A few weeks after we returned from the Rally in Cocoa, Tony's cellphone rang one Friday evening. "Hello, this is Tony."
"Hey man, how's it hanging?" Tony immediately recognized Cole's voice.
"Same old, same old, pal. What's up with you?"
"Just wondering if you're going on the club ride tomorrow and if your pillion is open," Cole replied.
"I am and it is. Why?" Tony replied, somewhat afraid Cole and Karen might be trying to fix him up with some friend of theirs. They never had but other club members had frequently played matchmaker, always with poor, sometimes disastrous, results.
"My daughter Wendy really wants to ride and Mt. Dora is one of her favorite little towns to visit. We were hoping you'd be willing to let her tag along," Cole said.
"Oh, okay. Which one is Wendy?" asked Tony.
"The oldest so you don't have to worry about babysitting," Cole laughed. "What time do you plan to leave your place?" Cole and Karen lived quite a ways outside of town and all the club rides started off much closer to Tony's place.
"I figured on leaving for the McDonald's around 7:30. Should give time for a quick breakfast before kickstands up," Tony replied.
"Great. We'll meet you at your place a few minutes before that. Take care, my friend," Cole signed off.
The next morning Tony was in the garage doing a pre-ride check when he heard Cole's bike pull up. Karen was on the back and a small SUV followed closely behind. Both vehicles pulled into Tony's driveway. Cole and Karen dismounted as Wendy stepped out of the SUV, carrying a helmet.
"Morning everyone," Tony called. Just give me a minute to back this out and we'll be on our way." He walked the bike back and around so it was facing down the driveway, fired it up, and then went back into the garage for his helmet, glasses, and riding gloves. As he walked back out to the bike, Karen approached and gave him a big hug.
"Tony, I hope you remember Wendy. She was at the rally last year when we held it up here in Hilliard," she said.
"I do. How are you today, Wendy?" Tony held out his hand and Wendy shook it. Wendy took after both parents while not really looking like either. She was short, probably 5'1, and while she wasn't model skinny she lacked both her mother's heft and her father's stockiness. She almost look like she still hadn't lost all her baby fat -- not plump, or even overweight but more like cushy. Her breasts, however, certainly came from mom. Again, definitely not as big but what Tony guessed to be about 36D looked pretty awesome on her short frame. 'Get your mind out of the gutter, Tony' he told himself, 'she's your friends' daughter and you're damn near old enough to be her grandfather.' Okay, so he wasn't really that old but still...
"Excited. I can't wait to ride -- it's been ages! Thank you soooo much for taking me along, Mr. Prima."
"Call me Tony, please, Wendy," he said while mounting his bike and pulling the remote from his windshield bag to shut the garage door. He lifted the bike up, raised the kickstand, and held it steady as he nodded permission to mount to Wendy. Once she was settled he looked over to Cole, got a 'good to go' nod in return, and led the small procession out of the neighborhood.
While having breakfast at the starting location fast food place, it was decided Tony would serve as tailgunner for this ride. The tailgunner rode dead last and had two main responsibilities. During the ride he helped keep stragglers from lagging too far back. Leaving large gaps between the bikes, which rode in staggered formation, created too big a temptation for cagers to cut into the line. Cagers is what bikers call people driving cars. Compared to the freedom and openness of a bike, cars seems like cages to them. The other tailgunner job was to pull over to assist should any of the riders ahead of him have a mechanical or medical issue and need to stop. Although rare, these usually happened when someone hadn't checked the ride route and didn't start off with enough fuel to make it to the gas stop. Every once in a while a rider or passenger might also become overwhelmed by the heat and humidity of the Florida summer and need time to recover before continuing safely. Tailgunners ensured that any of these situations were handled and no biker was ever left alone.
The ride went uneventfully and by the time Cole, Karen, Tony, and Wendy pulled into Mt. Dora and searched for open parking spaces most of the riders had already dismounted and were heading to a raucous Mexican place for lunch. As the foursome took off their helmets and gloves, Karen grimaced and said "I really don't feel like Mexican today, not to mention how crowded that place is. Anyone have any other ideas?"
Tony spoke up, saying "The last time I was here I found a great little place in the walk-out basement of that antique mall just down the block. They claim to be an Icelandic restaurant but since I know nothing about Icelandic food I couldn't really vouch for that. They do have basic burgers, sandwiches, and so on anyway."
"Sounds good to me," Cole piped in and the group followed Tony up the sidewalk. The entered through the front of the building and walked nearly all the way down the center hall toward the back. Tony turned left and they headed down a switchback set of stairs, ending up in a cozy looking little place with low ceilings, dark paneling, and cool air. Natural light from the glass paned door and single window that looked out to the back kept it from feeling like a dungeon.
Scanning the room, Cole and Karen picked out a table in the back corner. They could have had their pick of the place as only two people sat and the bar and one older couple, obvious tourists, were at another table on the far end. They all sat down and ordered drinks from the waitress then started perusing the menus she had passed out. The simple lunch menu made selection easy and when the she returned each was ready to order. Two burgers for the guys, a salad for Wendy, and a club sandwich for Karen did the trick.
"So Wendy, tell me a bit about yourself. Are you still in school? Any plans for the future?" Tony tried making polite small talk.
"Oh no, I graduated last year. I decided to take a year or two to make up my mind about what I want to do so I've been working at the Wal-Mart near home until last week. I'll be starting at the local community college in a couple of weeks and wanted at least a little vacation," she gushed.