Aaron's Motorcycle

By Remmy Meggs

Chapter 7

School was slow and I was a nervous wreck the entire day.  I had already guessed that I wouldn't be welcome back to the mansion; I just didn't know how bad everything else would be. Now that my only so-called `friend' was gone, if they didn't let me see Aaron again, I would have no real friends, not outside the club anyway. Let's face it, without being able to see Aaron, I wouldn't be able to go to the club functions either. So yes, I was a nervous wreck.

The clock on the wall moved slower than anything I could imagine. Between subjects it felt like hours, listening to the teacher was impossible. Then came recess, and I wasn't thrilled with that either. We had three classes my age and we were all `friends' but not really. I wasn't interested in playing anyway. I climbed up the jungle gym and just sat there waiting for the day to pass so I could go home, get it over and cry. I heard some motorcycles go by and I looked for them, but they didn't come near enough. That would have cheered me up a little. I sighed and went back to feeling sorry for myself. Isn't that what kids do?

So there I was feeling sorry for myself when this kid comes up to me, "Hi Davy my name is Josh. I hear you like motorcycles."

"Motorcycles are cool, but I wouldn't say I like them." I looked at him for a minute and then turned my attention back to myself.

"You don't remember playing knights with me in the water?" He asked.

I looked back at him, "Well if you were playing knights with us you sure look different with clothes on."

He shrugged, "So do you. You are not flopping all over, well it's not that big but you jiggled."

I looked around quickly to see if anyone could have heard him, "Shut up kid."

He looked around, "Are you paranoid or something? You aren't one of those sociopathic, scum eating, cannibalistic boy eating, serial killers are you?"

I almost fell off the jungle gym from laughing. After I regained my composure, "You sound like a girl friend of mine."

"Kristen I guess, well, she is my big sister. I taught her everything she knows."

"Does she ever call you a pain in the ass?" I asked.

"She only calls me that when she is being nice." He laughed, "You are pretty brave to beat up Bulger. You want to give me some tips? Then the guys that pick on me won't have a chance!"

"I doubt if they pick on you more than once." I answered.

"Why are you up there all alone anyway?" he asked.

"I was actually thinking about the fight and what got me so angry that night." I answered.

"What did you come up with?"

"I'd rather not talk about it. Just silly stuff I guess."

"I am going to go play. If you want to play ball let me know, we could use an older kid on the team." He said as he walked away.

Alone, I began thinking of what Aaron had said to me and how deep it hurt. I was mad at being turned away and I felt like a discarded poop in a toilet.

At that age I couldn't put it into words, but it was hurt and it was deep. When my parents said we were going to eat at Aaron's I fought about it, but they won. They didn't need rich friends, they had plenty, well okay they weren't billionaires but who needs them right? It wasn't like dad was poor. I would sit there and be bored.

I would have to pretend nothing happened. I would have to avoid Aaron's terrible toothy smile. But something did happen. He crushed me like a sledge-hammer on a cantaloupe, and all my pieces went flying all over the galaxy, not even a shell was left. He should have to pay for that. Doesn't anyone understand? Yes Aaron had his problems, but I shouldn't have to suffer for it. I did nothing wrong, and let's face it things happen we can't control.

I thought I had a real friend and he turned on me. The more I thought about it the worse my temper became. I must have fumed by the time we got to the dinner table. Then to see him setting across from me with that smirky smile didn't help matters either. I was trying to think of why I wanted to be there, and I did want to be there, but I didn't want to be there. It is confusing. While the adults talked and he kept smiling and winking I just became more upset.

Then I heard them make dad a job offer. That blew it, they were trying to buy my parents so I would forever have to take Aaron's crap of `I love you now go away', over and over again. Okay, well he never said he loved me, but you get the picture. I wanted to be next to him all the time for the rest of my life, but I didn't want to hurt every couple of days because he couldn't cope with having a real friend. He could push his bull on some other kid, maybe even one that was better than me. I probably didn't deserve to have a friend anyway. I just ratted one out, Aaron would probably be next anyway. To me I had a reason to be upset the night we ate together, and I had a reason to be upset now.

The bell rang and I went back to class. I kept thinking of all the reasons to dislike someone I loved, before they had a showdown at my house. I hit the back of the desk chair in front of me. The sound rang through the room. Todd turned and looked at me like I was crazy. The other kids were staring at me. The teacher said "Davy do you have a problem you need to see the principal about?"

"No sir."

"Good, now let's get on with the class with no more disruptions."

