Going to Extreme Measures

Chapter 9

As Mike pulled his truck onto the street Johnny had an idea. "Hey Mike, why don't we swing by my place and pick up the boards? We might get lucky enough to catch a wave."

"You might get lucky enough. I'm not sure I'm ready to try it in front of a crowd yet."

"Well we'll see about that once we get there." Johnny grinned at his friend.

After the short detour by Johnny's to get the boards the two friends found a parking place by the beach, pulled their boards from the back of Mike's truck and headed out to find a spot to spread their towels on the beach. It wasn't very crowded being most people were at work. Once they deposited their stuff in the warm sand they headed over to the hot dog stand. Behind the counter stood an older man who looked like he fell straight off the page of a surfing magazine with scenes from Hawaii. "Well I'll be, if it isn't Johnny Gage."

"Hey Gus, this is my friend Mike Stoker." Johnny said as he leaned both arms on the counter.

"Well Mike nice to meet ya. Any friend of Johnny here is a friend of mine. So Johnny what'll it be? The regular?"

"No Gus, I...um...I don't think I can eat that many any more. Just give me two dogs and some fries. Oh and a shake, chocolate."

"What about you Mike? He used to always eat at least four. How many for you?" Gus said chuckling.

"I'll have what Johnny's having." Mike shook his head at the thought of Johnny eating four hot dogs.

"Well either of you want chili and cheese?"

"Yeah, this is Gus' Chili-N-Cheese Dog Hut isn't it? Of course we want chili-n-cheese." Johnny turned to watch the few surfers attempting to ride the waves. "See over there Mike the way that guy is getting up. He's too early. He'll fall before he gets started. You have to hit it just right. You have to wait on the wave." Mike and Johnny watched as the would be surfer fell just as Johnny had predicted. "You learn to feel it. Let it lift you. Just like when you ride a horse you move with it. You have to remember you can't really control its movement. I mean with a horse you can turn it or let it know you want to walk or run. With a wave you turn your board for direction. Once you get the hang of staying up you can learn to adjust your speed with your body movements."

"Here you go boys." Gus laid their lunch on the counter. Mike reached for his wallet. "Uh Uh no way. Your money's no good here."

"Come on Gus you gotta pay the bills on this place. We didn't come here to get a free lunch."

"No Johnny. I won't take it. I paid this place off years ago. You'll never pay for food from me kid and neither will anyone here with ya."

"Thanks Gus." Johnny shrugged his shoulders at Mike, "guess you don't have to buy my lunch after all." Mike smiled. They got their food and went back to sit on their towels and eat their lunch.

"I thought I was treating you to a new place for lunch and find out you know the owner. How do you know Gus?"

Johnny played with a French fry on his plate for a few minutes before answering Mike. "When I first came to LA before I found my aunt I spent a lot of time on the beach." He paused. "I didn't have much money and after everyone left for the night I would find a secluded spot to sleep. One night it rained I was soaked to the bone. It was cold and I needed to get out of the storm."

Sighing he continued, "I broke into Gus' place to get dry. I didn't take anything. Not even anything to eat." He placed his hand on his chest in Johnny Gage fashion when he spoke about himself. "I was so cold and hypothermic I guess. I passed out. He found me the next morning. I was pretty sick. He let me sleep it off for several days on a cot in his storeroom. I helped him out at the stand to pay him back until I found my aunt. He let me sleep there for two weeks."

Perking up and turning to face Mike he grinned, "He's the one who taught me to surf. He's Hawaiian. I guess you can't grow up in Hawaii and not learn to surf. I've heard they even close the schools when the surf's up."

It was Mike's turn to play with his fries. He had no idea that Johnny had it so tough growing up. "Johnny where were your parents then?"

"They had died in a car wreck. I was only sixteen when I came out here. I hitchhiked across the country. My Aunt Rose lived out here. She is my mother's sister. I wanted to get as far away from the reservation as I could. She didn't even know I was coming. She took me in as soon as I found her. Turns out she had been trying to find me too. She's the best."

"Wow Johnny it took a lot of courage to travel alone across the country at sixteen years old."

"Nah, I hooked up with the rodeo and worked for them until we got out here. It wasn't as bad as it could have been."

"Oh so that's when you learned to trick ride."

"Well partly. Remember I told you I learned bareback first as a kid."

Mike returned his gaze to the ocean. He lowered his plate to a spot on his towel and leaned forward looking at some activity in the water. "It's her."

"Where? Which one?" Johnny turned to the direction Mike was looking.

"The one on the right." The two men watched as a very skilled surfer rode a big wave all the way to the beach never wavering or falling. "She's amazing."

"That's Lizzy," Johnny said knowingly.

"Lizzy?" Mike asked.

"Yeah, Lizzy Dunn, she's a pro surfer. Haven't you ever seen her in magazines or on the TV?"

"You know her?" Mike couldn't believe Johnny.

"Yeah," Johnny could see the look in Mike's eyes. He didn't know how much he should tell Mike about how well he knew Lizzy. "We uh we used to surf together. She um....well...."

"You dated her." It was not a question. Mike knew.