A Walk on the Beach

Jak Chico stirred an umbrella cocktail at a quiet bar on South Beach.

The high octane clubs, jumping and thumping down the street, could not be heard from his serene refuge. Two hours ago, the backup quarterback, Slim, invited him to meet fun girls at the clubs.

The drinks, his teammate, and the females were shallow and uninteresting. Slim’s girls only wanted to ‘hook up’ and do obnoxious dancing. Not one of the girls cared about a quiet walk on the beach. 

Seravina and Josie’s sophistication, beauty, and intelligence had ruined his usual cavalier actions with women. The princess and the temptress were dangerous, sexy, and unavailable. The same jerk claimed their wonderful bodies and hearts. Jak pushed away the fruity libation.

“Am I maturing?  Nah.  I know what I want.” 

Jak spotted the bartender.

“Barkeep.  Can I get a beer?  A nice frothy one.”

“First of all, grandpa, I am not a barkeep, whatevs. I am a mixologist.” He pointed to a gilded plaque. “Second, my name is Orlando. I’ve only told you twice. Third…”

“The question was simple, princess.  Beer or no beer?   Barkeep, I don’t care if your name is Orlando or Taylor Swift. If I don’t get a frothy beer in ten seconds, I will toss your scrawny ass into the ocean.”

Orlando’s mouth dropped open, but produced the beverage in seven seconds.

“Thank you.” Jak said.

The former captain walked to an empty table with an ocean view.  People gathered around a television near the exit.

“Zombies glued to their devices or bigger screens. They never notice the beautiful world around them.” He sipped his beer. “They only notice the beach when a storm comes.  I remember a time…” 

Jak stopped and laughed bitterly.

“I sound like the geezers at the bar,” He mumbled, “I am getting old.”

A sweet voice startled him.

“That is a matter of perspective, Captain Chico.”

An athletic female with ebony smooth skin, styling a long silky tropical dress, addressed the surprised captain.

“Angelica?” He stood and pulled a chair for his guest. “You are a wonderful sight for these sore eyes.”

Angelica sat. “Thank you.”

Chico joined her. “What are you doing here? Once I left New York, I thought I’d never see you again.”

The beauty laughed. “Do you ever read your messages on your… What did you call it? Ah, yes, your communicator?”

“No.  I left it in my apartment. The thing buzzes all the time.  I hate bees.”

“Those buzzes, my friend, are people, mostly me, trying to get in touch with you for a month.”

“Sorry.  If I had known it was you…” Chico’s black eyes sparkled.

“Save it, Casanova.” Angelica said. “I learned the hard way.”

Jak grinned, “I only escaped once.  You were my willing accomplice.”

Angelica played with her curls. “It was a fun night. The circus was great.”

“Let’s get out of here.  We can walk the beach and then go back to my apartment.” 

Angelica raised an eyebrow. 

Chico winked at her. “So, you can teach me how to properly use my communicator.” 

Angelica said, “Tempting Mr. Chico, but I have other plans for you.”

“I’m all ears, beautiful, but first a dance.” 

The live jazz band started playing It’s a Wonderful World.

He stood and extended his hand.

She trusted her dainty hand in his. “You can dance?”

“One of my many talents.” 

He kissed her hand, and walked her to the middle of the floor.

“Jak.  No dance floor. They will kick you out.”

“I know the barkeep, we go way back.  He won’t mind one dance.”

The captain spun Angelica into his arms and swayed to the music.  Orlando started to protest, but Jak’s glare froze the mixologist.

Angelica placed her arms around his neck holding her clutch purse.

“How is your mother?”

“Fine.  I gave her my house in Charlotte.  I call her once a day.”

“Good.  How do you like the Dolphins?”

“I enjoy being part of the team again and working out.”

“What do you do in your down time?”

“Exercise, read, go to the beach, ride my horse, Spitfire, and now spend time with you.”

“You are not at all what I expected, Mr. Chico.  For a man who almost became a dictator, you are very charming.  I read your dossier.”

“You can’t always win using brute force.” He spun her a half turn and then back. “Dossier? Anything juicy?”

“Yes. Quite an extensive list.  Mr. Doorf was thorough.”

“How is the old man?”

“Having some trouble in Between, I’m afraid.”

“The jerk deserves it.  Don’t care.  What is your accent?  You have an American accent and then you sound different.  It is alluring.”

Angelica blushed. “Thanks.  I was born in Bermuda and moved to the U.S. as a teenager with my brother.”

“How is Preston?”

“On a special mission in North Carolina.” 

Angelica heard an annoyed voice near the bar. The bartender had returned with two beefy security guards.

“Jak, we have trouble.  Security is coming. They’re giants.”

“A guy with a bad goatee and a bald one?”

Angelica whispered in his ear. 

“Yes. Single file. No weapons, just plastic flashlights. What are you going to do?”