Then there was the incident at the park. I begged him to leave it alone. Name calling never hurt anyone, at least me, I was used to it. That was not worth fighting over in my mind. Maybe he didn't like it, maybe he was insecure, but it was no reason to hurt someone. I pleaded and he ignored me. Would he always be this way with me? What did things like that matter? Sure I wanted to be with him, but there was a lot of stress to being his friend. I didn't know from one minute to the next when he would pull the "I can't have you around." again, I didn't know when he would get in a fight and get hurt or killed because of his `pride'. How could I understand or even explain anything to my parents or his parents if something happened? I was a nervous wreck and to think that the only way to stop it was not to see him again did not help me at all. My stomach was in knots, and as the clock slowly ticked by to going home, the dread filled me as I wondered what on earth they were coming to my house for.

Were they going to tell me we couldn't see each other? Were they going to tell me what a bad person I was? Were they going to say that I was the bad influence? No matter what they said at twelve I would not be able to express myself, to tell my side, to explain how I felt about such matters. The bell rang, and I took my time getting home.

≈

When I got home mom  told me to change into waking shorts and a pull over, not play clothes, and put my books away. I could work on homework until dinner time. I asked her why Aaron and his mom were coming over and even though I pressed the issue all she said is, "Why honey they are just coming for a visit. You are just stalling on getting your work done. Now get to work on it." She is the same mom that would trick me into dating a girl later on, I just knew it.

The house was always clean, but that afternoon there wasn't anything out-of-place. I had my bedroom door open and heard dad come into the house, I looked at the clock. It was 5:30, time goes slow when you are not having fun. I just hoped that Aaron's mom would just say we can't see each other again instead of accusing me of all sorts of things I wouldn't have an answer to.

After I did my homework, I took a shower, not that I needed one, and dressed how mom wanted me. I wondered if I should wear a tie with the polo shirt just to be obstinate, then thought better of it because I didn't want to look like a dweeb. I checked my room for anything out-of-place, then sat on the bed and looked at my posters, Farrah Faucett, Heather Locklear, Susan Anton, Kelly Emberg, and of course the Lost Boys poster, John Taylor, John Cougar, and Bay City Rollers.

Several times I washed my hands and dried them because they seemed sweaty. It was because I was nervous, but I didn't know that at the time. I heard the smells of cooking from the kitchen. Roast, onions, celery, potatoes, corn, carrots, and spices. We were having pot roast, one of my favorites, and the smells just started getting to my room. It takes hours to cook it right, I wondered how I missed it when I came home from school.

Mom called me downstairs, "Davy if you do not start taking care of your hair, we will have to get it cut short, go get your brush and come back down so I can brush it out."

One-hundred brush strokes later, she finished and dinner was ready to be served. Mom put the food on the table and her and dad sat across from each other. My only problem was, that I was so upset I found it hard to eat anything. I did, but very slow. I looked at the clock almost constantly.

"I think Davy is excited about Aaron coming over, all he does is look at the clock." Mom said.

"Well it isn't often he has friends come over, so I understand. Now Davy I want you to eat so you don't get sick, you didn't put much on your plate in the first place." Dad commanded..

I am a boy, so yes I finally ate it all. yet the clock was ticking away slowly. I was still sitting at the table when the knock came at the door. I jumped in fright as dad answered it. It was the UPS man making a delivery. I had enough. I rinsed off my plate and put it in the dishwasher. I went to the bathroom, washed again, washed my face and brushed my teeth.

Another knock at the door. I went to the top of the stairs and listened. This time it was Aaron and his mom. Mom called me down cheerfully, "Davy your little friend is here, come on down."

Has anyone been embarrassed by their parents? I doubt it, at least not like... well wait a minute, Aaron's parents were just as bad. I slowly went down the stairs and walked over to the group. Mom suggested we sit at the dining table where she had apple pie and milk for the boys and coffee for the adults. I was so nervous I was shaking.

They talked for the longest time, and Aaron was talking to me. For some reason I heard not one word anyone was saying. Yet, I was looking at all of them talk and nodding my head. Then they started talking about Aaron and how much he had changed since he met me. How he smiled more when he talked about me, how he seemed much better. They talked about how his life was coming together and he seemed more alive and just maybe his life could go on where it left off.

Aaron was talking too adding his thoughts into it. I sat turning the glass of milk around in a circle as I listened. Aaron's mom patted my hand a couple of times, but no one was really looking at me. They were all nodding and looking at each other with big fake smiles. I think they were fake, I sure didn't see any reason to smile.

Aaron finally spoke to me, "I guess you are still upset about the park. You haven't said a word." he whispered it so no one but me could hear.

I nodded. He sighed, "Things happen Davy, you can understand that."

"I understand you wouldn't listen to me, you ignored me, and you did it anyway." I replied.

He turned back to the adults, and I heard his mother, "Maybe Davy can spend more time at our house, even stay there while you move to your new home. He is always welcome, and Aaron has expressed that he would love to have Davy spend time. We may even let Aaron use the van so they can go shopping and to the movies. You know, things boys like to do without parents around."

