Page 89 of Praying for Thunder

I instantly thought of Rya, on her horse, looking so free.

Until that moment, I hadn’t truly understood how much I envied that freedom—or at least her attempt to find some. Now knowing about her father, and that she witnessed him push her mama down the stairs, I realized she was just like me…

I looked to Onus.

Rya and I are trapped in others’ lies.

I looked back to the herd of bikes and wondered if Rya would ever be on the back of my bike.

“You good?” asked Roam, as he and Chubs joined my side.

“Are you guys happy?”

Chubs chuckled. “Is this one of the Oprah moments?”

“Who’s Oprah?”

“Never mind.”

Roam asked me, “Happy?”

I thought for a minute. “I mean… Do you feel free?”

Their expressions fell to despair. It was disheartening to witness.

I inhaled, not needing an answer. “Me neither.” I watched the last Stallion drive past us. “But I want to be.”

Just then, a Titan—one who had gifted me with my new seat—exited his tent. Our eyes met. He dipped his chin. Then walked away.

Chubs watched him while quietly saying, “You’re not the only one.”

I watched him, too. “Do you know why his road name is Weatherman?”

“He can always sense a storm brewing.”

Sometimes the smallest of moments can leave the biggest of impacts, even if you don’t see the change right away.

“Whelp!” Roam tried to lighten the mood. “More junk food?”

Licking my fingers free of cheese fries—a genius invention—I said, “Rya has got to try those.”

We kept walking past booths. “Are you getting her a gift?” asked Roam.

“Huh?” I blinked. “Am I supposed to?”

Chubs rolled his eyes. “If you want to be a schmuck.”

Not sure what that meant, I asked Roam, “Do I? Want to be a shmuck”

“Traditionally, if a man leaves town, he should bring back his man a gift.”

Chubs’ head tilted. “You meant girl, right? He should bring his girl back a gift?”

Roam jolted. “Uh, yeah. Of course! Pfft. Girl.” He huffed. “Why would I want to bring a guy a gift? Pfft. No. Nope!”

Confident I was missing something, I asked Chubs, “What’s going on?”

Chubs kept staring at Roam. “Umm.” He squinted, lost in thought. “How did I miss this?”