Battleship (Movie Tie-in Edition) (6 page)

“Alex, you sure—?” Stone said.

Hopper managed a nod and forced a wry smile. Preferring to double down on the lie rather than admit to it, he said, “Never better.”

Apparently this latest overaggressiveness had been the final straw for the refs. Or at least it was for the American ref. The Japanese ref was angrily protesting, but his counterpart was shaking his head as he shoved his way through the crowd of onlooking American sailors. “Penalty kick. End of injury time. This is it.” He leaned in and looked into Hopper’s eyes. “You in shape to take it, son?”

“Oh, I can take it.” He raised his voice to make damned sure the Japanese players heard him. “I can take whatever they dish out!”

This was all that was required to get the Americans psyched up. Shouts of “U.S.A! U.S.A!” rose from the onlookers,
mixed with chants of “Hopper! Hopper!” The Japanese, meanwhile, were trying their best to keep their expressions carefully neutral. But Hopper was sure that he saw growing nervousness in their eyes. They were aware that the tide was shifting against them, and that Hopper could single-handedly tie the game and force them into overtime. Furthermore Hopper was convinced that when that happened, the Americans would have the momentum to run roughshod over them.

He took a few steps forward on his own and then pain ripped through him. It wasn’t his head or his legs; instead it was his shoulder, which was hurt worse than he’d thought. His arm was hanging at an odd angle; it had been dislocated.

He looked toward the sidelines to see if Sam had noticed, since she was the one he was most concerned with. She knew his body better than anyone except himself, so if anybody was going to be aware of the level of damage he had sustained …

Yup. She sees it. I’m boned
. She was standing next to Vera, pointing to her own shoulder as an example, and Vera’s gaze shifted from Sam’s demonstration to Hopper’s actual right shoulder. She saw the damage that Sam was indicating and there was real concern on her face. Sam started gesturing for Hopper to remove himself from the game, but he simply shook his head and turned away from her. She wouldn’t understand. It was a guy thing.

“You want someone to take it for you?” said Stone, referring to the penalty shot.

“I got it,” said Hopper.

The ref flipped the ball to him and Hopper fortunately caught it with his left hand. He brought the ball over to the penalty line and dropped it at his foot. The goalie was watching steadily. He slapped his gloved hands together and then spread his arms wide in a defensive posture. Hopper could see the sweat beading on his forehead.
“You ready to kiss the donkey? Kiss. Kiss. Kiss,” Hopper muttered.

No reason to hurry. That’s what the goalie wanted him to do. He wanted him to rush the shot, and Hopper had no intention of accommodating him. Instead he stretched his legs, buying a few more moments to get his head together.

As he did so, Nagata took a moment to cruise past him. Hopper didn’t bother to ask if he was there to apologize for his cheap attack. There was no quarter being asked or given.

“Two kinds of idiots, Hopper,” said Nagata in a low voice. “One looks where he kicks. Other looks where he doesn’t kick. Which idiot are you?”

Hopper had no idea what he was talking about. Nagata was trying to get into his head and Hopper wasn’t about to let him. “I’m the idiot who’s gonna kick the ball through his face.”

Nagata simply gave him one more contemptuous look and moved on.

It had all come down to him. He closed his eyes, took a deep, cleansing breath. Then he backed up several steps, preparing to make his final charge at the ball. People were screaming themselves into a tizzy from the sidelines, shouting encouragement. Pain continued to throb in his shoulder and he pushed it away so it wouldn’t distract him.

The goalie was slowly drifting from side to side, looking at Hopper challengingly. He was practically daring Hopper to drive the ball past him.

Hopper was more than happy to oblige.

He took one more breath, and then charged. The ball was sitting there waiting for him, inviting him. The goalie was prepared to obstruct him, expecting Hopper to try to get the ball to one side of him or the other.

Screw that
. Hopper knew exactly what was going to
work. Why go to one side or the other of an obstruction when you can go through it, and exact a bit of revenge at the same time? Send Nagata and his people a message that they couldn’t get away with that kind of crap.

