Roadtrip! Who: Gabe/CJ What: Surfing roadtrip When: Weekend Where: San clemente/San Onofre Ratings G
The drive across to the west coast of California had always given Gabe plenty of time to enjoy the fine piece of machinery in the form of the Porsche he’d named Amphitrite. Where he’d grown up and lived most his life it was only a 40 minute drive to cover the entire island. Unless it was during peak tourist season, when the island’s population exploded, then it could take 2 hours to just drive from town to the next.
Plus almost all his time had been spent on the water. Boats of all sizes and forms of power were as familiar to him as walking, even moreso at times, so cars, and driving nice ones had become something special. And why he enjoyed the drive across to the Coast.
He’d not had much of a chance to make the trip of late, his time having been spent primarily at the family home, or in the southern part of the Americas. Some smugglers in a region of Bogota had come across some rare artefacts, including pieces of jewellery, that had warranted a visit from one of the family, and Gabe, being based in the US, was shortly down there. Negotiations had been lengthy, a viewing of the items finally arranged after some other ‘issues’ had been resolved. Unfortunately the Mariner’s Ring was not one of the pieces displayed, and he had had to accept reassurances that there was nothing more in the cache. The one benefit had been the establishment of a reliable contact in that part of the world, something he'd been looking for over the time they'd been searching for the whereabouts of the Ring.
On other occasions he’d offered for Brianna to come with him, but she had not felt it possible until she had secured a capable Assistant Manager. “Soon, I promise,” she’d sighed before turning to deal with a small crisis in the hotel. And Cian was caught up with the aftermath of a situation with Rhiannon and her family. The only thing he did know is that if he needed Gabe, he would be there. Even from the Coast.
He pulled up outside Chris’s, his own board already in the back, food for the trip provided courtesy of le Breeze kitchens in a basket and cooler bag on the backs of the folded down seats.
Chris was looking forward to the weekend surfing trip, it was too long since his last trip to the west coast and he could feel that itch from the moment Gabe had sent him a message to check his availability for a certain weekend, he could almost taste the salty air.
His surfboard had been taken out of the shed and given a fresh coat of wax in preparation, and his wetsuit double checked for any holes or other problems but it too was fine. As much as he loved the feeling of the water against his skin the waters would still be quite cool and while he doubted he'd get hypothermia he didn't want to risk it.
Once the message that Gabe was on his way Chris had moved his board and bags to the front door. A small weekender contained his clothes and a wet bag - his wetsuit. It didn't seem too long before he heard a car pull up out the front, he opened the door and raised an eyebrow at the Porsche, fancy cars weren't that uncommon in Vegas but still, he didn't see many of them, this close up.
With it coming to the end of winter the sun was staying up longer, and Gabe had the roof of the Targa open. He pressed the button to open the rear, jumping out and moving around the back to help load the board in. “Hey, nice board!” he commented as Chris handed him his surfboard. Gabe ran his eyes over it then placed it on top of his, making sure the fins were well inside the arc of the curved glass tailgate. “Chuck your bag in there,” he added, “and we’ll hit the road.”
The board was one of the smaller ones that he owned, he rarely used the longboard as it could only be transported on the roof racks and obviously Gabe’s Porsche wouldn’t be able to fit it even if they tried. “Thanks, she’s one of my favourites.” A nice three finned shortboard that was good for most of the waves that he had come across over the many years surfing in southern California. He placed the bag containing his wetsuit on top of his board in case they stopped suddenly the bag would hit the glass and not the fibreglass board or fins, his weekend bag went in front of that. Walking to the passenger side he got in, the messenger bag containing his phone, keys and wallet went down by his feet out of force of habit.
Gabe slipped back into the driver’s seat and gave Chris a grin, asking, “ready?”
Soon they were soon on the road, negotiating the Friday afternoon traffic also heading west to the Coast. As Gabe concentrated on the road he indicated the music system in the car. “You can play DJ,” he said, a smile on his face as the vehicle’s tyres ate up the bitumen beneath them. The effortless acceleration always gave him a thrill, ‘Amphitrite’ effortlessly overtaking the other vehicles.
He was as ready as he'd ever be, not surprised that a lot of others were escaping Vegas for the weekend. Connecting his phone to the sound system Chris looked through his playlists until he found one he thought was fitting, some classic soft rock - Zeppelin, ACDC, Pink Floyd just to name a few. "Hope this is okay, if not I can do requests." He said with a smile as they accelerated to overtake a few other cars going below the speed limit.
