by Nella Tyler
“Sorry, man, I’ve been…distracted.”
“Laguna is in two weeks and Bali a week after that. Sabrina says that guy from Catalyst is going to be at both of those competitions, man. If you’re seriously looking at doing this without Daddy’s money, you need to win. If they just wanted a model, they’d hire one.”
He was right. He was actually just repeating words I’d spoken to him in the past. I was ready to do this on my own so that I could retire in my own time with my own money. I want out from underneath the old man’s thumb, once and for all. I’d had a few little sponsors here and there, but Catalyst is the largest manufacturer of beach clothing and accessories in the U.S. and most of Europe. My agent and ex-girlfriend Sabrina had been courting them for me for months. Scoring that sponsorship would keep me going for a few more years and by the time I was twenty five and ready to settle down somewhere and open my surfing school, I wouldn’t need a penny of Dad’s precious money. As far as I was concerned, it didn’t have anything to do with me spending time with Summer. If I wasn’t doing that, I’d be out trolling the bars and fucking random women.
“I’ve been working out. I just needed some time to myself…sorry, man, I should have called you back.”
“Time to you or time with a little homeless blonde with dreadlocks?”
“What?”
“I’ve seen you here with her. You’re teaching her to surf, but it’s a lot more than that isn’t it? You’re fucking her, too.”
“What the hell are you doing sneaking around watching me? That’s creepy.”
“I wasn’t sneaking around watching you. I saw you come down here yesterday and I was going to come down and surf with you. When I got down here you were teaching the homeless girl all kinds of fancy moves.”
“Don’t call her that.”
He sighed and rolled his eyes. “Man, you know I don’t care who you hook up with, but I’ve seen that chick on the streets. She’s hardcore. A company like Catalyst is going to be looking for a guy with a supermodel or at the least a hot surfer girl on his arm, not a street urchin.”
“Fuck you, Lance! I said don’t talk about her like that. She’s not a fucking ‘street urchin.’”
“Oh, so she actually has a job or at least a place to go and change her clothes every night? Because from what I’ve seen, she’s like a fucking cartoon character. She wears the same clothes every day.”
Lance and I have been friends since grade school. He’s pissed me off before, but I’ve never hit him…until now. I punched him in the mouth and knocked him down into the sand. It was surreal. I watched myself do it and then looked down at him there on his ass looking up at me with the side of his mouth bleeding and a look of shock on his face. I knew I had overreacted.
“Fuck… Man, I’m sorry…” I reached my hand out and he knocked it out of the way and jumped to his feet.
“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He wiped his mouth and looked at the blood on his hand in disbelief. “You’re hanging around with street people and all of a sudden you’re acting like an asshole.”
“I’m sorry, okay? I didn’t mean to hit you, but you can’t talk about her like that. Just because she doesn’t have money doesn’t give you the right to call her names. You’re the one acting like an asshole. Summer is a person like anyone else and a better person than most people I know!”
“You’re not just fucking this girl, you’re falling for her. Fuck, man…what is your family going to say when you take her home to dinner?”
“She doesn’t have any intentions of coming home to dinner with me, so it doesn’t really matter.”
“She doesn’t have any intentions, but you do? Have you lost your fucking mind? Your father would bust a blood vessel in his head and your mother… Jesus, man, I wouldn’t want to be there for that meeting.”
“Just shut the fuck up, Lance. You have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“I don’t, really? Remember sophomore year when you invited that girl, what the fuck was her name? Lucy or Linda….”
“Lori.” I grimaced at the memory.
“Yeah, that was it, Lori. Lori’s father was the janitor at our school and her mother was a hairdresser and they had like five or six kids, right?” When I didn’t answer him he went on, “She was a scholarship kid. You took her to your mother’s birthday dinner at Island Prime and she wore that funky-looking dress from the fifties or something-”
“It was a vintage dress and she looked great.” Another time in my life I’d been sick of it all and tried to go my own way.
“Right, and your mother told her she looked great and asked her where she bought the dress. Lori told her at the Salvation Army. Then your mother went on to ask what her parents did and how many kids there were in her family….”
I was feeling nauseated just thinking about it. My father didn’t say two words my sister smirked the entire time. Lance had stared down at his plate as my dear, sweet mother went in for the kill. She smiled the entire time. She spoke politely. Poor Lori didn’t know what hit her; she just knew that somehow the sweet, polite lady had made her feel like shit. “Stop it! I’m not in high school any longer, and my mother and I had a big fight over that, remember? She hasn’t done that again.”
“Is that because your talk set her straight or because you haven’t taken anyone home since that didn’t come from a pedigreed bloodline?” My head felt like it was going to explode. I started packing up my shit. “You’re taking off?”
“I’m finished with this conversation.” I was pissed, but I was still hoping to appeal to the heart I knew he had, but hid well. “We’re grown-ups, Lance. Don’t you ever want to experience what it would be like to get to know someone who wasn’t handed things their entire life? How much more interesting would that be than the way we grew up? Instead of private school and nannies, public school and latch key. I’m sick of the same old same old. I like Summer, and I don’t care if she has a dollar or a dime in her pocket. I don’t care if she only owns one set of clothes. I don’t care where she lives or where she comes from. I like her, I want her, and anyone who has a problem with that can go fuck themselves.” When I stood up straight and looked back over at Lance, he was looking at Summer. I didn’t know how long she’d been standing there, but she was giving me a look I couldn’t quite interpret. “Summer.”
