Beyond the Shallow Waters ★ Maylor

Chapter 4

     I'm sorry it's taken me so long to get this chapter done. I've been dealing with a lot and it took me a while to finish this chapter. I did bits and pieces of it ever so often, but here it is now!
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Brian POV
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Another day, another dawn. Miami is supposed to be back today and he better be. It's the Fourth of July and the beach is going to be crowded. He promised he'd be back anyway. My mind wandered, getting lost in thought when there was a knock on my bedroom door.
    
"Brian, are you up?" I could hear Deaky's voice muffled through the door.
    
"Yeah. I'm up."
    
I'm not out of bed yet though.
    
"Just waiting to let you know Jim wants us down at the shack in 30 minutes. So get ready." I heard his footsteps softly as he walked off. I looked over at my clock: 9:00 am
    
Ugh... it's too early for this.
    
After fumbling around, getting ready, I made my way to the kitchen. I grabbed an apple and when I turned around, Deaky was leaning against the door frame just staring up at me.
     
"What?"

Was my hair a mess?... Who am I kidding, it's always a mess.
    
A sly smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth. He lifts up his left hand to show that his car keys were dangling from his middle finger.
    
"I'm driving."
    
It's not that John's that a bad of driver but...umm... he does have a long list of occurrences: Drunk driving, crashing his Porsche, getting his license taken for a year. Yeah he's a wonderful driver, totally. I'm definitely not scared of riding with him. I'm lying to myself. I value my life so much, but not going to waste gas when going to the same place. Go ahead call me a cheapskate.

"Please don't kill us."

———

After a car ride with the speed demon, we made it safely to the shack. Sure it was just about a 3-minute ride but we could have died in those three minutes.

I got out of the car and walked down the stairs on to the beach. The sun was beaming down and I'd say it was about 93°F - 33°C. A few people were already getting set up on the beach.

I got to the back door and threw it open. After I stepped in, the door slammed behind me. It had always done that. We could never figure it out. It caught Miami's attention though.

"Ah Brian, how are you? How have you been?" Miami inquired as he leaned again the door frame that connects the front where the counter is to the back storage.

"I'm doing pretty well, thanks. Haven't done well running the place the few time we did. It's so much better when you're here." I commented snarking.

"Sorry about that. Where's John?" The back door slammed.

"I'm here, don't worry." John has thrown his hair up into a ponytail and I don't blame him. He chose a bad day to wear a black tank top though.

"Good to see you, John. It's good to see you both. Now I wanted to talk to both of you. Have you had any contact with Prenter?" John and I looked at each other than back to Miami.
    
"Well he greeted us the other day and that was all." I assured the older man.

"Just let that be that then. He'll do anything to get what he wants and if someone gets in his way, God bless that poor soul. Now let's open up, shall we?" Miami's voice went from stern to almost cheerful.

———
    
The beach was soon crowded and it was only 12:00 pm. Lots of people have come to buy and order things.
    
I leaned against the counter and looked out at all the people. Children were running in and out of the water; Their mothers laying on their beach towels in the sun. It ended up heating up more and I threw my hair up into a bun.
    
John had found a folder in the back and was vigorously fan himself. Not to mention, snuck a Dr. Pepper out for himself.
    
A few kids ran up and order some slushies. Then a few teens ordered some sodas and nachos. I hated working with food but a job's a job. I'm friendly most of the time but if a customer is rude with me, well, I return the favor.
    
"The water is looking so good right now. I bet it's nice and cold." John whined as he started at the ocean like he'd never see it again.
    
In this little building, it could get unbelievably stuffy. We had a little fan but it didn't help much. The ocean breeze didn't blow in either.

"Thirty more minutes till break time." I murmured, propping my elbow on the counter and resting my head in my hand.

Like last summer, we spent our lunch break swimming instead of eating. We usually grabbed some snacks from the snack bar when we got back.

"That's too long! Ugh..." John slumped back on to the stool he had and stared at the ceiling.

"Since it's a holiday and you two keep complaining, go on ahead. You can have a longer break." Jim's words sounded like heaven to both of us.

"Oh thank you, Miami!" John exclaimed then ran to the back door.

"Hold up, John!" I shouted running after him. The back door slammed behind me. I jogged up to John's car and he tossed me my swimming trunks and water shoes.

We hurried and changed the nearby bathroom. After that, we made it to the less crowded end of the beach. John ran straight to the water, leaving me in the dust.

As soon as the water hit my skin, I felt so much cooler. I let my hair down and dove under when it got deep enough. The water felt so great, Specially being stuck in the hot shack all morning.

"This is so much better!" John laughed. He was floating on his back and I had an evil thought. I splashed water at him and dove under again. When he got to his feet, I grabbed his leg and put him down quickly.
    
I was laughing when I can back up but he was coughing his lungs out.
    
"You're not funny. I sucked so much water in, it hurts." He grimaced, keeping an eye on me from now on.
    
We continued to enjoy the crisp, cool, clear water until it was time to go back.
    
We went back to the car and grabbed towels and our clothes. We once again went to change.
    
After towel drying our hair, we made our way back to work.

———
    
Hours and hours passed and more customers keep coming in. I lost count of how many slushies I had to make for kids. This was one of the busy days ever.

I just want to go home and rest.

"Alright boys, time to close up." John and I nodded before starting to clean up. Miami took the pleasure of pulling down the metal window door. I placed all the things that need to be kept cool in the refrigerator while John swept.

Within ten minutes, we were done.

"Okay, I'll see you two soon."

"Bye, see ya." John and I said in unison.

———

As soon as I entered the house, I knew where I was going: the bathroom to shower.

I jumped in and let the water run over me. It felt great after a long day, especially to get the rest of the salt out of my hair.
    
Just a few more hours to fireworks and after that, John wants to go hunt crabs and take photos. It was always fun to do.
    
I heard that Prenter was going to start his search tonight. I truly hope he finds nothing.
———
It seems like every time I post a chapter it's a 12:00 or 1:00 am. I usually finished past chapters at this time. I'm too impatient to wait till morning lol.
Warning: The next chapter is going to be a roller coaster ride.