Sand Dollars

Dirk Wallace and his family had just celebrated his sixteenth birthday. It was the first milestone in his journey to adulthood. Freedom! It was all about freedom. He was now old enough to get a drivers license, which meant he would no longer have to depend on his parents to take him places. Regrettably, he would have to wait a few weeks before taking the driver’s test. As was their custom, his mother and his Aunt Charlotte had gone in together to rent a house at the beach for two weeks. The timing could not have been worse as far as Dirk concerned.

“Don’t worry,” his mother said, “you can get your drivers license as soon as we return home.”

This was not his only disappointment. His cousin Paul was taking a summer course, and this would delay the arrival of Charlotte’s family for two days. This meant that Dirk would not have his favorite cousin to pal around with during those days. Still, Dirk was going to his favorite place on earth, and his mother assured him that everywhere he wanted to go was within walking distance of the house they were renting.

The next morning broke bright and clear. They used paper plates at breakfast to cut down on the amount of time it would take his mother and older sister Lily to clean up. Dirk loaded the suitcases into the car as his mom and Lily cleared the table. One would think this process could be done fairly quickly. Think again. His mother had to take an inventory of everything packed and everything loaded into the car to make sure they had all the stuff she thought they were going to need. The sun was rising ever higher in the sky as this was taking place. Dirk was getting impatient, but he knew there was no way to rush his mother.

At long last everyone was in the car. Dirk was sitting in the front seat next to his mother who was driving. Lily and her friend, Patty, were in the back seat with Dirk’s younger sister, Cathy. Dirk turned on the radio. It was playing rock and roll, but his mother made him keep it at a lower volume than would have been the case if he and his sisters were the only ones in the car. They soon exited the freeway onto the two-lane highway headed south. On they traveled, past the bean fields and the fruit and vegetable stands selling the freshly picked corn, strawberries, and melons his mother usually bought on the way home from the beach during their Sunday outings. He was afraid his mother was going to cause a further delay by stopping at one of those stands, but she kept going. They were now getting close to Pacific Coast Highway. The smell of the ocean made him fidget like a puppy being taught to heel. They turned onto PCH and then onto a side street. His mom parked the car in front of a duplex.

Dirk unpacked his things as soon as the sleeping arrangements had been made. He did this very quickly. He wondered why women took so long to do this. Why was it that they always had to fuss over where they placed everything? Was it some sort of territorial instinct? Fortunately he did not have to wait for them. His mother knew that breaking away from the family made her children feel more like adults, and that this was important to them. She was content to let them go their own way for the most part. He had put on his bathing suit before leaving home. He now picked up his beach towel.

“See you at the beach,” he said as he opened the door to leave.

It was a short walk to the sand. He dropped his towel fairly close to the water, but not too close. He could see that the tide was coming in. He looked to his right as he waded into the water. He saw a wave knock a little girl on her butt. The wave took her into a rip tide. He ran into the water as she struggled to her feet. He grabbed her from behind and dug his feet into the sandy floor. She could not have weighed more than a hundred pounds, and he was able to hold her against the pull of the water.

“Relax and go with me,” he said.

He managed to move sideways. He had only moved a short distance but it was enough to take them out of the rip tide as the next wave formed. Then he stepped forward and lifted her so that her head was above the swell.

“I’m going to put you in the next wave. Don’t be afraid. Just lie flat on your tummy and let the wave take you to the shore.”

He placed her into the wave perfectly. She rode it until the depth of water was less than knee high. Dirk looked out at the ocean again and bobbed over next small swell. When he turned back to look for her, she was on her feet and facing him. He waved to her and she returned the wave. Now that he knew she was safe, he turned to face the incoming tide again, and he started working his way beyond the small shore break to the larger waves that were beginning to form farther out. He body surfed for two hours. He was drying off when he saw the little girl approaching him. She was eleven years old and had a cute, round, baby face. She favored him with a dimpled smile.

“Hi, I’m Sandy. Thank you for saving me.”

“I’m Dirk, and you’re welcome.”

“Well, ah… Thanks again.”

She looked like she was going to giggle, but she did not do it. Instead she turned and walked away. He was slightly amused by how shy and awkward she appeared to be. He saw his family farther up the sand from the water, and he decided to join them.

“It looks like you have a fan,” Lily said.

“I pulled her out of a rip tide.”

Lily seemed amused. “Her hero!”

“She doesn’t weigh much and the surf was a lot smaller then.”

“She seems quite taken with you,” Patty said.

“She’s still a little girl.”

Dirk’s mother looked up from the magazine she was reading. “Little girls have much deeper feelings than you would think. Be careful, Dirk.”

He did not say anything, but this conversation was really disconcerting. Sandy was a pretty little thing. He did not want to hurt her by rejecting her, but he did not want her pestering him either.

The next morning Dirk got up when everyone was still asleep. He put on a pair of jeans and a sweatshirt. Then he went for a walk on the beach. He had just stepped onto the sand when he heard a voice coming from behind him.

“Hi, Dirk.” It was Sandy. “Do you always get up this early?” she asked.

“I like walking on the beach this early because no one else is here.”

“I know it’s like we’re the only two people on earth.”

She obviously did not get the hint. Rather than being annoyed he was actually amused by the fact that it did not seem to occur to her that he might want to be alone. He saw it as an indication of her immaturely and innocence.

“That illusion will be undone when everyone wakes up.”

“That’s when mom will start looking for me.”

“I don’t want to get you in trouble.”

“It’s okay.”

There was a lull in the conversation, and they walked along the water’s edge in silence. He suddenly stopped and bent down. There was a big smile on his face as he picked up a sand dollar.

“Look at this; it’s perfect! It’s rare that you find one this fossilized that isn’t broken.”

He held it out for her to see. The sun had bleached it white, and it had a flower pattern that looked like it had been etched on the topside of its slightly domed surface.

“Neat,” she said.

“Do you want it?”

“Don’t you?”

“Yeah, but I’m happy to give it to you if you want it.”

She thanked him and took it. They walked a little farther. Then she bent down and picked up another sand dollar. This one was a little smaller than the one he had found, but it was also sun bleached and intact. She handed it to him.

“Now we’ve both given something to each other,” she said.

He smiled at her. “That’s good. You must be good luck. Finding one intact is rare; finding two in tact is almost a miracle.” He looked down at his watch. “Well, I should be getting back. Mom is probably making breakfast now.”

“Mine too.”

They turned and walked back the way they had come. Later that day he was walking to the water when he felt someone at his side. It was Sandy.

“Hi, Dirk.”

“Hello.” For some reason he thought about her getting in trouble in the water. “Do remember where you were when you got in trouble in the water?”

“No.”

He pointed. “See how the waves converge over there?”

“Yes.”

“That tells you there’s a rip tide there, and that is where you were. Now look straight out in front of us. Which way are the waves breaking?”

“To the right.”

“That means the waves will take you toward the rip tide. So after you ride a wave in you need to look for the rip tide and move away from it before going back out in the water.”

“Okay.”

Dirk then went into the water. Since he went out much farther than she was comfortable going she did not follow him. He joined his family when he came out of the water, and there was Sandy. She was taking to Cathy.

“We were talking about you,” Cathy said.

Dirk looked over at Sandy. “Don’t believe anything my sister says about me unless it’s good.”

“He has a rotten sense of humor,” Cathy said.

Sandy giggled but the smile on her face soon faded. “My mom’s waving at me. I guess it’s time for lunch.”

“Bye,” Dirk said.

“Bye,” she replied.

He did not see Sandy again until he was walking back to the duplex in the afternoon.

“We can’t talk long,” Sandy said, “but I had to tell you we’re leaving tomorrow.”

Dirk was somewhat relieved by this news, but he remembered his mother’s statement about little girls having deeper feelings than you would think. Sandy was a sweet little girl. Since she was leaving there was no reason why he could not tell her what she wanted to hear.

“I’ll miss you.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

She hugged him briefly.

“Take care of yourself,” he said.

