The Peripheral Sur

by Bart Key

  Both Sur and Henry attended my college graduation. At dinner afterwards, Sur offered me the position of assistant ranch manager if I wanted it. Well yeah! I learned that the ranch’s original small homestead house had recently been modernized so that I would have a place to live. When Champ and I arrived at the ranch with all my belongings, I somehow knew that I would be calling the Bar 7 my new home.

  Roberto had already set aside a special stall for Champ. He congratulated me on my new position and bragged that he was about to become a dad again. Other staff members also seemed pleased to see me and offered their congratulations. Later in the day, I met with Sur’s ranch manager, a consultant whom I already knew having worked for him the previous summer. He was particularly pleased to have me on board and related that Sur wanted me to start making plans as soon as possible to introduce bison to the ranch. During my senior year, one of the ranch’s more remote areas had been set aside for the raising of bison. The area’s perimeter consisted of natural barriers to migration where they were present with the remainder being fenced in with special heavier and stronger barbed wire. My first task would be to find a small herd to inhabit the enclosure. Within a month, I found one for sale located on a Wyoming ranch not all that far away. When the herd was delivered, it was big news at the Bar 7. From that day forward, the ranch manager would spend all of his time attending to the raising of cattle and I would spend mine attending to the raising of our new bison herd. Riding on the open range inside our bison enclosure quickly became part of my daily routine. Champ loved his new life on the ranch every bit as much as I did. I and the other Bar 7 cowboys certainly had our work cut out for us in adjusting to our new world of raising bison.

  Chapter 17

  Little Brother

  Paco and I were all but inseparable my whole life until he left for college in California. He had always looked out for me and taught me things like how to surf and what sex was all about. As to the latter, my mom was very wise and when Paco turned fifteen, she put condoms in his top dresser drawer, made sure he knew what they were for and admonished him to use them if he had any intention of experimenting with sex in high school which, of course, he did. Just before I turned fifteen, I received the same lecture and my own supply. As I had always been more forward than Paco when it came to fun times with the girls, my condom supply probably diminished at a faster rate than my brother’s. But God help us if either one of us violated her instructions.

  After Paco went off to college, I felt lonely and sad for a while. My mom would have none of it and would push me outside telling me to spend more time with my friends. Soon enough I was back to normal, flirting with the girls and surfing. And of course I now had Paco’s caretaker job. Although I had just turned sixteen, Sur told me he couldn’t imagine anyone being more qualified for the job than me. The pay was especially welcome as my mother had always struggled to make ends meet. When she passed away suddenly near the end of my senior year, Paco and I were overcome with grief. Her funeral was attended by nearly everyone in the village as she was so widely loved and respected. Jeremy and Sur were there too. Both Paco and I tried not to show our emotions but toward the end of the service, we both broke down in tears.

  After she was gone, I continued to live in our small house but sometimes would spend the night at Wild Beach as the solitude there was comforting as I worked through the grieving process. It also gave me time to think about the items Paco and I had found in her belongings which included letters to her from our father. From these, we learned that he was from Mexico City and had held a high-ranking administrative position in the Mexican government. A couple of newspaper clippings indicated he and his wife were well known in society. Paco and I were shocked by this as we had always assumed that my mother had been married. Clearly, that was not the case. One of the few things she had told us was that she had been born in Mexico City, the youngest of five children, and that her parents were very poor. She had excelled in high school and learned to speak English fluently. After graduating, she was hired as a translator at the American Embassy. My father’s letters indicated that he had met her at an embassy function and that they had fallen madly in love with each other. When she became pregnant, they both feared that if it were to become known he was the father, a huge scandal would ensue at a time when an important election campaign was ongoing. My father arranged for my mother to move to our village where she lived anonymously. Paco was born six months later. My father had set up a small trust fund for her and visited when he could manage to get away. My mother became pregnant again and I was born. Another clipping indicated that when I was almost a year old, my father had been killed in a car accident. So now we knew.

