Page 102 of Try Me

Leis in the Ocean

Declan

Declan satat the back of the bus. All the contestants were on a yellow school bus driving up to Hawaii’s North Shore. Pearl had already left with the others for the exhibition. Declan couldn’t help thinking she’d seemed distant this morning when he’d gotten back from his run. Or maybe it was him? He’d done nothing but think about Eddie the whole time his feet had been pounding the pavement. Usually, on the morning of a competition, he thought about the waves he would be surfing. He liked to picture every scenario that could play out during the contest. He liked to be as prepared as possible, because anything could happen. It all depended on the waves.

The waves had been small the day Eddie had died over two years ago. Declan remembered complaining about them not being worth the two-hour drive from the southside. Eddie had slapped the back of his neck and told him to lighten up.

Eddie would be twenty-eight-years old if he was still alive. Maybe he would have given Linda the ring he’d bought for her, and they would have a kid, or one on the way. If Eddie was still alive, maybe it would be him competing in the Duke in a few hours instead of Declan.

Unable to clear his mind of Eddie, Declan had trudged up the stairs to his room with Pearl’s coffee only to find her on her way out. The look on her face when she’d said she needed some space to think had crushed him, but he’d tried to smile. He understood. This was her day. She didn’t need him hound-dogging around moaning about his problems.

Staring out the window of the bus, Declan couldn’t help thinking maybe it was more than that. Maybe he’d scared her off with the check. It was all pretty heavy.

The drive to the North Shore was only thirty miles, but it took over two hours to get there along the bumpy roads that cut through the center of the island. On either side, the windows looked out on rows of spiky pineapples, framed by tall mountain ranges in the distance.

Declan had made the trip dozens of times in his life.

It was on those long trips to the North Shore that Declan had learned about Hawaii from his friends. Eddie’s lectures had been laced with politics, while Keoni’s stories had been entertaining tales of his heroic ancestors.

Declan had learned more about the history of Hawaii on those long trips to the North Shore than he had behind a desk in school.

He’d learned about the power struggles, the land control, and the devastation of the population. He’d learned why being a Bishop made him an outsider. His ancestors had been the ones doing the forcing and robbing.

The bus rounded the bend and the entire north shore of Oahu unfolded before his eyes. The contestants broke out in a cheer and clamored to the left side of the bus for a closer look.

As they passed the thundering waves of Waimea Bay, the cheers died away, replaced by gasps.

The waves at Waimea Bay were bigger than usual. It was a good sign for conditions at Sunset Beach.

Declan swallowed hard, forcing the lump of emotion down his throat. His heart beat faster as the bus rolled past Waimea Bay to Pipeline, then finally to Sunset Beach.

Turquoise barrels rolled in from the deep sea and crashed over the long sandy shoreline.

Declan’s heart thumped in his chest. His breath came in short bursts.

“Good luck.”

Declan looked up to see Bobby Carter leaning over the back of the seat in front of him.

“Same to you.”

“If anybody is going to beat me, I hope it’s you,” Bobby said. “A Hawaiian.”

Declan narrowed his eyes at Bobby to see if he was joking. Bobby smiled at him, looking genuine.

“Thanks,” Declan said. It was the first time anyone had called him Hawaiian.

“Isn’t this the beach where Eddie Alvarez died?” Bobby asked.

Declan glanced out the window as they pulled to a stop in the parking lot. “Yeah,” he said.

“Bummer.”

The door opened, and the contestants piled off the bus. Declan was the last to disembark. Sunset Beach was already crowded with spectators. Some of them had stayed the night, camping out on the beach in order to get a good spot to watch the contest.

The waves were bigger than Declan had ever seen them. Twice their usual size, they smashed the shoreline with the force of a freight train.

“The conditions are rougher than we predicted,” the director said, calling all the surfers together. “If anyone wants to back out, now’s your chance.”

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