"Did you enjoy your birthday, Lucas?"

"Twelve is not exactly a milestone…you know that."

"Just checking," Charlie said. "Next up you'll be a teenager."

"Next? I hope a lot happens before then. Has Mom said anything?"

"Besides get a haircut? No, she hasn't. But you're twelve and that means she's getting older." Charlie smiled. "Women don't like to be reminded of their ages."

Lucas smiled. "It's not my fault, is it? She can blame Dad."

"I'm sure she does, blames him for everything else, doesn't she?"

Lucas picked up his empty cereal bowl and rinsed it out at the kitchen sink before placing it in the dishwasher. He was old enough to know better than to leave dirty dishes in the sink. Charlie had made their lunches and the bags sat on the counter.

"First day of school, you lucky dog," Charlie said.

"Oh yeah, sixth grade…big deal," Lucas groaned. "We still on for this weekend?"

"Saturday and Sunday, too, if we can manage it. The surf report looked pretty good so there might be a crowd down by the inlet."

Lucas grabbed his lunch bag and his backpack. "What's the use in surfing if you can't show off a bit…and for that you need an audience."

Charlie slurped down the last of the milk in his cereal bowl and got up from the table to put it in the dishwasher. "I imagine your boyfriend will want to go."

"Shut up, Neil is not my boyfriend," Lucas said.

Charlie nodded. "He certainly looks the part."

"You can be such an ass, Charlie. Don't go disrespecting my friend just because he's gay. He didn't ask for the privilege, he was born that way."

"I'm just yanking your chain, little man…have a good day in school. I'll be home around five. Don't wake mom up when you get home from school."

"I know the routine…have a good day at work," Lucas said.

Charlie grinned and Lucas knew what was going to happen but he couldn't move fast enough. Charlie grabbed his head and pulled him in close. He planted a wet kiss on Lucas' forehead and grabbed a handful of hair.

"Mom's right, you do need a haircut…you're starting to look like a girl, little brother."

"Fuck that, mine is shorter than yours."

"I wasn't talking about that little thing between your legs. Naw, your hair is fine and maybe by the time you get to be my age the other boys will stop teasing you about it."

"Next one that does is gonna get a fat lip," Lucas said. He looked up at the clock and knew he had to run.

"Yeah, don't miss the bus," Charlie said as Lucas went through the back door. "And no fighting on the first day."

He was sure Lucas heard that but the boy was already gone. Twelve years old and entirely too much like me, Charlie thought. Lucas depended on him for so many things and he often felt the burden of being the man of the house. Thanks, Dad….what an asshole.

The Travers family had lived in Sebastian for all nineteen years of Charlie's life. Only two tragedies had marred that existence so far. The death of his brother Mike four years ago in a car accident caused by his drunken father had devastated Charlie. Lucas was only eight at the time but he was well aware of what had happened and who was to blame.

Bob Travers had been found guilty of DUI, and even though the prosecutor added manslaughter to the bill the judge had been lenient. Still, their father had spent two years behind bars and when he got out had walked away from the family. For a while that was tragedy number two, but they quickly got over it.

Maybe their dad felt guilty for killing his eleven year old son but Charlie didn't care one bit about the man's feelings. The family moved on even though the hole between Charlie and Lucas would never be filled. Mike had held so much promise…and then he was gone.

Lucas had always been the baby in the family and there were times when Charlie didn't take the boy seriously, and then tragedy changed everything. The bond grew stronger and surfing had helped heal the wound. The kid was incredible on the waves and that gave Charlie a good deal of pride.

You really didn't know how many friends you had until tragedy slams you upside the head. Charlie had some great friends who pulled him out of despair. But his biggest concern was for Lucas and his mother.

Two months after Mike's funeral Lucas met Neil. It was a wonder that Lucas was talking to anyone by that point but the new friend seemed to be just what he needed. Charlie didn't find out the boy was gay until much later and by then he knew his brother's friendship with Neil had nothing to do with sex…it was about surf.

Charlie's mother had suffered a good while until the money started to run out and then she took back control of her life and that of her boys. Charlie would always be proud of her for going back to school and getting recertified as a nurse. Healthcare was the biggest enterprise here in Florida and she now had a good job, even if she was on the night shift for a while.