Gabe nodded. “This is good,” he replied. “I’ll let you know, but one thing I will warn you, I tend to sing,” he told Chris, “so join in if you want!”
As a boy Gabe had had a stammer, something his mother had at first been shocked about, because of casting spells. ‘How can he be trusted with any, let alone the more powerful if he could muddle them up!’ had been her lament. But under the steady guidance and support of his grandmother Gabe had attended singing lessons, as when he sang there was no stammer. He also found it helped when he was communicating with the ocean animals, when swimming off the family’s private dock at home. Thanks to the determination and support of his Nonna his stammer had gone by the time he reached third grade, but it hadn’t prevented some of his classmates from teasing and ribbing him about it. That mockery tended to subside when he started to always be given the lead role in the school’s musical productions.
"Oh don't worry, I will!" Although he'd never make a career out of it Chris knew that he wasn't too bad at singing but usually left it for the shower, in the car and occasionally when he was playing piano that required vocals. "And I might even break out the air piano!" He said with a chuckle.
Music ran in his family and he was playing the piano before he started school and violin not long after, while he loved the classics they weren't really suitable for a road trip, probably more suitable for relaxing once they got there.
Company made the journey pass quickly, plus the basket of goodies from the le Breeze kitchen saved them having to stop for dinner along the way so they arrived at the accommodation in San Clemente beach early enough to check-in while there was someone still in the reception. Gabe came out of the office and tossed two room keys to Chris as he got back in the car.
“Your choice. I haven’t stayed here before,” he told his companion as he relocated the car to the spot outside the adjoining rooms, “but a couple of the surfers I met last time I was down at San Onofre said it was good, clean and there’s a few good eateries around, and only 10 minutes from San Onofre.” He climbed out of the car as the boot opened.
Driving by yourself did get boring, no matter the choice of music it was still a lonely drive. But Chris was sure that the car had made it seem like no time at all.
Catching both the keys he looked at them and picked one and handed the other back to Gabe before getting out of the car as well. "Honestly this is probably the first time I haven't just camped out, but it's much nicer here in summer than it is now." Not that it was as cold as they got inland but he knew the water would be much cooler. As his bags and board were on the top he got them out to let Gabe get his.
Gabe grinned at him and nodded. "Yeah, I kinda like the campgrounds here. Maybe in a few months though," he replied, admitting, "I'm not really a cold weather guy." He grabbed his bag and board out, closed the boot and locked the car. After stuffing the car keys in his pocket, he wrangled the room key into his fingers and opened the door.
"I was thinking we might grab a beer then hit the pillows. We need to make an early start to get parking near the best break down at San Onofre. How does that sound?"
Although he had packed light it still wasn't easy wrangling three bags and a board, though Chris managed somehow and got his own door open as Gabe agreed that it was too cold for camping. The first bag to be thrown inside was his wetbag, the wetsuit wouldn't cause any damage if it hit the bed or a chair.
"Sounds good to me, I'm not a drinker but a quick bite and something other than water sounds good." As delicious as the food on the way over was he was craving something fattening like fries. "I'll probably be awake before dawn checking on the conditions. Just knock on my door."
“Sure, see you in 10 and we’ll head to that place we passed down the street on the way in,” Gabe replied.
The next morning, in the pre-dawn light, Gabe could just hear the sounds of the ocean. The early morning hours meant the white noise of traffic on the freeway was at its lowest, allowing the soft westerly breeze coming in off the water to carry the sounds to where they were.
’So you want to come with? Or stay here?’
‘I’ll come with you, just make sure you don’t get fried.’
‘Like when was the last… never mind. Ready to go now?’
‘Almost…’
A few minutes later Gabe ‘sent’ Bilson to the car, his famil immediately locating himself in his usual spot beneath the driver’s seat. Moments later he made his way out, surfboard under his arm, wet bag in his hand, already wearing his steamer suit, pulled down to his waist. It was the one time he could wear it when driving, saving putting it on at the beach. As he put the board in the back of the car he looked across at Chris’s room to see if there was any sign of movement.
Chris was awake and had been for a while, checking the swell and figuring out where on the beach would be a better bet for some decent waves. When he heard the door of Gabe's room shut he got up, already in a similar state of dress.
