Junior Year Box Set

I talked Fritz into taking me to a local surf shop so I could replace the broken board. When we entered, there was an older guy and a woman in her early twenties there. I think Fritz was surprised when I stepped up to the older guy. When I say older, I would guess he was my parents’ age. I picked him because he just looked like he’d surfed all his life.

“You need a replacement?” he asked when he saw my broken board.

“Yeah, I borrowed a friend’s to learn on and tried to kill myself.”

He looked it over.

“I still have this model in either lime green or pink.”

Neither sounded good to me, so I turned and looked at Fritz, and he just shrugged.

“Can we see them?” I asked.

“Sure, come to the back.”

We made our way to the back room, and there had to be a thousand boards there. At the rear, there was a work area where a young man was making a board. He looked like the man who was helping us. I would guess father and son. He found the two boards and pulled them out.

“At least you wouldn’t lose them,” Fritz said.

“Would Rita like either of these?”

“No,” Fritz finally answered.

“I have something similar, but it’s custom and will cost a little more.”

It was orange-reddish and had been given a weathered appearance, so it looked like a vintage board. In the center was a stylized blazing sun. It looked more like a piece of art than a surfboard. It was the same size and shape. I knew Rita would like it.

“Do you want to get a beginner board for yourself? This one’s too small for you.”

The guy working on shaping a board stopped and looked up.

“You’re an actor,” he said. “I saw some pictures of you surfing. I’ve got a board that’d fit you better, and I’d be willing to give you a deal if you mentioned my dad’s and my shop.”

“What kind of deal?” I asked.

The guy thought about it for a moment.

“How about I give you a board?” he offered.

It turned out that I needed at least a nine-and-a-half-foot board. The rule of thumb was it should be at least three feet longer than you were tall. The guy gave me a ten-footer. This one was white with a burnt orange octopus with orange and yellow tentacles and bright green suction cups. While I was there, I also bought a wetsuit vest. I’d found that if my lower back got cold, I was cold all over. I also bought a pair of surf shoes.

While I paid, Fritz ran next door and bought a couple of breakfast sandwiches. Nearly three grand later, we were on our way to the beach house. I about choked when I saw the price on Rita’s new board, but I bit my tongue because the guy’d given me my board.

We found Rita and Halle sitting on the patio, enjoying another perfect California morning.

“I got this to replace the one I broke,” I said, showing it to Rita.

“Mine!” Halle called.

“This is a much more expensive board than the one you broke,” Rita said.

“They only had it in pink or lime green. I thought this one looked better,” I said.

“This one should be hanging on our wall, not taken surfing,” Rita said.

I showed them the one I’d been given, and Rita’s eyebrows shot up.

“You say he gave you this board?” Rita asked.

“Yeah, he custom makes them in the back of his dad’s shop,” I said. “He just asked that if anyone asked, I tell them where I got it.”

He’d given me a stack of business cards, so I gave one to Rita.

“So, do I get this board?” Halle asked.

“No, you have a perfectly good board. This is too nice for you to be surfing on it,” Rita said.

“MO-om.”

“Don’t ‘Mom’ me. What happened to your last three boards?”

I could guess by Halle’s expression that they’d all been damaged in some way. I’d bet that Halle would have a new board for Christmas because Rita tucked the card away.

We all decided to go surfing again. The young guys loved my new board and wanted to know where I got it. I showed it to the paparazzi when we came out of the water and told them. This time when I changed out of my suit, I put a towel in place. Maybe I was capable of learning.

◊◊◊

Rosy had the day off, so we decided to have lunch at a deli. This time it wasn’t the paparazzi who were the problem, it was the patrons. Rita James was enough to set them off, but my recent antics caused a feeding frenzy. Fans suddenly surrounded our table. That might have been okay, but as more people poured into the deli, it began to get tight in a hurry. I could see how someone might be hurt in the crush, so I stood up and pushed through the crowd to get outside.

I’ll admit that I’d had fantasies of fans groping me and later naughty things occurring. The reality wasn’t even close to my erotic dreams. Fritz and Flo were able to get Rita and Halle out of the deli and into the car. They had to wade into the fans to be able to get me out. When I got into the car, I found my shirt was ripped, and there were several scratches on my arms and neck. That had been a little unsettling.

“That was new,” I said.

“Something like that can get dangerous. We may need to rethink some things,” Fritz said.

“Maybe he shouldn’t be getting naked all the time,” Halle offered.