  When I was a freshman in high school, my mother gave me a used guitar for my birthday and it became my constant companion. After she taught me the few chords she knew, I figured out others on my own. Apparently I had an ear for music, as I found it easy to identify chords and match them with song. I also was the singer in the family starting almost from the time I could talk and was never one to shy away from just bursting into song. Once I learned to accompany myself on the guitar, friends began asking me to perform. When Sur had guests at Wild Beach, it didn’t take much to persuade me to entertain everyone around the campfire on the beach at night. Everyone would sing along. They laughed at my raunchy songs and were shocked that this kid who seemed to be still wet behind the ears knew such language. Jeremy was partially responsible for that. As the evening would progress, the laughter and the loudness of our singing would increase in direct proportion to the amount of weed secretly toked by the grown-ups behind my back. Like I didn’t know.

  During my time as caretaker, Sur sometimes would come to stay by himself or maybe bring Jeremy with him. When it was the two of them, I was always invited to join them when I was not in school. If the surf was up, the three of us would hit it for hours at a time. Every now and then the two of them would take a break and sneak off down the beach for a few minutes. I, of course, knew exactly what they were doing. Once I turned eighteen, I was invited to toke with them and sometimes would. Truthfully though, I got my highs from making music.

  Due to a freak surfing accident, I almost didn’t make it to eighteen. One time when the three of us were surfing, I badly misjudged a sizeable wave and couldn’t cut out of it safely before I wiped out. Apparently I was knocked unconscious when my head hit the rocky bottom. Sur and Jeremy realized that I was in trouble and immediately swam over to me and hauled me to shore. Jeremy told me later that I wasn’t breathing when we arrived and that he had immediately begun mouth-to-mouth resuscitation but got no response. Sur then apparently took his turn at it and I finally sputtered and returned to consciousness. I remember Jeremy sobbing in relief as they helped me back to the house where I rested up for the rest of the day.

  Just as he had for Paco, Sur offered to send me to college in the States. He suggested I look at finding a college which offered a quality music curricula and then choose a minor of a more practical nature, perhaps architecture. One thing we all knew about Sur was that listening to his ideas usually paid off. So with Jeremy’s help, I submitted several applications including one to UCLA where I was accepted much to my surprise. While I did have high test scores, I suspected that Sur might have pulled a string or two as well. Paco told me once that Sur had an incredible knack for finding a way to get things done.

  Like Paco, I would spend the summer being tutored at Sur’s beach house in Santa Barbara. Paco told me how cool it was to live in his unbelievable home and he was so right. Running the beach with Sur each day was a given just as it had been when Paco was there. The two of us often drove to Ventura for the weekend if there were reports of good surf in the area. When Sur was off somewhere on business, I would look after his place and continue studying my butt off.

  Mom had always been very insistent that Paco and I study hard and do well in school. Paco, of course, followed her advice to the letter. Begrudgingl
y, I studied fairly hard too but my grades never matched his. Paco was the handsome and serious one while I was the cute and precocious one. He loved the style and athletic aspects of surfing while I favored hotdogging and just messing around. Jeremy liked to hotdog too sometimes especially when he was with me. In his serious mode, however, he was amazing to watch especially when he pushed himself inside the crest of a large wave and shot the curl for what seemed like forever. I doubted I would ever be that good but that didn’t stop me from loving to surf.

  When it came time for classes to start, Jeremy helped me move into my small studio apartment located not far from the campus. Sur loaned me his ancient Corvette so I would be able to get around and drive to Ventura for surfing weekends when time permitted. He knew how much I cherished his classic wheels and I was confident that driving such a beautiful machine would prove advantageous in attracting the women.