He opened the door, putting the board just outside as he grabbed his other bag and shut the door. Seeing Gabe already at the car he walked over, "They reckon the south end's probably going to be the best bet this morning." It also meant there would be more surfers there, but they'd have to wait and see how busy it was, as it was still cool they might be lucky and have it to themselves.
“Yeah, saw that,” the sorcerer replied, giving Chris a nod as the boards were secured in the back. Within minutes they were on the road, stopping to grab some bottles of water and sandwiches at an early-morning diner on the way. As they pulled into the parking spot ten minutes later they could already see there were a few others with similar ideas, but definitely not the same numbers as might be expected in the warmer, tourist season months.
“Looking good!” Gabe said with a grin, watching the waves through the windscreen. “Nice,” he continued, before adding, “one of the things I love about this place is the waves go forever. At home it was good, but so short a ride in comparison to here.”
It wasn't as busy as Chris had expected, there'd be enough waves for all of course but he'd have to be cautious about increasing the size of them without drawing any kind of suspension upon himself, maybe they'd just think it was some kind of freak wave, those often happen.
"If you ever get the chance, visit Australia, there's a wave for nearly every occasion there." Of course he missed it but his life was here now. "C'mon, let's get out there!"
“Need to put it on my bucket list!” Gabe replied with a widening grin. Just being back near the ocean always lifted his spirit. While he could extra draw power for more challenging spells through the support of any of the animal kingdom, it exponentially increased when it was aquatic life, particularly marine. The bond created through the Mariner’s Ring, and each of their personal talisman was sourced from the ocean, and the gift bestowed upon his ancestral family. Plus growing up with the water, the ocean as a greater part of his world than the island they walked on meant his affinity with the aquatic environment was part of him - his Nonna had joked with him that if blood was taken for testing it would show as much ocean water ran in his veins as blood.
Gabe grabbed his board out of the boot and once they were ready, locked the car with the regular key and tucked it up into the sleeve of his steamer once he’d finished putting it on. Leg ropes attached, and as the two of them walked down the path from the car park to the sand the sun was approaching the peaks of the mountains behind them. The chill of the sand beneath his bare feet was welcome, his eyes fixed on the sets rolling in as they made their way toward the water.
They entered the water silently and were soon paddling out to join the others who were already sitting behind the break, waiting for their next ride. A nod and smile, courtesy being to wait to join in, and soon he was paddling hard, hands on the rails and feet beneath him as a shot of adrenalin was released. A twist, flip of the board and whoop of excitement saw the end of the first ride, and Gabe came to the surface, the widest of grins on his face as he shook his head and squeezed the water from his eyes. Retrieving his board and looking around for Chris he started to paddle back out.
Chris was still out in the water, he let Gabe have the wave to himself as he waited for the next set. Even though it was only a matter of minutes since he had entered the water he could feel his whole body vibrating with the energy of the water. His element.
A few of the other surfers took some of earlier waves of the next set in and it wasn't til the final wave that Chris decided this was the one for him. His feet kicked until he could feel the wave carry him along, then he stood up, riding the wave without pulling any kinds of tricks, just enjoying it until it broke and turned into whitewash on the shoreline. "Not the biggest, but not bad." He said to Gabe once he had gotten back out into the water.
“It’s just nice to be back out here,” Gabe replied, the grin still on his face. As all the riders were doing, his eyes scanned the water as they sat straddling their boards. As none of the other riders were doing he also scanned the area for fellow ‘aquatic dwellers’ and smiled when he received some responses. Further north, past the point that separated San Clemente from San Onofre were two pods of dolphins and a flock of terns had just landed on the headland. One of the pods was heading northward up the coast, the other was slowly making its way past the headland heading their way. There were some young ones exploring the rocks at the base of the cliffs, and Gabe’s smile lessened a little when it became obvious to him there was a lot of plastic litter caught in amongst the scattered clumps of kelp.
“So what are the best locations back in Australia?” he asked Chris, focus returning to where he was.
It was nice to be back out in the water, rejuvenating as well as relaxing although he couldn’t tell Gabe why it felt so good to be back in the ocean. He had to keep some secrets to himself, not everyone was accepting of his abilities as Radek or Steve had been.
Chris chuckled at the question. “There’s more than anyone can name, almost every little beach can have decent waves if the conditions are right. But Bell’s Beach down in Victoria is internationally known for their yearly surfing competition and the south west point of Western Australia has some monster waves at certain times. I lived in central Queensland, not exactly big wave country but it was enough to keep me out of trouble.” If he wasn’t at home with his music he was usually at the beach surfing or swimming.
