Chapter Five
People parked their cars close together even though the Edgewater parking lot was just about empty. The cars were like cows huddling for warmth as light snow whistled through the parking lot and the clouds encased the sky in steely gray. Even from the parking lot, the tumultuous noise of the waves was intense.
“Hear that dragon roar?” Richard shouted over the crash of the waves. He was grinning as he rubbed sand on the board wax. He zipped up his wetsuit and pulled it up over his ears.
“Yeah! How could I not?!” Chloe shouted back. “Is this the Cleveland surfing community?” She gestured at the cars in the lot. It was a motley collection, old Hondas, trucks, a delivery van, and Richard’s Volvo station wagon.
“My hard as nails bros.” Richard was beaming in spite of the driving wind and cold. Berto whistled and fist-bumped him.
Tracy and Chloe were huddled in winter jackets and they walked across the dark brown sand toward the shore. They helped push Berto through the sand. He was still sticking with his bald look, and he wore a white parka and a white hat. Richard jogged ahead of them and ducked into a tent that was set up in the middle of the beach.
Huge waves were exploding first against the distant break wall, then the line would start to break and tumble up onto the beach. The wind blasted flakes of snow and gritty dust across the sand. The “Cleveland Surf Club” banner was snapping in the wind. They went into the tent, which was surprisingly cozy. A few men and women were hanging out inside talking about the rides they were getting in what they called the Cauldron.
Richard fist bumped and arm bumped a few of the people. Tracy and Chloe huddled together by Berto and took in the scene.
Tracy said, “You people are all crazy!”
The crowd whooped in agreement.
Richard shouted. “We stare into the mouth of the dragon and ride it!” He took his board and ran through the sand. A few others zipped up and went out into the wind.
Berto said, “I really need to see this! Let’s go.”
They helped push him close to the water. They hid from the wind in a clump of trees. Snowflakes drifted past.
Chloe said, “Can you imagine getting in the water?”
Tracy shook her head no. And Berto said, “No way, Dude.”
Chloe asked, “Which one is he?”
Berto said, “He’s got that orange sun picture on the back of his wetsuit. There he is, see.”
Richard was bobbing up and down in the chop. He was talking to a couple of the other surfers and they were gesturing with their hands to point out how the break was forming. The wind and direction of the waves went through cycles. Sometimes it was consistent and the surf was good, otherwise it turned into chaotic cold chop.
The waves started breaking again, this time, they were huge. The roar from the breakwall was very loud. Chloe had to shout, “There they go!”
Richard paddled and caught a wave. He stayed in the break, zig zagging back and forth. He had a long ride for the beach, then settled down onto the board again and paddled back out.
Tracy nodded in appreciation, “Very cool. That looks extremely difficult. Do you know how to do that, too, Chloe?” Tracy winked.
Chloe’s face turned a little red. “Yeah, yeah, yeah. I’m from California, remember?”
Berto said, “There he goes again. That one is huge. I’ve never seen waves like this on the Lake before.”
Richard hopped up onto his board. The wave was over twelve feet tall. He was surprised at the acceleration and wobbled a little bit, but recovered.
“Whoooaaaa!” Chloe shouted and urged him to stay up. She cheered for him, “Go Richard!”
The wave was so large it sucked the water near the beach up along the crest, and the water unexpectedly turned shallow. His board bit into the gravel bottom and pitched him headlong onto a piece of driftwood that looked like a submerged hippopotamus. His forearm smacked the log with full force and broke the bone. The wave poured onto him with fury, spinning and twisting his body like a cloth doll and it dragged his head over the log.
“Shit! Richard!” Berto shouted out. He started pushing toward the water. Chloe sprinted down toward the waves, but other surfers already had him up and were pulling him in toward the shore line.
Tracy ran after Chloe and Berto struggled through the sand. Tracy had her phone out and started to dial 911.
“Are you taking me in a basket?” Richard asked. He was on his back and held both of his hands up in front of his chest and shivered. His broken arm was only comfortable in that position, any slight move from that position was excruciating. The dark brown sand clung to his wetsuit.
“Dude, that wave rang your bell.” One of the other surfers said. He looked over at Tracy, “I think he’s going to be OK, but yeah, we need an ambulance.”
Tracy placed the call, then she groaned. It seemed to take forever for the call to go through. Finally, she said, “My friend has been in an accident at Edgewater Park. I think his arm is broken and he appears to have a concussion.”
