Carlos tagged along when Neil tapped on the kitchen door Sunday morning. Lucas introduced the boy to Charlie and they loaded up the car for a drive to the beach. But there was something different in the air, Lucas could almost smell it.

Of course he wouldn't learn anything until they were out beyond the break point sitting on their boards, but whatever it was Neil would tell him. Charlie had brought an umbrella and a beach blanket for Carlos. Perhaps the boy would swim but other than that all he could do was watch the surfing and perhaps chat with a few of the girls that always showed up by late morning.

Sunday seemed to be the most popular day for surfing fans of the female persuasion, mostly high school girls. Charlie and the older guys laughed about it and tended to ignore the younger ones. But every once in a while some college girls showed up to watch and take pictures.

Lucas and Neil had been photographed dozens of times. The surfer image and their particular skills made them attractive. Lucas wondered what the girls were doing with the photos, but Neil knew.

"They post them online," He said. "We're famous, dude. The girls put them on Facebook to increase the number of views they get. They use us to increase their popularity, isn't that funny?"

Lucas had to laugh. "I charge for autographs."

"You wouldn't if they wanted in your pants. We're like rock stars, we have groupies."

Perhaps that was a good thing, just not yet. He wasn't about to let any girls see his private parts until he had something to show them. Maybe next year. Neil seemed to enjoy the notoriety and sometimes posed for the photos with this girl and that. It was all in fun.

The waves were fairly subdued this morning but still good enough for an intense workout. They paddled out beyond the break point and sat facing the oncoming swells.

"So Carlo's mother brought him over to my house last night," Neil said. "My mother was interested in meeting her, especially after I mentioned the Santeria stuff. Mrs. Acosta is cool about it, she knows people are curious."

"Did she talk about it with your mom?" Lucas asked.

"Not that I could hear. I was vacuuming out the car when they arrived and then Carlos decided we should do his mom's car as well. I guess that left our moms time enough to talk, but then Mrs. Acosta left and we had dinner…but that wasn't the best part of the evening."

Okay, here it comes, Lucas thought.

"Carlos slept in my bed last night," Neil said and gave Lucas a grin.

"Was that a smart decision? So does he now know about you?"

"No, it wasn't like that. You know how we pose in front of the mirror? Well I got Carlos to do that and he didn't mind one bit. He's way ahead of us in the parts department."

Lucas smiled. "I bet that made your day."

"He likes to show off and I don't blame him. I mean he's got lots of hair and probably makes gobs of goo…I'm jealous."

"I don't see jerking off as a talent, Neil. His body is just better developed."

"True, but it was fun to look at."

"You're gay and at this stage looking is what you do. So how big is it?"

"Big enough to wrap his hand around. He had sex with a girl last year, or at least he says he did."

"Damn ... he was eleven last year," Lucas said.

"She was a distant cousin, someone in his Cuban family who came to visit them. The girl was sixteen…sounds like a real slut to me."

"Sounds like a bad idea to me, does his mom know?"

"I'm sure she doesn't, but he's proud of it," Neil said.

Lucas shook his head and stared out at the swells. Perhaps that was why Carlos had been so aggressive last year, acting like a big man and all that bullshit. He didn't want to say anything but he hoped Neil was careful around Carlos.

"I think Carlo's father is dealing drugs," Neil said. "I don't mean that street corner shit but big time. Carlos says their house in West Palm is a big old place so the man must be rich."

"You said his mom has a house off Barber Street, that isn't a rich neighborhood," Lucas said.

"No, she moved up here but I don't think the money came with her. Carlos told me it wasn't just that molesting business… she left because of the people and the drug use. She didn't want Carlos and his little sister around any of that."

"That was smart, so how are they living…who pays the bills?"

"She works in a grocery store while her mother takes care of the kids. Carlos says his Granny is cool but she's going back to Cuba pretty soon. Look, you don't have to worry about me saying anything to Carlos. He doesn't seem to like gay people, but we didn't talk about that much." Neil pointed at the beach. "He seems to be working his charm on all those girls."

