His Choice - Rafe Cameron

4. Terrible Sister

I stop running and plant my board into the sand. I place my hands on my knees and bend over, trying to catch my breath. Once I can breathe again, I turn around and hold my hand up to my face to block the sun from my eyes. I stare across the horizon, trying to see where JJ is in the water. He stole my last wave. 

He's going to hear it from me when he gets back to shore. 

"Hey." I hear someone say from behind me and I turn to see Sarah and John B walking hand in hand down the beach. 

"How was it out there? It looks good today." John B says. 

"It was amazing. Though It's been a while so I was a little rusty." 

Sarah smiles at me. "I'm sure you were still way better than me."

John B laughs at her. "Babe, I love you, but even Wheezie's hamster can surf better than you." 

"Shit, Wheezie. What's the time?" She frantically reaches for my wrist and takes a glance at my watch. "I told her that I'd take her to her friend's birthday party which is starting in ten minutes. Shit, my phone is dead. She's going to kill me."

"Wouldn't be the first of your siblings to try." John B mutters under his breath, but Sarah is too busy freaking out to hear him. 

"Do you know her number? You can call her on my phone." I pick up my bag from the ground and pull my phone out of it. When I look down at the screen, I see three missed calls and two text messages from my mother. Ignoring her notifications, I hand my phone to Sarah. 

"Thanks so much. I'll call her on the way. Do you want to come with?"

"Yeah sure." I dry myself off with the towel and follow after her. 

"You coming?" Sarah asks John B while typing digits into my phone. She holds the phone to her ear and calling who I assume is Wheezie. This time she leaves a voicemail. 

He points to the water. "I'll stay here and wait for JJ."

Sarah groans in annoyance and pulls the phone away from her ear before redialling the number. 

"I know it's not the right size, but you can take that out for a paddle if you like." I say while pointing to the board which JJ lent to me. 

He lifts his shirt over his head and tosses it on the sand. "You know what, I will." He picks up the board and runs towards the water. Sarah and I run up the sand dune and get inside Twinkie the  kombi van. I fasten my seatbelt while Sarah puts the keys into the ignition and the engine sounds terrible once it starts. When I stare around at the interior of the van, I am surprised that this thing is still running. 

"She's been through a lot." Sarah says, noticing how I apprehensively glance around the vehicle. 

"I can tell." I turn back around and face the front while Sarah drives. "How is Wheezie?"

"She's the smartest kid. She amazes me every single day. She's the only one in my family who I care about."

"Does it upset you ... you know, to know the truth about your father? You were always the biggest Daddy's girl."

"Yeah, I loved my Dad. But he's a terrible person. You know, I originally thought that I hated him. Then when I seen the explosion, I realised that he was still my Dad and I hated to admit that I still cared. But after I seen that he was alive on the ship and he tried to kill me, I felt numb towards him."

"He tried to kill you Sarah. A good father would never harm their child."

"John B had the chance to kill him on that ship and I gave him the nod of approval. Does that make me a terrible person?"