Shark Lover (9 page)

            The
group proceeded to the end of the long wooden dock and boarded the boat
one-by-one. Marc looked around at the group, shocked that this many people were
interested in sharks. He counted them one-by-one as the jumped into the boat.
He swore that there was over twenty-five people. He wondered why he had to be
the one going in the tank. He didn’t feel like being shark bait. He didn’t even
know if he had his equipment on right. He looked around at the rest of the
group, wondering how they could all act so carefree when they were about to
risk their lives swimming with the ocean’s most dangerous creature.

            “Everything
okay, Marc?” Chris asked him with concern in his green eyes. He was a strong
man, who looked as if he had worked his muscles to no end every day. Glancing
at his muscles, Marc gulped in fear. These were the kind of men who swam with
sharks. Ones that were strong enough to swim in the Olympics. He didn’t see
himself as being physically fit or emotionally fit enough to handle swimming
with something that could potentially kill him in one bite.

            “Yeah,
everything is fine.” He lied to Chris as well as himself. “I’m just not sure if
I have my equipment on properly. I don’t want to go down in the tank and end up
suffocating.”

            “Oh,
no problem. Let me give you a quick equipment check. It’s completely normal to
be nervous. I know I was on my first dive. When I finally got in the water, I
couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I was so close to a shark, I could touch
it. All my fears went away after that moment. Once I adapted to the underwater
world I became a part of it.” He fastened Marc’s mask tighter to his head. “I
know that you will feel the same way.” He moved the regulator closer to Marc’s
hips. “Alright you should be set now. Where’s your partner in crime?”

            “Huh?”
Marc asked dazed still distraught from all the shark talk.

            “Cathy.
Where does that girl go? One minute she’s here, the next she’s gone.” Chris ran
his fingers through his sandy blond hair, making all of the ladies in the group
swoon.

            “Yeah
she’s like that. Always chasing adventure.” Marc grinned as he forgot about his
nerves momentarily when he sudden felt a crushing pain against his hips.

            “Ahhhhhhhhhh!”
He screamed out as loud as possible.

            He
turned around to see Cathy laughing her head off as she removed her scuba mask
from the fog she was creating from her howling laugh. He gave her a grim look
and turned the other way around still catching his breath from the scare. He
could feel the heat in his cheeks from the embarrassment as the rest of the
group stared at him. Feeling their eyes glaring at him, he wasn’t sure what to
do or say. He looked down, hoping to repulse their stares.

            Cathy
lightly touched his shoulder and turned him around slowly to face her. “Hey,”
She started slowly. “I didn’t mean to scare you. You were just standing there,
looking all scared. It was just too easy, I had to take a shot at it. Don’t
hate me.” Her eyes touched his with kindness and apology.

            “You
know I don’t like sharks. This whole thing is already freaking me out. I don’t
need you freaking me out on top of it.” He turned away from her and looked out
the boat. As the boat started rocking back and forth from a rather large wave,
he could feel himself getting queasy. His stomach was rolling up and down. He
held his hands to his hips, trying to contain his uneasy feelings. Closing his
eyes, he tried to relax and think of happier times.

           
“Dad!
Hurry up we’re going to be late!” He yelled from the car as he honked the horn.
He had been waiting for this day all week. It had been written on his calendar
for months. He marked out every day with an X, eager to get closer to the day
he had been waiting for. He didn’t understand why his dad was taking so long.
He knew today was the day. He had to be excited too. He had to understand what
this day meant to the both of them.

            “I’m
coming Marc! Just wait in the car I will be there in a minute. I’m just making
sure that we have everything that we need.” He called back.

            “Dad,
it’s only ten minutes away from our house. I’m sure if we forget anything we
can easily come back to get it.” He slumped in the seat sighing. It was typical
of his father to bring more than what was needed. He was constantly preparing
for the unknown. Marc didn’t understand why either. They could just drive back
to the house to get water, they didn’t need a full cooler with snacks, a lunch
and drinks. His father interrupted his thoughts as he hopped in the car and
slammed the door shut, starting the ignition and backing out of the driveway as
fast as possible.

            “You
have the suit?” His father asked him, his eyes still stuck intently watching
the road.

            “Yes
of course.” He looked at his dad with big eyes. “How could I even go without
it? That’s kind of one of the most important parts of the whole day.”

            “Right…right.”
Staring down at the clock on the dashboard he let out a sigh. “I’m sorry we are
running late Son, I meant to get up and going sooner. It’s just that I wanted
you to be fully prepared for your first day. I guess I over packed.”

            “Dad,
it’s fine,” Marc smiled as his dad pulled into the parking lot. “We made great
timing, we’re here and I am ready to win.” He opened the car door as fast as he
could, grabbing for the red board on the top of the car. It was heavy. He
pulled it down with all of his might. It crashed down into his hands and he
caught it before it hit the hot asphalt. “I just almost dropped the board dad,
I am so nervous.” He set the board up against the car and looked at his hands,
full of sweat and perspiration.

            “You’re
going to do fine,” He looked at his son reassuringly, patting his shoulder.
“Have faith and be one with the ocean. I know you can do it. You were born to
do this. It’s in your blood.”

            “Thanks
Dad,” Marc answered feeling more confident. “Do you have my wetsuit? There’s a
bathroom over in the corner, I can change quickly and get some practice runs in
before the real competition starts. I want to be ahead of these guys in each
and every way I can be. I know I am just a beginner and this is my first
competition. I can use all of the practice that I can get.”

