Only one problem.
All my two-seater vehicles were on lockdown.
I wasn’t sure what the owner’s manual said about ridin’ these scooter death traps in a rainstorm. I reckoned it wasn’t good, but I wouldn’t pretend I hadn’t done stupider.
One of the bonuses I learned was, you could ride two-wheelers up on the curb, through people’s yards, and you didn’t have to follow general traffic guidelines. I made like spaghetti and wove through traffic, rain pourin’ down until I made it to the park. I was off-roading, slidin’ in the mud like a wet pig as I pulled up on her, flashing my single headlight. She wasn’t hard to spot, sitting underneath a big ol’ tree with a dinky backpack on her head.
Just as I reckoned.
She didn’t have the sense God gave a goose.
“What’re ya doing, trying to get all electrocuted?” I yelled over the wind as I gestured to the tree above her head, like she was sending up a lightning rod.
Her eyes popped wide, like they were already fried, and she sprang to her feet, bolting directly at me. I thought she was gonna shout at me the way she was running so frantically, but instead, she flew right to me and smacked a wet slobbering rainstorm kiss right on my cheek.
That was different.
Even though the rain quickly washed it away, it tickled where her lips had touched.
I froze, waiting for her to do something.
She covered her face with her hand like she was as surprised as I was, and backed away from me slowly. She was visibly trembling and hugging herself. “Ah, sorry. I was relieved to see someone.”
“You’d better come back before you get imprinted into the ground.”
Her pouty lip pushed out as if she was gonna argue, but instead she hustled to the back of the scooter and climbed on. As I took off back in the direction I had come, the wind howled even more, making the rain swirl all around us. I couldn’t see the broad side of a building. I had to scream at the top of my lungs. “Why didn’t you call for a ride?”
“I don’t have my phone because you said I can’t use anything that charged on the grid.”
I gritted my teeth and shook my head. “You are one stubborn hen.”
Nothing from her.
“Where do you live?” I hollered back at her.
“Bloomgrass Village.”
“Way over there? We’ll never make it in these winds,” I yelled, but I doubted she heard anything. I decided to drive her back to my place. She didn’t pitch a fit when I pulled my scooter into my garage. I didn’t think I had to explain to her what was going on, so all I said was, “My place was closer. You can wait it out here, or call a cab.”
“I don’t think any cabs are out in this storm.” She eased off my scooter like she was still a little spooked. Her teeth were chattering so loud they reminded me of a pair of those wind-up ones. I had to turn my head because her clothes were so drenched, I swore I could see her religion. “Wow.” She scanned the garage bay next to us, pausing on each one of my arcade machines. “You have a whole game room in here.”
“I'm a collector.” I grinned, tacking on, “It’s a hobby. I like to keep busy, and I have loved arcade games since I was a little kid.”
“You have Pac-Man.” Her gaze froze on my machine.
“Not just Pac-Man.” I moved toward the machine and placed a hand lovingly on it. “A 1980, first-edition in mint condition. I drove all the way to Montana to get it. She was hurt really badly when I brought her home, but I got her workin’ again.”
“So, you restore them?”
“It’s better than letting them go into a landfill.” Both my brows raised defensively, thinking she thought this was a childish hobby. “These games are a part of our history, plus they are fun to play.”
She held her hand up gently, clearing the air of any tension. “I didn’t mean to offend you. I was actually impressed. You upcycle them. That’s very green of you.”
There was something funny ’bout looking at her next to my machine. I had a hard time not staring at her, so I quickly turned to the machine, creating a distraction. “I don’t know what color it is, but I call it, you’re gonna lose.” I flipped the switch, firing up the machine. Her eyes glittered back at it when the lights flicked on, and I strapped on a grin and said, “I challenge you to a match.”
“A match, oh, um.” Her eye lashes fluttered a few times. “You mean you want me to play?”
“Yeah, unless you're scared.”
