's cool or completely sick,” Kai said.

Booger joined them. On his bodyboard only his shoulders and head were out of the water. The rest of him was submerged, and
liable to come into contact with jellyfish at any moment. “This … is … so … freaking … gross,” he groaned. “I swear, if it wasn't for the fact there've been no waves for the past week, I would be out of this freaking water so fast.”

Shauna was the next to arrive. Once she got outside, she lay flat on her board with her arms and feet completely out of the water. “I can't believe I'm out here. There must be something seriously wrong with me.”

“It's called stoke,” Bean said.

“‘Psycho' is a better word,” Shauna said.

Bean scooped up a small round clear one in his palm. “I told you guys, these things are harmless.”

“So's toilet water, but I wouldn't go swimming in it,” Booger shot back.

Lucas was still on the shore, his hands on his hips, staring down at the beach as if he couldn't meet their eyes.

“You can bet that if Buzzy was around, Lucas would be out here right now,” Booger said, and then lowered his voice and imitated Lucas's father. “You want to win, son, you've got to learn to rip in every condition. Ankle-slappers, jellyfish, red tide, monsoon, raw
sewage, hurricane, icebergs, sea snakes … You think any of those things ever stopped Kelly Slater? Hell, no. Why, I remember one time in the Sahara Desert, we didn't even have water. You think that stopped us from surfing? Damn right it didn't.”

Kai and the others chuckled. As if Lucas somehow knew what they were thinking, he flung himself onto his board and began to paddle out. At the same time, a new set started to come in. With the extra-long intervals, Kai, Bean, and the others all managed to catch waves for their first rides in a week.

“That was so great!” Shauna cried as she started to paddle back out.

“I take back every bad thing I ever said about jellyfish,” Booger chimed in as he paddled out beside her.

When they got back outside, Lucas was there, bobbing on his board. Kai and the others nodded at him but didn't say a word. While they waited for the next set, Kai noticed that Lucas spent more time scanning the water around him for jellyfish than watching for waves. Another set came in. Bean paddled for a wave but missed it. Shauna tried to catch one, but was too deep under the peak
and pearled. Kai caught one and had a nice ride down the line. When he kicked out and started to paddle back, he discovered Booger kicking out beside him.

“Good ride, huh?” Booger said.

“Yeah. You got the wave after mine?” Kai asked.

“Right. You see Lucas?”

“What about him?” Kai asked.

“He had at least two easy shots and let both pass,” Booger said. “I think it's because he's afraid to bite it in the sea of jellyfish.”

“Can't say I totally blame him,” Kai said, now and then feeling that weird gelatinous sensation against his finger tips as he paddled. It was almost like swimming through liquid Jell-O.

Back on the beach, Derek, Everett, and Sam showed up. All three stopped at the tide mark and studied the jellyfish that lay dying and drying in the sun. Kai was impressed with Everett's ability to move back and forth between Lucas's crew and Kai and his friends. The kid clearly had a mind of his own.

After a few moments Derek and Everett got into the water and started to paddle out. But Sam stayed on the shore. Another set
came in and Bean caught a wave. Once again Shauna went for one and pearled. Kai paddled over to her while she climbed back onto her board.

“I hate to say this, but you might be better off back at Sewers,” Kai said, knowing that the waves there were slower and easier to catch.

“But these are better rides,” Shauna said as she started to paddle back out.

“And harder to catch,” Kai said.

Shauna shrugged. “Gotta learn sometime.”

She and Kai made it outside. By now Derek and Everett were out there.

“Welcome to Jellyfish City,” Kai said.

“As long as they don't sting, I don't care,” Everett said.

On the shore Sam turned and started back up the beach with his board under his arm. With Lucas and Derek within earshot, Kai and the others chose not to comment, but it definitely looked like the tough guy had been scared off.

Kai sat on his board, watching for the next set, but he could see nothing promising on the horizon. Out of nowhere he heard a splash near him. He looked at the widening ripples in the water and saw one of the flat,
pancake-shaped jellyfish bob to the surface. A moment later there was another splash and another round, flat jellyfish appeared. Kai looked up. Either seagulls were dropping them out of the sky, or …

Splat!
Something hit him in the back of the head. Kai spun around. Bean and Booger were both looking off into the distance as if gazing at some faraway sight, but both had smiles on their faces. Kai reached into the water and picked up one of the flat, round jellyfish. He was surprised by how thick and tough it felt in his hand. Much sturdier than he'd imagined a jellyfish would feel. He wound up and threw the jellyfish at Bean. He missed and was reaching into the water to find another one when both Bean and Booger turned and fired jellyfish back at him. Obviously they'd been waiting for Kai to retaliate.

It was a full-scale jellyfish war. Everett joined in, and so did Derek. Jellyfish, and pieces of jellyfish, were flying everywhere. The jellyfish were difficult to aim and tended to break apart in the air, so the only way to ensure a direct hit was to move closer to the intended target. Soon Bean, Booger, Kai, Everett, and Derek were all within twenty feet of one another, throwing as
hard as they could. The broken jellyfish left a thin layer of slime on their hands and smelled fishy, but this was war, and war was not pretty.

Shauna and Lucas paddled out of range and watched. The battle continued until every jellyfish within reach and been reduced to tiny unthrowable morsels. The warriors were left bobbing on their boards, breathing hard, and grinning. Kai brought his slimy hands to his nose and sniffed. The fishy smell was stronger than he'd expected. “Gross!”

Bean rolled off his board and dove, then reappeared on the surface with a handful of sand he'd scooped off the bottom. He rubbed the sand between his hands to get the slime off. Kai and the others dove down and did the same. The sand got most of the slime off, but the smell remained.

Lucas paddled back toward them. “You guys are completely sick,” he said.

Kai and the others grinned. Kai couldn't help noticing that, for the first time, his friends and Lucas and his crew were mixed together into one group.

“Hey, if God didn't want us to throw jellyfish, he wouldn't have made them so easy to pick up,” Everett said.

“It's not like they're good for anything else,” added Booger.

“What? You never had a jellyfish omelet?” asked Bean.

The others groaned.

“That's awful,” Shauna said.