She glanced nervously over at Lance. “I’m sorry I’m late. Are you leaving?”
“It’s okay… No, I was going to because I thought you weren’t coming. I’m not leaving, but Lance was just taking off.”
Lance smirked at me and gave Summer a look that I wanted to punch him in the mouth for, again. He picked up his board and as he walked off he said, “Remember Catalyst.”
“Who’s Catalyst?” she asked me.
“Nobody important,” I told her. “Are you ready to get started?”
She dropped her board and before I knew it, she had her arms around me. Her mouth sought mine out and the next thing I knew, her delicious tongue was wrapped around mine. I was confused, but not stupid. I wrapped my arm tighter around her waist and pulled her up off her feet and deepened the kiss. Nothing in my life thus far prepared me for how good this woman feels in my arms and I meant what I told Lance. Whoever doesn’t like it can go fuck themselves. When we finally had to come up for air, I said,
“Not that I’m complaining, but what the hell was that?”
She smiled and everything inside of me ignited. “Thank you. I almost didn’t come out today. I spent most of last night walking around, thinking about how worthless I was and how I didn’t mean anything to anyone in society. When I finally decided to come today, I thought I’d just thank you for your time and give you back the surfboard…and then I walked up on you defending me to that guy. Who the hell is he, anyways?”
I smiled. “He used to be a very good friend, but after I punched him in the mouth today, who knows? By the way, don’t ever think those things about yourself. They’re absolutely not true.”
She ignored the last part and with a laugh she said, “You punched him?”
“Yeah, it was the pre-show you missed. He’s not a bad guy, really. It’s just the way he was raised. He has certain ideas about things…”
“Like homeless people?”
“Like anyone that’s not in our so-called social class. I’m sick of that social class bullshit. I’m sick of people telling me who I should or shouldn’t like. I’m sick of fake everything.”
“I’ll go.”
“What?”
“To the gala. I’ll go with you, if you still want me to.”
“I want you to, very much so. But there is one thing Lance said that was right. They’re going to be assholes to you. If I hear it-”
“You’ll let it go. I don’t want to go to this gala only to watch you get thrown out by security. If your family hates me because of who I am then so be it, but they’re not going to hate me because you kick the shit out of someone at this fancy gala in my honor.”
I couldn’t stop smiling. I couldn’t wait to see her all dressed up. Even if she went like she was right now, she’d still be the prettiest one there. I would do my best not to kick someone’s ass for being rude to her, but it would be damned hard. “So, you want to surf today or shop?”
“Surf. I still have a contest to win.” I love her determination.
Chapter Thirteen
SUMMER
Drake and I surfed every day except Friday. While we were surfing, we were talking. I told him things about myself and my grandfather that I had never told anyone. It felt good to talk about my past when my life was comfortable. It reminded me things could be that way again someday. He told me a little about his family, but I got the impression that as “privileged” as he may have been, his childhood wasn’t an overly happy one. We had lunch after our lesson every day, and every day except Friday, we made love.
On Friday, instead of getting to ravage his hot body, he insisted that I go shopping and have my hair and nails done and, in his words, “Anything else you want.” Then the crazy fool handed me an Amex card. I could steal him blind. I wouldn’t, but he didn’t know that.
I took the card and a handwritten note with his phone number that I was supposed to give the girls at the dress shop and salon. I went back to the homestead to leave my stuff and see if Phoebe might be around to go with me. I was a nervous wreck about shopping. I had no idea how to buy a dress for a gala and the thought of sitting in a salon having my hair and nails done with “normal” people made me want to pee my pants. Unfortunately, the only person I found in the cave when I got there was Bennie.
“That was a quick lesson.”
Bennie had no idea that the lessons weren’t what took up most of my day. “We cut it short. I have to go shopping.”
Bennie raised an eyebrow at me. “Shopping?”
“Yeah… I have a date tonight.”
He laughed, but when he saw my face, he said, “You’re serious? You’re going to that dance or whatever it is with that guy? Summer-”
“I told you already Bennie, I’m not listening to you tell me I’m not good enough to be with him or that he’s using me. This is the first time I’ve actually looked forward to anything in five fucking years and I’m going.” He didn’t say anything to that. I put my things away and asked him, “Where is Phoebe? I thought she wasn’t going out today?”
He shrugged. “Probably with that hippie you stole the board from. She’s almost as infatuated with him as you are with your rich boy.”
“And, you are so jealous that you can’t see straight.”
For the first time since the day I met Bennie, he actually scared me. He stepped up into my face and spoke to me in a tone that I’d heard him use before only when he was threatening someone that was trying to hurt one of us or trying to take something that was ours. He had definitely never used it towards me. “I have done everything for you, Summer. For the last year, I have done everything for you.”
