The Ebb Page 10

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Did you ever see Zoe Brigden perform here? She was my favourite, by far.”

  “Oh, yes! But I also loved Gladys Powsey. Remember her seal impression?”

  “Yes of course, Mags! Ah, she was wonderful, wasn’t she? There was also another good one, Walter Tong. He used to dive with Zoe Brigden when she started here, but I was too small to remember him much.”

  “Who are these people? Never heard of them,” commented Laura.

  “Sorry you missed them, sweetheart...” Christian ran the back of his hand across her cheek and shook his head with nostalgia. “They were truly amazing.”

  “Oh, it was so grand here when I was little…” said Maggie with dreamy eyes.

  “How old are you, Mags?” asked Christian.

  She pointed to her friend. “Same as Laura. I’m twenty-one. You?”

  “So we’re all much the same age really. I’m twenty-two.”

  “No wonder we remember the same divers then.”

  “Did you see my wooden soldier dive just now?”

  Maggie frowned. “Wooden soldier?”

  “I went in head first with arms at my sides. Did you not see me?”

  “Ah yes! Don’t tell me…. um… who did that one?” Maggie screwed up her face with the effort to retrieve an early childhood memory.

  “Oh, come on, Mags! I can't believe you don’t remember! The wooden soldier was Zoe Brigden’s signature dive.”

  “Yes, of course! Ah, she was simply marvellous, wasn’t she?”

  “What was she like?” asked Laura, her eyes huge. She wished she could delve into their memories and see it all for herself.

  “In a nutshell? She was a creature of the sea, and simply unforgettable. I got her autograph when I was still a nipper. Crikey, was I chuffed to bits the day I met her!” He shook his head and grinned. “It still feels like yesterday.”

  “Oh, my! I guess there’s more to the Pier than meets the eye.” Laura looked around her, and for the first time appreciated her whereabouts with a certain amount of reverence.

  “This is not just a pier, my love,” answered Christian, stretching out his arms and looking around him. “This is local history incarnate! This is perhaps Brighton’s greatest witness to its heyday of unsurpassed grandeur and entrepreneurial genius!”

  “I don’t know about you, but all this talk of sea diving left me rather parched. Anyone fancy a cuppa?” asked Maggie, and her friends nodded eagerly.

  Chapter 16

  1987

  By the time early August came, Sofia had already learned all about the job with ease. Jimmy trusted her to even man the pier on her own now, whenever he had to run a quick errand. The only thing she couldn’t do was drive the speedboat. Jimmy had trained her perfectly, and his incredible charisma with people seemed to rub off on her.

  Sofia learned how to tie sturdy knots with the ropes, how to lay out and stow away the various pieces of equipment and most importantly, how to handle even the most difficult customer. She flattered them discreetly and managed to look eager and friendly no matter how tired, or even annoyed she might feel. As a result, the tourists tended to come back for more. Seeing that the clientele consisted mostly of young men, and given the fact that she was quite a beauty, the task of ensuring their future custom wasn’t exactly a difficult feat for her.

  Young lads often came to the pier just to say hi and to offer to buy her a drink, but she declined the flirtatious advances with a mixture of politeness and icy indifference. She didn’t care much for the aggressive, flirty type. Instead, she’d feel drawn towards the shy boys instead, the ones who’d spend a whole week staring at her from across the beach, yet never dare even wave at her from a safe distance. She’d often smile to herself thinking about such things. Perhaps Loula was right about her after all. She’d often joke that if she wasn’t careful, she might wind up an old spinster, living on her own and relying for companionship solely on a bunch of cats.

  Sofia found such joy in her work that she almost felt guilty every Friday when Jimmy handed her her earnings in cash. Surely she couldn’t get paid for having so much fun! Yet it seemed that she could, and she felt lucky for that. The only downside to the job that she could think of was that it left her with limited time for her loved ones. That took a lot of getting used to. Although she worked in close proximity with Loula and Akis, she barely saw them in the mornings when the work was in full swing, especially at the pier. Even when Gran came to the beach for her midday swim, Sofia could only wave to her from a distance and then just watch her chatting under the willows with the other village women. It was too far and too loud to even listen to their conversations, but she could identify who was there at any given time.

