by Rod Carstens
Then he saw the Pacific. The walls facing the ocean were floor to ceiling windows. It gave anyone in the living room a breath taking view of the Pacific. As if mesmerized by the sight he opened a pair of double doors that lead out onto a deck. The deck was wooden with a white railing wrapping around the house. White wooden chairs were arranged around a small wooden table, while others were scattered around the huge deck. The deck wrapped around the house and disappeared behind the side of the house. He walked out onto the deck and leaned against the wooden railing. The Pacific was a perfect blue; waves broke leaving white foam to roll up on the beach. The sky was an impossibly clear blue without a singe cloud to mar it perfection. He could look down and see a long row of houses similar to Jack's, they were all large with huge windows over looking the ocean. Each had a set of stairs leading down to the beach; one even had a circular stairway. It was hard to fathom all of this was real and existed in the same world as Vietnam. Less than forty-eight hours ago he could not stand in the open without being shot, and now he stood in a house on the ocean he could only have dreamed of even in civilian life.
"Jesus Christ."
"It does grab you doesn't it."
Kate was standing bare foot still in her black dress her hair down next to him at the railing.
"I'm going inside to change. I need to get out of these clothes and see to some things."
Tom didn't answer. Kate smiled. She could see what the sight of the ocean was doing to him.
When he was a boy and had just moved to Florida, they took their first trip to the beach. It was only a mile away across the causeway. He had never seen the ocean before, but when they arrived it was as if he had come home. He felt an immediate connection that would define him in the next years. They had to drag him out of the water to go home that first day. The ocean had always been his release, but now the sight of the wide expanse of the Pacific was untying a knot war and Mac's funeral had tied inside him. The ocean was a balm to everything that had happened in the last days. He felt something slowly unwind inside. He was still staring at the ocean when Kate came back into onto the deck. She had changed into a bikini and slipped on some sunglasses.
"Are you all right?" Kate said.
"Yeah, just enjoying the view."
"Jack left a note. He went out got you some civilian clothes. He says don't worry about the money; it's from one gyrene to another. Whatever that means. Besides he says he out ranks you. He guessed at the sizes. But if I know Jack he bought you several sizes and you can choose. They are in the bedroom."
"He didn't have to do that. I was going to buy some things. But I'd sure like to get out of his uniform. Where's the bedroom?"
Tom suddenly wanted badly get out of his uniform and into some civilian clothes.
"Just to the left behind the bar."
Tom found the bedroom at its center against the wall had to be the biggest bed Tom had ever seen. He sat down on the bed and was taking off his socks when he looked up; a corner window gave another panoramic view of the Pacific. Below the window a low couch wrapped around the corner. None of this seemed real. Again he had to struggle for a moment to orient himself to another reality.
All sorts of clothes were scattered on the bed. It must have cost a fortune. Tom didn't know how he would repay Jack for all of this but he would worry about that later. Tom was getting ready to pull on blue jeans, when he saw the Baggies. He pulled them on and found they fit perfect. He grabbed a t-shirt and pulled it on. He was ready for the beach. When he came out of the bedroom he found Kate with two beers.
"Thanks," Tom said and took a long pull from the bottle.
"Jack keeps the fridge full of beer, the bars as you can see is full of anything you can think of, and there is a nice stash in the bedroom. It all ours so drink up there buster."
Kate was watching his reaction closely and she liked what she saw, he was already more relaxed than she had seen him since they first met. This had been a good idea. It pleased her more than she expected to see how much the beach was already helping him.
"Kate he wouldn't happen to have a surfboard would he? I would love to get out in those waves."
"Oh course, it's downstairs in the little storage room where he keeps all the beach stuff. He keeps it around for people who want play around in the surf."
Kate led him downstairs to storage room and there hanging from the ceiling in its own rack was a board.
"Jesus Christ! You have got to be shitting me." Tom said as he took the board down.
"What the matter?"
"Nothing. But this exactly the same board I have at home. It's a 9' 6" Surfboards Hawaii Model A with a step down deck, and a concave nose and three stringers. Jesus, it beautiful."
Kate leaned against the door and watched his excited grow. She smiled, again pleased at his reaction. Tom found the wax he needed on a shelf next to the board and began waxing the top of the board.
"I think I'll go up to the deck and leave you two alone," Kate said with a laugh.
Tom made sure he had a good coat of wax on the board, and then slipped the bar of wax in the back pocket of the Baggies. He tossed his t-shirt in the corner, flipped the board under his right arm, and headed for the beach. The water was freezing, much colder than Florida. He took a couple of tentative steps, and then dove in head first to get over the shock all at once. The conditions were still perfect; five-foot glassy swells were rolling in with a very nice right break.