I tried to keep all traces of fear out of my voice because at that moment, I suspected it was what he was hoping for. “I never asked you for a thing, and you forget that I did just fine without you for four years. I’ve given as much to this group as I’ve gotten out of it, and you being some kind of self-appointed leader does not make you my fucking father. You will not tell me what to do, who to see, or where to go. If you choose to keep acting like I’m your fucking property, I’ll find somewhere else to sleep – starting tonight.”
I saw him breathe in and hold onto the breath before slowly letting it go. He stepped back out of my space and looking slightly remorseful, he said, “You’re right, Summer. I’m jealous.” I hoped he was going to leave it at that or that he was just being sarcastic, but of course he didn’t. “I love you, Summer.” It was one of those things you heard that you wanted to un-hear. I had no idea how to respond. Bennie was the only person besides my grandfather to ever tell me that he loved me. I wasn’t unaffected by it, and if I looked deep inside myself, I’d find love that I had for him myself…but I knew that wasn’t the kind of love he was talking about.
“Bennie…”
He put up his hand. “Don’t, Summer, I know you don’t feel the same way. It’s okay. I only told you as an explanation for why I worry about you so much. It’s not because I think I own you or that I think you owe me anything. It’s just because I can’t stand the thought of you getting hurt.”
“Thank you for that, Bennie. But I’m not a child, and if I’m going to make mistakes, I have to make them myself.”
He still didn’t look happy, but he nodded. “Just know I’m always here for you if you need me.”
“I know, thank you.” He nodded at me again and stepped completely out of my way. I got out of there as quickly as I could and went to find Phoebe.
*******
“What about this one?” We were in the dress shop and Phoebe was holding out something that looked like bubble gum vomit.
“Please tell me you’re joking.”
She shrugged. “I don’t like any of them, to be honest. They’re all over the top.”
The salesgirl gave us a narrow-eyed look. The only thing that stopped her from having us thrown out when we first walked in was that I gave her the Amex card and the note right off the bat. She spent ten minutes on the phone with Drake and was blushing and giggling when she hung up. I didn’t even want to know what he said – it was a sickening thing to watch.
“They’re not over the top, they’re dressy. What about this one?” I held up a green mini with a soft lining and a lace over-lay. It was one of the few I’d found in the petite section that actually looked petite enough that it wouldn’t be six inches longer than it was supposed to be on me, and most important of all it had long, lace sleeves that would at least mute the tats on my arms. It was short, but I thought the hem would come down below the ones on my legs, too.
“I like that one,” Phoebe said. “It’s the same color as your eyes.”
“Okay, I’ll try this one and the off-white one there,” I told the salesgirl.
“I’ll get you a bra and underwear to put on first, but you’ll have to keep them, they can’t be returned,” she said it with disdain, assuming that mine were too worn or dirty to touch even the underside of her precious dresses. She was right, but it still kind of pissed me off. I kept the sarcasm in check as I thanked her.
I told her my sizes, and she was back in a few minutes with a bra and underwear the likes of which I’d never seen. On top of the nice fabric they were made of, they were exactly the same shade of green as the dress I’d chosen. I slipped into the dressing room and peeked at the price tag on the bra. My heart nearly stopped. I wasn’t sure I had enough boob to stuff into a bra that cost a hundred and fifty dollars. I had to force myself to put it on and once I did, I wasn’t certain that I’d ever take it off. It was the most comfortable thing that I’d ever had next to my body…besides Drake. I pulled on the underwear next. I didn’t bother looking at
the tag on those. I slipped on the off-white dress first, but as soon as I got it over my head I knew that it wasn’t for me. It had a plunging neckline and even in the pretty new bra, I had nothing for it to plunge into. I pulled it off and put the green one on. My breath caught in my throat when I looked at myself. The dress was gorgeous and in it, so was I.
I left the dress shop with the underwear, the dress, and a pair of shoes with four inch heels I wasn’t sure I’d be able to walk in. The girl tried to talk me into a three hundred dollar bag, too, but what the hell was I going to put in it? I figured I’d spent enough of Drake’s money already. I had no idea that he wasn’t even close to finished.
He’d written directions down for me, first the dress shop and then the salon. I was more nervous about that than I was the dress shop, but after Drake finished making the girl at the front desk blush with whatever magic words he uttered over the phone, she insisted that Phoebe and I both would be treated to “the entire spa experience.”
Not long after, I lay submerged in hot, bubbly water that smelled like a field of wildflowers and wondered if I had died and went to heaven. When I got out of the sensuous bath, I was treated to a massage and then a facial. I wore a fluffy robe and slippers while my nails were buffed, lengthened, and polished, and then I was treated to something I hadn’t had in many years – an actual shampoo and condition of my hair. I’ve had the dreads for so long, I had almost forgotten how good it felt to have a scalp massage and I’d never had one from a professional. A girl could definitely get used to this. I was so relaxed while she was trimming and dyeing and fluffing my hair that I almost fell asleep in the chair. When she pronounced that we were done, Phoebe was staring at me with her mouth wide open. She looked great. I actually hardly recognized her.