Chapter 4

“I see the sun!” Ray hopped on one foot and pointed to the clouds. “See? Is that a ray?”

“The sun is back there.” Marla accordianed her legs to check Ray’s Outsider, but the girl anticipated her move this time and pulled at the straps herself.

“I’m good.”

Marla sensed a hint of defiance. Maybe it was just a memory of her own childhood.

“Someday, we’ll see it. I’m sure,” she said, gazing at the clouds. “It’s back there. Today, we are riding the Pedal Buddy. Do you remember the last time we did that?”

“No. But, I remember you telling me I was snugged into a carrier on your back. I could see more than you could. And I pointed and kept asking questions. What’s that? Where are we going? Are we there yet?” Ray’s eyes danced, remembering the story.

Marla laughed. The kind that fills the guts and spreads out until the whole body feels warm.

“Yes. You may have been asking questions before you were born.”

“Really?”

“See what I mean? Always a question.”

For just that moment, Marla almost forgot that the trip on the PedalBuddy cost two pounds of beans for each of them. She’d carefully mixed Great Northerns, chick peas, and navy’s, so no one would guess she had a store under the floorboards. She wanted it to look like she had trouble scraping enough together, so she mixed in a bit of gravel.

The last time, she didn’t have to pay for Ray. This time she did. And for certain, other riders would complain that Ray could not pedal her weight.

Marla straightened her back and pointed her chin in the direction she wanted to go. She held Ray’s hand tight as she locked the door behind them.

Tweet

“Tell me a story of when you were a little girl.” Ray pulled at Marla’s hand. “The one where you had your own bicycle and rode like the wind.