She stood there as if she was expecting him to say something else. He did not know what else to say. She had a sad look on her face when she said “Bye.” He watched her walk away.

Aunt Charlotte and Paul arrived the next day. It was a good vacation, but he was glad when it was over because he was really eager to get his driver’s license, which he did the day after arriving home. His mother let him use her car that night. He drove to the house of his friend, Larry. Larry was one of the few kids who had his own car.

“I have mom’s car. Let’s go cruising,” Dirk said.

“We can pick up Sue and Ellen,” Larry said. “I can also score some beer.”

“I don’t know about that. If we get caught with the beer it will be years before mom lets me drive her car again.”

“We’ll take my car.”

Larry drove to a liquor store and parked behind it.

“Wait here,” he said.

Larry got out of the car and walked to the front of the store. A few minutes later he came out the back door carrying two six packs of beer. He put them in the back seat of the car. They then drove to Sue’s house. Larry was somewhat of a Romeo, and both Sue and Ellen had a reputation for being naughty girls. They cruised the main drag of town for a short time before Larry drove to a park. Dirk knew this park well. It was really a neat place. It was hilly with natural vegetation on the slops and grass on the flat areas. It was officially closed in the evening. There were no lights there, and the restrooms were locked after dark. It was not the usual make out spot, but that made it better because they did not have to worry about anyone else being there. Larry gave everyone a beer. They drank it as they listened to the radio. After he handed everyone another beer he started making out with sue.

Dirk started making out with Ellen. He was not very experienced at petting, but he reached up and felt her breast. She smiled but pushed his hand away.

“Sorry,” she said, “but I have to pee.”

She got out of the car. Sue did what females are so prone to do.

“I’ll go with you,” she said.

This was not just a matter of one woman accompanying another to the rest room. It was really dark and they would not be able to use a rest room. They walked down the small slope in front of the car and into the darkness. A few minutes later there was a terrible scream. Larry turned on the car lights and both boys exited the vehicle. The first girl to appear in the beam of the headlights was Sue. She was running for all she was worth, which must have been a difficult thing to do because she was also laughing. Ellen appeared in the beam of the lights a minute later. Ellen was having a more difficult time running because her panties were down around her ankles. Both girls were soaking wet.

“What happened?” Larry asked.

“The sprinklers must be on a timer,” Sue said.

“The damn things pop up, shoot a powerful stream out of two sides, then spin,” Ellen added.

“I got hit when they started spinning. Ellen got a cold water douche before the one she was squatted over started spinning.”

“I want to go home,” Ellen said.

“Me too!”

That was that. There would be no more petting that night. The boys were disappointed, but Dirk was still laughing about it years later. He could not believe how clumsy he was with the opposite sex at sixteen. There was lust to be sure, but there was also innocence. It was a time of discovery, the discovery of the female anatomy but also of feelings. Not just sexual feelings because girls think beyond that. They want relationships. This meant that he had to think about more than his own gratification. He had to pay attention to a girl’s feelings. His father told him that girl’s also expect him examine his own feelings. This was not an easy thing to do. It was complicated. He was now a senior in high school. He was no longer a virgin, but he was not very experienced. He knew he still had a lot to learn. He told himself that it takes time and experience to appreciate the complexities of life.

He picked up the book he had received on his sixteenth birthday. It was a good book. He had been collecting things from the sea since he was just a little kid. His mother bought him the book because it identified many of those things. He read it and enjoyed it, but that was as far as he went. A sixteen year old is always looking for excitement. He wants a surfboard, a car, and a girl friend. Dirk was too restless to make good use of the book at that time. He decided that he would make use of it now. He would set up a display of his treasures from the sea, and he would label them with their scientific names and their common names. He started sorting through his shells until he came to the sand dollar. It made him think about Sandy. He was glad he had not hurt her by ignoring her.