“Right, Bell’s, that’s the one I think I’ve heard of. There was a movie set there or something?” Gabe asked as he stuck his finger in his ear, trying to clear some water caught in there. “One of the good things about our little movie theatre at home, the guy who owned it used to get in all the old time movies, and he was a pretty keen surfer, so we got to see a few of those old classics.”
One of the other surfers turned and called out, “can’t go past ‘Morning of the Earth’ for a classic from down under, dude!” before he paddled off to catch the first wave of the next set. Gabe laughed and nodded, “yeah, I think that was one of them!”
There were dozens of surf movies, especially from the 70s and 80s, while he had seen one or two during his younger years and while he enjoyed surfing, the movies he didn’t really enjoy all that much. “I’d rather just watch the waves, the plots are pretty much all the same.” Chris said truthfully, having a laugh as the other surfer called out and paddled off.
“I’d like to see what the surf’s like down in the Gulf one day, not really in any rush though,” he said with a shrug, one eye on Gabe and the other watching the sets and surfers go by.
“Man, if you want to go there, head down to the Caribbean instead. Sure the Gulf has some waves, probably some good ones, but the islands? I’ve just come from there, spent three years working with Cian on private charter yachts, and we found some amazing places!” He saw a wave coming and started to paddle, “Cost Rica man, that’s one of them!” With a grin over his shoulder he felt the familiar lift of the board as the wave’s momentum met it, triggering him to propel himself faster, jumping to his feet as the lip reached higher behind his waist.
He hadn't done a lot of exploring for the best surfing, even though he had lived in the US for almost two decades he had a habit of exploring the interior of the country, heading up to Yellowstone and the little places up in the Rockies. It was a beautiful country and Chris had a feeling not a lot of people appreciated the natural beauty around them.
He watched as Gabe caught the wave and ended up catching one moments later, everything else ignored for those moments until he reached the shore again.
The sets continued to present surfable waves for the next half hour, and then the tide finally turned. Hitting its lowest point for the day it started to come in again, providing even better rides for those who’d been there since dawn. As Gabe paddled back out he sensed something, his head turning and a smile lighting up his face as he sat up and rode up over the oncoming crest, the shapes of a couple of dolphins visible in the face of the wave. As his board slide down the back he turned and lay down again, paddling with a little more effort until he reached the group out the back.
The couple of locals were talking about the arrival of the pod, “y’can set the tide charts by those three,” one of the guys said, indicating the fins that were visible a short distance away. “As soon as the tide turns they’re here for a ride.”
Gabe nodded. “They know the best waves!” he replied with a laugh. “And don’t have to bring a board.”
"Streamlined for surfing." Chris added, smiling as well as he watched the dolphins play nearby. "I used to wish I could swim like a dolphin, but I was about 5 at the time." Crazy childhood dreams sparked by too much time spent at the beach during the migration season, he loved watching them so free and wild.
As the next set arrived Chris caught one of the first ones in before leaving the water entirely, going to their gear and downing the best part of a bottle of water as he sat for a while.
Gabe remained out on the water for another few sets, enjoying spending the time with the pod and getting a look at the beach from the viewpoint of the terns. He was paddling to catch another wave when the tones of the squeaks and clicks he’d become familiar with changed. Instead of playful and fun they became curious and then concerned. Gabe’s distraction caused him to drop off the back of the wave before he’d even really got to his feet, grabbing the rails and sitting up, looking for the familiar fins. He finally saw them, further south, and started paddling in that direction.
It was a person, an older man, floating face down. The dolphins were coming up beneath him, nudging and bumping him lightly, pushing him toward the breakers, and the shoreline. Gabe recognised him as a swimmer who had passed them a little earlier, one of the locals recognising him and telling them he was always out there, would swim down and back up most days, had been doing it for as long as he’d been surfing there.
"Καλή δουλειά, ευχαριστώ φίλοι, ας τον πάρουμε στην ακτή," [Kalí douleiá, efcharistó fíloi, as ton pároume stin aktí] Gabe murmured as he managed, with some help, to get the man onto his board and started swimming toward the shore. His escort led him toward the best way through between the two breaks, nudging the board, and at times towing him as he held onto a fin, his other hand holding the legrope and board. As he approached shallow water he looked back up the beach to see where Chris was.
He was still on the beach but he had seen a commotion out on the water and from his years by the beach and youth spent in the surf lifesaving Nippers group he had a pretty good idea of what it was.