Richard mumbled, “Can you ask them to make it stop spinning. Call my parents, too. Shit my cellie’s in the car. Number’s in there.” Richard spit water up.
Tracy said, “OK. OK. Great. I’ll stay on the line.” She announced, “They’re on the way.”
“Berto! You’re all white, dude.” Richard mumbled. “Can you get the Vo’ home, bro?”
Tracy sat down next to him and said, “We’ve got it all covered, don’t worry.”
Richard mumbled again, like he couldn’t remember the previous minute, “Can you ask them to make it stop spinning? Call my parents, too. Shit my cellie’s in the car. Number’s in there.”
Berto said, “Hang in there buddy. It’s all taken care of.”
Tracy and Chloe helped Berto wheel back to the parking lot while the EMTs loaded Richard up into the back of the Yellow and Blue ambulance. “Where’s he going?” Berto asked.
“Metro Trauma Unit.” The EMT said.
“Can we follow you?” Chloe asked.
The EMT nodded curtly. “Um, I shouldn’t say this, but yeah, you can try to keep up, but don’t try too hard. If you get a ticket, that’s your fault! When we lose you go to Metro Hospital. Signs are everywhere, you can’t miss it.”
They loaded Berto’s wheelchair into the back of the Volvo and followed the ambulance. Chloe lost them after a light turned red and she had to stop. She smacked the wheel. Berto whistled and clucked his tongue. “Chill out, I know where it is.”
He guided them to the hospital and made the call to Richard’s parents and left a message.
“We’ve been making too many hospital visits lately!” Tracy said.
“Tell me about it!” Berto retorted. “I can’t even stand the smell. Yuck.”
About a half hour later, Richard’s Mom entered through the emergency room sliding doors. Berto whistled and shouted, “Mrs. Golden!”
Richard’s Mom was a tall thin woman with curly dirty blonde hair. She was wearing black tights and a sky-blue technical pullover. She had been out jogging when Berto called. She hugged them all and said, “You guys really handled this well, so mature! I’m going to go check him in officially. It’ll probably take a while. Can you wait around?”
They all nodded and sat down in the waiting room. Families were clumped together. The faces of each of the groups told a different story, though they all seemed to be wearing the same bored, and anxious mask, there were just differing degrees of angst.
Tracy said, “I’m going to try something.”
She stood up and focused her energy. She tried to radiate warmth and concern. She started with Richard’s Mom.
Tracy stopped Mrs. Golden’s hand from writing and she sat next to her. “Mrs. Golden, your son is really dear to me. You should have seen how enthusiastic he was out there and he challenged enormous waves with no fear. The other surfers pulled him out of the water immediately, and Berto took care of him.”
She felt Mrs. Gold
en’s heart lift and Tracy’s did too. Mrs. Golden wiped a tear away. “Thank you Tracy! You are a little angel! You better not call me Mrs. Golden anymore, though. Call me Summer!”
Tracy stood up and walked around to all the families in the room. She asked about their loved ones, encouraged them and shouldered some of their pain. By the time she was done, the room seemed brighter. The families were all happier.
Chloe hugged her. “That was amazing. I watched the whole thing. You were like a ray of sunshine beaming around the room.”
She answered, “It felt good.” She put her hand on Berto’s shoulder. “You did a really great job, Berto. Thanks for getting us here.”
He beamed. “He’s my bro, it’s what we do. I’m gonna talk to Richard’s mom.”
Chloe bumped Tracy’s arm. “Well, I guess you didn’t have to tell him today.”
Tracy shrugged, “Honestly, I’m not worried about it. I will tell him when it’s the right time.”
Chloe looked her up and down. She said, “You really are different, more in control. Me likey.”
Summer Golden and Berto joined them again. Summer said, “I guess he’s going to be here for a few hours, but not overnight, thank the gods! I don’t know about you, but hospitals creep me out. An overnight stay is just the pits.”
“No doubt!” Berto said.
Summer said, “If you guys want to hit the road, I’ll let you know when we’re home and you can swing by there tomorrow and do the whole car shuffle. I think Richard will be kind of out of it tonight. I can’t thank you all enough. You are good friends!” She kissed each of them on the cheek and hugged them.
EPISODE FOUR--Logs Trap the Sun
Three Years in the Past
The Chardon Chronicles: Season Two --- The Winter Page 26