Rocket Girl

"That's why I have a truck," he said, "I fall off too." He held the door open as she climbed up painfully.

As they drove off, Aurora turned to Will, "Why did you pull over to get behind me last night?"

He shrugged, "I kind of like your style - the way you ride. Like I think you've got something, but I wanted to tell if that's what I really saw earlier, or if it's just that male thing that was powering my eyeballs. Might sound weird, but I wanted to separate that out."

She nodded, "I thought you were just checking me out. It's a problem for me, and that's why I like the backroads. I can just leave any flies that I pick up in the dust, mostly. That's also why I didn't go for the coffee. I thought you were just hanging back there to stare at my butt."

She glanced over and saw his small smile.

She laughed, "It WAS my ass, wasn't it?"

"Some," Will grinned, "I won't lie to you, but you're also able to move around that bike better than I can on mine. I was trying to figure that out."

She slapped his arm with a chuckle, "It was my ass."

"Ow! Come on, Rocket Girl, I not dead, you know. Yes, I was looking at your butt, but I really was trying to see how you can move from side to side so easily."

"Rocket Girl?" She looked at him quizzically.

He nodded, "Rocket Girl. You sure can hustle along yourself down some asphalt. How come you hung on my tail before I pulled over to let you by?"

Aurora's thin smile was back as she looked through the windshield, "Because I can't catch you, though I'm getting quicker, and mostly that's from tailing you from way back."

Will looked over, "Mostly?"

She nodded, "I'm not dead either."

They passed smiles at each other as they went down the road.

-----------------

Aurora and Will sat in the sandwich shop. He didn't seem to be full of himself, he was just friendly. When asked, he'd just shrugged, "I like to ride that way. It clears my head since I need to dismiss everything that might be rattling around in there." He smiled a bit sadly as he went on, "I know it can't last, though. One day, I'll either kill myself - which is no great loss for the planet - or the law will get me. I don't ride that hard often, mostly I tootle along like Grandad. Why do you do it, Aurora?"

She thought about it, trying to come up with something that he might understand. Just one look at him had told her that they were from different backgrounds. Will watched her compose her thoughts and was actually a bit pleased since he could see that hers wouldn't be a flip, off the cuff line.

"I've always been headstrong," she said, "ever since I can remember. My mother always said that I was a huge pain as a kid. If this were another continent and time, I'd be riding a high-priced horse on a large ranch, for sure. That's what my family always did back there then. It's freedom to me. You might not understand it, but I feel a lot of constraints and family pressure about how to act, even what to do sometimes. I rented the garage space because I've been getting a lot of noise from my family to settle down."

She nodded once at him. "My riding is my freedom, the same as you I guess. I can just escape and forget it all." She grabbed a napkin and reached out to him, wiping at the corner of his forehead, "Hold still a second. There's a bit of grease or something... Ok."

Will nodded, "Thanks. I can see what you're saying. YOU might not understand, but I can relate, and don't forget that I've known your cousin since we were maybe 12. Actually, Leona was my first girlfriend, but Paco stole her from me. I think we were 13 maybe, and they've been together all these years. It took me a while, but I've forgiven him for it." He smiled at the small joke.

"Though I do get better kisses at Christmas and New Years from her than I get from Jimmy's wife Stephanie. Maybe that's why." He grinned.

Aurora nodded, pleased that she'd gotten her point across. She was even more pleased as Will began to explain how he managed the right-handed multi-tasking thing when he downshifted under hard braking. They discussed what her bike would need to look better again, and Will said that he'd get some part numbers from a dealer that he knew, and could maybe get her a good price. She liked that Will seemed to be trying to make her friendship based on their common interest, so the conversation went to a lot of topics in no definite thread. At last, Aurora looked at him a bit wistfully.

"I'm really happy that I got to meet you today. And thanks for sticking with my proper name. Not even my parents use it anymore. We'd better be getting back soon, though. Paco said he'd give me a ride home. I'm going out tonight for dinner with my fiance." The statement was the truth, but she'd also wanted to get her status across to him.

Will nodded, "When's the big day?"

"Less than three months," she said, "if he can get his head out of his ass and quit telling me what his wife is and isn't going to do. It's getting worse all the time and it doesn't seem to matter what I say. What's really upsetting is that in my family, everyone but Paco always takes his side,"

She looked out the window for a second and her next words were more to herself, but they made Will a bit sad, "I never knew that once I got to a certain age, the collar would get tighter. I thought it would be the other way around."

