Page 90 of Tell Me What You Want

He grins again. And after a little slap on the butt, he hands me my helmet.

“Then let’s go meet your father.”

35

When we get to the racetrack, we run into Roberto at the door. He says to wait for my father in the boxes area. I tell Eric how to get there, and he jokes around, accelerating and braking so that I scream and have to hold on to him.

When we get to the boxes, there’s no one there. Once we’re off the motorcycle, I pause to admire it.

“Do you want me to teach you to drive it?”

“Um ... I dunno.”

“Are you afraid of motorcycles?”

“No ...”

“Then?”

The sun is hitting my eyes, and I squint to see him better.

“I’m afraid of falling and wrecking it.”

“I won’t let you fall,” he says quite confidently.

That makes me laugh. This is Eric, and he’s just so sure of himself.

Finally, he pressures me to get back on the motorcycle. I look around and see my father is still nowhere in sight. Eric explains that the brakes are by my left foot; he shows me which hand to use to accelerate, where the clutch is, and how to stop. Then he starts the engine.

“Wow, that’s some power!”

“Baby, all Ducatis sound like this. Powerful, like a roar. Now here, first ...”

I do as he says, but the Ducati dies.

With a forgiving look, he starts it for me again.

“This is like a car, love. If you release the clutch too quickly, it dies. Stay in first, let go slowly, then give it some gas.”

He’s said “love” twice in two hours.

I go into first, let go very slowly, then—bam!—it dies again.

“Don’t worry about it.” He laughs.

He repeats the instructions, and this time, I concentrate. First, I let out the clutch ever so slowly and accelerate. The engine purrs, and he claps as I shriek. I brake quickly, and the back of the bike bucks. Eric comes running.

“If you just use the front brake, you could fall.”

“Got it.”

We repeat the process twenty times; and each time, I get worse and worse. I brake badly, and I’m going to kill myself. Eric is not amused.

“All right, c’mon, get off.”

“No ... I want to learn.”

“We’ll continue the lessons another day,” he says.

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