“Improvise.”

An enormous hand tapped Jak’s right shoulder.

“Excuse me, sir.  You need to leave for threatening Mr. Orlando.”

Chico turned and faced security.

“How may I help you gentlemen?”

“Look Buckets, it’s Chico.” The goatee said.

“I can see that Marv.  What’s up Jak?” Buckets said.

All three did a special handshake. 

“Great to see you off the practice field.  I’m on a date with my friend.”

Security nodded. She smiled at the behemoths.

Marv said, “Buckets, you remember that spin move Chico did and the linebacker totally whiffed. Chico ran for the touchdown and then I smashed the other lineman.  It was awesome.”

“Yea Marvin.  It was bussin’.  My QB be cookin’.”

“Thanks guys.  I’m the kicker not the quarterback.”

“NFL, bro.” Buckets said, “Not For Long.  Slim got tossed tonight.” 

“Really?  Well, I couldn’t have done it without your superior blocking.”

The football players beamed.

“Could’ve fooled me?” Marv said.

“Jak,” Buckets said, “You gonna have to leave.  No more dancin’.”

“No problem, fellas.  The song is over.  We were just leaving.  See you at practice.”

“Thanks Chico.” Marvin said.

“Do me a favor, boys.  Give the princess over there a linemen kiss for me.”

Buckets and Marv simply nodded.  Jak sent Orlando an imaginary kiss. Chico and Angelica returned to the table.  He finished his beer.

“You do this well.” Angelica said as they left the bar.

“What, rough up a punk?”

“No. That’s deplorable.  How you handle people.”

“I once was almost a dictator.” Jak grinned. “How about that walk on the beach?”

“No thanks.  May I show you something?  On my phone, Jak.”

“Of course.”

“It’s a news report about seismic and volcanic activity in the Atlantic.”

“Sure, I’ll watch.  Whatever turns you on.”

Angelica opened her purse.

“This was live satellite footage over the ocean 20 nautical miles east of Bermuda only two days ago.”

“What am I looking for?” Jak said.

Angelica zoomed into a specific area.

 “This cloud plume was an underwater volcano which erupted causing huge earthquakes and tsunamis. It has affected the entire planet.”

“Fantastic. Thanks for the science lesson.”

“Jak, this is today’s satellite view.” 

She zoomed out.  White spirals erased half the ocean.

 “The volcano superheated the water and created this extinction level hurricane.”

“Is it heading this way?”

“No. It’s stationary and growing bigger.  But watch the eye of the hurricane.”

Angelica zoomed in.

Jak squinted. “Swirling clouds?”

She adjusted the view. “What do you see now?”

“Is that… no it can’t be.”  He peered again. “Is that a castle?”

Angelica replied. “It’s Castle Doorf from Between.  It is returning to our world.”

“What?  It was in ruins.”

“‘When the Ruins rise again’.”

Jak scoffed and stepped away from her.

 “Ancient prophecies? Thanks for the dance and show, but I have practice in the morning.”

“Mr. Chico,” Angelica started, “I am here to recruit you.”

“For what?”

“To save Between and the Earth.  Mr. Tood and Seravina need your help.”

“I can’t move storms.  I barely can make a magic orb.”

“But you can recruit others to help.  I witnessed it.”

“You’re beautifully insane. You are recruiting me to recruit others.  Why would I help the very people who ousted me from Between.  No thanks.  Find another sucker.” 

Jak strolled to his new jet black BMW.  He unlocked it.  Angelica remained on the sidewalk and leaned on a palm tree.

 Angelica said, “That is not completely accurate.  Your own ambition and greed led to your downfall.  Your humility; wisdom and redemption.”

Jak whispered, “You sound like her?”

“Who?”

“Seravina.” 

“Your debt to her will be paid, if you help us save Between.  Jak, I must be leaving.  Godspeed.”

Angelica trilled a perfect New York whistle.  A passing taxi squealed to a stop. She opened the car door. 

Captain Chico considered the offer. “Angelica. I will help you on one condition.”

“Name it.” She closed the door. 

“Take a walk with me on his underappreciated, underrated, and unused beach.”

Angelica waved away the cab and scrutinized the counteroffer.

Jak said,“No talk of Between, the castle, or the end of the world.  Just a guy and girl walking on the sand.” He stuck out his hand. “Deal?”

She grinned and held his hand. “No tricks and no magic.  Deal?”

Captain Chico said, “Of course.  The beach access is this way.”

Angelica removed her dark heels.  He tossed his sandals.  The handsome couple meandered along the cool sand and crashing waves.  Jak found a sand dollar and handed it to his date. 

Chico said, “I can promise one thing.” 

“What’s that?”

“Once you go Jak, you never go back.”

The dark beauty laughed and winked at the captain.

“That is; a fantasy.”