During the time we spent surfing I found out that Meek wasn’t just gay, he was the Student President of his schools chapter of something called Youth-Quest. I had no idea what that was and had to ask. It turned out to be an after school group for gay teens and straight teens with one or more gay parents.
“Yeah well…” I started to say but instead decided to ask a question. “Does your boyfriend mind me hanging with you right now?”
Meek reddened slightly but didn’t answer.
“What?” I asked.
“Well, when I told him who you are he said that he really wanted to meet you but he doesn’t want you to think he is a stalker or something.”
“A stalker?” I laughed and was about to say something else, but there wasn’t time because the next wave was coming, “Strike that! Catch this one so I can see what you got!” I said and I turned my board and got ready to duck-dive under the wave so that I could watch Meek surf it.
Meek took off paddling for all he was worth. I guess he hadn’t had a chance to really prepare himself because as soon as he stood up I knew that he was going into the water.
“Your feet were all wrong,” I said to him as he paddled back up to me.
“Yeah?” he grunted as he coughed up some water he had swallowed.
“You have to point your front foot in the direction you want to go. You also had all your weight on your back leg. You shouldn’t have any weight on that leg at all. It is just for balance.”
Meek looked at me as though he thought I was joking with him.
“You’re not messing with me are you?” Meek asked.
“No way man! I wouldn’t do that.” I said just before sliding off my board.
I flipped my board over so that the fin was up in the air.
“In the early days of surfing, boards didn’t have fins to keep the board going straight. The surfer had to drag his back foot in the water like a rudder.”
“Really?” Meek asked with astonishment.
I popped the fin off my board and then flipped my board back over.
“Watch, I’ll show you.” I said as the next wave was heading toward us.
I rode the wave while dragging my foot through the water and even had to maneuver when some young kid I’d seen earlier, nearly crashed into me.
“Dude! That was righteous!” Meek said when I paddled back to him.
“Here get on my board and give it a try.” I said.
“No way man! I could never do what you just did.” Meek said while holding his hands up as if I were some Wild West bandit.
“Come on. You might eat it but you might not.” I said.
Meek pulled himself up on my board and I got on his, which was one of the park rentals.
“I’m going to ride this next wave with you.” I told him.
I am glad I did because I got to see that much of the problem Meek was having, was due to the cheap rental board he had been using.
“Man this board sucks.” I told him when I came up after wiping out.
“You think so?” He asked.
“I know so! It’s no wonder you keep falling!” I said and then asked, “I didn’t see. How did you do without the fin?”
“It was tough, but not as hard as I thought it was going to be.”
“Did you stay up?”
Meek was beaming, “Amazingly, I did.”
I popped the fin back on my board and we surfed together for over an hour. By the end of that time Meek was doing great. I had also pretty much mastered that cheap rental board, although I seemed to wipe out about every third or fourth wave.
“So do you have any more points for me?” Meek asked as we both headed for our towels to dry off.
“Yeah, if you are serious about surfing, then I’d suggest you get your own board.” I said rather dogmatically.
He dried his hair with his towel as he asked, “Got any idea where?”
I thought for a moment before I said, “If you want, I know this guy back in California who would make you one and ship it to you. It won’t be cheap, but he’s a wizard when it comes to shaping boards. He’s the one that made mine.”
“Really? That would be choice!” Meek said excitedly.
He then asked, “You got an email address? I could write you and then you could email his contact info.”
“Contact info?” I thought to myself. Sheesh, he shifted from surfer to geek so fast I nearly got mental whiplash.
“Yeah, but can you remember my email?” I asked.
“Come with me to the changing room. I have something to write on with my clothes and things.” He said and then asked, “Want me to carry your board?”
“Nah, I got it.” I said heaving it under my arm and walking across the boardwalk with him.
As the two of us made our way to the changing room we continued talking.
“I have to confess something,” Meek said, “The way I knew you were you; I saw on your board there…” he pointed to the bottom of my board which had, in huge fancy blue and white letter that covered the entire bottom, ALVIN HOLLOWAY and running through the middle of my name in gold was, 2X Jr. Surfing Champion.
Meek cocked his head to one side as he said, “I still can’t believe that you are really THE Alvin Holloway.”
“That reminds me,” I started to say and I stopped to look around for the guy in the black Speedo.
I spotted him reclining in one of the deck chairs and watching the two of us intently. I waved at him and then motioned for him to come over. It looked like he nearly broke his leg trying to get out of that chair.
“HI!” he all but shouted, as he jogged up to us.
“Alvin, this here is Pepper. Pepper, this is…” Meek was saying but Pepper jumped in quickly.
“Oh my gosh! Are you really Alvin Holloway?” Pepper was almost drooling on me; that is how excited he was.
“You know me?” I asked.
“Are you kidding?!” Meek said for him, “He’s got all the famous surfers tacked up all over his bedroom walls and ceiling.”
“Huh?” I grunted.
Pepper was nervously twisting his towel. “I cut them out of magazines or print them off the Internet.”
Pepper looked to be about the same age as Meek, but he was in a lot better physical shape. He looked like he exercised on a regular basis. He had neatly combed black hair, parted in the middle. His eyes were a light shade of brown and I must admit that I was kind of miffed that he had a deeper tan then I did. Unlike Meek, he had no piercing and wore no jewelry save for a single Dog Tag and a key on a braided twine and leather chocker about his neck. Upon closer inspection I saw that the Dog Tags were stamped with ‘Abercrombie and Fitch’ and the key was stamped with ‘A&F’.