  In college too, Paco I was not. He went to college with a purpose and a goal. I went to experiment with life. And did I ever. College for me was a blast. Taking Sur’s advice, I pursued a degree in music. As Sur was paying the tab and expected me to do well, I studied hard enough to pass all my classes with at least a “B”. Realizing now more than ever that I was musically gifted, I took lessons in voice, guitar and piano all four years of college. In the second semester of my junior year, I formed a small band with two of my musician buddies and we actually got good enough to draw an occasional gig. As for the girls, they loved a guy who played a mean guitar. Mom would not have been pleased if she knew of my social habits. One time when Jeremy came to visit, I opened up to him about my active sex life as I kind of figured he knew a thing or two about that himself and might offer some useful advice on the subject. He just laughed and confessed he had been pretty promiscuous in his teenage years himself. But especially in this day and age, carrying and using condoms was the wise thing to do. I chuckled at that telling him that he needn’t worry as my mom no doubt was looking down on me from heaven and would know in an instant if I strayed from that practice.

  About half way through my junior year I started composing songs. I found out that it was not all that easy mainly because it was very difficult to make everything fit into the musical picture I wanted to portray. Sadly, my band fell apart midway through my senior year after one of my bandmates dropped out of college and returned to his home in Texas. Fortunately for me, my reputation as a singer was somewhat known around campus and I occasionally was offered a solo gig. Singing to a crowd that appreciates your talent really helps one’s ego. Slowly you learn what works and what doesn’t.

  Among my most vivid memories of my college days were the times I spent looking after Sur’s beach house when he was traveling. If I had a favorite girl at the time, which I usually did, I would bring her with me and the two of us would just soak up the luxurious and quiet estate being naked a lot. Sur no doubt knew that but never said a word as he knew I would leave the place spic and span when I left. I vowed that someday I would own my own home on the beach.

  Paco, Sur and Jeremy were all present at my graduation. At dinner, they all toasted to my achievement and how proud of me they were. I couldn’t thank Sur enough for making it all possible. When the subject came up of what was next for me, I admitted to being torn between staying in L.A. to pursue a singing career or moving in with Paco in Costa Rica for a while. Sur suggested that taking a break with Paco might give me a breathing spell before deciding where to put down permanent roots. Once again, knowing the efficacy of his advice, I moved in with Paco at the Sea Breeze.

  Paco immediately employed me as an assistant manager. As one might expect, the staff rightly assumed that the position had been created for me since Paco already had one assistant manager. I was determined however to earn their respect and began by learning all their names and something about each of them. From day one, I was blown away by Paco’s incredible management skills. It was amazing how much respect he had from of his employees especially considering his young age. You could tell he was truly in his element. But hotel management would not be my calling and Paco knew that.

  Almost every day in the hotel lounge when it was closed, I would practice singing while accompanying myself on the guitar or piano. Paco wondered if I should put together another band and, if we became good enough, he would consider hiring us for weekend gigs. Talk about incentive. So I started checking around and eventually found two guys who were interested, one a drummer and the other a bass guitarist. After work, we began practicing in the hotel’s large meeting room when not in use. One day we played a set for Paco and he hired us as the weekend act in his lounge. In a short time, we became popular and were asked to perform at other venues. As our song catalogue was quite limited, I diligently began composing again.

  Unfortunately, this band too was short-lived. Paco had become so immersed in Sur’s hotel development project that he was forced to assign many of his management functions over to me and his other assistant manager. When the Playa Oro Resort opened, Paco became its general manager and took his other assistant manager with him. Suddenly I found myself the manager of the Sea Breeze. As Paco continued to live there, he was around a lot to advise me. He knew though that I yearned to move on and after about three months he hired an experienced hotel manager to replace me. I was free at last to form a new band once again and devote my future to music and entertaining.

  Chapter 18

  Bachelors No More

  Late one afternoon while attending a reception for rodeo team supporters at my alma mater, I was sipping on a beer and chatting with friends when this gorgeous creature who looked about my age tapped me on the back and introduced herself. Before I knew it, Elizabeth had cagily talked me into having dinner with her. She had grown up on a ranch not too far away and had recently moved back home after graduating from Yale with a master’s degree in creative writing. During our meal we became infatuated with each other and began dating. Both of us were trying to be careful and not move too fast, especially me. Then one day, in her inimitable style, she invited herself over to my place for dinner the next evening.

