Page 1 of Rider

Rider

The weather was complete shit. I knew I should have gotten on the road hours ago but I lost track of the time while hanging with the guys at the club. It’s a typical occurrence so I shouldn’t be surprised but tonight isn’t the night that I should have been so careless. The weatherman actually got it right this time and there’s already an inch or two of snow on the streets. Thankfully, the road is fairly clear from being salted earlier in the week but remnants from our last snowstorm still lurks about. The piles of snow on the sides of the road haven’t fully melted yet, and now it won’t be long before the road is once again a mess. Not the best situation for me to be riding on my all-black matte Harley Breakout at four a.m. but again, I didn’t mean for it to happen.

I’ve got my black leather jacket zipped all the way up to my neck and a jean jacket on underneath for extra warmth. I’m still freezing my ass off but wearing my jacket with my club’s patch sewn on the back means I need to man up and at least pretend the cold isn’t freezing my balls off. I can’t disgrace my club’s reputation. We ride all year, rain or shine, sleet or snow and since this is the pacific northwest it’s mainly fucking rain and way less shine. In the winter it’s a lot of snow and I’m usually one to stay in when it does. My black helmet offers my face some protection but I have to keep brushing the snowflakes off the visor. You think I’d be used to this weather since I’ve grown up in it but as I’ve got older, I find myself grumbling more and more. Granted, I’m not ancient yet, I’m only thirty-five but damn these winters don’t get any easier.

I’ve only got a few miles to go before I reach my house, but when I look down and see my gauge nearly empty, I know I better stop and get gas. If we all get snowed in it ain’t gonna matter if I got gas or not but I’ll still need to open my shop. That will require me to get gas so I might as well have it and be ready. Stopping will also give me a chance to dry my visor.

I pull into the one gas station on this road that I know is open and seek coverage under the overhang. I take my helmet off and use the free, blue paper towels to wipe it down and dry it. That’ll help me get a few blocks before it’s covered again. I rest my helmet on my bike and start to pump my gas. My hands are freezing and my gloves… yeah I know exactly where they’re at, sitting by my door at the club where I left them. I rub my hands together trying to keep them warm and blow hot air on them. It’s so cold tonight that my breath is coming out thick in the air as I puff hot air onto my hands. I finish filling the tank and replace the nozzle back onto the pump.

I start to get on my bike and as I’m adjusting my helmet that’s when I notice her. She’s standing at the entrance of the gas station adjusting her gloves and her grip on a gallon of whole milk. She looks young, if I had to guess, I’d guess early twenties but I’m about twenty-five feet from her so I could be wrong. Her blonde hair is covered in a black fuzzy hat with one of those fuzzy balls taking up the majority of space on the top of her head. Her coat is red with black dots in all sizes covering it and she’s wearing black leggings. She looks like a giant ladybug and it makes me smile. I sit on my bike and watch—and once she adjusts her coat at the neck she starts walking out into the snow and away from the gas station. Where’s her car? She shouldn’t be walking in this weather and this late at night alone.

My curiosity wins out and I wonder what a young woman like her is doing out in this weather so late at night or early in the morning however you look at it? I start up my bike and slowly start to pull away from the pump. I continue to watch her and I find myself following in her direction even though she’s walking in the opposite direction of my house. There’s something about her that makes me want to know more, plus it’s late and someone needs to make sure she gets where she’s going safely. If this was my sister or friend, I wouldn’t want them walking out late like this and in this weather. I have a nagging feeling down in my gut that if I ride off into the night and forget about her that something terrible will happen. When my gut tells me to do something, I follow it. That’s how I’ve survived in this life. Trusting my instincts.

I round the corner of the gas station and my motorcycle quickly eats up the distance she put between us. I go slow trying to make sure I keep control of my bike and not to come up on her and scare her. The street lamps are few and far between. She’s in a patch of dark road at the moment, trudging in the snow and trying her best not to slip on what I can only imagine to be a very icy sidewalk. The road isn’t much better, so I slow to a crawl and pull closer to the edge of the street, but I’m still several feet away from her.

That’s when she takes notice of me and gives me a pinched expression. I get it, if I was a chick and saw me approaching I’d be leery. Sitting on my bike, I’m still a big guy. I’m 6’2’’ and my shoulders and chest are broad from years of working out and manual labor. It’s also four in the morning, I’m wearing all black in my leather jacket, black jeans, and black boots sitting on a matte black motorcycle. Right now I’ve also got my helmet on. If I was a woman they’d say I have resting bitch face but I’m a dude so most people say I look menacing. If it was summer she’d be able to see my bare arms and probably be intimidated by the fact that my arms are covered in tattoos along with my neck and most of my chest. As it is she might be able to get a glimpse of them peeking out of my sleeves at the cuffs.