“It’s
right here. Don’t worry so much about the competition. Worry about you. Breathe.
Take in this scene. Savor the moment while it’s here.” His father handed him
the duffle with his wetsuit as he ran off to the bathroom, thinking of his
father’s last words.

He
looked around the beach at the competition. Some were in the water, practicing
their craft. Others were sitting alongside the ocean, just laying out on their
boards, basking in the sun as if it was just a regular old day. Marc didn’t
understand how the other boys could act so calmly about a day this big. Maybe
it was just a big day for him. He had waited his entire life for this day.
Today was the day that he was going to show his father what he was made of. In
the past, he had felt as if he had let his father down. He hadn’t been
fearless, he had been afraid. He had been afraid of so many things. Today was
the day that he pushed those fears aside and became the man his father wanted
him to be.

As
he pulled on his wetsuit, he could hear the ocean roaring in the distance. It
was almost as if it was calling his name. He couldn’t wait to get his board out
and start practicing on the waves. The sun gleamed through the small windows at
the top of his stall and he couldn’t help but to smile. He wanted to take in
every moment of this day, savor every single second of it. He had only waited
for this day since he was five years old and had decided that he wanted to be a
surfer. Just like his dad. He had practiced for years and years it had seemed
like all he did was practice. His father had finally let him enter a
competition now that he was thirteen years old. He had wanted to compete
earlier, but his father had constantly told him he wasn’t ready. Today he was
ready and he wasn’t going to let this chance slip through his fingers.

He
ran out of the restroom, fully geared in his wetsuit, ready to take on the
ocean. Running past his father, he grabbed his surfboard and headed into the
water. The water was chilly this time of morning. There was an icy touch to it
that numbed his bones. He felt as if he had jumped into a bucket of ice. Shaking
off the feeling, he started paddling out and catching all the waves that he
could. He wanted to practice, but he didn’t want to wear himself out for the
competition, so he proceeded to catch smaller waves and ride them into the
shore. Having the time of his life, he didn’t want to stop, but he heard the
whistle from the judges calling all of the surfers out of the water. His pulse
started beating faster, knowing that the moment was almost here. The moment
that he had waited months for. He could barely contain his excitement.

“Junior
surfers, the competition is about to begin. Please come out of the water, line
up at the judges table and sign in. Once you sign in, we will assign you a
number for the competition. You must wear this number at all times or you will
be disqualified. Now line up behind the blue tent and we will get this
competition started!” An announcer said over the speaker system that blasted
throughout the beach.

Marc
paddled out of the water as fast as he could, he wanted to be in that line first.
He looked around, noticing that the competition would be steep. He didn’t think
he would have to battle this many competitors. There were over forty boys that
he could count so far. All of which were running out of the water and into the
line. He waited in line patiently and after about ten minutes, he received his
number. He strategically placed it across his chest. The competition would
remember him today. He would make sure of it.

Once
the line had gone down, the announcer spoke again, “Okay junior surfers, we are
going to announce some of the rules of this competition and how the winners
will be selected.”

The
crowd cheered, excited for the next step in the process. Thousands of people
had come to Ocean Beach to witness the competition. Parents, siblings, friends
and surf lovers had come miles away to see this. Marc gulped in fear and looked
over at his father in the distance who smiled warmly in encouragement. Marc let
out a deep breath, closed his eyes and looked around at the crowd. He had never
surfed for an audience before and his was a large group of people. He didn’t
know if he could handle having all of their eyes on him.

“There
are forty young men competing with us today! Let’s give them a round of
applause!” The announcer yelled on the speaker. The crowd cheered in
encouragement. “Okay, so here’s the rules. We will be dividing the groups into
four groups of ten. You will stay in this group and compete. Whoever does the
best out of the group of ten will be competing in the championship, for the
chance to become San Francisco’s Junior Surfer Champion!” The crowd roared in
applause as Marc wiped the sweat from his forehead.

“Now
let’s explain the judging! They will be giving you a score that is based upon
your performance. You can receive a one to ten. One being the worst and ten
being the best. You will have five minutes to impress them with your tricks and
talents. Once the timer goes off, you will begin and once the timer ends, you
must stop and come out of the water. We have four judges, listen to your name
being called and they will tell you what group you are in. Once you find your
group, we will start the competition! Good luck surfers!” Marc looked nervously
around as the announcer stopped talking. He didn’t know which group he would be
in yet, but he hoped he would shine above the rest of the competition.

“Marc
Porter?” A woman with short black hair called out his name.

“Yes?”
He raised his hand high above the gathering crowd of surfers.

“You
are in group one, stand behind me.” She shouted out as if she was giving
orders.

Marc
hurriedly ran and stood behind her, after ten other boys’ names had been
called, she turned around to look at all of them.

“Junior
surfers, I’m Sandy. I am judge one in the competition. I will be judging group
one. The winner of group one, will be judged by all four of the judges. Now
let’s head over to the first cone and we will start this competition.” She said
as she started walking briskly to the cone.

Marc
jogged as quickly as he could to the cone. Sandy seemed like a tough judge and
he didn’t want to do anything that would upset her. Her short, black hair stuck
to her head in the hot summer heat. He wondered why she had bothered to wear a
full suit when the weather was so intense. He couldn’t imagine wearing pants
and a suit coat on a day like today.

Once
they reached the cone, Sandy pulled her clipboard up to her face. “Sam Upton,
you are first up. I will not be revealing any of the scores until the last
surfer in the group has gone. Now let’s get this started!” She yelled in a
brisk tone that was meant to bring excitement, but ended up just bundling Marc
up with more nerves.