He pushed the board off and began to paddle out. With each stroke, Vietnam seemed further and further away. A breaking wave loomed in front of him; he dove to the front of the board, and grabbed the nose. He popped out on the other side, and began to paddle to get outside before the next set. He made it to where it looked like the line up should be; he sat up on the board and faced out to sea, waiting and watching as he had done thousands of times before. He saw a swell begin to build. He slipped to the tail of the board, and with one hand spun the board around and let it pop forward as it took his full weight. He took two hard strokes and he felt the back of the board begin to rise. He had it. It a quick fluid motion he stood, left foot forward.
He dropped down the face of the wave. When he reached the bottom, he shifted his weight by taking a step to the rear of the board, and stalled the board. The board began to rise up the face of the wave. As it neared the crest he took three quick sure steps to the nose of the board and crouched down, left foot forward. The board dropped down the face of the wave and sped forward now locked into the break. The wave rose as a deep blue wall in front, and to his right. It continued to rise almost magically out of the sea to meet him, as he sped across the face. There was no Vietnam, no dead friends, no incoming artillery rounds, no snipers, nothing but the ocean and the wave. He wanted the moment to go on forever. The wave began breaking in front of him sectioning out. He grabbed the edge of the board and leaned into the wave, and popped out the back in a perfect Hawaiian pullout. He spun the board around began to paddle out to catch the next one.
CHAPTER 23
Jack didn't regret giving in on a couple of points on the script. He normally he would have fought tooth and nail against the changes but he wanted to get to the house and see how the kids were doing. He cared about Kate and he saw more of himself in Tom than he wanted to admit. It had been a struggle when Jack had come home from his war and a lot had happened to Tom in a very short time. He could very easily loose his footing without help. So he fought his way through LA traffic to finally reach the beach house late in the afternoon. He put the Mercedes next to the Porsche in the garage and closed the garage door.
"Hey, anyone home." Jack said. Closing the front door.
"Out here babe."
Jack found Kate sitting on the back deck overlooking the ocean. She was in her favorite bikini and aviator Ray Bans with her bare feet propped up on the railing. She had a beer and a cigarette.
"Where's Tom?"
Kate nodded to the ocean.
"Which one is he?"
"The one taking off now."
Jack saw Tom catch the wave. He turned left into the breaking of the wave. Instead of wiping out, he let the wave turn the board 180 degrees back into the curl of the swell. He took several quick steps to the nose of the board and crouched down left foot forward. He was in perfect position in the curl. The wave rose above his head as he moved across its face. He seemed completely in tune with the ocean and waves.
"He's good."
"Yeah, as good as those guy's we used as doubles in the film."
"How did the funeral go?"
That is what he had been worrying about most. How would the family of a young black Marine from Watts treat two white strangers at one of the most intimate times in anyone lives? It had concerned him since Kate had told him the night before, it would take a special family to accept them. Yet he trusted Kate's instincts with strangers, she could size up people as well as someone twice her age. Her street smarts had gotten her through a lot of situations a girl from a more sheltered background would have fallen prey to in the industry. But this was different and street smarts would not necessarily give you the read you needed.
"It went. I guess about as well as it could go. Mama Mac, Mac's mom, treated us like we were family. She took us both in without blinking an eye. She is quite a woman. I can see where Mac got his strength."
Kate paused and took a drag on her cigarette before she continued.
"It was harder on Tom than me naturally but I think he got through it ok." She paused and looked out at Tom. "But the jury is still out on that one."
"What happened when you two got here?"
"Culture shock. I could tell he was more than a little overwhelmed with the place and who wouldn't be, you know how people react to this house the first time their here. So multiply his reaction by ten and I think you get the picture. Well he saw the ocean and something clicked. When I told him you had a surfboard I thought he was going to shit in pants."
"A lady shouldn't talk like that." It was an old joke between them. Kate cussed like a sailor, part of his fault, the rest came from her time on the street, and he had been trying to tone her down without much success.
"Since when have I been a lady? But back to our subject he grabbed that surfboard you have down in the storage room like it was a long lost brother and I haven't seen him since."
""What are we going to do with our young Marine surfer?" Jack asked.
Kate was silent for some time.
"You know I had not really thought it through until we got to L.A. Then I thought this would be a great place for him to spend his leave and I could stick around to show him the sights." Kate said.
"What sights did you have in mind?" Jack said.
Kate just shot him a bird.
"That’s my girl." Jack said laughing. "I was going to offer him the place if you didn't. One Marine to another."
"And I suppose you had someone in mind to show him the sights."
"As a matter of fact I did. I thought I would call Joey you know she's been over there with the USO. She would love to show him the sights."
Kate gave him a sharp look. "That bitch. She would eat him for breakfast. She gave you all you could handle. What in hell are you thinking?"
"I was thinking he needed some company."
"You were not! You were trying to get him...."
Kate broke off when she saw him smile. "Asshole."
"Look I knew that is what you were thinking I just wanted to make sure you were thinking about well... Ok?"
"Yeah ok."
"I am going to have dinner with you two tonight before I go back."
"Sounds good." Then Kate turned back out to watch Tom surf.
"Kate?"