They both rode the bigger sets, careful not to interfere with one another. Carlos might be an interesting subject to Neil but out here he was the master of his environment. Three times over the next two hours Neil tried to perform his total spinning move when he thought the wave was big enough, and three times he fell off the board.

Lucas could see that Neil's attempts were attracting a small crowd on the beach. The fourth time he flew off the lip of the wave and managed the spin while his feet stayed on the board. He grinned at Lucas but he looked tired, it was time to take a break.

Carlos was sitting with a small contingent of kids from their school and a few older girls. He might not be a surfer but he looked cool in his sunglasses, ball cap turned around backwards, and a nice smile on his face. Lucas and Neil came in for a water break.

Some of the girls had their phones out, snapping pictures of Neil as he approached.

"You are absolutely loco," Carlos said. "That spin thing is awesome."

Lucas knew the look, Carlos was now a fan and that hero worship thing was all over his face. Neil never took that stuff seriously although it seemed there was a little more of a blush on his face when Carlos paid him the compliment.

Lucas chugged some water and hefted his board. He'd rather be out facing the waves than this bunch of Neil lovers. Charlie was just up the beach with his friends and returning from a run when Lucas paddled out to join his brother.

"You see that spin?" Lucas asked.

"Crazy little Grom," Charlie said. "He'd better be careful, the water is too damn shallow around here if he takes a nose dive."

"He's got enough wax on that board to hold down three guys, but most of the waves aren't big enough for that trick."

Charlie looked up the beach to where Carlos and the girls were surrounding Neil. "Flash moves do seem to attract attention. I hope you're not planning to try anything like that."

"Nope, not me," Lucas said. "He's definitely going to be in the contest with you next month."

"At least we're not in the same age group. I don't do backflips or spins," Charlie said.

"Freestyle snowboarders do it all the time," Lucas said.

"We don't have snow, and besides, those guys are attached to the boards so they don't fly off. In case you haven't noticed my board is a little bigger and heavier than Neil's, it's not made for spinning."

"He'll win with a flash move like that."

"He will, if he doesn't wipe out," Charlie said. "Competition makes you take risks. I just hope Neil understands that sometimes it's better not to make a move just to win a silly little trophy."

Charlie was right. Unless conditions were just perfect Neil could risk everything and get hurt. Lucas looked back towards Neil as the boy returned to the waves. How could he tell Neil not to do something?

The morning waned and the tide changed, increasing the undertow along various parts of the beach. Lucas had just finished a nice sweet ride on a pretty good wave and walked back up the beach to where Neil would land on his next run.

He watched Neil set up in the swell and pop up onto his feet when something happened. Lucas saw Neil fall off his board and could swear it looked like he was pulled. Neil dove into the curl while his board moved the other way…and then Lucas saw the fin.

"Shark," Lucas yelled. Charlie was only a hundred yards away and he dropped his board and came running. Lucas moved towards the water searching for Neil and wondering where he would surface. The wave he was going to ride dissolved in whitewater and Neil emerged, body surfing in the foam.

The boy stood up and fell over just as Lucas reached him. There were scrapes on his shoulder where the sand had rubbed the skin, but otherwise he looked okay.

"Did you see that?" Neil yelled. "Damn, he almost got me."

A horn sounded up by the snack bar and the large red flag went up the pole, calling in all the swimmers. The other surfers were all out of the water or heading towards shore in a big hurry. Carlos and Charlie arrived at about the same time and helped Neil to his feet. They stared out at the surf and saw the fin move away, and then Neil's board came ashore.

The shark had tried to take a chunk out of it back towards the tail. But the bite had left teeth marks and severed the leash. The remains of the rope was still around Neil's ankle. It seemed pretty obvious that the creature had been attracted by the boy's moving feet.

"Aw shit," Neil said, looking at his damaged board. He could probably have it fixed at the surf shop in Vero Beach. "I was going to get a new one anyways."

Lucas checked it out. "It's still good, but your father is going to flip out when he sees the damage."

"Better the board than you, Neil," Charlie said. He looked out beyond the waves and didn't see the fin anymore. The shark could have been a loner, or there might be a school of them heading south along the coast. Better safe than sorry so surfing was over for the day.

"Come on, let's pack up," Charlie said.