My bike is loud even when just idling and since I won’t be able to hear her well over it, I do the next best thing. I pull up a few feet in front of her and cut the engine. I slowly get off my bike and hang my helmet on the handle, and leave it on the side of the road near the curb. When I look up she’s still walking but slower than before and eying me wearily. I hold up my hands, palms facing her in a nonthreatening way and give her a small smile. She tightens her coat and her grip on the milk jug she’s holding. “Hi, I promise I’m not some weirdo, I swear. I saw you leave the gas station where I was getting gas. I saw you were walking in this weather and I know it’s not that much better but would you like me to give you a ride? It’s faster than walking and safer too.”

She stops walking and I can see her looking me over. I can tell she’s trying to size me up. Before she can give me an answer or make her decision, I introduce myself. “Name’s Rider. I’m just looking to do a good deed. It’s late and a young woman like yourself shouldn’t be out walking alone. No ulterior motives, just trying to get us both out of the snow.”

I see her face shudder and I know she’s going to give me a no and shoot my offer down even before she speaks. “Look, I appreciate the offer but I can get myself home. And for the record, I’m not that young.” She starts to walk and I can see her step over to put more distance between us on the sidewalk. There’s something about the spark I see in her eyes that makes me not want to leave her side. I have to make sure she gets home safely. She passes me and I match my steps to walk beside her but giving her space.

She gives me the side-eye before speaking, “Dude, I said I don’t need a ride.”

“I understand that but I still want to make sure you get to where you’re going safely. I’ll just silently walk near you until you get there and then I’ll be on my way. I swear. Scouts honor.” I even hold up my fingers in the Scout’s pledge.

She snorts out a laugh, “You don’t look like a scout to me.”

Rayleighn

This guy just won’t quit. I’ll give him an “A” for effort but I’m not going to let him know that. I also don’t want to be one of those girls from a B list horror movie that gets abducted on the side of the road and never seen again. I don’t even have any friends that would go on one of those crime shows and talk about how well-liked I am. He caught my eye when I was inside the gas station getting milk for Colton. I thought under the lights of the gas station I had never seen anyone look so hot covered in black leather and snow. When he passed me on his bike, I saw his patches so I know he’s in some motorcycle club. I’m not about that lifestyle. I’ve got Colton in my life, hell he is my life, and I can’t get involved in anything like that. I’ve seen Sons of Anarchy on television, it’s all sex, drugs and illegal activity that land you in jail or worse, dead. I’m all Colton has, so I can’t diverge from my safe path in life right now.

Colton, my son, is turning two soon and since the moment I gave birth to him, his father hasn’t had one thing to do with him. He showed up at the hospital the first day, took one look at him and confirmed that he was the father, and then walked out. Since then I’ve only seen him twice and it’s when he’s come around asking to borrow money. Never asks to see his son and never speaks of him and while it sucks to be a single parent and it sucks for Colton that he doesn’t have a father figure in his life, I have to think that it’s better off this way considering how screwed up his father clearly is. I work, I take care of Colton, and then spend the rest of my time trying to do projects around the house. All my money goes to Colton and his needs so I try to pinch each penny and take care of everything myself around the home. I definitely do not date or have relationships. This guy is barking up the wrong tree. Maybe he really is a nice guy who just wants to help me get home but I don’t entertain strange men or any men—now or for the foreseeable future.

His laughter brings me out of my thoughts. “Well, I’ll give you that. I was never an Eagle Scout or even in the Boy Scouts. I am, however, very handy with engines.”

“Mhm, I’m sure you are.” I keep walking and he keeps following.

“So I gotta ask, why are you out walking so late at night?”

My hands are freezing even inside my gloves but I hold up the gallon of milk in response. I tuck my chin into my coat trying to stay warm. My muscles feel stiff walking in the cold and the snow on the ground is getting thicker by the minute.

“I never caught your name.”

I think about the idea of lying to him and telling him a fake name or not responding at all but that doesn’t sit well with me. The more we walk and the more he’s talked I haven’t got the feeling that he’s a rapist or a serial killer. It’s just a feeling I get from him but I feel like he does want to help me. I’m pretty good at reading people so I take a chance and take a deep breath and sigh, “My name doesn’t matter and I’m out getting milk because my son woke up needing it and we were out. My car battery is either dead or bad so I had to walk.” I can tell my answer throws him, or it could just be the snow as he slides some on the sidewalk.

“You have a son?” The disbelief is plain to see on his face.

“Yeah, he’s two years old.”

“This might not be my business but why didn’t his father come out to get it? If I was married or had a girl like you at home I wouldn’t send her out in the middle of the night. I’d be a man about it and go out and get it myself.”

I couldn’t hold my eye roll in. “His birth father isn’t in the picture. Never has been and hopefully won’t be. I’m not some wilting flower, I can fend for myself and my son.”

“Well… damn sweetheart, I didn’t mean to imply you couldn’t, I just meant you shouldn’t have to. I can’t do anything about the deadbeat dad but I can help with the battery.”

I shook my head trying to politely tell him no thank you. For the next few minutes, he remained silent as we walked together. At some point during our walk we inched closer and closer together on the sidewalk. As we rounded the corner of my block, I stopped in my tracks. “I’m just a few houses down. I appreciate you walking with me but I can make it from here.”

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