The kick was perfect. He sent the ball spiraling directly, and with full force, at the goalie’s face. In Hopper’s mind, the goalie stood there with a stunned expression, caught completely flat-footed. The ball smashed directly into the target, knocked him flat and sent him sprawling to the ground. It rolled past him into the net. The crowd went wild, the game went into overtime, the Americans won, and a triumphant Hopper was hoisted onto his teammates’ shoulders and paraded around the field.

In reality, however, the goalie judged the ball perfectly. Rather than flinch, he reached up and caught it on the fly. The solid
thump
of the soccer ball into his hands was the death knell of the Americans’ hopes as the game ended with the victorious Japanese swarming onto the field, pounding one another on the back in triumph.

Hopper stood there, staring, his jaw twitching as his mental image of what would happen crashed up against what had actually transpired. Nagata, of course, chose that moment to step in near him and say, just softly enough for only Hopper to hear, “So predictable.”

Hopper had never wanted to punch someone in the face as much as he did Nagata at that moment. The fist of his left hand curled up tightly and he turned to face him. But the Japanese captain was no longer there; he was crossing the field and, projecting dignity and control, joining his teammates in celebration. Instead there was Beast, patting him on the back, and Tompkins, and Stone shaking his head consolingly, saying “Good shot,” “Good try,” and all the other useless condolences that are typically offered when things simply don’t go the way you wanted them to.

Nor did it help that they were patting him on the
shoulder, which was throbbing like a son of a bitch. He tried not to wince from it and didn’t even come close to succeeding.
Just like you didn’t come close to succeeding in tying the game
.

Stone stepped closer to his brother. “At least you demonstrated mild self-control,” said Stone. “You didn’t beat up the Japanese officer. Well done.”

Hopper wondered if Stone knew that he’d nearly lost control and belted Nagata into the middle of next week.
In my defense, he had it coming
. Somehow he didn’t think that that excuse would have flown with his brother—or, for that matter, with anybody else.

It didn’t matter, though. Nothing mattered as far as Hopper was concerned, because there was Sam, his beautiful Sam.
His
beautiful Sam. She would comfort him, she would speak kind words to him, she would say all the right things. She would—

All business, Sam skipped over sweet nothings and instead inspected his right shoulder with practiced confidence. “On your back,” she said briskly.

“Right here? In front of everybody?” He lay down slowly. “All right, honey, I’m game …” As a couple of his teammates snickered, he gestured for her to lie on top of him while he moved his pelvis in a suggestive manner.

Sam was clearly not amused. She reached down, grabbed his wrist, and put a foot in his armpit. “It’s gonna hurt,” she warned him.

“You always hurt the one you—” He didn’t get the rest of the sentence out. Instead he let out a startled shriek that was higher-pitched than he would have liked as Sam pulled hard and snapped the shoulder back into place. He lay there for a moment, gasping in pain. Then slowly he sat up, growling as he flexed his arm. It was still sore as spit, but the agony was subsiding.

“Damn, that’s fun.” Sam sounded far more entertained by it than he thought she had any right to be.

He rubbed his shoulder, making as big a show of it as possible, his face twisted into a mask of exaggerated pain. As he got to his feet, he said with a growl, “Evil woman.”

Then he charged her.

With a delighted shriek, she turned and ran, Hopper chasing her off the field. She was running as fast as she could. He wasn’t. He caught up with her anyway.

The throbbing in Hopper’s shoulder had more or less faded to nothing as he sat on the beach next to Sam, the water gently lapping against the shore. Kuhio Beach was adjacent to Kapi’olani Beach Park, and this late at night, the beach was largely deserted. The Pacific Ocean was smooth as glass, and the full moon reflected down upon it, making it seem as if a giant yellow eye was staring up at them from the depths of the waters.

Sam was holding a bottle of wine and was sipping from it. A blanket was spread out beneath them and a gentle breeze was causing her long hair to flutter. They had forgone glasses from which to drink the wine and instead were simply passing the bottle back and forth.

Handing the bottle to Hopper, Sam said, “So … big day tomorrow.”

Slowly he lowered it and tried to smile. Unfortunately, all he could manage was a grimace. Sam noticed it and her expression darkened. “Hopper … are you ready for this? I mean, are you
sure
you’re ready for this?”