As Gabe got to shore Chris was running down to help, helping get the unconscious man still on the board further up out of the wash. "Keep his head straight, there might be spinal damage."
Once they had gotten far enough he started going through the routine for a drowning accident. Nothing was blocking the airway so he started mouth to mouth, sensing the water in the man's lungs he tried to draw it up into the windpipe and it only took the first lot of compressions before the man was spluttering and coughing up the water.
Gabe collapsed back onto the sand when the man came to, letting go a breath he hadn’t realised he’d been holding. He was relieved the guy was breathing again, and looked back out to the water as the pod started to move away, heading back up north. He gave Chris a grin as a couple of other surfers made their way in through the calf deep shallows. “Glad you knew what to do,” he told him, the man gulping down some big breaths now.
That's what the junior surf lifesaving was for, learning what to do in the case of drowning. "You never hope to use it." He said to Gabe as the man was now breathing by himself.
The much older man between them slowly sat up, clearing his throat as he wiped at his mouth and face with his wrist. “What happened?” he managed to get out. Gabe explained he’d seen the man floating, and they managed to get him ashore where Chris had done the CPR. Shaking his head he thanked them, then looked at Chris, rubbing lightly at his chest. “Don’t know what you did, son, but that was damned effective CPR!” He squinted as he looked into Chris’s face. “I’ve been a paramedic for forty years and broken more ribs ‘n most prize fighters.” He looked down at his chest then back at Chris. “Not even a bruise!”
He listened to the man talk, giving a little shrug. "You only needed a few compressions to get it out. And look at me, do I look like I'd be able to break anyone's ribs?" He definitely wasn't as big or muscular as the guy he had saved. He gave a smile, sitting back on the sand. "I still think you should get checked out for secondary drowning though."
The man nodded, giving Chris a wink. "Sound just like me," he told him. He turned to see the three local surfers jog up the beach, calling out to him as they stripped off the top halves of their wetsuits, asking how he was.
"It's all good fellas, these two seemed to be on the ball, no need to worry."
"Man, dude, what happened?" asked the surfer who'd introduced himself as Dale earlier. "I saw you go past us as usual, next thing I know is Gabe here is dropping off the back of a nice wave and then carrying a passenger." Without drawing breath, nor giving anyone a chance to say anything he continued, addressing Gabe, "and those dolphins, they were like, y'know, helpin'? Or like whatever?"
Gabe just nodded as Dale continued to reel off what he thought he'd seen, letting him do so as the other two just stood there taking it all in. How he’d managed to know could easily be explained by him looking that way when standing up, despite him not actually making it to his feet before the call had reached him. And it wasn’t unheard of for dolphins to assist humans in different ways, whether conscious or unconscious.
“They’re pretty cool, aren’t they,” he finally managed to reply when Dale seemed to run out of breath.
Chris hadn’t seen anything before Gabe had made it to shore, only the dolphins that he had seen earlier and when Dale started talking about them helping. “Wouldn’t surprise me, I’ve heard tales of dolphins helping humans in distress since I was a kid.” He gave a shrug as well, not thinking anything about it as it wasn’t out of the question.
His attention went back to the man who he had saved, even though the guy was now talking, Chris was still worried. “Should we call an ambulance or have you got someone who can drive you to get checked out?” He asked, then looked up at the other surfers. “Rogue wave tried to drown him.” Or that’s what he thought, as the man’s neck seemed to be fine it wasn’t caused by him hitting his head on the sand.
“Yeah, like I said, paramedic for forty years, and I might be retired, but I ain’t senile,” he replied reassuringly to his rescuer. “Dale, you give me a ride, son? My bike’s up near Trestles and I don’t feel like walking all that way.”
“Sure dude, van’s just up there,” the surfer replied, indicating an old Toyota sitting in the car park, up the beach a little. “You OK to walk up there?” he asked, wiping his free hand on his suit and offering it to give him a hand up.
“I think so,” he replied, taking Dale’s hand and getting to his feet. After he was upright he turned to his two rescuers. He held out his hand and introduced himself. “Andy Robbardo,” he said, holding his hand out to Gabe who stood up and shook it, ”and thanks again for what you did out there. First time it’s ever happened in all the years I’ve been swimming this stretch,” he continued, indicating the area out behind the surf. “I got a tickle in m’ throat, started coughing copped a mouthful and last next thing I remember I’m sinking like a stone.”
