Page 62 of Nuts

“Do all bikers eat it?”

“Every damned one of them,” he said with a laugh.

I peeled the package open and took a bite of the salty meat. After I swallowed it, he handed me the bottle of water.

We sat in Arizona’s summer heat and ate our beef jerky. It seemed I was being drawn to him even more, and I couldn’t quite understand why. I was attracted to him, not doubt. But what I was feeling wasn’t sexual. It was as if we were the closest of friends.

Different friends than what we’d been in the past.

He tossed the wrappers in the trash when we were finished. When he turned around, his mouth curled into a slight grin. “Ready?”

I gave a nod. “Yep.”

Halfway to Holbrook, I realized what it was about riding that I enjoyed the most.

It was being an integral a part of everything around me. The motorcycle. The road. The horizon. The sky. The weather. Even the bugs that gave their lives to become a semi-permanent part of my wardrobe.

I wasn’t hiding inside the confines of a car. I wasn’t hiding, period.

I tilted my head back and looked up at the sky. The dark marshmallow-like clouds looked like they could spit out rain at any minute.

I glanced down at the road.

The asphalt rushed past us, mere inches from my feet.

I glanced up and focused on the mountains along the horizon. A raindrop hit me, stinging my face much more than I would have expected.

Then, another.

Within a few seconds, it began to pour.

He slowed down, and then signaled that he was going to pull over.

I leaned forward. “What are you doing?”

“I’ll grab you some rain gear out of the saddlebags.”

Raingear would have changed everything. As far as I was concerned, it would have ruined the experience.

“Keep going,” I shouted.

“You sure?”

“Positive,” I responded. “I bet my dad didn’t even own rain gear.”

“I bet you’re right,” he said.

He cancelled the turn signal, checked over his left shoulder, and twisted back the throttle.

The raindrops hit me, one after the other, until I was soaked. When that moment came, I stretched my arms out to the side and closed my eyes.

I was no longer a parentless child.

Nor was I a burn victim.

Or the girl who was being abused.

I was simply Joey.