Re: Alvin Ever After: Alvin in the Fourth
Twenty-seven surfers were eliminated from the competition on the first of the three-day event and two dropped out due to injuries. That left only 67 of us and today’s waves were bigger and meaner than yesterdays as we were getting the skirtings of a storm that was several miles off the coast. Directly overhead and further inland were blue skies and puffy white clouds while near where the ocean met the sky was a solid wall of evil black.
The storm wasn’t supposed to come any closer, but everyone was still watching and listening to the weather reports all day long, Meek and I included.
Thankfully, I didn’t see Adam or Scotty all that day, which was a good thing. Meek on the other hand said he had another face-to-face encounter with them while I was on my fourth and final run for the day. He said they were mostly just talking bad about me and telling him he should watch his back while competing against me.
I honestly do not know where that was coming from. Never in my history of surfing and competing have I cheated or done anything purposefully to cause another surfer to lose points. If anything, I would help my fellow competitors to do better on their next run.
All day the top placement of surfers kept changing. At one point, I was in the lead, then I was in third, then first again, and after my final run of the day, I was in second place, behind Scotty by just a single point. Trailing behind me by 8 points was some Asian girl named Luisa, with Meek only 1 point behind her. However, after Meek’s final run, which I didn’t get to see, he went all the way to first place with a five-point lead over Scotty. That bumped Scotty down to second and me down the third.
Why was I not number one all day? Because of my dang knee! I never actually took a spill, but man it was all I could do to stay on my board out there on those crazy waves. I was getting good points mainly because I was picking the meanest and most dangerous waves, otherwise, if I hadn’t been, I probably would have been pushed so far down the order that I wouldn’t have a chance of catching up, let alone ever winning.
Right after Meek had told me about running into Scotty and Adam he had to go out for his fourth and final run of the day. It was then that thing really got crazy bad for me.
All day, when we were not actually competing, Meek and I were doing are best to hide from everyone, which includes our folks, the news people who want to interview all the surfers and from surfing fans. However, it was during Meek’s last run that I let my guard down when I should have been extra vigilant in watching my back.
I had gone up to the boardwalk to get a better view of Meek and the other’s out there. I was standing up on the boardwalk railing, which was something, that is strictly forbidden but people do it anyway. Meek was about to make his turn and grab what from my vantage point looked to be the wrong wave. It was going to end up being too big and too mean for Meek to handle. It was then that I felt a sharp pain in my right ankle followed by a quick jerk that spun me completely around.
For the briefest of moments, I was looking down into the angry eyes of my Grandfather who had a death hold just above my foot. The moment was maybe a quarter of a second long because the effect of Grandfather spinning me while I was standing on that railing was to cause me to lose my balance.
“G-GRANDFATHER!” I shouted down at him right before I began to fall backward.
I remember screams and a dozen hands reaching out to grab me in slow motion but all of them missed. From my vantage point I saw, I could see all the hands extending toward me like flashes of photographs as I slowly fell backward. I instinctively threw my arms out as if to grab something, however, there my fingers found nothing but air.
Now if you go back up there and read that again, you’ll see I said that Grandfather had a death grip on my ankle. That is the only reason I did not fall to my death and oh yes, I would have surly died; of that, I have no doubt at all.
“I GOT YA BOY!” Grandfather shouted as others around him reached out and took hold of my other leg.
I looked down for an instant and saw everyone below me looking up and holding out arms as if to catch me should I still fall.
I was hoisted back up and oddly hugged tightly by Grandfather before he held me at arm’s length and asked, “You alright boy?”
Right then, is when the pain hit me. Remember me saying it was my right leg knee that had been kicked and my right ankle Grandfather had grabbed? Thus, it had been my right leg that I was hanging upside down by. Yeah, the pain hit me like a sledgehammer to the kneecap.
I don’t remember anything until I woke up lying on the back seat of Grandfather’s car. The pain had been so intense that I had blacked out.
“Where-where am… Grandfather? Why? Where’s mom? Where are we going?”
“Lie still boy! We’ll be at the hospital shortly,” Grandfather spoke, “and then we’ll be getting you back to Maine where you belong.”
“What? No! I can’t! Not yet!” I cried out.
“QUIET DOWN BOY!” Grandfather shouted in a very uncharacteristic manner.
I pushed myself up as the car slowed for a traffic light. Not thinking, I reached for the door handle, swung it open, and leapt out before the car had come to a complete stop.
When I hit the pavement, I rolled a few times, being skinned up in the process as all I had on was my board shorts. Grandfather’s car lurched to a stop as I was attempting to get to my feet. However, when I put weight on my right leg it buckled under me.
I cried out in pain!
“Are you alright kid?” Someone shouted at me.
“ALVIN!” I heard Grandfather yell.
“NO!” I screamed back as I forced myself to stand and begin to run as best I could.
The pain was unbearable and I could not see for the tears. Behind me, I could hear Grandfather cursing after me, but his curses quickly vanished as I ran around a corner and down another road.
I was in such pain, and crying so hard that I did not even think about where I was going, only that I needed to get as far from Grandfather as I could.
What’s that saying, ‘If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all?’ I even think it’s a song too. Anyway, we had been a good distance from the boardwalk and only about three blocks from the hospital when I’d jumped out of Grandfather’s car.
