Chapter 62

After a short sleep they dressed, ate breakfast and drove down to one of the beaches where it was possible to rent snorkeling equipment. It was another warm day but he didn't feel like entering the water, quite happy instead to sit on the sand watching everyone else and soak up the sun. He wasn't the sunbathing type and grew bored quickly, wishing he'd brought his Walkman. He let his friend enjoy the underwater scenery while he himself got up for a walk.
He arrived back to find his friend now out of the water, shivering slightly as the gentle breeze evaporated the water on his skin, drawing off his body heat. He'd enjoyed his swim, he'd said, and really liked what he'd seen - the multicoloured fish and the exquisite coral.

They'd not eaten anything since breakfast and by mid-afternoon both were starving, so drove back to the centre of town to get something to eat. A sidewalk restaurant provided their next meal - a huge pizza. Whilst busy filling his mouth he was also eyeing the CD jukebox standing next to the restaurant door. He got up to take a look which discs were inside the machine and after flicking through the fifty on offer he chose a couple of tracks from Mick Jagger's 'Wandering Spirit' album.
The first, 'Use Me', filled him with an odd feeling. All of a sudden all his cares and worries dropped away, as though nothing really mattered to him. He felt so... so... good. He could feel the bass and drums in his chest. In an instant he'd jumped onto the wall which divided the street from the restaurant's yard and started dancing. He grooved his way back and forth along the wall with his friend joining him a moment later. Passers-by stopped to watch them. He could not imagine doing this in England but, here, something brought it out in him. He didn't care what people thought. He was enjoying himself and hadn't even drank anything alcoholic. The song faded out and, in need of rest, they went back to finish the pizza. The restaurant owner came out, "Everything OK? You enjoying yourselves, yes?" They told him everything was just fine.
He was sweating slightly from his frenzied dancing and downed his glass of Coke in a couple of mouthfuls. "Don't get to do that too often, eh?" he remarked.