AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Duly noted,” I said with a tiny grumble while squeezing Matty’s thigh. I felt his rumble of laughter.
Once on the beach, Joan extracted a large blanket from her shoebox trunk and laid it out on the sand near one of the vacated lifeguard stations. The blanket was large enough for the four of us, but just barely. Joan created extra space when she sat between Filipe’s outstretched legs, her back to him.
I sat between Matty and Filipe, and all of us faced the ocean as cool, salty wind ruffled our hair.
In companionable silence, my knee brushed up against Matty’s as we ate our well-earned meal. I still had questions about tonight’s activities, but I knew it could wait. I just wanted to enjoy this time with my friends.
Mega-estates high on the cliff, lit from within, speckled the dark landscape. The cliffs of Point Dume blocked any view of Los Angeles but in the opposite direction, the varying shades of brightness from estates and other residences along the coast lit up like a curved airport runway.
Out in the distance, the Anacapa Island’s lighthouse was a faint beacon against the dark abyss of the ocean while shooting stars intermittently bisected the night sky.
Even though it felt like we were in our own little bubble, it wasn’t like we had the beach to ourselves. I could hear ripples of laughter and murmurs of conversation mixed together with the surf crashing against the shore and the occasional foghorn of a ship way off in the distance.
And based on multiple piles of blankets stacked with shoes, clothes, and other personal effects tucked near the lifeguard’s station, I knew there were night surfers out in the water.
“Done scarfing down everything?” Matty asked me as he collected Joan and Filipe’s trash. I heard the smile in his voice.
“Yeah.” I handed him the empty bag, burger wrapper, and drink cup. I’d inhaled everything almost immediately. I didn’t even remember chewing.
“Come with me,” he said, holding out a hand. After hoisting me up, I followed Matty to the large trash barrel, where he tossed our meal bags. When he flicked on his phone’s flashlight and pointed it at the sand, I thought he was looking for seashells. Instead, he started picking up discarded trash. He explained his actions without me having to ask. “Anytime we come here at night, we always pick up trash in the sand. The tide will come in soon and wash some of it out into the ocean. Just be careful, as you might find something sharp.”
I filed this new information in the “Matthias Vaulteneau file” in my mind. Recalling something Franky told me, she’d mentioned Matty was trying to get his dad into conservation efforts. I wondered if everyone who lived near the ocean did this kind of thing. Evidently not if we were cleaning up the beach ourselves.
Mirroring Matty’s actions, I pulled out my phone, switched on the flashlight, and started picking up litter. Within a minute or two, I spotted the illuminated profiles of Joan and Filipe as they performed the same duty.
I found everything from crumpled water bottles, beer cans, and candy wrappers, to other forgotten beach items, like a lone flip-flop, a child’s pacifier, broken beach chairs, and several vaping cartridges.
When I reached Joan, she said, “They’ll comb the beach in the morning, but sometimes that just buries the trash. Best to pick up what we can while we’re here.”
I couldn’t fault her for that logic.
“How often do you do this?” I unloaded another armful into the trash barrel. Overall, we made several trips back and forth between the lifeguard station and the jutting cliffside of Point Dume.
“Couple of times a week,” she said. “We can’t cover everything, of course, but every little bit helps.”
Joan looped her arm in mine and led us back to the blanket. She plopped down on one side and I joined her. Matty and Filipe were still collecting trash farther down. Based on the additional number of flashlights, they enlisted others to help.
I had so much on my mind that I didn’t know what to ask next. I wanted to ask about the trip to the consulate, to conservation efforts, to what else she did while not racing around in her carnival-blinking race car. Matty told me she was the granddaughter of famous film director, except Joan didn’t come across as someone who came from a super-privileged background.
Staying on the safe side, I asked, “Do you go to USC, too?”
Joan lay on the blanket and looked up at the stars. I matched her actions. My eyes traced constellations as I waited for her to answer.
“No,” she said finally, her voice neutral. I got the impression she wanted to be careful in how she answered me, which of course made me even more curious. “I’m in a cyber security program at Pepperdine’s Graziadio business school.”
“Are you on a swim team as well? From what I’ve heard, you’re an incredible swimmer and surfer.”
“No, I’m not on a team. In case you haven’t figured it out, I’m not exactly into team sports.”
I laughed. “You seem like an agent of chaos, if I’m being honest.”
Joan snorted. “You’re a quick study, Ciaran. Let’s just say I don’t follow the popular crowd. I’ve been in the water since before I could even walk, though. For the most part, my mom shunned my granddad’s celebrity lifestyle. She hated being filmed and photographed at every opportunity. So she moved to Thailand in her early twenties and met my surfer dad there. My mom likes to joke that I was born on a surfboard. My dad’s still kind of a big deal over there. He’s won a lot of surf competitions and he’s been bitten by two sharks. He’s more proud of the shark bites than any trophy in his cabinet. I go see them once or twice a year.”
“What’s your mom doing these days?” I asked.
“She’s written a few memoirs about her messed-up childhood as the daughter of a mega-famous director. It’s earned her enough for my parents to live off the royalties. It’s kind of funny.” Joan laughed as if I knew what was in her mind. “I had no clue about my grandfather’s status. I grew up in Thailand watching his films, not even knowing he’d directed them. To his credit, he kept in regular contact with my mom. I got cards, birthday gifts, and he’d visit when he wasn’t directing a major film. It wasn’t until I was ten, when my mom got sick and flew me back to the States to stay with my grandparents for a few months while she recovered, that I learned the truth. Once I got here, though, I never left.”
“I hope she’s healthy now,” I said, turning my head to look at her profile.