Neither of the boys was going to argue. Carlos looked disappointed, but then he wasn't out there facing the danger. Neil kept looking at the teeth marks as they hefted the boards back on top of the car.

"We'll stop and get some lunch," Charlie said.

"I was almost lunch," Neil laughed.

"Naw, the shark would have spit you out," Lucas said.

"See, I told you…you guys are loco," Carlos said.

Charlie drove them back across the causeway and up Route One to the Checkers burger place off Roseland. There were a bunch of other hamburger restaurants around town but only this one had Marsha Billings as the assistant manager. She and Charlie had been on and off since middle school, but they were still great friends.

They placed their orders and sat under the shade of the red umbrellas on the patio outside the building.

"So, Charlie, Lucas says you work on boats," Carlos said.

"I do. Business is good when people mess them up all the time.

"Like really big boats…yachts?"

"No, mostly runabouts," Charlie said. "Why? You have a boat?"

"Not me," Carlos said, "but I was on a pretty big one."

"Really?" Neil said.

"Yeah, my father knows some people. We went out on this really big boat to go fishing a couple years ago. A bunch of guys and their kids. I mean, this thing was a hundred feet long, a really big boat."

"Did you catch any fish?" Lucas asked.

"I didn't but some of the other boys did. The crew set us up on the back of the boat with fishing poles and gave us a bucket of bait. They were pretty cool guys, too. I was probably the youngest kid there but they treated us real good."

"So your father took you fishing…" Neil said.

"I guess, but he was inside the cabin with the other men. I thought they would be fishing with us but that didn't happen…they were too busy."

The Carlos who was all smiles and hand gestures about the boat suddenly changed, a frown crossing his face.

"I had to pee and this crew guy led me towards the front of the boat and opened a door. He said I could use the crew bathroom and so I went down a short hallway to the bathroom. When I came out the man was gone so I went back the way we came.

"I could hear noise in the cabin and there were all these little round windows along the side."

"Portholes," Charlie said.

"Yeah, little round windows, and I could look into the cabin. It was like a big living room in there with couches and chairs and a big old bar along one wall, and ... and I could see my father and these other guys. They were leaning over the bar snorting coke. That's when the crew guy found me and pulled me back to the rear of the boat with the other kids."

There was silence around the table, no one really sure what to say to Carlos.

"You saw them doing drugs," Lucas said. "Was that unusual for your father?"

"I never saw him do that shit before…at least he never did it in front of me. But there were parties at the house and when I would get up in the morning there was all this mess left over. I found some drugs here and there…coke on the table, joints in the ash trays. I never said anything, but Mom knew and that's why we left."

"That's probably a good thing," Charlie said.

Carlos looked around the table. "Can you keep a secret…I mean about the drugs?"

"None of us has anything to do with drugs, Carlos," Neil said.

"There were lots of drugs, lots of coke. My father had a big steel cabinet in the garage with paint cans in it, but it wasn't paint in those cans. I told my Mom and a week later we moved here. Maybe I should have kept my mouth shut."

"No, you did the right thing," Charlie said. "You don't need to be around that shit…your mother did the right thing."

"I don't know why my father does that stuff. He has a good landscaping business and they make money all over West Palm. I don't like the people he has around him now. They're just thugs…ugly, nasty men."

Lucas was waiting for it, but Carlos didn't say anything about what happened to him but it was there behind his eyes. There was a lot of anger inside the boy, and for good reason. Neil had been the first to tap into those emotions and come to an understanding. Carlos had not been responsible for his bad attitude last year…he was just trying to survive the pain.

Fathers didn't always turn out the way they should. Lucas understood that only too well, he had a lot in common with Carlos. Neil was the only one in the group with decent parents and a better home life because of it.

"Sorry, that stuff is my problem," Carlos said.

"No problem," Neil said. "You gotta get it off your chest, and we're your friends."

Carlos smiled. "Yeah, I could use a few of those."

Charlie felt sorry for the boy as they cleaned up their lunch mess and walked back to the car. The kid seemed to have made some genuine changes since last year according to Lucas. Only time would tell if the friendship would last.

