Page 19 of The Making of Jonty Bloom
When he was making up what Tay was saying to him, why did he have to lie? A lump formed in his throat as memories of Tay swarmed in. Then his stomach rumbled. He should have had something more than toast before he’d come out, but he hadn’t wanted to waste time. The weather was fickle. The wind could drop; the waves might disappear along with the sun. Days with waves like this were rare. He promised himself a portion of chips on the way home if he rode the first wave all the way in. That’s what he and Tay used to do.
Get ready.
Jonty glanced over his shoulder. The sea didn’t look any different, but the next sequence of waves would be on their way. It wasn’t quite a myth that the seventh wave of a set was the biggest, but it was often true. Mike’s geography-obsessed boyfriend had told him more about waves and weather than Jonty wanted to know. Yawning had probably not endeared him to Willis.
As his board rose and fell, he kept watching over his shoulder, trying not to be distracted by the antics of the kiteboarder, who was doing all sorts of skilful manoeuvres: rolls, riding on the tip of his board, even turning a complete circle, and moving at speed. Jonty pulled his attention back to the water and let a few good waves pass under him until he sawthe one. Now that he’d judged the approaching wave was definitely worth going for, he lay on his board and started to paddle.
Faster!
Timing was everything. When Jonty felt the board catch and he began to shift more quickly, he pushed to his feet. After a wobbly adjustment, he found his balance and took control, turned the board across the wave, and rode all the way in with his arms out, an exciting, fast ride that brought a cry of joy from his mouth.
“Chips!”
He laughed out loud, jumped off in the shallows, and made his way back out, ducking and diving to reach the area beyond the breakers.
The next wave he caught wasn’t so kind. He went under in a deluge of white foam and wild sea, his mouth and nose filling with water. He came up spluttering, but climbed back on his board and paddled out again. He wished Tay was there for real, to celebrate with him, share his chips, but all he had was what his mind could conjure up. Sometimes he wondered if he was going crazy.
Jonty kept riding. Only exhaustion or failing light would pull him back to shore for the day. For the first time in a long while, he was enjoying himself, not letting anything interfere with the pleasure of conquering the waves—some of them at least. When he got it right, he moved so fast, it was as if he were flying like the kiteboarder. Each wave was different. Each was a challenge. Sometimes his timing was perfect, sometimes it wasn’t, but he kept trying, kept hoping.
Like life.
Was it? He wanted to be happy all the time, wanted to forget all the problems he had. No Tay. Crappy place to live. A job that was less than he could be. No future plans. The possible reappearance of Brad, because Jonty had the feeling Brad himself would be the final gift to arrive. No one to love apart from Tay, who’d never loved him the way Jonty wanted him to.Except out on the water, nothing mattered but riding the wave. Out here he could do anything, be anyone, believe that someone out there could love him as much as he would love them.
Take control of your life. Change things. Don’t waste a moment. Learn from what happened to me.
The next wave he caught was a monster, maybe a double header, twice his height.Shit, it’s huge.Maybe the biggest he’d ever been in. He crouched inside the barrel and shot along with the wave breaking behind him.Wow, wow, wow!Jonty laughed and heard Tay laugh too.
See? You’re nearly as good as me.
Fuck off, you wanker!
JONTY HAD BEEN OUT THEREfor hours. He was tired and making mistakes. Each time he fell off the board because his balance was off, or he didn’t duck dive at the right moment, or he surfaced too soon and caught a mouthful of saltwater, it all sapped his energy. The waves had grown wilder and he and the kiteboarder were the only ones left out there.
The light was still good and the waves were fun, but Jonty was hungry, plus he had to work tonight, so he needed to snatch a couple of hours in bed. Though once the final member of staff had left, he could nap in the room behind the reception desk. As long as he had his phone on, he’d get an alert to tell him if anyone was at the front door or calling from their room.
A couple of wide yawns confirmed he’d had enough. Time for the last wave of the day. But as he sat on his board, half-watching the water and half-watching the guy with the kite soar into the air, the bright red and blue canopy suddenly went really high before it folded and crashed to the sea, taking the guy with it.Shit, that was a long drop.Jonty scrambled up on his board.
The kiteboarder was more than fifty metres away, his red helmet bobbing in the water. Jonty decided to paddle out and check if he was all right. As he drew nearer, it was clear the guy and his kite were no longer attached. He was also nowhere near his board.
“Need a hand?” Jonty yelled.
The guy turned.Fuck it. Devan Smith?Seriously? We’ve been out here all this time and I didn’t know?Jonty paddled harder. In the same direction, though he’d been tempted to turn and leave him to it.
“No. I’m fine,” Devan called back.
Fuck you, then.Jonty was about to head to shore when he realised what the guy was swimming into. His board had floated into a section where the sea seemed calmer than the water either side, an area where the surface flickered and danced. When the board began to move faster, straight out to sea, Jonty’s heart sank.Shit.
“Stop! You’re heading into a rip,” he yelled.
Jonty paddled hard, only to be caught up in a gigantic wave that seemed to come out of nowhere. There was no time to duck. It sent Jonty spinning underwater, arms and legs flailing. Just when he thought he couldn’t hold his breath any longer, he saw daylight through his part-clenched eyelids and he surfaced, coughing water from his lungs, only to realise how far from the shore he’d been pulled. Devan too. Jonty frantically paddled in his direction.
Devan was white-faced and breathing heavily.
“Are you injured?” Jonty called.
“Winded, but I’m okay.”
“Get on the board.” Jonty yanked at him, but as Devan slithered on, Jonty fell off.
