The Gentlemen's Hour

14

Dave the Love God sits atop the lifeguard tower.

Boone walks to the base of the tower and asks, “Permission to come aboard?”

“Granted.”

Boone climbs up the ladder and sits down next to Dave, who doesn’t so much as turn his head to acknowledge his presence. Dave stares steadily out at the water, the shallows of which are packed with tourists, and doesn’t take his eyes off it. Sure, the ocean is placid, but Dave knows from experience how quickly tedium can turn to terror. While the running joke among the Dawn Patrol is that Dave uses the tower as a vantage point to scope turista women—which he does—the actual truth is that when Dave is on duty and people are in the water, he is deadly serious about his job.

It’s the rule that Boone’s dad drilled into him, the rule that they all grew up with:

Never turn your back on a wave.

Never turn your back on the absence of a wave, either, because the second you do, a real thundercrusher will rise out of nowhere and smack you down. The ocean may look like one thing on the surface, but there’s always something different happening underneath. That something could start a thousand miles away and then be headed toward you and you’ll never know about it until it happens.

Dave’s been on duty on a totally placid day when a freak rip comes in and takes a few swimmers out and then it’s on, and the few seconds it might have taken him to get over his surprise would have cost those people their lives. As it was, he wasn’t surprised, never surprised by the ocean, because, as much as we love her, she’s a treacherous bitch. Moody, mercurial, seductive, powerful, and deadly.

So Dave’s head never turns toward Boone as they talk. Both men look straight out at the water.

“Your take on something?” Boone asks.

“You come seeking wisdom, Grasshopper?”

“Do you think,” Boone says, “that we’re a smug, self-anointed elite that can’t see past our own zinc-oxide-covered noses?”

Dave touches the bridge of his nose to check that the zinc oxide is still fresh. Then he says, “Sounds about right.”

“What I thought,” Boone says, getting up.

“That’s it?”

“Yup.”

“’Bye.”

“Thanks.”

“Nada.”

Boone walks up the beach.