Sunny looks up and sees that she's going to have to take another wave or two on her head, but it's okay, because she's in a good spot, close to the base of the waves, away from the point of maximum impact. But now she does release her leash, because the board is going to go in with the wave and she doesn't want to go with it.
She takes the two waves, then the set ends and Dave pulls her onto the Jet Ski.
“That kook,” Dave says, “jumped in on you.”
“I saw.”
He takes her onto the shore.
People are running up the beach, including some lifeguards with medical equipment. She waves them off. “I'm okay. I'm good.”
But Dave is already striding over to where Tim Mackie is running his pie hole to his entourage and some surf press.
“Yo, kook,” Dave says. “Yeah, you. I'm talking to you.”
“You got a problem, brah?” Mackie asks. He looks surprised. Like, People do not have problems with Tim Mackie.
“No, you have a problem,” Dave says. “You could have killed her.”
“Didn't see her, bro.”
High Tide steps into it. “You should get your eyesight checked, then, bruddah. ”
“You don't do that shit on my beach,” Dave says.
“This is your beach?”
“That's right,” Dave says. He moves in, ready to separate Mackie's head from his body. But Tide steps in front of him. Sunny steps in front of both of them and pushes the boys aside.
“I can take care of myself. Thanks, but I don't need you to big-brother me.”
“I'd do the same,” Dave says, “if it was Boone or-”
“I can take care of myself.”
Great, she thinks as the crowd stares at her. I wanted the wave of the day; instead, I got the wipeout of the day and a hassle with golden boy Tim Mackie.
“That wasn't cool,” she says.
“Sorry,” Mackie says. “My bad.”
But he has this smirk on his face.
“A-hole,” she says.
He laughs at her.
There's only one response to that. She picks up her board and starts back down the beach, to the point where she can paddle out again. She can hear the crowd murmuring words to that effect. “She's going out again. Do you believe it? After that? The chick's going back out there.”
Damn right, she thinks, the chick is going back out there.
Going back out there to take the biggest wave.