But Charlie was working, too, and realized he'd better get a move on if he wasn't going to be late. He ducked into the bathroom and brushed his teeth, grinning at his image with foam all over his lips like a rabid dog. Who was Lucas kidding? The boy's hair was longer by a mile, but then young kids got away with that. Charlie tied his back into a ponytail to keep it from getting tangled in his work.

He locked the back door and went out the front, heading across the lawn and through the gate before crossing Indian River Drive. Beautiful morning which was something that didn't take much thought. But the summer heat still lingered and would for some time to come.

One of the things the family enjoyed was living across the street from the Indian River Lagoon. Of course that meant they lived with the strong smell of seawater and seagull poop. Sebastian was one of those small incorporated cities that dotted the east coast of Florida. Twenty thousand people, most of them white, some of them rich.

But the local population was middle to lower income and ran the service industry that catered to the wealthier retirees. Some large rich homes along the shoreline, scattered here and there a few trailer parks, but most of what you'd see were small snug little homes like theirs.

This had been a fishing village for nearly two hundred years, still was, except now the fishermen did it for sport. The lagoon was filled with boats of all sizes, some of them tied up to private docks behind individual homes, while the rest filled piers in marinas like the one he was approaching.

The parking lot at Mulligan's held a dozen cars, the regulars having breakfast soon after the sun came up. Charlie skirted the restaurant and looked out along the pier so see if any fancy new boats had come in overnight. The Sebastian Boatyard got a lot of business from the Indian River mariners and so far Clay had given Charlie some of the credit for boosting their reputation in the repairs department.

The skill to be a good mechanic had been about the only thing Charlie might say his father had done for him. By the age of eight Charlie could strip down a Johnson or an Evinrude outboard motor and get it running again. The bigger engines came later but he managed to figure them all out once Clay sent him to repair school.

He had hung out in the boatyard during those early teen years and got to know Clay Matthews pretty darn well. A few of the old timers used to joke about Charlie's long hair, but Matthews never did, he took the boy seriously. After the accident and his father's incarceration Charlie was offered a job after school.

Sometimes he had to work weekends, but this was September and a lot of their customers were heading back north for the hurricane season. Charlie still couldn't figure out why they fled like that because they left behind valuable boats and beach property just on the off chance a storm might come their way.

But from September thru Thanksgiving the best waves rolled in off the Atlantic and most of the local boys who owned a surfboard flocked to the Sebastian Inlet Park. Charlie had grown up riding the waves and had spent more time on the water than he had with girlfriends.

The demands of family had kept him from any real serious relationships over the years, but there had been a few part-time girlfriends. The tourists that arrived in droves during the Christmas break had always been easy pickings. Such was the glamorous life of a surfer, but the head games did get old.

Tourist season was still several months off and for now the Sebastian kids ruled the beach. The locals were a breed apart from the out-of-towners and it was easy to tell the difference. Any boy with hair to his shoulders and a permanent tan had to be local. Those from out of state were either red from exposure to the sun or white enough that they were about to turn red. The Florida sun could be a bitch.

The UV rays on the beach might cook the unaware, but if they ventured out on the water it was like turning the broiler on high. Local boys were chick magnets while those from out of state sat under umbrellas slathered in sunscreen which was generally applied only after the damage was done.

Charlie slid into the boatyard and saw two boats sitting in the work bay. The Sea Ray Bow Runner was still up on a trailer awaiting parts for the Mercruiser engines. The intakes had been damaged on some coral but the owner was lucky he had shut down before the debris was sucked into the engine. Marco had that one while Charlie guessed he would be assigned the other.

The Malibu Sunscape was an almost new boat and at twenty-two feet in length it was one of the sleekest looking things Charlie had ever seen. Three hundred and twenty-five horses under the rear hatch fed a V-drive with lots of pulling power. It was a great boat for skiing or wakeboarding, neither of which interested Charlie, but he could see the craft was made for it.

The worksheet said the owner had cracked the torque tube on the front of the engine. V-drive took power off the engine at the front so the drive shaft was mounted under the engine where it penetrated the hull and drove the single prop. Lots of torque mounted like that, too much perhaps.

Marco smiled and nodded towards the Sunscape. "I'll help you with the seats," he said.

Charlie climbed up on the trailer and looked into the boat. The engine cover had been removed and he could see the compartment was a pretty tight space. The rear seats and the bulkhead would have to be removed to get at the drive shaft, Marco was right as usual.