He wanted to go to college to study oceanography. There are very few colleges that offered that as major. The ones that accepted his application did not offer it. So he majored in biology thinking he could study oceanography as a post-graduate student. In his junior year he met Brenda. In the last semester of his senior year they moved in together. By the time he had made up his mind to ask her to marry him they were taking their final examinations. It was so hectic that it did not seem like the right time to ask her. He came home after his last examination and opened his mail. She entered the apartment as he was reading his draft notice. We had advisors in Viet Nam at the time, but it was apparent that our participation in that war was rapidly escalating.

“Damn it!” he said. “I just got my Goddamn draft notice.”

He was opposed to our involvement in that war and so was she.

“What are you going to do?”

“What can I do? I have to report, but I’ll do whatever I can to keep from fighting. How would you feel about being married to a guy who has to serve for two years?”

“I love you, but I wouldn’t like that. Why don’t we write to each other and see what happens.”

What happened was that he received a Dear John letter form her shortly after he completed his training and was deployed over seas. That really hurt him. A soldier always dreams about returning home. He particularly dreams about the girl he wants to have waiting for him. By the time he was discharged the pain of her letter had dissipated to a great extent. He was a free man. What more could he ask. It was time to rebuild his life, and that was a good thing. He was discharged at Fort Dix. The flight he got on was not direct. He had a connecting flight at O’Hare airport. He boarded that plane and walked to his assigned seat.

A very beautiful young woman was sitting next to the window. She wore a mini-skirt and high boots. She also wore a decorative headband. He wondered if she was one of the hippies he had been reading about. He sat down next to her. She looked at his face then at his name tag. She had a curious look on her face.

“I hope a gentle soul like you didn’t have to kill anyone,” she said.

“I was fortunate enough to be sent to Germany before they started shipping those poor guys over to Viet Nam to fight.”

“Thank God!”

“Thank God indeed. I’m really against that damn war.”

“Is your first name Dirk?”

“Yes, but how did you know?”

“I didn’t, but you looked familiar. Do you still have your sand dollar?”

“My what?”

“Your sand dollar. I still have mine.”

“Oh my God! Sandy?”

“Yes, but I introduce myself as Saundra now.”

“Then Saundra it is.”

“I know that must seem rather formal, but you do not know my last name, do you?”

“No.”

“The spelling is B-e-e-c-h. I think you can see the problem.”

He laughed. “I’m surprised you remember me after all these years.”

“The name tag helped,” she said with a beautiful smile. “But you shouldn’t be surprised that I remember you. A girl never forgets her first love or the first boy she has a crush on. You have no idea how mad I was at you when you didn’t ask for my phone number.”

“I never thought a little girl would expect that.”

She smiled. “It’s all right. I know three or four years makes a big difference at that age.”

“Well your not a little girl now, and I won’t make the same mistake.”

“Are you asking for my phone number?”

“Yes, I am.”

“All right, reach into the overhead and pulled down the bag that’s the size of a large purse.”

He reached into the compartment and found the bag. It was made of cloth and had shoulder straps. When he held it out to her he noticed what was embroidered on the front. It was a sand dollar.

She laughed at his reaction. “I told you girls don’t forget.”

She took out a small pad of paper and a pen. Then she wrote her name, two phone numbers, and her address. She handed him the paper.

“Thank you. I wish tomorrow wasn’t Saturday because my folks are having a coming home party for me then. You’re certainly welcome to come, but I think you deserve a dinner date.”

“I agree.”

“How about next Friday?”

“Saturday would be better.”

“Then we’ll make it next Saturday. May I call you during the week?”

“Please do.”

The one concern Dirk had was that he might not able to live up to Sandy’s expectations. Was the sand dollar on her bag a sign of obsession? Had her childhood imagination created an unrealistic image of him as some sort of hero? He did not know. What he did know was that she was gorgeous. Their conversation now shifted to more mundane topics. Which is to say that it was not what they said that was flirtatious; rather it was their mannerisms and the way they looked at each other. She told him she had been visiting a relative in Chicago, and that she was an English Literature major who was just starting her junior year at U.C.L.A. She was obviously very bright and charming. Her beauty made him question his own expectations. He was after all a returning G.I. eager to embrace all of the things he had missed while over seas, including a very attractive American girl.