Gabe nodded. “Yeah, it can happen,” he agreed as Andy turned and held his hand out to Chris.
“Mighty glad you were here, if there’s anything I can ever do for you, just look me up, I’m the only Robbardo in the phone book.”
“I’m just glad that you’re okay.” Chris said as he shook Andy’s hand, he was hopeless with names, so he was silently saying it a few times in his head so he wouldn’t forget it before he got a chance to write it down. While he had sensed the water and was able to get it out, there might still be a little bit that wasn’t expelled and that was what he worried about.
Once Andy and Dale had started walking towards Dale’s van Chris turned to Gabe. “Well.. that was a more exciting morning than I had expected.” He said with a bit of a chuckle, looking back at their things. “I think I deserve to sit down for a bit and enjoy one of those sandwiches.”
The other two surfers had decided to call it a morning too, and were headed back to the parking lot, talking animatedly about other times the dolphins had come in and interacted with surfers. “Never a dull moment, isn’t that what they say?” Gabe replied with a nod, watching the other two for a moment before retrieving his board, picking up the dangling legrope and starting the trudge along to where their things were lying in the sand.
The warmth of the sun had already started to dry Gabe’s hair, but he picked his towel up and gave his scalp a quick rub before tugging off his suit, sitting down and grabbing the bag that had the food in it. He held it out to Chris, squinting a little as he glanced up at the sky to check out the weather. The slight breeze hinted at it still being winter somewhere nearby but the heat of the sun was doing a great job of making it a pleasant day.
Compared to a midwinter morning in Vegas the weather was actually quite nice and Chris could happily spend all day just sitting in the sun, though he wouldn't as he knew he'd get sunburnt and that would ruin his plans to surf the following morning.
Taking the bag from Gabe he thanked the other man, taking one of the wrapped sandwiches out before handing it back. "I could sit here just listening to the waves all day, though I wouldn't get anything else done." He said, looking along the expanse of sand while he wondered how long the walk would be. One thing Chris loved doing was looking for shells and rocks that had been worn smooth by the forces of nature, although he knew that he shouldn't, he still collected one or two to add to his collection back at home.
“It’s the weekend!” Gabe laughed, digging his heels into the soft sand deep enough to get purchase. “Did you have something else you needed to get done?” he asked, squinting a little as he looked at Chris. He rested the packet of sandwiches on his thighs as he placed the cooler bag back on the sand and reached in to grab a bottle of energy drink.
“Don’t tell me you brought work with you!?” he said, suddenly realising that perhaps the man had.
Gabe was right, it was the weekend and they didn’t have anywhere to be or anything else to get done other than enjoying the break. He rarely got time to just relax like this and just sitting around the beach all day seemed a bit lazy. He would go for the walk a bit later, enjoy the scenery and sand under his feet.
Chris laughed when asked if he had brought work along, “No, just a book to read before bed. I’m trying not to think about work or what’s going to be waiting for me on Monday morning.” A bite of his sandwich. “You didn’t bring anything either?”
Shaking his head Gabe put the cap back on the drink bottle after taking a long swig. “No, though the family always know how to find me,” he joked, knowing only too well how accurate that statement was.
“It’s a family business and I have a big family so fortunately it doesn’t all hinge on just one of us always being around to run things.” Even though one day he would take his place at the head of the family, that was something he’d known since childhood, but as long as the same fate that befell his grandfather didn’t happen to his grandmother that time was a long ways off. And they needed to find the Ring before then.
With another bite of his sandwich Chris nodded his head, remembering when he lived at home that his parents knew if he wasn’t at home or school he’d be at the beach. They couldn’t keep him away from it and once his hydrokinesis had shown itself he had gone there whenever he could.
“Can’t say that I know what that’s like, I’m the head librarian at LVHS so everyone comes to me for any little thing that they can’t find or don’t understand. I keep reminding myself that it could be worse, I could be working in a university or the city library and have a lot more to deal with… high school students aren’t that bad.” He smiled. Chris did like his job even if it did stress him out at times but it was nice that he could leave all those stresses at work and go home without having to take any of it with him. “I just have to remember that we all went through our teenage years and they’ll grow out of it.”