Neil decided he would leave his board with Lucas since he didn't want to explain the teeth marks to his father right away which made sense. Charlie drove back down into Sebastian and followed Carlo's directions. The boys became silent as they approached the Latino neighborhood.

Like most people of different origin the Latino culture in this area was a mix of Caribbean and Cuban residents. The proliferation of religious icons in yards was mixed with broken down cars, an eyesore any way you looked at it. But there was something going on in this neighborhood Charlie noticed…there was no trash on the street.

"Turn right at the next corner," Carlos said and Charlie did. "Oh crap," the boy said.

"What's the matter?" Neil asked.

"That green pickup truck belongs to my father ... what's he doing here?"

"He doesn't come to visit?" Lucas asked.

Carlos sighed. "Only to see me, but I wasn't expecting him today."

Charlie drove slowly past the truck and glanced at the logo painted on the door. Acosta Landscaping it said…and the name gave Charlie a shock. The palm trees and flowering plants surrounding the words, he had seen this logo before.

The truck that had towed Peterson's boat out of the yard had the same logo on the side. Charlie remembered Carlos talking about the big boat and the men doing cocaine….was Peterson involved with Carlo's father?

"Call me later," Neil said.

"Don't worry, this won't be too bad," Carlos said. "Thanks for today, Charlie. See you guys in school tomorrow."

They all watched him walk towards the front door and Charlie suddenly felt the urge to drive away. Meeting the father was not something he wanted to do. The car was silent for a few blocks and then Charlie turned back onto Sebastian Boulevard and headed towards Neil's neighborhood.

Neil started to laugh. "I think he's afraid of her," He said.

"Who's afraid?" Lucas said.

"Carlos' dad is afraid of his wife, that Santeria stuff. Some of it looks like witchcraft to me. I mean she has an altar in her bedroom with Jesus statues and strange looking clay things. I think they sacrifice live chickens…"

"Enough of that," Charlie said.

"I didn't even get to the good part, Charlie….you should see all the gold."

"Gold?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah, she has a bowl of gold coins. Carlos said it was tribute money…offerings. He says his father adds to it every time he visits."

"So if she has all this gold why does she have a crummy job in a supermarket?" Lucas said.

"Look, guys, we don't know anything about this religion, and we probably never will," Charlie said. "Of course if you go messing around with her religion she might just put a curse on you and your dick will fall off."

"Very funny, Charlie…you think she can do that?"

Neil broke up laughing and Charlie joined him. Lucas shook his head. "You guys are a laugh riot…and you just drove past Neil's street."

Charlie got turned around and they dropped Neil off at the end of the driveway. Mr. Kimble's car was parked in front of the garage so they figured he was inside watching some sports program on television.

"Go on, leave me here," Neil said. "I don't want Dad to see my board. You still think it can be fixed?"

"A little bondo and some resin coating, that might last a while," Charlie said. "You want me to have Marco look at it?"

"Please, I'll be glad to pay him for the work. Thanks, guys."

Sunday afternoon and they were home early…nothing worse than having their surfing time blown out by a damn fish. Of course Lucas still had homework to do and so he resigned himself to an afternoon of drudgery while Charlie took off for the gym.

*          *          *          *          *          *          *          *          *

The parking lot in front of the gym was almost full when Charlie pulled in. Weekends always attracted the crowds, especially if there were sparring matches on the calendar. The gym was a good workout spot for the local boxers, but Charlie was there for the weight machines.

The testosterone gathered around the boxing rings was loud today and there were probably a few people in the crowd he didn't want to see. He would not compete in the boxing ring although he had been challenged by several of the guys. Charlie liked his face just the way it was.

Charlie grabbed a towel off the counter and signed in before making his way to the locker room. The place was deserted but still smelled of liniment and sweat. He changed into his workout gear and hung his clothing in the locker, spinning the dial to secure the door.

Membership wasn't cheap at four hundred dollars a year, but it came with a personal locker. Charlie looked over at the row behind him and saw Peterson's locker. If he was lucky the guy wouldn't be here today.

Ever since repairing Peterson's boat and setting the GPS unit in place for the cops it had seemed wise to avoid any conversation with Steve. Not that they were buddies, Charlie didn't run in the same social circle…thank goodness.

