I grinned. “The shit you say,” I teased, giving her a kiss on her jawline. Then I pulled my laptop from the other saddle bag. I turned it on, and soon enough, pictures appeared on the screen. Pictures of Teagan.
Some of me and her together. Laughing. Kissing. Hugging. Smiling at each other. I talked briefly about some of the pictures. Some of the memories hit me harder than others. Some made me pause, but most of them made me smile.
There were pictures of Teagan at the apartment we shared, that she decorated. Her on the sofa. Her inside the library, where she worked as the head librarian. There were even some of her in the hospital. Her using the breathing machine that allowed oxygen into her often irritated lungs. By the time the last pictures appeared on the screen, I realized that both Eastley and I were teary-eyed.
She threw herself into me. “Thank you for sharing her with me, Q. I know that had to be so hard, but thank you for being strong enough to do that.” She held me tightly. “I’m so sorry you lost her. She seems like such a bright light. I don’t want to be compared, but I’m honored to follow her into your heart. I’m honored that you’re choosing me.”
I cleared my throat and pushed back the melancholy that wanted to steal the moment. “How could I not make sure that the two dopest women I’ve ever met had a chance to meet each other? How could I not let the only two women I’ve ever loved meet each other?”
EIGHT MONTHS LATER
“Look at this turnout, girl.” Asia gave my shoulder a shake with each word.
I did as she said, though. I looked around at the turnout. We stood at the pre-ordered merchandise booth for the1stAnnual Teagan Bishop Charity Ride for Asthma Awareness. There were people milling around everywhere. There wasn’t a food truck or coffee station that didn’t have a line. “This is good,” I muttered.
“Good? This is beyond good. And for your first time putting together a charity ride too? This is excellent.”
“I definitely didn’t do it alone. Mrs. Powell was the real organizer. I’m the assistant.” I turned away from Asia to hand a rider their pre-ordered T-shirts, bandanas, and custom flags. “Here you go.” I gave the stranger a smile, before directing them to the registration booth where they could fill out their waivers.
“It’s really cool how she was able to get over her feelings about Bishop dating again and embrace you.”
“Yeah.” I agreed. “I think the fact that I don’t expect Quentin to just throw Teagan intothe sea of forgottennessmeans something to them. I’m cool with her having a place in his heart. Besides that, she seems so cool. I feel like if I had gotten the chance to know her, I would’ve liked her.”
We helped riders and handed out pre-orders for another hour before it was time for the safety briefing. Avery Green, the road captain, stepped up to the DJ booth and grabbed the microphone. It wouldn’t be long before the ride kicked off, so I said my goodbyes to Asia and went to find Quentin.
I found him with the police escorts. He wrapped up his conversation as I approached.
“Hey,” I said.
He pulled me into an embrace. “This turned out really good, E. I’m proud as fuck of you and what you’ve been able to accomplish in five months.”
I shook my head but stayed pressed up against his chest. “Don’t give me the credit. You know once I mentioned my thoughts about a charity ride for Teagan to Monique, she took the reins and ran with them. Most of this is her. All I did was carry out whatever tasks she put in front of me.”
“Thanks for doing this.” He kissed the top of my head.
While we were still holding each other, Monique and DeVaughn approached us.
“Mom.” Quentin widened his eyes in jest as we pulled away from one another. “I heard this is all you. I heard you came, you saw, and you conquered this charity ride.”
She chuckled lightly. “It was something to throw myself into, to honor Teagan’s life, and her battle with asthma.” Her gaze fell on me. “Thank you for coming up with the idea and suggesting it to the club, Eastley. That was more thoughtful of you than I can express.”
“I was glad to do it, Monique. I think people have this misconception that asthma has been overcome. That people are managing it, so it’s not as dangerous. But the truth is that more than ten people are dying each day from complications of asthma. Ten people a day. That’s a lot of people.”
Monique took my chin in her hand and shook it softly. “Where did you find this one, Quentin? I didn’t know if it would be possible, but I like her.” She pulled me into a quick embrace. “Your heart and your compassion, Eastley. Accepting the fact that Quentin has opened himself up to love again is easier having met you. You’re a gem,” she disclosed.
Tears sprang to my eyes. “That is so sweet.”
DeVaughn waved us off as Monique wiped at her teary eyes too. “Don’t start the waterworks. This is a motorcycle club ride. There’s no crying in motorcycles.”
We fell silent as Avery went over the safety rules. Then he covered the hand signals he would use, the preferred formation, the stops we would make, and the route we would take. Once safety had been handled, Quentin made his way to the microphone to bless the bikes.
“Dear God, thank You for these sponsors, these vendors, these participants, these police escorts, this brotherhood of riders, these volunteers, and these supporters. Thank You for Teagan’s life. She wasn’t here nearly as long as most of us would’ve wished, but her presence made an impact. We thankYou for all of the funds we’ve collected. They will go to help others who deal with asthma and their families. Bless this ride, bless these bikes. Keep us from all dangers seen and unseen. Bring us all home safely. Amen.”
We planned for a ninety-minute ride with four stops along the way before we reached our destination. At each of the four stops, we (the committee) had set up food trucks, drink stations, silent auction bidding, vending opportunities for our sponsors, and raffle ticket sales.
I rode on the back of Quentin’s bike, enjoying the scenery, the vibes, and just being close to him. At each stop, I hopped off and tried to mingle with other riders. Asia and I made it a goal to try a little something from almost every food truck. I even bid on a few silent auction options. The club also did a poker run. At every stop checkpoint, Kobey came around with a deck of cards. Each person got to select one. The goal was to have the best or absolute worst hand when we got to our destination.
Ninety minutes after we started out, the first of the bikes pulled into the parking lot of our destination, The Brightmore Shores Resort and Wellness Spa. As one of our sponsors, they had not only agreed to let us use one of their ballrooms to hold our post-ride festivities, but they also agreed to prepare a post-ride lunch for us.