"When did this come in?" Charlie asked.

"Trailer was sitting in front of the gate when Clay got here this morning. Coast Guard had to tow the guy in last night. You can barely see the cracked tube if you stick your head in the compartment. The owner will be by later Terry said in his note."

Terry Lowe ran a towing service out of Vero Beach and brought the boatyard a good deal of business. His fees and the mechanic's time for repairs were going to cost the owner a good deal of money. But Charlie looked at the upgraded interior of the boat and figured the guy must have lots of money, just no common sense. What had he been towing, a barge loaded with rocks?

Charlie knew he would have to pull the bulkhead, disconnect the links and examine both the shaft and the engine. That would all take time which would only fatten his paycheck. He better get with it since he would be on this project most of the day, and maybe the rest of the week.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

Lucas only had to walk two blocks down Coolidge to the school bus stop on Route 1. The trip to his new school would only take thirty minutes or so since the bus was nearing the end of its route. It would be filled with kids he knew, all of them off to middle school. There would be older kids there, new challenges, and probably some of the idiots he'd had to deal with in elementary school.

He had always been sociable with his classmates and chose his friends with care. But there had been fights last spring because of his long hair and his friendship with Neil. Lucas could not abide a bully and stood up for Neil on several occasions. The boy might be gay but damn, he could hold his own out on the surf line.

Neil's family had moved to Sebastian when the boy was eight. Lucas had met him on the beach one morning and immediately liked his style. Small for his age, Neil had grown up in Southern California before his family moved to Florida.

Lucas could close his eyes and recall the image of this tanned little kid with long blond hair skimming the curl of a five foot wave and riding down the face until it petered out into a rush of foam. He could do that, too, but he figured the boy was several years younger. A Grom was a Grom, age didn't much matter.

Surfing in Florida was a waiting game. Waves moved in sets and were often not worth the effort to ride because they were too small. One of the views the tourists saw from the beach might be a dozen surfers sitting on their boards waiting for the right wave to come along, and that is where Lucas met Neil.

When everyone discovered the boy had come from California it immediately made him a popular kid. The state was considered a surfer's heaven, a mecca where the waves rolling across the Pacific rose to great heights before crashing on the beach. It was no wonder that Neil was an avid surfer and had outstanding skills.

His father worked as an administrator for the Department of the Interior in the Parks Division. Since Florida is filled with parks it seemed he might be in charge of some of them, but Lucas didn't know the details. The park on Sebastian Inlet where everyone surfed was run by the state, but there were national wildlife refuges and endangered species wetlands all around them.

When Lucas discovered that Neil was his age and that they would be in school together the friendship was sealed. It wasn't until much later that Lucas discovered that Neil was gay…or at least considered himself gay.

"How do you know?" Lucas had asked when Neil told him while they were in fourth grade.

"It's not a sexual thing," Neil said, and then he laughed. "I'm ten years old…it's definitely not sexual."

"So you don't really know."

"Oh I know, trust me."

That had been two years ago and since that time the friendship had grown beyond the mutual attraction to surfing. Neil had turned twelve early in summer and now Lucas had made the grade, although he could see it had affected them each differently. Neil already had hair growing in hidden places. It wasn't much but it was still more than Lucas had.

"My dad is a hairy bastard, what do you expect?" Neil had laughed, but he was proud of his accomplishment at such a young age. Lucas knew he wouldn't grow any pubic hair until he was much older. Charlie hadn't reached puberty until he was almost fourteen.

But crotch hair was the furthest thing from Lucas' mind as the bus pulled into the circular drive in front of the school. Another year, Lucas thought, but then he smiled. Sixth graders were the bottom of the heap, but at least they had their own wing in the school. Maybe he could get by without too much grief this time around, but then he saw Carlos getting off the bus in front of his.

Lucas didn't hate Cubans, unlike some others around town. Most of the boys in Sebastian of Cuban descent had been born here and were Americans. But Carlos Acosta was the biggest pain in the ass at Lucas' elementary school and would probably be no different here.

But Carlos was in for a surprise this year. Bullies were all the same, they thought too much of themselves and this one thought he was tough. Over the summer Lucas had grown nearly three inches and all those months of riding the waves had given him greater strength.