The wealthy people like Peterson from Fort Pierce looked down on the locals from Sebastian. The country club set with their expensive cars and even more expensive women were only impressive to one another. Charlie and his friends didn't need all that money to have a good life, nor did they indulge in the things money can buy, like drugs.

Charlie began his workout in relative obscurity since most of the members were next door watching the matches. Boxing was not his kind of sport but he had learned the basics when he was younger to get in shape and keep his father off his back.

Mike might have been the better boxer. The boy had quick hands and a good deal of stamina. Might have been, Charlie thought, but there was no way of knowing now. Lucas had been crushed by his brother's death while Charlie got angry. But he had put that aside to comfort his mother, and then there was the responsibility he felt for Lucas.

No kid needed to grow up without a father, or at least someone to keep them on the path to adulthood. Charlie didn't want the role but it was forced on him, especially when his mother went back to work. Although these final years of being a teenager had been tough he felt things were going well.

Charlie left the warmup exercises behind and moved over to the weight machines. He would never be a mass of muscle or lift huge amounts of weight. No, that would be counterproductive for someone who liked to surf. The workout weight he chose was low and he counted on repetitions to build up strength.

Pretty soon he would bring Lucas to the gym or at least get him started on some weight training. If the boy kept on competing with Neil that might give him the edge he would need. Charlie had to smile, looking back at his own pathway into puberty and what it did to his body.

It had been a while since he'd seen Lucas naked, but he imagined things were just starting to shape up. Testosterone and self-confidence at age thirteen had led Charlie down the path towards girls, and they had seemed to welcome his presence. Marsha had been his first crush back in seventh grade.

Her reaction to his obvious fascination had been cold, but then what boy that age could ever understand what a girl wanted? She strung him along for nearly eight months before inviting him to her birthday party. He brought a present to the party that he hoped would appeal to a newly minted adolescent, a knitted beret that cost him fifty bucks.

Marsha expressed surprise and thanked him, but Charlie wasn't sure if she really liked it. The fact that she did was openly expressed when she wore it to school every day until the Christmas break. Charlie was flattered, Marsha's frosty attitude evaporated and the day school let out for the vacation she gave him something back.

Sex was something Charlie's mother had discussed with each of her boys before they reached puberty. Knowledge was power, she'd said, but then when experience comes along everything they might think about sex would change. Boy was she right.

At fourteen, Marsha had a little experience and Charlie had none except in the personal practice department. The first encounter was incredibly short but exciting. Marsha told him it had been wonderful and that they would get better with further practice. She certainly knew her man because those words wrapped Charlie around her little finger.

Their relationship went on and on, at least the sex did. Marsha would not commit to being Charlie's girlfriend and that seemed odd because they were having sex here there and everywhere, but only when she wanted it. He didn't question her motives until she got pregnant.

Impossible, Charlie thought, he'd worn a condom every time, but now he was scared. There was nothing he could do and so he told his mother.

"Marsha has always seemed like a nice girl, but I figured you two were having sex."

It was embarrassing. "I wore a condom every time…how is this possible?"

His mother had smiled. "Have you considered you aren't the only boy in her life?"

And there it was…Marsha was having sex behind Charlie's back. He didn't confront her as the weeks rolled by but he kept his eyes and ears open. Was it him…or him? He had no way of knowing until he figured out the boy must be terrified just like he had been.

Marsha wasn't having sex with anyone after the pregnancy was discovered and so Charlie stood back and watched. Riley Evans had a big fight with her out on the quad behind the school, a verbal altercation that brought teachers running, and so Charlie had his answer.

He thought it might be necessary to kick Riley's ass, even though the boy was a year older and a head taller, but that proved unnecessary. A few weeks later Riley and two of his friends stole a car, tried to rob a gas station with a stolen pistol, and ended up shooting the clerk. Riley would be gone for a while…a long while.

So Marsha needed a friend, especially after she had the miscarriage, and there was Charlie. He felt it important to forgive, a grownup feeling, but he would not sleep with her anymore. They became friends which was probably a better choice for their relationship than the way it started. They were still friends.