Gabe chuckled as memories from his highschool rumbled into his head. While his earlier years of school had been a bit of a nightmare, with his stutter and smaller size, highschool had been a bit better. He’d mastered his speech, the singing lessons he’d had had paid off, giving him the lead roles in the school’s musicals, and he’d managed to find ways deflect any ‘targeting’ done by bullies due to his size, which hadn’t been traced back to him. One of the benefits of being a Santorini was he had cousins and other family friends who had been a part of the business, or their families had, and there was no real question as to where everyone stood. Not that it didn’t cause some friction from time to time, but his preferred way of dealing with those things was with humour, and making a bit of a clown of yourself had always seemed to avoid the worst of the potential dramas of teenage males and their testing of their manhood. Unfortunately for the school librarian it had often involved his work space.
“Yeah, all those hormones, they just don’t do a guy any favours, do they?” he said, laughing as he shook his head. “Keeping your nose in the books? Not what most teenagers are focused on!”
High School for Chris was rather unremarkable, the school wasn’t exactly that big, well not in comparison to the one where he was now working, of course there was always the groups and stigmas associated with each. He was classed as a geek, for both his habit of reading but also because he spent a lot of his time in the music room. Books and music provided more stimulus in his developing mind than listening to the bravado of the other guys in his year. It did seem like another time compared to the teenagers of the twenty first century, not only the technological advances but also how acceptance had changed in just the 20 years since he had left school. No LGBT+ groups or anything like that, you only ever told those you were closest to in fear of retaliation from others.
“I wouldn’t want to relive that part of my life again, even for a million dollars.” Shaking his head as well. “Not always in the books, I think most of my free time was spent in the music room, the musically inclined geeks tended to only care about what you can play instead of focusing on looks, academia or anything else. If you could play more than one instrument they seemed to like you more.” Which was where he had fitted in, sometimes even playing the violin while still seated at the piano if it was required of him. One teacher joked that he should’ve had an extra set of arms to allow him to play both at the same time.
“So what made you become a librarian instead of a music teacher?” Gabe asked, before the last of his sandwich disappeared into his mouth. He leaned back on his elbows after fishing his sunglasses out of his bag and putting them on his face, drink bottle in the other hand.
Following suit with his own sunglasses Chris looked at Gabe before looking out at the waves. “When I came to the US after finishing high school I was working my way across the country, I did a summer camp where I was in the office organising things rather than out with the kids, as I went from place to place I preferred to get work doing similar things. I then found my way to Nevada and something about the area drew me in, I decided I wanted to stay and started looking at short courses to help my employment opportunities.” He glanced back at Gabe for a second, “Discovered there was one dealing with libraries and cataloging so decided to enrol, I liked it and remembering my own high school librarian decided that maybe that was the job for me. Did my Bachelor degree in Secondary Education then a Masters in Library Studies while working my way up from the bottom. It’s not the most glamorous of jobs but I like it.”
Gabe wondered for a brief moment what Chris would think of his family’s ‘library’ at home, the books hand written and handed down over the centuries, the spells and incantations, potions and work of an entire dynasty that he hoped would continue. “A Masters? Woah, that’s pretty full on. Never realised it took that sort of qualification to be a librarian!” Gabe replied, genuine surprise and admiration in his voice. “I’ve spent a bit of time in libraries,” he continued, looking from Chris out to the ocean, and the surfers sitting out the back of the break waiting for a new set. “The school one was OK, but it was our one at home I spent the most time in. Had to study the family history,” he added, in explanation. “You know, family business, the history, all that.” He lay down, one arm under his head, eyes closed behind the sunglasses as he remembered the family library. “I have to tell you, my family’s library would probably send you into palpitations, more like something out of the old movies, than a modern university, or school. There’s just… lots of books and manuscripts, two sections, one in the house and one in the cellars.” He turned his head, opened one eye and squinted as he looked at Chris, adding with a grin, “and absolutely no filing system or records of what’s where!”
It did surprise people the kind of qualifications that he had gotten, to just run the library in a school, he could (and occasionally would) substitute in for the music teacher. “You don’t really need it for the small country libraries, but the route that I took is that I’m a teacher with a speciality in libraries.” He gave a shrug, head turned up to the sun as his body warmed under the rays.
When Gabe started talking about the unorganised family library Chris gave a chuckle, “Oh I’m sure I’d like it, though I’d probably want to file and categorise everything.” It just came naturally after so many years. “As long as you’re all able to find what you need, who needs a system!?”
“Well, the system is mostly in my Nonna’s head,” Gabe replied, “but Mama has started to try and keep some records of what’s where, especially given we lost a lot when we lost my grandfather a couple of years ago.”
