Chapter Six
The Harley throbbed to life as Mike passed the bar. He could feel Kyle's puzzlement and put a reassuring hand on his knee.
He swooped in and out of local traffic gracefully. Kyle's new jacket protected him from the onrush of the air, the leather was stiff, and felt like armor. He wondered where they were going, but trusted Mike.
He reflected upon their conversations as Mike pulled onto SR 14 and headed east.
Past Camas, he pulled into the quiet little community of Washougal, Washington.
Kyle had never been here before, and softly Mike maneuvered through the quiet streets.
Weaving through the long, rural neighborhoods was like a soft dream to Kyle. He loved the quiet, loved the space.
Mike pulled to one side and unzipped his jacket, flipping up his visor.
He extracted a strip from a classified newspaper, which had a red circle in ink around it.
Kyle strained to see, and Mike handed it to him, restarting the bike.
It looked like some sort of house listing, and Mike eased around the neighborhoods and found a mailbox with the same number.
He stopped and looked up the drive.
The old farmhouse was not in the best of condition, and the for sale sign in one window made it obvious that it was in some sort of abandonment.
Kyle tilted his head.
Mike purred the bike up the drive and parked it.
He took off his helmet and shook his head.
"I grew up here," he said softly.
Kyle's eyes widened.
"Before my mom went into the nursing home, this is where she raised us kids," he explained. "It's been thirty years or more since I've been up this road."
He took a brochure from the plastic container on the front of the home and carefully folded it in four quarters.
Kyle watched him.
"Besides we had to make sure those leathers of yours looked good," he said, trying to lighten the mood.
Kyle tilted his head.
"Poppa, why did we come here?" He asked.
"I needed you to see where I came from, I think. I'm not sure. I did want to ride some, and for some reason this place called. All of the parks and places they would have been crowded, but here, nothing. It's dead."
Kyle looked at the magnificent fur trees, the cedars which threatened to spear the sun itself and turned to him, "dead, no. Nothing close to dead. Maybe some bad memories?"
Mike shook his head.
"Not here, not until we moved into Camas. This was the place of my innocence. Maybe I needed to feel that again. To feel fresh."
Kyle leaned up for a kiss.
Mike leaned down, he liked the solider feel of Kyle in leather, and his moustache softly tickled his lips.
Their tongues brushed only softly.
"Com'on cub, let's get to the bar."
"Yes Poppa."
Within minutes they had returned to the heart of downtown. Kyle led the way inside.
"Can I see some I.D. please?" The barkeeper asked.
Kyle proffered his wallet and smiled a bit.
The man behind the bar smiled at him.
"Now son you do know where you're at, right?"
Kyle replied by pulling back his jacket and showing off the, βcub' paw print. He thumbed at Mike behind him.
The bartender eyed Mike.
"So you finally got laid, huh old man?" He teased.
"You might say that," Mike said.
Kyle's stomach tightened.
"So what'll it be, birthday cub?"