If you missed a previous chapter, you can find them archived here: Bike Mechanic Chapter Archive
8. The Ride
Seward fell in behind the others after they hit the Greenway. He might have talked up his riding skills, but he knew that he was a slower rider. They were going to average twelve to eighteen miles-per-hour, while he hung back between seven and ten. When he saw Jason look over his shoulder, Seward waved him on. He hadn’t joined them on the ride to keep up; he had wanted some time away from Inez and the shop to think. Something about Inez didn’t seem right, and he couldn’t put his finger on it.
For a few minutes, Seward just enjoyed the ride. The Greenway was busy this morning. There were families, in-line skaters, commuters, joggers, and walkers; name a mode of fossil-fuel-free transportation, and it could be found on the Greenway. Seeing all those people using human-power to move around gave Seward hope.
There was one couple on a tandem bike having difficulty deciding who in charge. If they were smart about it, they would quickly determine that the person in front should make decisions about turning and speed. The trick to a two-person ride was communication. If they were going to turn, the lead position should find a way to single the person in the back or they could topple. The same thing went for stopping and staring; it took coordination and practice, which this couple obviously didn’t posses.
After Seward passed the couple on the tandem bike, he relaxed a little more and turned his thoughts to Inez. Damn women, he thought. If a guy would have walked in and asked for the same kind of help, he would have told them to fuck off; but a dark haired, sun-touched woman was another story.
Maybe, Seward thought, if I’d gotten laid at some point in past five years, I wouldn’t be thinking with my cock. Axle grease and my hand make for a poor lover.
Before he knew it, Seward was pulling to a stop at the Hiawatha Bike Trail over pass, next to Jason and the others.
“Seward,” Jason said, “We’re going on to Minnehaha Falls
“Sure. I have to re-open the shop, so I catch up you guys tomorrow morning.”
“I know you’d cut it short.”
“I have a business to run.”
“Sure. Excuses.”
“Jason, you’re ass.” Seward shifted his weight and started to back up, but then he had a thought. “You should stop back by the store later. I need your help with something. We’ll unless you’re too hip to get your hands dirty.”
“Should I bring anything?”
“No. Just show up later this afternoon.”
“See you later.”
Seward waved, and he sat on his chopper watching the others ride off for a few minutes before turning around to ride back to the shop.
The sun was still low in the sky, so as Seward road west he decided to lose the sunglasses. As he approached the Bryant Ave exit ramp near his shop. His shoulders tightened up.
Inez.
On the ride back he had committed to helping her, and when he was done, he had decided to go see Al in the hospital – rules or no rules. Still, he had a bad feeling that helping Inez was taking him down a path that he did want to go down, a path that he had thought he’d gotten off of years ago.
As he pulled out the keys to unlock the door to shop, he noticed a white van parked on the eastbound side of W Lake Street
Had this business with Inez made him jumpy, or was Emmet’s paranoia of covert government operatives out to get him slowly returning and shifting in to a higher gear? Either way, the first thing that Seward did after flipping the shop sign to OPEN and parking his chopper was to Google “Jed’s Emergency Plumbing.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment