“We let the Breath win.”
Later that day, exhausted by his three-hour sermon and his sudden violence over Kasper Aamon, Brock excuses himself from family and congregants, and makes the walk into the stout hills that shelter the eastern flank of his property.
Here, in a deep swale surrounded by manzanita and toyon, he sits cross-legged near a spring that feeds a tiny creek that trickles down toward the compound. At night this time of year, the swale is filled with the croaking of tree frogs, but now it’s quiet except for the occasional cricket and the pleasant chirping of the quail coveys hidden throughout this rough country.
Except for when he’s surfing a very large wave, this little spring is where Brock feels the Breath of Life at its strongest and most consistent.
A hot spot for the Breath of Life, valuable because …
The Breath of Life can be evasive.
The Breath of Life can be temperamental.
The Breath of Life is not always available.
He closes his eyes and lets the fall sun warm his eyelids. Lets in that burnished orange light.
The Breath of Life, he thinks: come into me again.
Time glides and thoughts dissolve, leaving him in the blackness of that three-wave hold-down at Nazaré, caught inside after a punishing wipeout. Leaving him with those three sixty-foot beasts thundering over him, and finally stomping out his consciousness.
Until Mahina breathed it back into him.
Now, when he regains his consciousness in the dream—and in the swale—it’s not Mahina’s voice but the ringtone on his phone that Brock hears.
It’s Marlon from Surfline again, texting that the rare early season swell heaving toward Mavericks is right on time for arrival six days from now. Right now it’s the purple blob on the map, denoting a potential storm-driven swell. They’re calling it FreakZilla, Marlon says, and it’s the biggest northwest swell he’s seen since the four-trawler destructo just outside the Pillar Point Harbor breakwater twelve years ago. Which turned Mavericks into an unrideable wind-blasted blowout with waves at seventy feet. The four-trawler swell had arrived at Half Moon Bay as a twenty-four-foot, eighteen-second-interval behemoth, and right now, FreakZilla is bigger, and faster.
So it looks like the Monsters is going to happen, soon.
Over and out, brah.
Brock messages his mom and brother:
Four-trawler time. Game on.
31
Of course, Bette Wu does show up whenever she wants, in this case just after sunrise at Oceanside Harbor where Casey is backing Moondance down the ramp into the bay.
A dockhand aboard Moondance reverses her into deeper water and swings the boat toward the loading docks, where Casey and Mae can board.
Casey punches his truck up the ramp and heads for his parking spot, fully surprised by Bette, the pirate/dognapper/failed extortionist/possible arsonist/amateur actor/wannabe filmmaker and business partner, standing in his usual parking place up by the cleaning sinks and tables.
She’s got a laptop cradled on one hip and a fist balled on the other. Back in her pirate uniform, he sees, the black nylon cargo pants and the windbreaker she was wearing when she boarded Moondance, the yellow gaiter around her neck. No gun. Barefoot again.
Casey honks her out of his way, pulls into his spot, and gets out.
“I doubt you’ve seen this,” she says.
She sets her laptop on the cleaning table and swings open the touch screen. Scrolls down.
“Today’s Los Angeles Times,” she says. “Back in the California section.”
Casey peers at the page as Bette taps a story and it fills the screen.
Reputed Gang Members Arrested
in Laguna Beach Restaurant Arson
Two alleged members of the Monterey 9 criminal organization were charged with arson yesterday in the fire that badly damaged the Barrel Restaurant in Laguna Beach ten days ago.
Glen Lee, 24, and Roy Song, 30, were arrested in their homes without incident, and booked into Los Angeles County Jail. They pled not guilty and were released on $100,000 cash bonds.
“My clients are one hundred percent innocent of this baseless charge,” said Bob Gold, defense attorney for the men. “They were nowhere near Laguna Beach the night of the fire. It’s ludicrous. Just another instance of anti-Asian sentiment sweeping this country.”
Explosive devices with accelerants were used on a night of high Santa Ana winds, igniting fires that destroyed much of the popular restaurant.
LBFD response was quick, and damage to surrounding buildings was slight.
“We are almost done demolishing our beloved Barrel,” said owner Jen Stonebreaker. “We’ll be open again by summer of next year. They tried to break our hearts but they did not.”
Laguna Beach Police Department detectives and Los Angeles Police Department arson investigators have been cooperating in the investigation.
“We’ve been working full time on this since the second the flames were put out,” said Laguna PD Detective Brian Pittman.
Casey’s a slow but thorough reader. He glances at Bette, who has come in close to read along, then back down to the article. She taps a long, slender finger on the names Glen Lee and Roy Song.
“Imperial Fresh Seafood—backed by Monterey 9. Just as I said.”
