In Too Deep (4 page)

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.

The wave came from nowhere. It rose up behind him and kept on rising. He couldn’t get out from beneath it. He clung to the rails of his surfboard and closed his eyes. The water crashed on top of him and pushed him under; tumbling him over and over until he didn’t know which way was up or down. His board was ripped from his hands. He was in a hole. He couldn’t get to the top. There was water in his nose and mouth. He was drowning.

Josh woke with a gasp. It took a few seconds to realise he was in his bed at the bach. He wasn’t in the water. He wasn’t drowning. It was that dream again. The second time in two days. He tried to slow his laboured breathing. He was tangled up in his sheets. He threw them off and sat up. His hands were clammy and shook. The dream had been so real.

His muscles were tight. Because of Bevan’s interruption, he hadn’t stretched properly the day before and he’d stayed in the water longer than he intended. Now he was as stiff as his surfboard. He got out of bed slowly, testing each cramped muscle and the more he moved, the easier it became. He dressed and left his bedroom in search of breakfast. At least his appetite was back.

Josh found his mother curled up in an armchair with a magazine and a cup of coffee. “I wondered when you were going to get up,” she said.

He glanced over at the clock, thinking it was late, but it was only 9.00 a.m. He put milk and cereal into a bowl and sat at the table to eat it.

“Where’s Dad?” he asked.

“He’s taken Cyndi to the Gap. It’s low tide about now and he thought it would be a good place to take her for a swim before the sun got too hot.”

“Why didn’t you go?”

“I just needed time to myself. You were fast asleep and I just wanted to sit and enjoy the sunshine. It’s been so stressful with packing and Christmas and everything.”

Josh nodded in agreement. Outside the air was clear and calm and he guessed that there’d be no decent surf that day, not even with the incoming tide. He might as well take it easy and give his muscles time to ease off.

“I think I’ll catch up with Dad,” he said as he finished his cereal.

“Good idea. You should meet him coming back. And don’t forget sunscreen,” his mother reminded him as he headed for the door.

“Sure,” he sighed, pumping sunblock into his palm from the bottle that sat on a shelf by the front door.

When he reached the road, he looked carefully left and right for any sign of the black convertible, but the road was empty. Bevan hadn’t figured out where he lived and wasn’t waiting to jump him as soon as he appeared.

South Piha Beach was quiet when he got there. The lifeguards had put up the flags demarcating the swimming area and only a few swimmers had ventured in. There were no surfers in the water; the surf was too small and messy and it was going to be a day for the bathers. He recognised one of the lifeguards standing by the inflatable rescue boat on the beach and walked over to him.

“Hi, Chris,” he said.

“Oh, hi, Josh,” Chris said, looking up. “Haven’t seen you around for a while.”

“I took a job in the city for Christmas, so I couldn’t get down as much.”

“So what are you up to today?”

“I’m going over to the Gap. Dad’s taken Cyndi there.”

“I think I saw them earlier,” Chris said, nodding his head.

“Have you seen them come back?”

“No, I don’t think so, but I’ve been busy in the back of the clubhouse, so they could have come through then.”

“Alright then. I’ll go and have a look to see if they’re still there.”

“Catch you later,” Chris said and turned to another lifeguard who was standing on the other side of the IRB. “Come on, Brendan, let’s get her out.”

Josh turned and walked towards the left-hand side of the beach where the headland of Tasman Lookout extended out, hovering over a rocky outcrop known as Pakiti Rock. Even at high tide most of the rock was above the water level, except in extremely high tides and rough seas. Today was calm and, even though the tide was coming in, it was easy to get to the rocky base of the cliff. Josh hopped from rock to rock until he reached the first of two rocky outcrops, over which he had to climb. He made his way over them and stopped for a moment where the rocks formed a flat ledge with rock pools.

He turned at the sound of an outboard engine and saw Chris and Brendan flying past in the IRB. Chris raised his hand in greeting and Josh waved back, watching them as they sped in the direction of Lion Rock, riding in the trough between the waves. He followed their progress until they rounded Lion Rock and were lost from sight.

He turned to continue along the ledge towards the sandy beach and from there the Gap, but a voice behind him stopped him.

“Hey, surfer boy!”

He glanced over his shoulder. Bevan climbed over the last of the rocky outcrops and came towards him. Gina was behind him, not sure of her footing on the uneven rocks. Bevan didn’t wait for her but walked over to Josh.

“Out on your own, eh?”

Josh looked over his shoulder. There was no one in sight. He was alone and vulnerable.

“Leave me alone.” His voice sounded stronger than he felt.

“Oooh, I’m scared.”

“You got me for knocking you over. Now we’re quits.”

“That’s what you think.”

Gina had now come to stand just behind Bevan, silent and wary. “Leave him, Bevan,” she said as she placed a hand on his shoulder.

“This prick crashed into me.”

“He didn’t mean it, Bevan. It was an accident.”

“How do you know?”

“Mitch told me.”

“What does Mitch know?” He turned on her. “Whose side are you on anyway?” It seemed like Bevan was going to hit her and she cowered away from him

Josh stepped forward and said, “Leave her alone.”

Bevan rounded on him. “Stay out of this.”

“Don’t take it out on her.”

“Then I’ll take it out on you,” Bevan said, and pushed Josh back.

Josh stumbled on the uneven surface. He tried to maintain his balance, but failed and fell on one knee, the jagged rock edge cutting through his skin. Still unbalanced, Bevan shoved him with his foot so that he fell backwards into a rock pool, the water soaking the seat of his boardies.

“Weakling,” Bevan said.

“Stop it, Bevan,” Gina said, pulling at his arm. “Someone will see.”

“Better look over your shoulder all the time, surfer boy. You’ll never know when I’ll be creeping up on you.”

Bevan threw his arm around Gina, pulled her around and together they walked off, heading back to the beach. They separated as they reached the rocky outcrop and Gina looked back at Josh who was getting up out of the water. He met her eyes, but couldn’t read them. Was it sympathy or contempt? He couldn’t tell.

He looked at his knee. It was bleeding and he used some of the water from the rock pool to wash it away. He made his way to the base of the cliff and sat down on a rocky ledge. The sound of an outboard motor carried to him and he glanced up to see the inflatable, with Chris and Brendan in it, returning to the beach. He looked over to the left, towards the Gap and decided he’d forget about going out there. He made his way slowly back over the rocks, wincing at the pain in his knee. Once he reached the sand he limped towards the yellow and red flags and saw Chris sitting on the quad bike, scanning the water ahead of him. He glanced over as Josh approached.

“You were in one piece last time I saw you,” Chris said.

“I fell on the rocks.”

“Really? Looked like you were pushed.”

Josh frowned. “How …?”

“I saw you from the IRB, after we’d come back around the Lion. I thought it was you, but I couldn’t see much from that distance. It didn’t look like the guy was shaking your hand. Do you know him?”

“Sort of,” Josh said.

“Did you piss him off or something?”

“Yeah, something.”

Chris glanced down at the cut on Josh’s knee. “It looks clean enough. Go up to the first aid room if you want.”

“Nah, I washed it out with sea water. It should be fine. Think I’ll go for a swim. See you, Chris.”

Chris nodded then lifted his whistle to his mouth to get the attention of a group of bathers who had strayed outside the flags.

Josh took off his shirt, leaving it close to the quad bike, and ran into the sea. The coldness of the water startled him, but it washed away the remaining sick feeling he’d had since Bevan had met him on the rocks.