No matter how Lucas played it Charlie was there and ready to help him call the shots…at least he was sure his little brother wasn't gay. Neil was a nice kid and his being gay didn't sway Charlie's opinion of the boy one way or another. Neither of the boys knew anything about sex, and for the moment Charlie hoped it would stay that way.

Maintaining their edge as Groms, risking life and limb on the waves ought to be enough for any boy. It had done wonders for him…and then Charlie looked up as the doors to the gym slammed open and four guys stumbled in, laughing and disturbing his thoughts. Peterson and company.

There were some smiles and whispering as the four guys headed for the locker room. They're high, Charlie figured, but at least they had not seen him sitting back in the corner. He went back to lifting the weights on the rack until the door opened once again, only this time it was Walter, the assistant manager of the gym. He looked around before heading towards the locker room. This was going to be trouble.

Walter was a pain in the ass, a stickler for the rules, but he was just doing his job. No sooner had Walter pushed his way into the locker room than Charlie headed for the doors to the boxing ring. As he expected, Butch and Kenny Roberts were standing just inside.

The twin brothers were power lifters, the biggest hunks of muscle in the place. They commanded respect by virtue of their size and were the de facto bouncers of the gym.

Kenny nodded as Charlie approached.

"Kenny, I think Walter is going to have some trouble in the locker room," Charlie said.

"Oh? What's cookin'?"

"Peterson."

Kenny tapped his brother and nodded towards the locker room. The minute they left Charlie buried himself in the crowd around the boxing ring. The two lightweight boxers in this match looked ridiculous in oversized gloves which kept them from doing any real damage. Charlie figured this matchup had been made to amuse the spectators.

Three minutes later Peterson and one of his friends came stumbling through the door as Kenny pushed and prodded them towards the lobby. Walter was next, holding a hand to his face.

"Out, and don't expect to come back anytime soon," Walter yelled.

Butch was next, his hands clasped around the arms of the last two guys. Neither of them struggled since resisting the big man would have been useless. Charlie smiled as the four guys were escorted out of the gym.

"What's that all about?" One of the guys in the crowd said.

"Peterson, who gives a shit," another man said.

Charlie sighed and walked back to the weight room. His routine had been disturbed so perhaps it would just be better to go home and cook dinner for Lucas and his mother. Yes, it was Sunday. She would be home and would appreciate a good meal.

Charlie walked back into the locker room and looked around for any signs of an altercation. Walter would be back here soon and clean out Peterson's locker, a sure sign the guy was pissed off. Charlie looked over and saw the door on Peterson's locker was open. He had never seen the inside.

A towel and some gym shorts lay on the floor in front of the locker and he gave it a kick. Something rolled out from the folds of the cloth and bounced off across the floor. Charlie leaned over and saw it was a vial of white powder…uh oh. When Walter found that he would call the cops and Peterson would be busted.

No, that would screw up everything. If Peterson got busted for this small amount of drugs it would blow the whole operation Detective Giddings had planned. Without a second thought Charlie scooped up the vial and then saw something else lying beside the towel.

Peterson must have dropped this, too. It looked like a gold medallion on a chain, but he had never seen Peterson wear it. On closer inspection Charlie realized it was a coin, a gold coin, and he remembered Carlos saying his mother had a whole bowl of them.

The marking on the coin was unique and very old. This must be a doubloon, Charlie thought. An ancient Spanish coin like many of those found on shipwrecks in the waters around Florida. How the hell had Peterson come across this? Drugs and gold coins, together they looked like even bigger trouble.

Walter would be back at any moment to clear out Peterson's locker and Charlie didn't want him to find these things. He slid the vial and the coin into the pocket of his shorts before he got dressed. But Peterson would probably miss both items fairly quickly and come back for them. That might give Walter some further problems, but the Roberts brothers were still around.

Charlie slammed the door of his locker and headed for the back exit. He didn't want a confrontation with Peterson so it was time to scoot. There was no one in the parking lot amidst all the cars as Charlie drove out onto 12th Street heading for the ocean highway. It was time to call on Detective Giddings.

On to Chapter Five

Back to Chapter Three

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"Groms" Copyright © Chris James. All rights reserved.
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