“Alvin’s about to give me his email address so that he can email me the contact info for some guy he knows that makes surf boards.” Meek told Pepper.
Pepper went nuts! “OH MY GOSH! YOU’RE GIVING US YOUR PERSONAL EMAIL ADDRESS?”
People around us were starting to stare.
“Uh Pepper, you’re being a smidge embarrassing.” Meek tried to say softly.
I would have said that he was being more than a smidge, but I remained polite. Then again, I was feeling generous and decided to put Pepper over the edge.
“I’ll do you one better than that, I’ll give you my autograph if you like.”
Yep, I was right, that did it. Pepper started jumping up and down fanning himself with both hands.
“OH MY GOSH! OOOWWWWW! OH MY GOSH! OOOWWWWW!” he was alternating between screaming and making howling sounds.
Meek looked like he wanted to find somewhere to hide but I was getting a kick out of Pepper. He was like so out there with his excitement and didn’t care that he was acting like a total goof. If you ask me, more people should feel free to be that open and natural.
Suddenly a massive shadow enveloped the three of us from behind me. I had still been looking at Meeks glowing red face when it suddenly went completely void of color. I looked to Pepper who wasn’t bouncing anymore but was standing there looking up.
“Oh shit!” Pepper exclaimed in a high terror filled tone that reminded me of those two cartoon chipmunks, Chip and Dale.
“Are they your bodyguards?” Pepper asked.
I turned around and saw Mr. Akinori standing there looking all kinds of mean. On either side of him was an equally large Asian man both of whom looked younger than Mr. Akinori. Logic said that they had to be Sumo wrestlers as well.
“Ah man,” I crowed at Mr. Akinori, “you scared the life out of me!”
He bowed respectfully and asked if I was okay. Apparently he had heard and seen Pepper carrying on. He had assumed that someone else had recognized me and was hounding me the way some diehard fans do at times.
“No, no!” I said to Mr. Akinori. I looked at Pepper and Meek who were both were standing stone still, “This is Meek, he’s a surfer too. We just met today and this here,” I pointed at Pepper, “is Meeks friend Pepper.”
“Guys, this is Mr. Asashōryū Akinori.”
Mr. Akinori bowed to Meek and then to Pepper.
Hesitantly they both bowed back.
Right then Daddy Phil appeared.
“Alvin? Is everything alright here?” he asked trying to put himself between me and the three Asian giants.
I then introduced Daddy Phil to Mr. Akinori. I didn’t know the other two men so Mr. Akinori introduced them for me. He had said their names, but I am sorry to say that I cannot remember them. I also forget the word Mr. Akinori used to describe them; it was something like disciple but that isn’t exactly right. Maybe later I will ask Daddy Phil if he remembers.
Mr. Akinori asked again if I was sure that everything was okay. When I reassured him that I really was fine, he smiled, bowed and apologized.
As they were walking away, Meek rumbled, “That was so cool!”
“Why don’t you come spend some time with us for a while?” Daddy Phil more told me than asked, before heading back to the water slide where Joey and Jacquelyn were waiting.
“Okay, I will be right there.” I said.
Meek, Pepper, and I went into the changing room. Meek presented his token and in return received his basket of clothes. He fished around until he found a small blue zippered pouch. It turned out to be a New Testament Bible inside a zippered cover. I would have never taken Meek as the Christian type, especially since he is gay, but then again I guess it doesn’t matter either way. I know this much about Jesus, he used to hang out with thieves, prostitutes, and tax collectors; so I guess it is reasonable to believe that he wouldn’t have a problem if someone was gay.
Besides containing a New Testament Bible, there was also a small ink pin and some scrap paper that I was able to write my email address on. I didn’t really want to use one of the scrap pieces of paper to scribble my signature onto for Pepper, so I asked the guy that was in charge of guarding the rows and rows of baskets, if he had a nice piece of paper or a post-it note. All he had was an Aquaboggin Water Park flyer with the hours and dates for special events. Not having anything more suitable, I used that to apply my autograph for Pepper.
You would have thought that I had just given him a check for a million dollars the way he hugged it to his chest.
“Since we’ll be able to swap emails, maybe we can arrange to meet up here again someday.” Meek suggested.
“Hey yeah!” I agreed.
As Meek was returning his basket of clothes, the guy took it and asked me, “So are you someone famous or something?” I could tell the way he said it, that he was one of those kinds of people that only care about what they can get for something from a famous person. I guess Meek and Pepper picked up on it too, because they both had something to say back.
Pepper was the first to reply, “Don’t you recognize the King of England when you see him?”
“Yeah, he’s a right royal pain in the…” Meek started to say, but I gave him a playful shove.
“Hey!” I growled while laughing.
He continued as the three of us made a quick exit, “What did I say your majesty? Please don’t have my head chopped off your majesty!”
And just before the three of us popped out the door, Pepper did a very fancy bow, waved his arm royally and said, “May God be with you on your noble quest for a clue!”
All three of us laughed however I had failed to take into account the fact that I had been carrying my board around with me, which had my name spelled out for all to see. Later in the day it would prove to have been a catalyst to something considerably unpleasant.