He looked toward her closet.
16
JAZZ
As worried as I’d been before sneaking out of Han’s building, the interview for the summer camp position turned out to be a breeze—even though I’d backed out of buying the Pacific Oahu Surf School at the last minute.
I walked into the camp’s main office, full of apologies. But Bill, my old surfing teacher, was all like, no worries when I sat down across from him on the other side of the little building’s only desk.
“I’ve got a corporate buyer all lined up, and they agreed to pay my top price—so really you did me a favor by backing out,” he let me know with a shaka. “Of course, I would have preferred having you take the school off my hands. But the extra money makes up for it.”
I would have preferred that too, but I was happy for him if a little sad for me. Other than that, Bill’s good-natured shaka set the tone for the rest of the “interview”—which was mostly me, catching him up on Dad, who was one of his best friends from back when they served together in the first Iraq War, and him, complaining about Brad.
“He’s dating some actress now—at least she calls herself an actress. Her biggest credit was half a season on Hawaii Narcotics before they kicked her off—probably for being so irritating. The first ex and me could barely get through Christmas dinner with the girl. We don’t agree on much, but not liking her—that’s a match. Seriously, I’m never going to forgive Brad for dumping you. Do you know he’s got a corvette convertible now? A corvette! I mean, where can you even put a surfboard on that thing, man?”
“You don’t,” I answered with a laugh. “You wouldn’t want to scratch it. Plus, he’s got other people to bring him his surfboards with all those sponsorships.”
“That’s exactly what he told me!” Bill yelled, slapping his desk. “I swear that’s all this latest crop of pros care about.”
He shook his head but then shot me a fond look. “You still got that old Jeep I sold you? I saw you get off the bus before you came in.”
I cringed. And since there was no way to explain that it was currently parked at my mother’s house because I had a driver who carried my boards on top of his Infiniti QX80, I found myself having to lie about it being in the shop.
All these lies…I didn’t know whether to cheer or feel guilty when Bill announced that, of course, I got the job, and the interview was just a formality.
“This is my second to last year of running the camp before I officially retire, and I’m not my son,” Bill said as he walked me back out to the bus stop. “I know we’re lucky to have you.”
I laughed along with Bill. And for the first time in two weeks, I felt like my regular self, not some secret prisoner, living in an outrageously expensive penthouse on the Gold Coast.
“Listen, I was wondering if you could talk to your dad for me. He keeps dodging all my calls and texts, but I’d really like to come by and say hello. Just because we can’t surf together anymore doesn’t mean we can’t keep in contact.”
I nodded in complete agreement. “He needs to get out more, see his old friends. Mom and me keep telling him the same thing, but you know how he can be.”
Bill shook his head. “Stubborn as a mule, even back when we were recruits. Could never accept help, even in the desert. Let me tell you, none of us were surprised when he went on to become a drill sergeant. So I guess I shouldn’t be surprised that he’s not going to let me in now that I’m retiring early too.”
“You’re retiring early because you want to,” I pointed out. “He retired early because he had no choice. He’s still upset. Still adjusting.”
“Three years is a long time to adjust and not return any of your friend’s calls. I mean, what did being there for each other when we were young even mean if we can’t be there for each other now?”
Bill’s words tore at my heart.
“I’ll talk to him,” I promised, just as my bus pulled up.
I’d keep that promise and throw in some guilt on the side, considering that Bill trained me to pro-surfer level without ever asking Dad for a dime.
But I think we both knew my stubborn father wouldn’t budge. There was a good chance he wouldn’t see any of his old Army buddies again. Not until…
My brain shut down as it always did before I thought about what came next for Dad.
So the good news was that I got the job. The bad news was that Han was wicked pissed about me sneaking out. I knew this because I found Chen waiting for me outside the gates of the complex when I walked up. And he let me know, “I’m fine. But the Boss is wicked pissed off at you for sneaking out,” in response to my “Hey, Chen.”