He exhaled slowly, his mind wandering back to that dreadful night, and then he shook his head. “She’s always been the most organised of the family. It’s what makes her so amazing…ly good…at cooking,” he said, pausing momentarily to switch from describing the witch and her amazing skill at potions.
He angled his head and looked at Chris. “If you had a choice, would you rather be looking after books or playing music?” Everyone seemed to have their own system of organisation, he knew that the way he did things might not sit well with others and how others did things might drive him up the wall, but that was human nature, if everyone did things the same or enjoyed the same things, it’d be one hell of a boring world.
Chris’s features softened a bit hearing about the passing of Gabe’s grandfather, of course he didn’t know the man, he barely knew Gabe but having lost his own grandmother years ago and the bond that they had shared, he could understand that grief.
“Music.” Chris said without missing a beat, as much as he did love books music was definitely his main passion. “If I’ve had a shitty day I’ll always go to my instruments before even thinking about the books. Nothing better than getting all that frustration out then playing a long piece and really hitting the keys, though one should never play the violin so hard, after getting my favourite bow restrung a few times I learnt my lesson there. My piano is about a hundred years old, it really can take a beating.” Although he still tried to not abuse it too much if he was annoyed by something.
Gabe nodded slowly. “Yeah, and music covers all kinds of moods,” he agreed. “I get it. I play the piano a little, was taught it to go with the singing lessons I had when I was a kid. It’s something you can lose yourself in when things just don’t seem to be going the way you expect.
“How long you been playing the violin?” he asked. “Not sure I know many guys who play it. Usually it’s the guitar, or piano, or horns. Or drums. But not many with a violin.”
What Gabe was saying Chris agreed with wholeheartedly, when all else failed there was always music. There had been many times during his life where he would let himself just get lost in playing music, sometimes for hours on end, but it had helped him forget about the heartache and sadness that went along with the end of a relationship. He was sure that his neighbors knew when ‘that crazy musician next door’ had gotten dumped, they’d get a free concert.
“Since I was about five or six, I started playing the piano before I had even started school and loved it, then my grandmother decided to give me a few lessons with her violin and it was love at first note.” Chris chuckled, thinking about the memory. “I think I took after Nan in quite a few ways.” Though he knew at least one of the ways he couldn’t talk about.
“Sounds like your nonna was as much of an influence in your life as mine is for me,” Gabe mused as his thumb rubbed against the inside of the band of the signet ring on his finger. It was her who’d had crafted the ring for him, and the pendant for Ana, gifting them their talisman when they turned 14, and ‘came of age’ in the family tradition.
“Yeah she was.” Chris said with a smile, he did miss her but knew she was keeping an eye on him from the afterlife. He hoped that she would be understanding of his name change and move to another country, he had that feeling inside of him that she wouldn’t care, she’d always be her grandson, no matter the name. He gave a little sigh as he put the empty sandwich wrap into the bag and took another gulp of water. “I think I might go for a walk up the beach, see if I can find any pebbles for my collection.” Underneath his wetsuit he was wearing a pair of boardshorts, so he stripped off the neoprene and then got up to his feet, his back giving a crack as he stretched.
Gabe again squinted up at Chris then gave up the battle against the bright sun, closing his eyes again. “OK, I’ll uh… keep an eye on things here,” he joked. “Just make sure those pebbles don’t, you know, glow in the dark, or whatever, from down around that fence,” he added, jerking his head toward the former nuclear power plant down the beach.
Chris chuckled. “Oh I’ll definitely give those a miss, we get enough of it back in Nevada without bringing any back home with me.” Though it seemed like most of the people had forgotten how many hundreds of nuclear tests had been performed within 100 miles of Vegas during the Cold War. “I’ll keep my eyes out for our finned friends.” A nod in the direction of the water and the dolphins who were probably still playing under the surface.
Only just managing to stifle a yawn Gabe nodded. “They’ve all headed back up north,” he replied, “better feed,” he added, then tacked, “I think,” on the end. He shifted a little, side to side, evening out the sand beneath his back till it was comfortable. “Enjoy your walk.”
The yawn didn’t go unnoticed, Chris had a feeling that Gabe would fall asleep during his walk so he decided not to make it as long as he originally planned, driving the four hours back the next afternoon with a sunburn would just be hell and no one deserved that. “Enjoy your nap.”
Gabe grunted softly, already starting to doze off...