A Wild Ride (Jessica Brodie Diaries #3)(72)

We didn't go to the hotel. Instead, we went to Jane's house. William must have gotten directions from somebody. I don't remember getting into the house, but suddenly I was surrounded by my closest friends as William gave a brief overview of what happened. I was passed from one friend to the next.

Lump hugged me and gave encouraging words. Adam was next. Then to Jane. Then to the emotionally cut-off Flem who surprisingly was crying with me. Then to Ami. Finally to William, who tucked me into his body and whispered he loved me and would do so forever, even past death.

I eventually came out of it. I eventually saw it for what it was, which was the same it had always been, and looked around me to see a group of people that loved me. That wanted me in their lives. That supported me.

It could have been worse. I could have been beaten growing up. Or molested. Or in an orphanage. As it was, I had a few emotional scars, but had my head about me and a will to better myself. The lesson I would take away would be to never do that to a child of mine.

The evening passed with wine and stupid jokes that were funny because life wasn't. It was a good ending to a shit afternoon.

The next day we decided it was time to take the boys to the beach. Unlike San Francisco, L.A. was sweltering. All the girls had bathing suits under our cute little sundresses. The boys had T-shirts, flip flops and swim trunks.

“I had to force him into flip flops!” Lump told us all in exasperation, staring at Adam with her hands on her hips. “He wanted to wear his cowboy boots to the beach!”

Adam shrugged, unable to hide a grin. “They’re comfortable.”

The trunks of the cars were packed with necessary beach going equipment. We had everything from umbrellas to sports equipment to those little spikes that go into the ground to hold your drink. One could say we were pros, but in reality, we made an art out of beach-going.

We got to the beach early enough to get parking. We picked a beach with decent waves since we knew the boys wouldn’t be laying out and needed to be distracted. As soon as our plot of real estate was set up for the day, we all stripped down to bathing suits with sun lotion at the ready.

Half way through the day the sun was high overhead and the heat intense. The girls worked on their bronze until we couldn’t take the heat. When he had to cool off, we jointed the boys in the water, who had been boogie boarding non-stop.

As I walked to the place where the ocean meets the sand, William was just rolling in, having fallen off his boogie board half way through riding the wave. He popped up with a smile, noticed me and waded over to give me a kiss.

“Hey love, having fun?” he asked, as if he was the one that took me here instead of the other way around.

“Yeah. It’s hot. Need to swim.”

“Wanna use the board?”

“Nah, I’ll body surf, thanks.”

“You’ll what?”

Adam was now rolling in. The boys didn’t seem very good at riding waves.

“Hey Jessie,” he said as he got up and waded over. “Havin’ fun?”

I rolled my eyes.

“She’s gonna body board,” William said to Adam.

“Body surf,” I corrected.

“Body surf? Cool, dude. Let’s give it a try, bro!” Adam ejaculated, attempting to affect a Californian accent.

We all headed out beyond the waves, Adam and William getting caught and tumbled a couple times before making it out. They didn’t have the art of diving under the wave quite down yet.

“Okay,” I said as we floated. I saw Lump and Flem heading out to us as well. “It is like boogie boarding, but without the board. You catch the wave the same, by swimming hard to get the same speed, then grab the crest.”

Blank looks.

Both boys apparently didn’t know how they had been catching waves up until that point. They seemed to think my explanation was a great idea.

Lump and Flem had made it out by this point and were floating near us.

“Okay,” I continued, “when you have the wave, you pick a direction, stick out one arm, keep the other back, and stay as straight as a board and ride it in.”

Blank looks turned confused.

I gave up. “Just... watch us”

Lump and Flem followed my lead and we all spread out. I saw a good sized wave coming and started swimming hard to catch it. Once in position I stretched out, assumed the position, and leaned into the wave. I was definitely rusty, but the wave was small so I was able to hold it and go skittering along it until I was dumped off at the end.

I looked back to see that Lump caught the next one, and Flem caught the one after. All the waves were big enough for sport, but small enough for safety with newbies.

William picked the next wave and failed spectacularly! He was a little too in front of the wave, didn’t have his body nearly straight enough and he was pulling a superman. That is, until the wave threw him before it, then crashed down on him.

He came to a rolling stop at our feet.

Laughing, Flem said, “Not how you do it, Little Willie.”

William was laughing, too. We turned to watch Adam next, which didn’t swim fast enough and the wave passed him by. He then dallied, like a fool, and was caught by the next wave. He was thrown and tossed, landing in a heap at our feet just like William.

Everyone laughing we headed back out. We told the boys to grab the boards since it was easier, but they weren’t to be outdone by girls. They kept at it, rolling in each wave until finally William caught one and rode it down to the end. It wasn’t perfect, but it worked!