Total pages in book: 67
Estimated words: 80391 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 80391 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 402(@200wpm)___ 322(@250wpm)___ 268(@300wpm)
Adeline snorted, but a smile the size of Texas lit Viddy’s face as she held out her hand for him to take. “It’s nice to meet you, too. Thank you for saving me.”
Trance didn’t let go of Viddy’s arms for a long while, as he watched the play of emotions run across the woman’s face.
“So, I guess, that means you’re riding with me, since none of us were really thinking ahead. Can you ride on a bike?” Trance asked Viddy.
I hadn’t really thought about that part of the plan, either. But it worked out as long as she would ride on the back of Trance’s bike. It wasn’t as if they were asking her to drive.
Adeline and Viddy snorted. “That’s how we got into this mess.” Adeline laughed, leading Viddy to Trance and then straddled my bike.
“You can’t just throw that out there and not expect us to be curious.” I observed dryly, as I followed in her wake.
“Feed us and we’ll tell you.” Adeline smiled widely from her perch on my bike.
Twenty minutes later, I found himself sitting at Longhorn Steakhouse with Adeline at my side, Trance, and Viddy across from me.
It wasn’t how I’d planned to spend my night, but I sure as fuck wasn’t going to complain.
Trance didn’t look like he was complaining either.
“Okay, you’ve got your food on the way. Time to tell us.” Trance said, eyeing the woman sitting next to him.
“It was my fault,” Viddy began. “We were fifteen when I dared her to ride my father’s motorcycle. We hadn’t the first clue what it took to ride one. She was just going to ride it in the driveway, but she lost control and we wrecked.”
“My dad had just gotten a new motorcycle.” Continued Adeline. “It was the prettiest thing I’d ever seen, and he wouldn’t let us anywhere near it. Said it was too much for the either one of us, and refused to take us riding on it. We’d heard him and my brother talking about it a few days after he’d gotten it, and it was supposed to be some beast of a Harley that could take a crotch rocket...whatever that is... and I really wanted to ride it. So, one day after my dad had gone to work on his daily rider, Viddy and I went for a little spin. Literally.”
I hadn’t realized how horrifying it would be to hear about a teenage girl wrecking a big, muscle bike like a Harley V-rod. I’d seen quite a bit in my fifteen years of being in the emergency services, but just picturing what she was about to explain hurt to think about.
“Anyway, daddy had this old five speed motor under the front porch covered in a tarp. It was hoisted up off the ground by a cherry picker by about two or three inches, but the angle of the shifter was pointed out instead of up.” She said swallowing a drink of her coke that the waiter had just set down. “Well, I spun out in the middle of the driveway. I wasn’t really sure how to drive a bike, but I’d done pretty good until it kicked up and started shooting the both of us forward. Things get a little fuzzy after that, and I only remember what I’ve been told.”
I winced, seeing where this was going before she’d even recounted the eye witness accounts.
“Yeah, I was thrown across the carport and my head struck the outside brick wall. I don’t remember anything past that terrifying moment when the bike sped forward and we hit.” Viddy explained.
“So Viddy hit the wall and got a concussion, while I was thrown into the old 5-speed motor under the carport.” She grimaced.
Trance groaned, and I had to swallow the bile that was threatening the back of my throat. “You were impaled.”
It wasn’t a question, but a statement. I was waiting for confirmation.
“Right. I woke up in the hospital lying on my side with the arm of the shifter sticking out of my lower chest.” Adeline confirmed.
“Fuck,” Trance and I said at the same time.
“Yeah, daddy was frantic. He wanted to yell and scream at us, but we were both so hurt that he couldn’t. The yelling didn’t come till later when we were released from the hospital. He’d gotten rid of the bikes, the motor, and anything else hazardous in the house after that day. We didn’t even drive until we were eighteen and moved out of the house because he refused to teach us.”
“And what about you, Viddy?” Trance asked.
“Viddy was diagnosed with a severe form of Cortical Visual Impairment after our accident. The doctor’s and specialists she saw had high hopes that Viddy would gain some of her vision back, like most do, and she did gain some back, but not enough to make anything easier on her. She can make out the difference between bright and dark. She can see a very narrow field through her peripheral vision, but only such a minimal amount that it only does her more harm than good.” Adeline explained.
Viddy nodded her head with the explanation.
“So this was your first time riding on motorcycles since?” I asked Adeline.
She laughed. “Oh, we were little devils in high school. It was our father’s fault though. He was so freaking strict after that that we barely got to go out of the house without him following us. Viddy in particular. He hated the fact that she was out there with a disability, but Viddy didn’t let anything stop her. Hell, she even competed in track in high school.”
Viddy snorted, drawing our eyes to her. “I competed in the high jump because it pissed my dad off. Nobody even knew I was blind until I completely missed the bag one time and fell flat on my back after jumping into the air.”
Silence hung in thick waves before Adeline’s tinkling laughter broke it.
“Oh, God. That was the funniest thing in the world to see.” She giggled.
“That’s kind of morbid that you find it funny that your blind sister fell,” I said to her just before I took a drink of my water. “I kind of like it.”