Aquarius Falling

Chapter 14

Chapter 14

May 19, 1964

Learning to Surf

I was asleep when the phone in the room rang. No one had ever called the room before.  

“Hello.”

“Delaney?” spoke a feminine voice.

“Yesss?”

“Bonjour. It’s moi, Wendy.”

“Wendy!”

“Were you expecting someone else?”

“I wasn’t expecting anyone. This is the first time the room phone has rung. I didn’t even know if it worked.”

“I told you I’d call you. So do you want to learn to surf today?”

“You bet. What time is it?”

“It’s seven o’clock. I’ll pick you up at eight-thirty at your hotel, OK?”

“Why so early?”

“The wind and tides dictate the time and place, my little gremmie.”

“Great. I’ll see you then.”

I shaved, found my cleanest T-shirt, put on my surfer baggies, and headed next door to Safari’s coffee shop to grab a coffee and a roll to go. I was standing on The Sands’ porch when a red Jeep with a surfboard sticking out the back and the world’s most beautiful girl driving it pulled into the parking lot.

“Ready for your big day?” She smiled.

“You bet,” I said, jumping into the passenger seat. Wendy wore a blue short- sleeve, button-down Oxford shirt that looked like a man’s. It was unbuttoned to reveal her two-piece top and firm stomach muscles. She wore cutoff Levi’s and was barefoot. Her hair in a ponytail, she pulled out of the parking lot and turned north on Philadelphia.

“Where are you going?”

“What do you mean?”

“I thought we were going to Assateague to surf.”

“Oh, I thought we could do that next time. There’s someplace special that I want you to see near Bethany Beach. It’s actually in Delaware. Have you ever seen or heard of the World War II watchtower?”

“No.”

“I didn’t think so. You’ll like it. Guys always like war stuff. Besides, it’s a good place to learn to surf. Not many people there but also close to civilization; not so desolate like Assateague.”

So we headed north. As we passed the white turret of the Castle in the Sand, it occurred to me that had I worked there, I never would have met Wendy. Maybe things do work out for the best. The Jeep’s radio was playing, and I heard Gene Chandler singing the last lines of “Duke of Earl.” Then the DJ said, “And now, the Beatles,” and the Liverpool four began “I Want to Hold Your Hand.” Wendy provided a full-throated sing-along.  When Wendy and the Beatles finished, she looked at me and said, “Aren’t they wonderful? No, fabulous—that’s the word for them. Oh, not to change the subject, but see that huge hotel?”

I looked to my right toward the ocean and saw a hotel more than twice the size of the Castle in the Sand. It was also more than twice as isolated.

“That’s Robby Roberts’ Sea Circus Hotel. Have you heard of that place?”

“Yeah, I read about the hotel in the Post when it opened,” I replied. “And I read about Roberts’ scandal in Life magazine last year.