September 12th,
early!.... "‘Ahhwooooha!’, four foot, winds west southwest, glassy
and fun." Kevin exerted before I could even muster my usual "Good morning. bank
investments, this is Greg. How can I help you?" My half-awake brain immediately
started
thinking of excuses to leave early. "What do you think?", "I think
we’re there as soon as I get of work!"
We’ve been waiting for the weather to break for the last
three days, and with the sun shining it seemed that this would finally be our lucky day do
go meek Erika. Erika, a category three hurricane only 24 hours earlier, who by now
dissipated to a tropical depression was still throwing four to five foot swells along the
coast from Florida to as far north as Maine. Only the third hurricane this season to have
any kind of effect on northeast coast swells, which made for a fairly flat summer here in
New Jersey. Knowing that, hearing this news, knowing I couldn’t get off work early,
seeing the sun shining, I could have killed Kev for making it the longest work day of the
summer. But then what fun would that be? Experiencing Erika without a bro.
4:45, 4:47, 4:48, Jesus Christ! Was time slowing down? As I watched the second hand tick,
it felt as if everything was in slow motion. "Fuck this waiting shit, its time to get
on with my life." With my middle finger raised as a symbol for my discontent of the
clock, I ran to my car and away from the ticking that is sure to be the time bomb of
madness. O.K. Low tide is at 6:05, sunset about 7:30, add about 20 minutes of light after
sundown, it will take about an hour from my house to the beach, add about fifteen minutes
for traffic. It 5:30 now, that leaves us with g
ive
or take, forty-five minutes to an hour of surfing. Well, you have to make the best of
what's given to you. Kev agreed with my arrival estimates as we got in the van
and raced to the parkway, an unforgiving stretch of highway that lay between all of
northern NJ and the beach. Ran the stop sign, blew through the red light, screeched down
the entrance ramp and right into TRAFFIC! "Shit!, maybe its just until the
first toll?" I kept saying remaining as optimistic as possible. It took fifteen
minutes to the first toll which usually takes three. "Any coins?", I asked. (Kev
has this thing about paying tolls, he’s the only one I know that will actually open
his door at a toll booth scavenging for change with cars honking at him to hurry up and
then giving them shit for not being patient while he picks up one more dime.) He looked on
the ground under the coin basket, "No". "Shit!" Toll booth Willy must
have just been by to clean up all the coin uncoordinated drivers threw to the pavement.
Kev slammed on the gas, right back into traffic. "Shit, maybe its just until
the next toll".
ount
of horns, I knew it was a score. Kev leaned back in with a huge smile, a fistful of coin,
and a lead foot that snapped my head back into the headrest. "How much?",
"How much?? I laughed." He just stared strait ahead with a crazed smirk on his
face, accelerating with all the urgency of someone who just escaped a loony bin.
"Kev, how much?" "I don’t know but I could’ve had more." The
take came to $1.75, three tokens, two quarters, two dimes. That had to be some kind of
record. We raced about two miles before the traffic started again, another accident.
"Shit." It starred to feel like we'd never get there. We were behind schedule by
about an hour, then out of no where the highway opened up and everyone was doing
eighty-eighty five. Amazing how situations can change in a matter of seconds. The sun was
a huge orangey-pink glow, just above the horizon, which meant about forty-five minutes
more of light. For a minute we both relaxed and took in the beauty. "What's that up
ahead?" I asked. With no hint of sarcasm, "It looks like a really dark
sky." "No!, don’t tell me! It can’t be! Tell me its not raining."
The further south we sped, the darker the sky became until it happened all at once. Like
someone turning on the shower, FULL BLAST, it started to rain. "Shit!" This had
to be a bad dream. "Kev, hit me man, get me out of this nightmare." It became
instantly dark. I couldn’t believe it, fifteen minutes from the beach, after waiting
all day, then sitting in all that traffic. Now this. "I’m goin in anyway.... I
just need one ride", I declared. "If the waves are good we’re both goin
in." The rain continued heavy and hard, until we reached
third street, Bradley Beach. And there was surf. Good surf, and just enough light for a
ride. We jumped out of the van, into our suits, and were on our way into the water, past
everyone who had just enjoyed Erika, when out of the darkness, like a sign from the
Heavens saying: ‘This was not meant to be’, a brilliant bolt of lightning
flashed across the sky. "Shiittttt!!!!!" 
