Page 1 of Catch a Wave

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BODHI

If you love something so much, let it go.

If it comes back it was meant to be;

if it doesn't it never was.

~ Albert Schweitzer

Not one of us seems to be breathing, our eyes riveted to the big screen as we watch Kalaine being towed into the thirty-foot waves at Mavericks.

I’m torn between acting nonchalant and chill and showing the depth of my concern. Kalaine—or Mavs, as I nicknamed her a lifetime ago—has everything it takes to dominate this wave. She’s been surfing since she could walk, literally. Her dad took her out on Oahu’s North Shore on his shoulders. Once she was a toddler, he propped her up on his board and held on to her hands as they surfed the smaller sets near shore. By the time she was five, she was paddling out into the surf on her own board.

Of course, when her older brother, Kai, started competing, she fought tooth and nail to join him. Even though her parents raised her to surf, they didn’t like the idea of her enteringcontests. Female athletes have to work doubly hard to prove themselves in this male-dominated sport.

But women like Mavs earn all our respect.

She earned more than my respect at one time.

And now her brother, Kai, is my boss and housemate—and, my best friend. And his baby sister is about to ride one of nature’s most challenging waves. The sheer power and force of this northern California break makes riding Mavericks life-threatening. Only the best of the best surf here. The contest had been shut down for years due to the potential danger to surfers if conditions aren’t just right.

I should know. I used to ride those beasts, preparing all year for the amount of time I’d potentially spend shoved underwater, building the strength I’d need to paddle and pop up, and honing the skills it takes to navigate once I was riding. I claimed my spot in the top two or three men to compete—even taking first place at Mavs the year before my career as a pro ended.

A vein in Kai’s neck bulges. His elbows rest on his knees, and his eyes don’t even blink as he watches his baby sister get towed out into the line up. She’s one of four women out there in this forty-five minute heat. The goal is to grab as many good waves as she can, taking her turn with the other surfers out in the designated zone. After their performance is ranked, two of them will advance to the next round.

The jet ski takes off, manned by Dan Hale, Kalaine’s long-time partner and coach. They look like a beetle being dragged up a glassy blue mountain. Kalaine rides behind, standing on her board, ready to be let loose when the wave crests.

The moment comes. Kalaine releases the tow rope and Dan disappears behind the wave, riding ahead of the peak, while our girl shoots down the front of the massive wave, leaving a trail of white foam slicing the blue water behind her. And then the wave breaks and it’s like she’s being chased by a liquid avalanche. Ifeel it in my blood—the sympathetic adrenaline rush, the way everything goes still and you feel like you’re flying or floating, but you’ve never been so focused in your life. She’s in the perfect spot to get tubed for a moment, riding in the curl of the wave. Surfing what we call the greenroom is the closest thing to heaven I’ve experienced on earth.

The closest thing except one—holding Kalaine in my arms.

I shake that thought from my head. She’s not mine. She belongs to the ocean, like I do now. The sea’s been a better companion to her than it was to me. But we’re getting back on good terms, me and the water, these days. Me and Mavs, not so much.

The room erupts in a gasp when Kalaine goes under, her board shooting about ten feet away from her. My heart feels like it’s trying to beat its way out of my throat. But Dan’s right there, speeding in a circle on his jet ski, finding her and hauling her out of danger within moments.

A raucous cheer fills the room. Kai jumps up. “That’s my girl! That’s how you do it!”

I smile broadly at him. It’s a smile that says I’m glad his sister made it, not one that says she’s everything I ever wanted, and if I could turn back clocks and calendars, she’d be the one thing I’d get right—the one I’d never leave behind.

Ben and Cam are jumping around high-fiving too. Ben’s a surfer, even though he grew up in the midwest. Cam plays around on a board occasionally, but he’s not nearly as devoted as Ben. Their girlfriends, Summer and Riley, are chattering and cheering too.

“She’s amazing, Kai!” Riley shouts.

“Girl power!” Summer echoes.

“She’s the best of the best,” I say to myself more than anyone else. On or off the water, she’s the best of the best.

We simmer down, settling back into our seats to watch the rest of the competition. We’ll hear her score in a minute. A portion of her rank depends on the ocean. But what she does with what the ocean deals her makes all the difference. She caught a killer wave. It appeared to be bigger than some of the others. That helps. And she owned that thing—made it hers. My chest swirls with a mix of emotions—pride, longing, and a huge dose of regret. It’s a sour cocktail.

“Don’t you and Kalaine have a history?” Summer asks, knowing full well I dated Kai’s sister.

I catch Kai’s glance in my direction and hold his gaze. I’m talking to Summer, but I’m looking at my best friend. “A while ago. She and I rode the circuit together.”

“Water under the bridge,” Kai says with a nod toward me.

His face is neutral, but he sends me a message. He warned me then.Don’t mess with my sister, man. There are plenty of other girls you could hang with. Not her.

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