Page 123 of Resilience

Behind the engine, where the seat would go on a factory bike, there was instead a platform where a motorized wheelchair could be locked down. A small, remote-controlled ramp would slide out from beneath, so Uncle Gun could get onto the platform and lock in himself.

They’d built it so that there was still a passenger seat. He could still ride with his old lady.

He stopped halfway down the driveway and stared.

Athena knew that most, probably all, of the Bulls had told him they’d figure out a way he could still ride, but she also knew that Uncle Gun had not been in the right frame of mind to believe or even hear that. So now, seeing that it was true, he was stunned.

“What the fuck did you do?” he finally asked. Again, he didn’t sign, but she read his lips. She couldn’t read his tone, however, and the reaction around her suggested it was aggressive.

Sam was with the other Bulls on the sidewalk, so Athena turned to her mom. “Is it okay?”

“It’s Gun. He’s going to need a minute,” was her answer. But at least Mom started to interpret the conversation rising around them.

“Eight: We told you we’d get you on the road again. Come on, brother, take a look. The whole club put their backs into this.”

“Gun: That’s no way to ride.”

“Rad: Hey, fuck off, brother. Nothin’ wrong with three wheels.”

“Gun: Yeah, well, you’re an old man. Talk to me when I’m seventy, and we’ll see.”

“Rad: Sixty-eight, and fuck off again.” Uncle Rad was grinning, so Athena understood all that as bantering more than bickering.

Then Mom signed, “Leah’s talking to him, and Larissa, and I can’t hear what they’re saying. But the way he’s looking at Leah ...”

“Yeah, I can see that, Mom. My eyes work,” Athena replied.

The way Uncle Gun was looking at his old lady, it was very clear she was grabbing his mood by the nape. She pointed to the new trike. Athena thought she was pointing out the passenger seat. He scowled at the bike some more, but his expression finally began to soften. Eventually, he nodded.

The two of them came down the rest of the driveway. Aidan and Larissa stayed where they were, and Aunt Deb went over and sidled in between them, hooking her arms around their waists.

As Aunt Leah got him to really take a look at the bike, the Bulls clustered around them, blocking most of the view from the rest of the family. Or maybe only from Athena. The front yard was on a hill, so the street was lower. Maybe normal-sized people could see.

Then Mom signed, “He’s saying it doesn’t matter, he’ll never be able to pull his weight in the club from a chair, and he won’t be able to get his miles in. Eight’s saying yeah, that’s true, they’ll need to retire his kutte, but that doesn’t mean he’s sidelined. He can still ride, still ride with Leah, and still go on short runs with the family. Just like Rad.”

“What’s he saying to that?”

“Nothing yet. But he’s petting the trike, so that’s a good sign. Oh—Sam’s taking the ramp out, I think. Yep. Can you see?”

Athena was about to shake her head when Sam stepped back and made a clearing in their cluster, and she could see. Uncle Gun was putting the wheelchair on the ramp, and onto the platform.

Uncle Simon showed him how to lock the chair in and explained the controls. When Uncle Gun turned to Aunt Leah again, she smiled and climbed onto the passenger seat.

She leaned close and wrapped her arms around his shoulders; Uncle Gun’s head dropped all the way to his chest. He hooked his hands around his wife’s arms, and she rested her head on his shoulder. They sat like that for a long time, and the family bore witness to what Athena read as a shift in their grief for the life they’d had, to the first stirrings of hope for the life that would come.

Then Uncle Gun fired up his new trike, and they all watched as he took a few trips up and down the street, getting accustomed to the different controls.

When they pulled up behind the van again, Aunt Leah was grinning and wiping her eyes, and Uncle Gun made a thumbs-up.

Uncle Eight broke out of the group of patches and faced the lawn. He was one of the members of Athena’s family who wasn’t very fluent in ASL and didn’t often sign unless he was talking directly to her, but now he did sign as he asked, “Who’s up for a quick family run?”

Not all of the family had ridden to the house today, but all of the Bulls had, and several of the older kids, too. Most of the girls stayed back at the house, as well as the boys too young to ride on their own, and Kelsey and Felicia left their kids, the youngest in the family, in their care. Though Kelsey wasn’t quite a month from a C-section, she went with Dex to his bike.

Aunt Marcella mounted up with Uncle Eight. Aunt Jenny with Uncle Mav. Kelsey with Dex. Aunt Ciss with Uncle Caleb. Athena’s mom with her dad. Sam’s mom with his dad. Aunt Kari with Uncle Fitz. Felicia with Jazz. Petra with Jay. Christian and his girlfriend, Kennedy. Grammo with Gramps, on his trike. Aunt Willa with Uncle Rad on his.

And Uncle Gunner and Aunt Leah.

Sam came up to Athena with a grin. “Ride with me?”

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