She seemed to be a bit self-absorbed for a few seconds, so Will nudged her wrist slightly and she looked at him. "It happens to a lot of people, Aurora. I got to a point where I just couldn't take how I was such an obvious failure in my parent's eyes, so I left." He chuckled, "Then I found somebody and we lived together for a while before we were going to get married, but,..."

He looked at her face and her eyebrows rose, indicating her silent 'but what?', so he continued. "Well, I learned something else then. I thought I knew about each and every one of my own character flaws, but I guess I'd been wrong. Ashley found several hundred others that I didn't even know about, and I decided that I have trouble with authority figures like wives."

Aurora smiled, "Wives are authority figures?'

He nodded, "Some are self-appointed, apparently. Anyway, you're all grown up and from what I can see, you have a job to pay for a bike, at least. So you don't have to live at home if you don't want to - and I know you're gonna feel stuck in those pressures again, but it's maybe time to think about that."

He smiled warmly, "Listen, you've always been headstrong, you told me. Maybe it's time you were headstrong in a constructive way."

Aurora smiled. She thought that he might just be the kind of friend she needed if he could see into and around her troubles like that.

They left the sandwich shop and returned to the garage. The two of them laughed and joked as they finished his carbs together and to her it was fun and a bit educational. "Could we re-jet mine, too?"

Will shrugged, "Was anything done when you had the header installed?"

She shook her head, "I put it on myself, only a thousand klicks ago."

"Then we're going to do it, Aurora. You know how to push your bike, and if you added a header, but didn't re-jet, you'll fry your exhaust valves. I'll explain it sometime if you can't sleep, but it is important to do, and right now you have an opportunity. We can work on that too." She left to get cleaned up, and told Will that she was glad to know him now.

In the car with Paco, she told him how they'd gotten on, and he smiled, "I told you, hard-head, he's a great guy. You two have a lot in common, and if you start riding together, I'll have a little less to worry about since you'll look out for each other, though your guy might have a problem with it. Cesar might not ever get it, but you're as safe with Will as you are with me - as long as you're engaged, and maybe even if you're not."

She looked at him, "Why is that, Paco? I didn't get that from him, not really. What I got is that he's a gentleman, but if I was single and not engaged like now, I'm telling you, cousin, he'd be in some trouble," she smiled.

Paco thought about it, "It's none of my business, but I've known him a long time, you know? We're all getting a bit older and settling down some. He's not immature or anything, but he's always alone. I know he dates once in a while, but nothing ever comes of it. I got him together with a lady from where I work, and after he threatened to kill me if I ever did that again, they went out - twice. She adored him, but he just drifted away as usual."

"Leona and Steph always joke that they love going grocery shopping with him. They say he wanders around lost and looking for what we need on his list, but they love watching some of the women there crank their heads around, or maybe plan to jump out at him from the frozen food section. They laugh their asses off watching it, but between us, we've all talked about him, and it makes us a little sad."

At last, he just shrugged, "Anyway, I'm glad you guys get along. I thought you both could maybe use a new friend - and you couldn't find a better one."

Aurora sat with her jaw in her lap, "You sneaky thing! You planned this?"

He nodded guiltily, "Not a big devious thing, I just think you both need somebody with you when you ride, and neither of you fit with the regular 'coffee cup' racers. You needed a place to get your bike out of your dad's garage, and he needs somebody to ride with, just like you. I just thought that if I could get you together, you'd be pals - and I was right!" He seemed pleased with himself now. "Besides, none of us want to listen to him talk about riding anymore. That's your job now."

-----------------

Will and Aurora became fast friends over the next three weeks. They were always hanging out in the garage at some point, and Will took her bike on as a personal project while his was down. Re-jetting her carbs was one of the first tasks after the damaged covers came off. Will didn't have one of the one-piece vacuum gauges - his was four individual gauges, each on a hose.

"She looks like she's in intensive care like that. Will she live, Doctor?" Aurora looked at Will.

"Looks more like a lab experiment to me," he said. "Ok, punch the starter, and we'll see if she lives again."

It took a few cranks, and then one at a time, the cylinders lit off and the thing idled roughly. "There we go," he said, "running with all the precision and finesse of a disgruntled sow, but she's lit, and this is where we start."

