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“Come on, it’s only a bit further to the beach.”
“But we already walked at the other beach,” Phil complained, dragging his feet as they walked to their next destination. “You’re making me do exercise when this is supposed to be relaxation time.”
“You made me paddle the kayak by myself yesterday because you claimed you were ‘too tired,’” Dan pointed out. “You’ll be fine with a little walk.”
“I was tired! And you’re better than me at paddling the boat anyway.”
Phil had paddled the kayak. A little bit. It was distracting with all the fish underneath with the see-through hull, and what was the point of having a clear kayak if not to spend the time admiring the sea life? Even the man who’d rented them the boat said that Dan should sit in the back because he was strong and better at steering them because he had more experience, so it technically wasn’t Phil’s fault at all that he’d been making the most of the situation.
Technically he could just walk to the beach if he wanted to, but it was less fun walking on the beach after he’d already used his energy walking to the beach, so he didn’t see why Dan insisted on doing it this way. He really did want to go, it was supposed to be a nice secluded area, but he’d prefer if they could get a ride instead of marching down the dirt and stone path through the trees. At least Dan was carrying their stuff; he had a bag with Phil’s sunglasses, a towel, the waterproof cases for their phones, and a spare shirt, and they could put their shoes in it once they got onto the sand.
He continued on anyway, hoping it wasn’t too much further. It was hot and humid but he liked getting outside and seeing the colorful birds in the trees overhead and the little geckos that skittered away at the sound of their footsteps. It was a beautiful island they’d picked to visit, and maybe it was a bit greedy to wish he had a ride when he was also enjoying how quiet it was without everyone driving their cars to the beach.
The path widened for a moment, letting more sunlight in through the canopy. There was a sandy cutout on the left with a small building and Phil could just barely see the glistening blue of the water through the thick foliage behind it. More importantly, there was a row of small white golf carts lined up along the road.
“Dan, look,” he said as he made a beeline for the shop.
“Wait,” Dan called out uselessly behind him as he jogged to catch up.
Someone inside must’ve heard them coming down the road, and a man came out of the small building to meet them with a smile on his face.
“Are we allowed to rent these?” Phil asked, gesturing to the row of golf carts. It looked like a rental place, but he wasn’t sure if they belonged to a specific hotel or if they were just for the maintenance staff who worked there and cleaned up the beach.
“Of course! Any of these are available, all in good condition,” the man said.
“Aren’t you supposed to have a driver’s license to rent these?” Dan asked. “Come on, Phil, we should go.”
“I do have one,” Phil hissed back at him. It expired a decade ago and was more likely sitting in a drawer at home than in his wallet, but he technically had one even if he hadn’t driven a car since he was a teenager in Rawtenstall.
“No worries, no license needed,” the man answered. “Which one do you like?”
Phil scanned the row of identical carts, looking for something that stood out to him. Really, they all looked the same, so he stopped in front of one that was tagged with the number seven. “Can we have this one?”
“Good choice! Come inside and I’ll get you the key,” the man said cheerfully, waving him into the shop to pay. He had no idea how much it would cost, but it probably wasn’t too much if they were only using it for a single day.
Phil patted the pockets of his shorts then turned to Dan.
“Really?”
“Do you have any cash with you?” he asked with the most innocent smile he could muster. He’d left the money at their place since he didn’t want to risk losing it in the water.
Dan rolled his eyes. “Fine,” he sighed, unzipping their bag and pulling out some cash. “Don’t run anybody over yet.”
“I won’t,” Phil promised. A golf cart was way easier to drive than a car and he doubted he could mess up driving on a small dirt road.
***
“You’re supposed to be on the right side of the road, Phil!”
“There’s only one side!”
“Not that right, your other right!”
“I am going right!”
Still, he swerved rightward, narrowly missing a tree as he corrected course. There was a steeper learning curve than he’d expected, but it was going fine so far. He hadn’t hit anything important, and the cart was moving, so as long as he treated it like a video game it felt fairly normal considering he hadn’t been behind the wheel in nearly twenty years.
Luckily the path was mostly clear and the road was fairly straight aside from a couple of tricky turns. The golf cart went faster than he thought it would, but it was still slower than a car and he could see any obstacles before he ran into them.
Dan, meanwhile, was next to him gripping the armrest of the bench seat for dear life. It seemed a bit overdramatic, but Phil didn’t really care. If Dan wanted to ride death-defying rollercoasters for fun but act like a grandma about a little ride to the beach on a golf cart, that was his business.
Suddenly a dark shadow crossed in front of the vehicle and Phil slammed on the brakes.
“Jesus Christ, what the fuck was that?” Dan screeched as they jolted to a halt.
“I thought I was going to hit a lizard on the road!”
“That’s a fucking tree branch, you idiot!”
Phil squinted at the dark, unmoving shape. On second glance, it was definitely just a stick. “Oh. It looked like a lizard and I didn’t want to hit it.”
In his defense, it was a remarkably gecko-shaped stick.
“Why don’t you slow down, then?” Dan suggested.
“Fine, dad.”
He slowly started up the golf cart again so it was just barely moving. If Dan wanted slow, he could do slow. In fact, it actually was easier this way. He had time to discern whether things were just tree branches or actual living things he should avoid hitting, and he didn’t have to grip the wheel quite so tightly around the turns.
“I said slow, not fucking glacial,” Dan complained as the vehicle crept down the road.
“This is slow.”
“We were literally walking faster than this before.”
Dan had a lot of complaints for someone who wasn’t actually doing the driving. If he thought he could walk faster, then maybe he should just get out and walk.
Just as Phil was about to tell him as much, he heard a faint ringing behind them. He craned his neck around backwards to see what it was, and he felt Dan yank the steering wheel back into place as the wheels started to drift.
Phil watched an older man on a bike come up behind them and wave. He rang the bell once more as he passed them on the left and disappeared into the trees.
“Fine, I’ll go faster,” Phil conceded. He probably should go faster than an old man on a bike.
He stepped on the gas and they went flying forward again, regaining their earlier pace.
“God help me,” Dan muttered beside him as they sped down the path toward the beach. It had to be close now, and Phil could feel the gentle breeze get stronger as they neared the water. Soon enough they saw the man on the bike again, and Phil tried his hardest to steer off to the side and give him as much space as he possibly could. For all the banter back and forth, he did acknowledge that perhaps he wasn’t the best driver and it was better to play it safe when there was a chance he could actually hit someone.
Luckily, there were no unfortunate collisions as he passed the man and rounded the final turn. The sandy road widened as the beach came into view, all white sand and turquoise waters with the shadows of some small islands in the distance. It was a beautiful view, and Phil was incredibly excited to get out and explore more of it. He turned sharply to the side of the road where the path ended and skidded to a stop in an area he hoped was far enough to the side that it was out of the way and didn’t block the entrance. He made sure to turn the key and slip it safely into his pocket before jumping out of the golf cart, fully re-energized and ready to go.
He fidgeted with anticipation as he waited for Dan to grab the bag with all their stuff and walk around the cart to meet him.
He was surprised when Dan came up and wrapped an arm around him as they walked down toward the sand.
“Hey bub.”
“Hey you. What’s up?” He smiled up at Dan, excited to finally explore more of the beach together.
Dan smiled back as he shook his head. “You’re never fucking driving again.”