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Key already in the ignition, I tried to show no pain as I lifted and then swung my leg over to straddle the bike I had been raised to treasure. The impact of what had gone down the night I met Elle hadn’t sunk in until I straddled that seat. I wasn’t sure I would ever get to switch on that engine and hear Bertha purr again. Once I did, the vibration she sent through me was like a welcoming, “Hello, glad you made it back to me.”
Now, I was going to ask my girl to also carry a woman I hoped would join my world with no regrets. It was a lot to ask of them both.
Blowing out a breath of air, I regarded Elle. Even though she was helmeted and appeared ready, I could see how not ready she truly was.
In fact, she appeared to be on the edge of giving those sexy high heels a go and darting down the road. She eyed Pops, then Vice, then Dagger. To me, she said, “You don’t know me.”
Attempting to learn from the master, I stayed sturdy, calm. “I think I do.”
Her lower jaw nervously ticked as she peered about. “I don’t think I can ever be the ‘perfect’ girl.”
I grinned. “Then we’re perfect for each other because I’m one flawed motherfucker.”
She stomped one high heel. “Stop smiling at me! You know it makes me crazy for you!”
Pops rubbed the back of his neck. “If only you knew what you were saying when asking him not to smile.” She looked at him, opening her mouth to speak, but he didn’t stop. “Sometimes we get the chance to choose what flavor we want our life to be. My boy has clearly chosen his. What flavor do you hunger for, Elle?”
After nibbling on her bottom lip, she whispered, “Freedom.”
I tapped on my one-percenter patch. “That’s something we understand. A flavor we desire, too.” I swallowed, wanting her to accept me. “My bike ain’t no yacht, babe, but I swear the man on this bike will give you loyalty that no amount of money could ever buy. And I will fight, every day if needed, so you never lose your freedom again.”
She gasped.
To make sure she truly understood the depth of what I was speaking, I stared into her eyes—soul windows—and said, “My mother was murdered when I was a little boy.”
Pops grabbed his chest and Elle covered her mouth.
I nodded. “It broke me. I swore,” I pointed to Dagger, “to that man, that very night, I’d never smile again.”
Eyes filling with tears, her hand slowly came down, a mix between disbelief and hope, all over her beautiful face. But nothing prepared me for her next words. “Under a tree?”
Pops snapped his head to Dagger, who was now gawking and nodding.
I was clueless as to what spooky shit was going down, but, like last night, I had chills over every inch of my body. Breathlessly, remembering the agony that night brought me, I answered, “Yeah, under her favorite tree. How did you know?”
Feeling as if they were blessed, I watched tears cascade down her flushed cheeks. “The night my mother died, under… the only tree I’d ever seen up ‘til then…”
In the midst of talking, she shrugged with such surrender my throat tightened. And none of us missed the ‘only tree’ detail. My throat wasn’t the only one clearing.
Elle continued, “…Mammy told me not to trust a man unless,” she whispered through a surrendering smile, “he had grey eyes like the sky that saw her last breath.”
What? That can’t be.
Elle’s mouth hung open as she took a deep breath to continue. “That night, I dreamt of a little boy with grey eyes.”
No.
She swallowed, “He told me he’d never smile again…”
My heart hammered. How’s this possible?
“… until his heart beats again.”
Not one man around me moved. We were frozen in place. What she had just said was almost too magical to grasp, but that is the way of some gifts. Simply or complicatedly, it was unexplainable.
Again, I wasn’t going to miss one moment with her.
Struggling to breathe, blessed with such an honor, and completing my leap of faith, I held out my hand for her. “You’ve made it beat again, Elle.”