  Loula’s mother came down to the beach every day to swim with Gran, and afterwards the two old friends took the windy road together, back to the top of the hill. Chatting seemed to help the village women withstand the toil of the uphill climb. It took it off their minds and so, they all sought to leave the beach with company rather than on their own.

  The afternoons were quieter in comparison to the mornings and when idle, Sofia often enjoyed a little swim in the cool waters. She preferred the afternoon swims because the sea was deliciously warm. As the sun descended softly in the sky, it cooled everything down around her, giving it a brilliant, orangey glow. The distant mountain she loved to gaze at emerged lush and vivid green at this hour, done away with the awful morning haze that seemed to rob it of its magnificence. In the late afternoon, it got quieter and quieter at the pier till closing time.

  On some days when it was particularly slow, Sofia would ask Jimmy if she could go to Karavi for a while, and he never seemed to mind. During the odd afternoon break the two friends spent together at the bar, Loula would point out to Sofia all the interesting new arrivals. She made sure to say the word ‘interesting’ with delight, chuckling away. It was because Sofia had mentioned one day that she thought a man without brains is of no use at all. Since that day, Loula started to tease her, and only point out to her the boys that held books—the thicker volumes the better—as if that was the only criterion that would brand them sophisticated enough.

  That particular afternoon though, Loula was in low spirits. She’d had a few late nights at work and as a result, she was exhausted and deprived of sleep. She hoped her bosses wouldn’t keep her longer at the bar again that night, no matter how busy the bar would be. On top of that, she’d kept yawning and complaining to Sofia that time at work was dragging on. She simply couldn’t go home and go straight to bed.

  Sofia was a patient listener, but that afternoon she wasn’t her normal happy-go-lucky self either. Truth be told, she felt rather fed up too and couldn’t wait to go home. The strong gusts of wind she’d suffered all morning had made it a nightmare to handle the equipment. It hadn’t even been possible to keep dry long enough on the pier, thanks to the waves that kept crashing against it all day, splashing her repeatedly at the most inconvenient times. Parachuting, the Biscuit and the Banana rides were out of bounds all morning, but it was incredible how many people wanted to rent canoes and pedaloes on the rough sea, just for a laugh. Most incredible yet was the fact they had all returned unscathed, as the sea had become quite rough, especially around noon. The wind had subsided by the afternoon but by then, Sofia had a mild headache, a rude reminder of a difficult workday for a change.

  As a result, after having listened to Loula’s complaints for quite some time, Sofia’s eyes sought refuge to the beach before them. She looked for something, anything she could comment on that would serve as a distraction. Hopeful, she rested her gaze on two British lads who were just arriving to lay their straw mats on the sand. The taller one was blond and quite handsome but other than that, there was nothing about him that stood out, or was worthy of mention to her friend. His companion, however, was quite a character.

  She watched him as he kicked off his flip-flops, then lay down his straw mat and started to walk towards th
e water, but he wasn’t exactly walking. It was more like a skipping kind of movement, and it was combined with rhythmic shaking from his arms and shoulders. He seemed to be dancing to a tune that only he could hear. That’s when he turned around, and she noticed he was wearing earphones. A Walkman was clipped on his swim shorts.

  Sofia smiled with amusement. He was enjoying himself in a private dance party where he clearly was the star. He had short dark hair under a straw panama hat with a blue ribbon on the crown. It was a sensible enough hat for a day at the beach, but his swim shorts were another story. Patterned with the Union Jack, it was quite a surprising motif to Sofia for such a garment and at last, her face lit up. Loula has to be distracted by that!

  “Wow, look at this boy,” she said, pointing at him for extra emphasis.

  “Who?” answered Loula with another yawn.

  Sofia pointed again. “Him. That crazy boy.”

  Her friend cackled. “Is that the British flag he’s wearing on his bottom?”

  Instead of a reply, Sofia gave a snigger.

  “Oh, my goodness, he’s nuts! Look how he’s dancing!”

  “His friend looks so annoyed!”

  The girls roared with laughter. Blond Boy was clearly having a bad time trying to quieten his friend down, and the girls guessed he tried that a lot, surely without success. He was scolding him in a hushed voice, while looking around apprehensively, but the other boy seemed to be in a world of his own. Clearly with the purpose to annoy his friend further, he even started to sing the song he was obviously listening to, and at that, at the top of his voice.

  Losing his temper, Blond Boy started to tell his friend off, and Sofia duly translated what he was saying, seeing that Loula’s English was very limited. Sofia chuckled at the amusing string of slang words that she heard. She occasionally came across them in the British teen magazines she got from Aunt Marika. Yet, there was nothing vulgar about these words; it was all rather amusing. The girls continued to laugh as they watched Blond Boy try to yank the earphones off his friend’s head, in a desperate attempt to get him to stop singing and dancing, but to no avail. Crazy Boy seemed to lap it all up. He was now grinning from ear to ear, singing louder than before, taunting his friend, who grew more annoyed and embarrassed by the second.

  “He’s not a bad singer,” commented Sofia, snorting.

  “Almost as good as Rick Astley!” Loula giggled when she recognised the song, Never Gonna Give You Up. It was brand new. Akis played it at the bar all night long. Although she didn’t speak good enough English to know song titles, Loula was surprisingly knowledgeable when it came to names of singers and bands.

  Sofia tee-heed. “He’s not a bad dancer, either.”

  The girls were having so much fun by then that it felt almost illegal, as if they were watching a proper comedy show without having purchased a ticket. They were laughing so hard that their stomachs started to ache.

  “Oh, look, his friend has finally given up,” said Loula, pointing to Blond Boy, who suddenly turned about face and got in the water. He seemed impatient to get as far away from his friend as possible, and as he distanced himself, he never looked back once at him.

  “Finally! He took the earphones off,” said Sofia.

  The girls watched as Crazy Boy left the Walkman on his mat and went in, too. He called after his friend, but he pretended not to listen. It was all terribly amusing. They were almost like a married couple that had gotten so fed up with each other’s antics over the years that they could no longer help having a domestic in public.

  Crazy Boy seemed unaffected by his friend’s annoyance. Instead, he started to dance to imaginary music as he stood in the shallows. He was thin and athletic. His movement was feline-like, gracious and lively. The crooked smile he still wore seemed to be permanently fixed on his beautiful face. He looked like nothing could ever get him down, like his life was without worry, a never-ending string of happy days.

  Sofia smiled wistfully and chewed her lower lip in rapt contemplation. She wondered how it would feel to live like this. Not to be constantly put down by rules of propriety and the suffocation of overprotective parents. Now she was so envious that it hurt her like a punch in the stomach.

  “Look, he’s catching up with his friend!” said Loula after a few moments, nudging her friend on the arm.

  “Er, what?” Sofia managed with difficulty and craned her neck. When Loula interrupted her reverie, her shoulders had jumped. She had drifted miles away.

  “Ha ha! Well deserved!” said Loula again, chortling. Blond Boy had just splashed his friend when he got near him, and the latter had taken it gracefully with a smile, then dived underwater.

  “He probably realised he’s gone too far!” said Sofia.

  “I think we should call him Crazy Boy! What do you think?”

  “Fits him like a glove!” Sofia threw a cursory glance at the pier to find there were still no customers in sight. Jimmy was just as idle, chatting with a local. It meant she could stay some more. This was fun. Just two girlfriends sitting around on a beach, talking boys. What could be better?

  Sofia settled back in her chair, looking excited. “I wonder what he’ll do next!”

  “Oh?” Loula’s head spun around, and she gave her friend a meaningful stare.

  Sofia knitted her eyebrows “What?”

  “Do I detect an interest?”

  “For whom? Crazy Boy? Loula, please!” She gave a dismissive little wave.