He hadn't really noticed the changes until Neil mentioned it. Of course a gay boy would look at the changes in a male body and appreciate them.

"You're buff, man…you look like you're taking steroids," Neil had said.

Lucas had been standing naked in Neil's bedroom. They both stripped down like this on occasion while changing into bathing suits. That was how Lucas had seen the all-important hairs in Neil's crotch.

Sleepovers had become a common occurrence during the summer months. That way Lucas didn't have to bother Charlie for a ride out to the beach. Mr. Kimble, Neil's father, didn't mind giving them a lift to the ocean in the morning since he could visit Pelican Island Wildlife Refuge while he was there.

Surfing had built the muscles that gave Lucas his confidence and Charlie had done the rest. Seeing the pain his little brother had endured at school, Charlie had begun teaching Lucas how to box. That didn't mean he encouraged Lucas to fight, but when the time came he didn't want his brother to lose.

Charlie and several of his friends had started boxing at Champions down in Vero Beach soon after his father had been sent to prison. The tough discipline had taken his mind off of Mike's death and built a tight camaraderie with his surfer buddies. It was those lessons he had passed along to Lucas.

"You start the fight and I won't be in your corner," Charlie had told him. "But your body is growing and every man needs a means of defending himself. When you're older I'll take you to the gym and you can learn how to do this properly."

Lucas knew Charlie was right about fighting, it didn't solve problems. But someone needed to tell Carlos that. School officials were watchful, always aware that conflict was just a moment away if they became lax in their supervision. But it was time to face the music, and Lucas got off the bus.

He could ignore Carlos out here in front of the school because there were several teachers in attendance. In fact, Lucas recognized a face he didn't expect to see and quickly made a move towards the man.

"Mr. Beale…what are you doing here?"

"The school board sent me here to keep an eye on you," Beale said, but then he smiled. "I'm joking, they needed a new vice principal here and I got the job. Are you glad to see me?"

"You bet. I'm trying to stay the course like you told me…but I see some of my problems have followed me here."

Beale looked over at Carlos as the boy and his friends entered the school lobby. "I have my eye on him…just go about your business. How was your summer?"

"Wet, wild and wonderful, Mr. Beale. Thanks for asking."

"Yeah, you look like you spent it on a surfboard. I saw you out there a few times."

Beale's parents ran the snack bar at the park so he would know what Lucas had been doing. The guy was stern but fair in his dealings with students, at least the young ones he had to discipline at the elementary school. He wanted to know what their lives were like because it helped him do his job and Lucas had always liked the man

Florida schools still had corporal punishment, but only spanking a kid if the parents agreed and had signed a consent form. Lucas' mother had not signed on and at a PTA meeting she told Beale not to lay a hand on her son. Lucas agreed with that since his mother knew the best punishment was to take away his surfboard.

So although Lucas had not been paddled, he had received some pretty strong words from Beale and a three day suspension the previous year after a fight with Carlos. That wasn't Beale's fault…it was the rules they had to enforce.

Both boys had been suspended because the school board dictated all participants in a fight must receive some form of discipline. It wasn't logical because Carlos had started the fight, but although Lucas was out of school for three days Carlos had been suspended for ten.

The issue had been Neil…of course it had. The boy was sitting in the lunchroom minding his own business when Carlos yanked him out of his seat by the hair. Lucas had been in line for a carton of milk when he saw the attack and immediately ran to help his friend.

The cafeteria monitor and Lucas both headed towards Carlos at the same time. Lucas elbowed Carlos out of the way and leaned over to give Neil a hand to stand up. Unfortunately Carlos didn't let it end there because even as the teacher placed a hand on his shoulder he punched Lucas on the side of the head.

Several other teachers arrived and Carlos was led away. Neil was angry but grateful, Lucas was furious ... but his mother was livid.

"They suspended you for being punched? I don't have time to deal with this bullshit, Lucas…go to your room."

So now it was a new year in a new school and yet Lucas was sure he would have the same old problems. At least Neil seemed upbeat when they ran into one another in the cafeteria. Middle school fostered a new routine of changing classrooms and teachers for different subjects, and Lucas stood in line to receive his schedule.

"Did you see Beale?" Neil asked as he walked over with a class schedule in hand.

"Sure did and I'm glad to see him."