  I was in a panic about the state of my house and lack of cooking skills. Thank goodness Angelina came to the rescue. She and one of the other ranch wives spent most of morning scouring out my place and making it somewhat presentable. In late afternoon, I assisted Angelina in making carnitas and a couple of Mexican side dishes. When we were done, all I had to do was toss a salad and heat everything up. Luckily, I knew how to make a mean salad. When Elizabeth arrived, I started the evening by serving Sangria cocktails. When we sat down for dinner, she was quite impressed with the meal I served but I knew that she didn’t believe for a minute that I hadn’t had some help. She stayed the night and a couple of months later we got hitched. Her parents had insisted on a big wedding which both of us managed to suffer through. Sur, Henry and many on the ranch staff attended. For a wedding present, Sur deeded us a twenty acre plot on the Bar 7 where we could build our own home. After a week in Hawaii, we arrived back at the ranch and began a blissful married life.

  •

  That day I introduced myself to Luke, it was a spur of the moment decision. I glanced at him from across the room and just liked what I saw. He was the stereotypically handsome, well-built cowboy of course and had a great butt. What I really liked though was the way he carried himself with nonchalant confidence. He was talking to a couple of other cowboy types and the three of them no doubt were into their male-talk. When the conversation slowed for a moment, I made my move and tapped him on the back. When he turned and looked at me, there was a spark between us. I kind of knew that this could be my man and if had to do the chasing, so be it. Right out of the chute, I invited him to dinner and he accepted with a grin. Over dinner we just got caught up looking at each other though his eyes did stray downward occasionally to check out my cleavage. Typical male. Over his objection, I paid for dinner. In return, he asked me out so he could reciprocate. After
that we were together whenever possible. I eventually moved in with him and when the time seemed right, I asked him if he would marry me. He laughed and said “well hell yes”. I knew then we would have a “helluva” life together.

  •

  The planning and permitting of Sur’s Guanacaste development project took almost a year to complete. It seemed like more of my days were spent in San Jose during that time than in Guanacaste managing the Sea Breeze. I was fortunate that there was an airport within a short driving distance of the hotel which had daily flights to and from San Jose. Chairing countless meetings with lawyers, architects and contractors was challenging as hell. I was so envious of how well Sur chaired meetings. He was a master at controlling the tenor and length of each one he convened and thought nothing of being abrupt in a courteous way as he asked attendees very penetrating questions. Thankfully Sur had assigned Ward to be my side during some of the more important meetings. My confidence level always soared when he was present as his suggestions were always down to earth and practical. During this period, I was so grateful for my college education particularly during discussions concerning hotel layout and design. A number of my suggestions became incorporated into the project’s final plan.

  When not in San Jose, I was up to my ears in managing the Sea Breeze. My social life was practically non-existent. It was a rare day indeed when I could escape for an evening out with a date. Miguel’s moving in with me had been a real upper. He was my only family now and we loved being around each other. From what little I could squeeze out of him, it appeared he had done well in college which didn’t surprise me considering his love of music and his exceptional talent. He also confessed to having had a pretty active social life at UCLA which, knowing him, I assumed meant he had been very active sexually. Miguel had always been popular with the girls and no doubt scored more often in college than I ever did, though I was no wallflower myself especially during my last two years. When Miguel became my second assistant manager, I heaped duties upon him as fast as his learning curve would allow as, increasingly, I was having to spend more and more time on Sur’s new project. Miguel adjusted to his new position fairly quickly and also to life in Guanacaste in general. He managed to put together a band which was just getting on its feet when it had to be disbanded due to the necessity of Miguel’s being given additional job responsibilities. When he became manager of the Sea Breeze after the Playa Oro opened, it was patently clear to me that he was frustrated and felt trapped. As quickly as I could, I found a qualified manager to replace him. Miguel was finally free to move into his own apartment and start forming another band.