Kate was silent. She just took a drag on her cigarette. She still did not answer.
"What's the matter?" Jack asked.
"Nothing or something I don't know. It is just that we buried his friend this morning and he's going back soon. I had him neatly categorized, as just some nice guy I met on a plane that I was doing a favor for. But at the funeral I kept picturing him in that casket today. He not just some guy. He is somebody.... somebody who might be dead in a few weeks. In the middle of everything that has happened to him he is still this nice guy."
"Well welcome to the human race finally."
Kate gave him a sharp look.
"Don't start with me. You know I love you but the way you treat men well, we've had that conversation." Jack said.
"And it's none of your..."
"...fucking business. I know." Jack said. It was a touchy subject that he learned to stay away from; he had his own areas where he would not go with her. They understood and respected those subjects but this seemed different but he was glad he asked the question now. She had at least begun to try to understand her attraction.
Kate turned and looked Jack.
"You know Mama Mac said something to me last night." Kate said.
"What's that?"
"She said that I should be careful with him. That I could hurt him. She said that the way he looked at me...well.. I never uh realized he had those kinds feelings about me. I thought we were just friends you know. Me just helping him out. I mean you don't think he is well attracted to me do you? I mean with everything thing he has to deal with that would seem to be the last thing on his mind."
Jack was flabbergasted. Kate knew exactly where she was with everyone at all times. Her head was always in the game with men and women. Not to understand the affect she was having on Tom was a very telling sign of something much bigger than she understood herself was going on between them. He had witnessed her relationships with men for years now. Kate's dealinigs with men were filled a health dose of cynicism and a mean mouth that could cut a man off at the knees if she wanted to. She had left more than a few LA types devastated in her wake. He had always chalked it up to her experience with her mother's boyfriends and her street sharpened wits. He had seen none of her usual behaviors with Tom. In fact it had been just the opposite. He wondered how long it would last. So someone else had seen the other part of the equation, from Tom's side of things. Something was going on between them and Kate was too caught up in it to realize she was developing feelings too. Jack could not have been more surprised and happy. She needed a man like Tom in her life to give her balance against all of the users she had run into here and where she had come from.
"She's not the only one who noticed a difference." Jack said.
Kate turned and looked at him but said nothing.
"Look just let what is happening happen. Do not try to figure things out or stay one step ahead this time. Just be the Kate that I love."
Kate just stared at him for a long moment then turned back to the ocean.
"I'm going in and change." Jack said.
Jack looked back as he went inside. She was still sitting there watching Tom surf.
CHAPTER 24
Tom lost track of time in the water. He surfed until he was too tired to paddle out one more time. He wished he was not out of surfing shape, before he had enlisted he could have lasted hours longer. Yet surfing was just what he needed. He flipped the board under one arm and started walking back toward the house.
Kate had come down the stairs from the deck to meet him, a smile on her face.
"Hey there cowboy. I didn't think you would ever come out of the water."
When Tom saw her, his face broke into a huge smile. She walked up and impulsively gave him a kiss on the cheek. They walked back toward the house up the beach. Occasionally their hands would brush against one another. Tom felt a little charge of excitement each time their hands met. Finally she reached over and took his hand.
"Jeez what's a girl got to do to get her hand held?" Kate said with a smile looking up at him.
Tom smiled down at her and gave her hand a squeeze.
"Well there are just so many pretty California girls around here maybe a guy didn't want to narrow his choices."
"Is that right?" Kate
said in mock anger punching him in the stomach.
"Ouch." Kate said shaking her hand.
"Serves your right."
Laughing together the walked toward the house. Jack was standing over a grill up closer to the house.
"Jack got the grill started. We thought we might throw some steaks on for us." Kate said.
"Man that sounds good." Tom said with a big smile.
"I haven't seen you smile this much since I met you." Kate said.
"It's surfing. It makes me forget everything else. I needed that."
Kate squeezed his hand then looked up and their eyes met for a long moment, he knew she understood without having to say anything. Again Tom felt a connection with Kate he had never felt with someone before. He had known her for less than two days and yet he felt as if he had known her his whole life.
"Come on let me get you a towel." Kate said.
Jack had set the grill up on the beach and pulled some chairs out for them.
"How are you doing there corporal?" Jack said with a smile.
"No complaints. Jack I think I should thank..."
"Stop right there. Semper Fi, any Marine on leave is welcome here. So sit down and shut up. And that's an order."
"Yes sir."
They both laughed and Tom put the board down deck side down and dropped into the chair with that wonderful after surfing exhaustion. The kind exhaustion that left your body wonderfully tired yet relaxed and refreshed somehow. Kate threw the towel around his shoulders, and handed him a beer. He took a long satisfied gulp as it washed the salt-water taste out of his mouth.
"God, that tastes good."
Kate lit Tom a cigarette with his Marine Corp Zippo and handed it to him.
"I see you found my lighter."
"Is that how you thank a girl for getting you a beer and lighting your cigarette?"