"I don't know why but Carlos gave me a very polite hello about five minutes ago," Neil said. "I wonder what that's all about. You think he's changed?"

"Into what? No, I think he's being careful. Maybe his momma threatened to kill him if he got suspended again."

"That's very likely. I don't know any of these teachers, but it looks like we have classes together. Hey, did you see the TV news last night about that kid in Melbourne? He wiped out and got bitten by a shark."

"I didn't see any news yesterday, but we've both seen them out there. They usually stay out beyond the surf line."

"Melbourne is just up the road, Lucas…that makes me nervous."

Lucas shrugged. "Sharks are just part of the game but I think it's more likely for me to fall off my board and drill a hole in the sand with my head. Safety in numbers, Neil, we usually spot the sharks before they see us."

"I guess…so we on for the weekend?"

"Yeah, Charlie and some of his friends will be there…"

"You boys better get moving, classes start in five minutes."

"Thanks, Mr. Beale," Neil said and they turned to leave the cafeteria.

"Man, he seems to be all over the place," Lucas said.

"You would be too if you had us to worry about," Neil said, and they both laughed.

Most of the kids in their classes were familiar, but not all of them. At least Carlos was in only one of his classes and that was math, not Lucas' favorite subject. The fact that he struggled to maintain a C average was in contrast to Neil who seemed to do well in every subject.

Their lives were different which was apparent at school. But Neil's father rode him to get good grades and the boy had to keep up a certain level of achievement or lose privileges. Neil seemed cool with that and did the work because he didn't want his surfboard taken away.

Lucas' mother was just happy that her son was in school and learning something. Charlie had been an average student, graduated high school and moved on into a good paying job. There wasn't enough money for either of them to go to college so the boys were taught to make the best of what they had.

Neil didn't come from a rich family either but he had plans to attend college. He read books for fun and had a laptop, neither of which interested Lucas. Some of that he decided was because Neil was gay and had to prove himself in the surf and in the classroom. None of that ever came between them, not even the gay stuff.

Lucas knew that Neil was attracted to him in a physical sense. There had been moments this past summer when Neil's emotions had bubbled to the surface. The sex drive that he had denied at age ten was now in play and the only one Neil could share it with was Lucas. It was a concern but not a problem.

After three periods of classes the sixth graders had their lunch period. All morning long both Neil and Lucas had felt the eyes of the girls in their classes checking them out. They weren't the only surfers in the school with long hair, but they were still a novelty.

Lucas enjoyed the looks some of these girls gave Neil because they had no idea the boy wasn't interested. But Neil was a natural blond and it seemed he would remain that way throughout life. On the other hand Lucas' bottle-blond locks were fading back to brown and in a few years he would look just like Charlie.

Maybe it was the hair, or perhaps the T-shirts they wore. The school didn't allow any of the crass shirts often sold in surf shops. Lucas had a few of those, some of which said 'Surf Naked' or 'Ride a Stiff One.' But Neil had given him the one he was wearing today which just said 'Surf Florida' and that wasn't controversial at all.

Charlie had bought Lucas his first surfboard as a Christmas present. A shortboard was classified as a funboard because of its size and weight. Made with polystyrene and fiberglass, it was still longer than Lucas was tall, about six and a half feet to be exact.

It was one of those designed by Kelly Slater Taking, a professional with a whole string of awards who custom designed surfing equipment. Lucas was sure he would outgrow it and eventually need a longer board. Still, at three hundred bucks he knew he would have to use it until he could afford to buy his own.

Neil had one about the same size and weight, but it was California designed board with all kinds of radical images emblazoned across the deck. There was no doubt when Neil hit the top of the curl on a wave that every eye on the beach was on him. In no time at all he would be in surfing competitions, another prince of the waves.

Neil and Lucas walked into the cafeteria together, each with a brown bag in hand. No one in their right mind ate the school food but those who did were probably in the free lunch program. They chose a table in the middle and sat down at one end. Ten seconds later three girls commandeered the other end.

"That didn't take long," Lucas grinned as he opened the bag.

Neil looked up and muttered something under his breath. Lucas turned to see what was going on and Carlos pulled out a chair and sat down beside Neil.

"Mind if I join you?" Carlos said, setting his lunch tray on the table. "We need to talk."

On to Chapter Two

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