He usually took girls to a restaurant at the beach that was famous for seafood. The beach was one of the things he had missed the most, but he wanted to avoid taking her anywhere that might remind her of their first meeting so many years ago. For this reason he decided to take her to a restaurant his family had been patronizing for so many years that the owner of the place had literally watched him grow up. It was an upscale Mexican restaurant. It even had a Mariachi singer who went from table to table taking requests.

The owner was serving as the mater d as usual. “Senor Dirk, it’s good to see you again, and with such a beautiful lady.”

Sandy actually blushed.

“Come, I’ll seat you at a corner table so you’ll have more privacy.”

Sandy waited until they were seated. “I take it you come here often.”

“My family has been coming her for years, usually on special occasions.”

“I’m flattered that you consider our date a special occasion.”

Their conversation was interrupted by the arrival of the waitress who handed them menus and took their drink orders. They both ordered Margaritas. Sandy was looking around the room. Her eyes briefly settled on the singer, then she turned her head to look at Dirk. The waitress quickly served them their drinks and the singer approached them. He played a brief Flamenco riff on his guitar to get their attention.

“I love song for the lady?”

Sandy raised an eyebrow and smiled.

“By all means,” Dirk said.

Dirk tipped him when he finished the song, and the singer moved on to another table.

“That was lovely,” Sandy said, “but I must confess that I didn’t understand the words.”

“In matters of the heart it’s the emotion that counts.”

“How poetic!”

She said it in a teasing manner that made him laugh. The waitress now delivered the meals. Among the items on Sandy’s plate was a red rose.

“The rose is from Geraldo,” the waitress said.

“He’s a romantic son of gun,” Dirk replied.

“Not that romantic,” the waitress said.

Dirk looked at Sandy. “Which means you must have made quite an impression on him.”

“Are you jealous?”

“I think that would be rather presumptuous of me at his point.”

“Oh, I don’t know.” The look she gave him was so seductive that he felt his heart racing.

They walked to his car after the meal. He opened the door for her. She kissed him on the cheek before entering the vehicle. She waited until he started the car and pulled out onto the street before resuming their conversation.

“I hope you didn’t spend all your severance pay on me tonight.”

“Hopefully I’ll find a job quickly enough so that that won’t be a problem.”

“Inexpensive meals and a movie are nice too.”

“Thank you. That’s a very considerate thing to say.”

There is always that awkward moment on a first date when the couple is standing in front of the door, and the man wonders how she will react if he kisses her good night. She prevented that moment by lightly kissing him on the lips.

“Call me,” she said.

“You can count on it.”

The fact that she did not invite him in was both a relief and a disappointment. He saw it as a sign that his fear about her being obsessive was unfounded. The disappointment speaks for itself. He really wanted to be with her.

He had just enough money to take her to the restaurant at the beach on their next date. They did not talk about the first time they met. They talked about the war, the civil rights movement, and about life in general. The political topics could have been problematic but they were in complete agreement. She was a very generous and passionate woman. She was not just passionate about the causes of the day but about life itself. He found that very appealing. They took a walk on the pier after supper. They paused for a while and stood together at the rail to watch the waves form and break.

“I’m glad to see that you still love the ocean,” she said.

“I’ll always love it.”

“Me too. I’ve learned how to handle myself in the water now.”

“I’m glad to hear that. I was afraid that getting caught in a rip tide might have scared you away from it.”

She put her arm around him and leaned on him. “I’m rather fond of that event and the very kind teenage boy who was so patient with a little girl.”

Dirk did not become an oceanographer. He became a lab technician. He also came to Sandy’s rescue again. This time he saved her from being Sandy Beech by making her Sandy Wallace. They bought a nice little house at the beach. She photographed a wonderful sunrise over the ocean. She had that photograph enlarged and framed, and she glued both sand dollars amidst the gold streaks reflecting off the water. She hung it in their bedroom because she thought it might be too intimate to explain to quests. To her and Dirk it was a symbol of their love for each other and of the miracle of their chance meeting on the airplane from Chicago.

First published in macsbackporch.fictionforall.com on May 26, 2011