  “Why not? He’s cute.”

  “Are you serious? I bet he’s one of those horrid, flirty types!”

  “So why are you checking him out?”

  “I’m not!”

  “Are too!”

  “Am not!”

  “Fine. Oh look! He’s staring at you!”

  Sofia jerked forward in her seat, as if electricity hit her. She cast another glance at the boys and found them bobbing in the water, talking, oblivious to anyone in the vicinity, including her. When she turned to Loula again, her friend stuck her tongue out mockingly.

  Sofia pulled a face of mock distaste.

  “Busted!” Loula erupted in loud guffaws.

  “Very funny. Ha-ha-ha.”

  “Oh my! I’m not kidding now Sofia, look! I swear, now he’s really staring!”

  Sofia ventured another look towards the water. Crazy Boy had returned to the edge of the shore. He was just sitting quietly in the shallows and indeed seemed to be staring their way. Even from this distance, his eyes were full of life. They seemed to sparkle, reflecting the glass-like surface of the water. She got the impression he was staring straight at her, and the thought made her freeze. There was something in his eyes that caused a mesmerizing effect on her. If it hadn’t been for his friend, who approached and talked to him, causing him to look away, Sofia expected she would have stayed there a hostage of his gaze for as long as he willed to hold it.

  She shook her head and looked away, feeling very strange about the experience. Slowly, she attempted to rest her eyes on him again, this time apprehensively and at last, she felt sane again. This time he was scanning the whole beach with his eyes, and Sofia smirked smugly. Her first impression had been right as usual. He was a typical flirt all right! She hadn’t seen him before, so obviously he had recently arrived and was scanning the turf for suitable prey. She had been watching his type in action year after year in the village and despised these boys greatly, avoiding them at all costs. In her eyes, they held no respect for women and had no consideration for their feelings.

  Like a bull in a china shop, they trod just as carelessly on women’s hearts. They prowled for a good time, without scruples or regrets about the carnage they left behind. Having had no first-hand experience in love, except perhaps for a huge crush on a boy back at high school that never came to anything anyway, she didn’t know how she knew all these things. Still, she suspected her notions derived from movies, magazines, and the fanciful romance books she picked up from time to time. These accounts had warned her o
f the dangers of inconsiderate men. In her eyes, the boy before her represented the greatest threat she could ever possibly imagine in the quest to guard herself from heartache.

  Watching him now, she felt empowered by the thought that she had sussed him out, knowing what he was all about. Even when he turned to rest his eyes on her once more, though it made her heart skip a beat again, she didn’t waver. Instead, she squinted her eyes and looked away, hoping she had put her point across to him that she wasn’t in the least interested.

  Two customers arrived at the pier then, interested to do paragliding, and Jimmy called out to Sofia. The young girl gave Loula a quick wave and returned to her post.

  Crazy Boy was watching her as she did so. He saw her smile warmly to the tourists and thought she was a stunner. Her tanned skin glowed in the soft sunlight. Her long hair, although visibly dry from the salty air, flowed gently in the breeze with bright red highlights. On her back, long strands ended in tiny, flaming red curls that bounced like springs as she spoke, captivating his eyes. Just as he started to wonder how good her English was, his friend nudged him to catch his attention. Reluctantly, and with a wicked gleam in his eye, he looked away from the girl, engaging once more with his companion in friendly banter.

  Half an hour later, and with the last customer of the day gone, it was time for Jimmy and Sofia to stow away their equipment for the night. As they padlocked their pedaloes and canoes, and stored all ropes and canvasses in their wooden shed on the sand nearby, a refreshing breeze started to blow. The sun was still relatively high in the sky, but its light was sweet now, no longer harsh and damaging. It touched everything around carefully like a caress, like a caring mother tucking her baby in affectionately for the night. And the welcoming breeze cooled everything down, as the sun continued to say its tender goodbyes, slowly descending to let the moon take over in the caring of the world, soothing it in its silver embrace. Everything seemed to sigh with relief at this hour, longing for the darkness after the ruthless hammering of the sun.