“I’m ready,” he said, a little faster than he really needed to. As a result he didn’t sound quite as confident as she would have liked and he would have wanted.

She rested her hand on his shoulder and the concern upon her face was palpable. “You
suuuure
?”

Hopper heard the challenge in her voice. She wanted the truth, and he had to take a long, hard look into himself. As it turned out, he liked what he saw. More specifically, he liked it in relation to her. “Never more sure,” he said with growing confidence.

She studied him, not looking totally convinced. “What are you going to say?”

There was a long pause as his mind raced. Truthfully he didn’t have the faintest idea. The fact was that he had been trying to put off the conversation even in his mind, opting for that oldest of strategies: if you ignore something, it will go away.

It didn’t seem to be working this time. Instead Sam was becoming increasingly annoyed. It was clear she was having serious doubts that he was intending to follow through on what they’d discussed.
Well, she discussed it, for the most part. You just listened
. Finally he said, “I’m just gonna ask him. Man to man.”

“With
what
words?”

“
My
words: ‘Sir, I love your daughter. More than anything in this world, and I’m asking you for your permission …’ ” Then his voice sputtered and died, like a deflating balloon running out of air.

Sam prompted him to continue. “Permission …?”

“He’s gonna knock me out.”
Oh yeah. Man to man. That sounded … manly
.

“Permission …?” she said again.

“Can we go swimming?”

She was relentless, though. At least she gave him the next word. “Permission
to
…?”

Hopper desperately wanted to be anywhere else than
where he was at that moment. He was wearing a light shirt and his bathing trunks, and Sam had on her bikini beneath a loose T-shirt and shorts. Why were they sitting here, dwelling on a dead-end conversation, when the ocean was beckoning? “
Please
can we go swimming?”

“Finish the question. Then we can go swimming.”

Clearly she wasn’t about to let up and—his back against the metaphorical wall—he was forced to admit what was truly on his mind. Very softly, so much so that she could scarcely hear him, Hopper looked down at the blanket on which he was sitting. “I think he’s gonna say no.”

“Hopper.” She sounded so disappointed in him. “Don’t you think he wants me to be happy?”

“Yeah, but I’m pretty sure he’s not gonna give a crap about
my
happiness.”

“He’s going to have to, because you’re what makes me happy.”

He took that in, and even though there was a cool breeze coming off the Pacific, he still felt suffused with warmth. He stared fixedly forward, as if her father were standing directly in front of them and, with a formal tilt of his head, said, “May I please have permission to marry your daughter. The most beautiful and the best thing to ever happen to me.” He turned back to her, waiting for approval, hoping it would be forthcoming.

She took his chin in her hand and kissed him. “I love you.”

“Can we
please
go swimming?”

As an answer, she jumped to her feet and started shedding her clothing, stripping down to her bikini. She then sprinted into the ocean, with Hopper bounding in right behind her.

He’s gonna kill me
. That certain conviction went through Hopper’s mind, taking some of the fun out of splashing about in the water with his intended, the love of his life, the woman he’d nearly wound up in jail for.
From that day to this one, he’d never been able to look at a chicken burrito again. But what did burritos matter when he had a beautiful woman like this in his arms?

Besides which, there were always tacos. And enchiladas.

They swam and kissed under the full moon, and concerns about her father departed from his mind to become problems for another day.

“Hopper.” It was Sam’s voice, and there was a shaking. She was shaking him. He didn’t want to be shaken. He wanted to sleep some more.
“Hopper!”
she said, more insistently this time, shoving him around so violently that he felt as if there was an earthquake underneath the sand …

The sand? We’re still on the beach? If we’re on the beach, why is it so bright out …?

That was when his mind began to piece together the truth. They had fallen asleep on the beach, wrapped in the overlarge blanket. Night was gone and the sun was much higher in the morning sky than it had any right to be, considering he was supposed to be elsewhere at this very moment.

“This is bad,” he said.

Instantly they scrambled to their feet, gathering their belongings, stumbling in the sand as they did so. At one point Hopper lost his footing, tumbled against Sam, and they both wound up falling down onto the sand again.