I can't say I was excited, but then again it occurred to me that if we were at his house or even mine, that he couldn't very well be with the bike club. Don't get me wrong, I had no problem with the bike club. As a whole they were great people at least on the outside, but away from the women and children it seems they turned into something else.

I wanted Aaron away from them, and myself for that matter. Of course it was obvious to even me at the time, that it was purely because I didn't want to share him with anyone, especially those girls he was with every time I left his side. Jealousy is the word for it. I wanted him all to myself. It wasn't sexual, it was a need for a friend, and anything that got in the way of that was too much.

I went along with it, now I paid attention to everything that was being said. Aaron just had to throw a wrench into things, no pun intended, he wanted his own van, and he wanted it to be customized. His mother didn't handle the finances, but it was clear to my parents that he was being unreasonable and even more so, he was using our friendship to get something special.

It also occurred to me that what caused his problem in the first place was a car accident, and the vehicle was a van. I wasn't frightened by the fact that he wanted a van, so much as what would happen if he had one. "Maybe he should just get one of the super cars like a Challenger or something like that. Maybe just for the two of us instead of something for a whole group of people." I said aloud.

His mom nodded, "Yes that is even a better idea, considering the past, it is a great idea Davy."

Now suddenly I felt like I had just been used. Aaron agreed whole heartedly, without hesitation, and only asked for a custom paint job. Much less expensive than a van completely customized. I thought of his motorcycle and wondered how much something like that would have cost.

It was obvious that he didn't want the van in the first place. He wanted a custom car that he could show off with to the girls, take them to his special places to put his thing in them. I felt betrayed for just a few minutes until his mother announced, "That would be a better idea I think. that way when you and Davy want to go someplace you have a safer mode of transportation. The other times you are out with the club you can use the motorcycle."

His teeth gritted, he did not expect his new ride to be limited to the two of us. I smiled, I liked the idea. He looked at me in an odd way and grinned, "Alright, but just until he starts dating, then a sports car won't fit four of us."

Four of us? Dating? What was he talking about. I had no intention of dating some girl, or guy for that matter, and why would there be four of us? Aaron announced that when he and his father went to buy the car I would be going to help pick it out. I really liked that I would be included and said so.

Of course, I had no idea what a `sports' car was to Aaron, Charger, Challenger, Corvette, those were cool cars. I didn't even know about the fancy foreign cars at the time, cars were not my big interest at the time. Yet even that was not what Aaron was thinking about.

Saturday the following weekend Aaron and his father pulled into our driveway. Mom and dad had packed things up in the house so there were moving company boxes all over the place. I dressed how I normally would for play time and jumped in the car. We passed the Ford showroom, we passed the Dodge showroom, we passed every new car dealership in town.

They pulled into a used car lot. It looked more like what I thought a junk yard would look like. We got out and Aaron started looking around. Half the cars didn't have tread on the tires, most had the hoods up as if someone were working on them, almost all of them were rusty. Rust was something unheard of on the desert. I wasn't impressed. Aaron found nothing he liked, so we went to another place that was similar. I stood back this time as he walked around the place with his dad.

Then he stopped at one old car. They both looked it over carefully as the used car sales rep came out and started talking to them. "It is sweet isn't it?"

It looked like trash to me. Aaron grinned, "It is a piece of junk, but it could be beautiful."

Beautiful? I thought, there might not be any rust on it, but it looked like it was ready to be recycled. Aaron's dad looked over the engine, and had the guy start the car. He went to the back and checked the exhaust pipe for some reason. they both got inside the car. Finally they decided to buy it. One thousand dollars later, Aaron had his piece of crap car. I was almost in tears.

I was inside while they did the car business, and they handed Aaron the keys. Instead of saying `ok let's drive it home', Aaron's dad said a tow truck will come and pick the car up. The sales rep was as confused as I was. The tires needed to be replaced, the engine blew smoke, one of the headlights was not broken but it was bent down, the hood looked like it came from a junk yard, but there Aaron was smiling as if he won the casino jackpot.

On the way back to Aaron's house he was all excited and all I could say was cool. When we got to his room we took a shower and ran around naked, inside naked, outside naked, in the pool naked, in the Jacuzzi naked, ate lunch naked, and then Aaron sat me down next to him and started drawing the car.

After about an hour he looked at me and said, "I can't draw worth crap, let's take the bike over to the mechanics place and talk to the owner."

I had only worn my clothes for about four hours so I put the same outfit on and we drove away. You bet that car needed a mechanic, it also needed to be hauled away and Aaron should be going to buy a new car. I wondered what my mom and dad would say about me riding around in a junk heap. I knew what I was thinking, even though Aaron kept assuring me it would be beautiful when he was done with it. Obviously, I was not impressed, and couldn't believe his dad would even agree to let him drive around in that car even with new tires and exhaust. My dreams of grandeur were shot to hell.