"She's not the only one." Aurora commented. Will looked at the gauges but caught the comment. He quickly adjusted the idle settings from one carb to another, and it smoothed out. He turned to her, and noted that her expression had lightened a bit from a few minutes before. He shut it off. "What's up?"

She pursed her lips and blew softly, "I don't know how to say it. Uh, after this, can I talk to you? About guys?"

He smiled, "I'd have thought that by now you'd have had us figured out, honey. We're rather simple creatures from the way that I hear most married women talk at work. Yeah sure, I guess. Light it off again and let's get this done. I want to turn her back into a cheetah. Sows fart too much."

It took a while to synchronize all four carbs together over and over as each individual adjustment produced a small effect of how the whole thing ran. Each carb had three jets and the adjustments took a while At last, the bike ran contentedly. Will opened the garage doors to get some fresh air inside the large space, and they took out the ear plugs that he'd provided.

"Hate to do that closed up," he said, "but when it's on the main jets even briefly like that - gotta think of the neighbors." He put his hand near the pipe opening and then brought it to his nose, sniffing. He did the same thing with it running quicker. Finally, he shut it down and ran a finger lightly inside the end.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Looking for this," he smiled, holding up the very slightly sooty finger, "I have it idling just a touch rich so it'll idle cooler, but not smoke. In traffic or running hard, it's perfect and won't do that." He walked to the old fridge and came back with a beer each for them, "Ok baby, what's bugging Rocket Girl today?"

"My ownership I think," she said unhappily, "Cesar seems to think us getting married implies some kind of ownership or control. Are all guys like that?"

He shrugged, "That's a whole, huge ball of tangled thread right there. Goes back as far as some idea of monogamy at least. The general answer is no - not today anymore, but it's something you have to work out with Cesar, baby."

He looked at her over the end of his bottle, "I'd say you need to get it settled before the rice gets thrown, just sayin'."

She nodded, "That part, I know. How do you feel about it?"

"What, me personally? I don't know if that's really relevant to your situation, Aurora. If you mean how I'd feel if I were married, I'd say the girl can do what she wants, be what she wants - whatever. But the balancing act comes in if there's an effect on us. Like say if we were married, and you decided that you wanted to be the President or something. I'd be supportive and do what little I could to help, but I'd want some kind of vote too, because it would affect the relationship. But hey, if it could be managed so that we stayed together no matter what, well you just shine as brightly as you want or need to, I guess."

"I'd be happy with the girl's heart and her love. I don't care if she runs XYZ Corporation in her spare time. I assume you're not running in the next election, though. Anyway, there's another nasty little thing in there, and it's a male thing. I don't give a rat's ass personally, but some guys want their women to, I dunno, not outshine them, I guess." He rolled his eyes.

She smiled at him with a slightly playful expression, "Why wouldn't you care if the girl outshined you, as you said?"

He smirked, "I don't know why some guys can't see this, but my self-image isn't tied to being better than my girl, or anybody else for that matter." He pointed down the driveway at his old truck, "Take a look at my chick machine there. Just think of how many girls there are who see me in that and instantly melt. I can tell you it's a round number."

"I dunno," she said, "you seem pretty interesting to me. I'm kind of surprised that you're such a well-kept secret in this town."

Will laughed, "Are you kidding? Exactly how many jealous women did you have to beat up or push out of the way to get into the garage here tonight to work on your bike with me? If I'm in a relationship, all I'd ever want is for everybody to be happy. I think that's the important thing - not that I'm exactly an expert - "

He looked to the empty rafters and called out, "Right honey?" Looking back at Aurora, he smirked, "That's what I love about her - she let's me say or do anything I want."

She smiled, "Who, Will? There's nobody here but us."

"My girlfriend," he said smiling.

"You don't have a -"

"Exactly," he smiled, "It kind of sucks sometimes, but at least we never fight, and I save a ton at Christmas and birthdays and the dreaded anniversary."

"I've got some single friends," she smiled evilly, "I could bring a couple over next time, and they can pull out their bachelor spears and try to nail you while you run around bleating for help."

Will looked wounded and spoke in a sad little boy's voice, "Why would you do that? Friends aren't supposed to hurt each other. I thought you liked me."

Aurora's heart melted, and she leaned over to him to kiss his forehead as she hugged him very briefly, "I wouldn't do that to you. Just promise me you'll never change, Will."

He smirked, "Change? From what to what? I have enough trouble being me. I don't have the smarts to be any other way."