The Sunshine Trilogy

Chapter 6: Two Easy Riders

The roar that came from the dusty dirt road grew louder and louder as two riders approached the ranch house. Cecily said it sounded like angry bees. Francesca knew better. It was the low rumble of her mother's motorcycle. Her mother had been gone, for more than two weeks and was now returning. As was her norm, she would leave the household on road trips giving no indication where she was going or when she would return. Another rider appeared as they grew closer. A swirling cloud of blond and brown dust settled when they dismounted. Sorpresa got off her bike, booted the kick stand, removed her helmet, brushed off her jeans and ambled towards the girls. A strange man stayed on his bike and leaned on the handle bars as Sorpresa came forward.

"Hey Frankie, Ce-Ce. Que Pasa girlies?"

(Sorpresa always called Francesca, Frankie, and Cecily, Ce-Ce.)

"This here is Henry. He'll be staying with us for a couple of days. Needs some work done on his bike. You know, badass s**t. Where's Abuela?"

Francesca didn't answer her mother but scrutinized Henry. He wasn't what she thought a man should look like. Sweat and grime encrusted his pockmarked face and his mustache hung from his lips like roadkill. When he smiled, the sun captured a tooth that beamed a gold flash. His eyes were hidden behind silver lens and he wore a steel hat with a spike on the top. Henry leaned on his handlebars and spoke to the girls.

"How ya'll doin' sweet ladies? Your mama tol' me about ya. That's some story, ya'll with the Injun name and s**t. Ya'll sure pretty!"

Hands placed on hips defiantly, Sorpresa spat a brown liquid from her lips and reacted to Henry's flirtation.

"Hank, shut's your fuckin piehole. I can smell your ass from here! There's a privy out back. Shower up before you come in the house!"

Henry smiled sheepishly, removed his shades and leered towards the girls.

"Anyone want to join me? I don't bite!"

Sorpresa kicked dirt in his direction and offered an obscene hand gesture to his invitation.

"Don't start Asshole!"

"She's a wild one ain't she." replied Henry.

The outdoor shower was a Rube Goldberg contraption that ran a garden hose from the house and used common pine slats for privacy, of which there was little. Ever since Abuela's husband died, it didn't get much use and the elements had warped the boards and floor. But Henry saw no problem with it.

I've showered under train trestles before. This looks like a piece of cake!

Henry moseyed behind the house and without shame removed his dusty garments. Francesca, out of curiosity watched from a short distance and Cecily went to the chicken coop to fetch some eggs. Henry removed his boots and then his jeans. When he took off his Chambray denim shirt, Francesca saw his body was painted with tattoos. Out of common decency, he didn't remove his boxer shorts and entered the shower. He began to sing and when he realized that she was watching, a broad smile appeared on his face. He continued singing. When he finished showering, he left the flimsy structure with a towel around his waist, put on his boots and entered the house. Cecily returned with eggs and placed them on the counter and left. Francesca prepared her mother and Henry breakfast, as she would normally do for quests. Dropping an egg to the floor upon hearing her mother cry out from the bedroom, she ran to the bedroom door and knocked sharply.

"Mama are you OK?" Sorpresa didn't answer.

"Mama are you alright?" She asked again, still no response.

Francesca entered the room and to her surprise, found Sorpresa and Henry connected like the rooster and the hen. Henry still had his boots on and was forcibly bumping Sorpresa's buttocks from behind. Each thrust pushed her head further towards the headboard and every thrust she would answer with a wailing, Yes! Henry stopped when Sorpresa screamed. What the fu....my daughter's watching!

He turned his head and pushed off from Sorpresa. Sorpresa pulled a sheet to cover her nakedness. Without shame Henry, full Monty and cowboy boots, addressed Francesca.

"Hey little lady. Sorry you had to see that. Yo' mama and I were just getting reacquainted!"

Sorpresa threw a pillow in Francesca's direction.

"Frankie! Get the f**k out-a-here! you little creep! Hasn't that old witch taught you anything!"

Francesca turned quickly and bolted to her room.Her curiosity was now a cause for shame. She thought it was disgusting, that this is what men and women do, just like the animals. She couldn't accept it, nor like it.

Henry and Sorpresa ate the scrambled eggs and tortillas like famished dogs, suited up and mounted their motorcycles. In a huff, her mother gave Francesca last minute instructions.

" Henry and I are going into Lompoc to have some work done on his bike. Tell Abuela I'll be at Jaspers the rest of the afternoon. We'll be hanging at the Pines until tomorrow morning and then we're hitting the road again. Got it?"

Francesca stood with her head down and nodded.

"Oh, and another thing," Sorpresa continued. "We're heading up for a concert near San Jose. Not sure when I'll be back!"

Henry and Sorpresa kickstarted their bikes and in a hail of dust and exhaust fumes they were gone.

Later that day, Abuela returned by walking from the Lompoc market. Chico Standing Bull, a neighborhood boy, drove her earlier, as he did numerous times before.

"Ha'Na Panai, Was you mother here? I smell gasoline."

"Si, Abuela, she was with a man!I made them breakfast and they've already left."

"Why did she leave so soon? There's things I need to talk to her about!"

"I don't know why, Abuela, but I need to talk to you! "

"What is it child?"

"I saw them...I saw them, like the rooster and the hen!"

"Que? How did you see this?"

"I thought he was hurting Mama, so I went to her room."

"Was he hurting her?" asked Abuela.

"No, but ..."

"But what?"

" Henry was poking his little leg between her butt cheeks!"

Abuela's eyes widened and she laughed in short, quick breaths.

"Ha-ha! That's just a man's p***s. I'm sorry you had to see this, but better now, then later. Someday you will do this too, but you will do it only with your husband. If you do it right, he will give you many children."

"But what if I don't want to do it with men? Is there a way without men, that a woman still has babies?"

Abuela, thought for a moment before answering and instructed Francesca to sit beside her.

"I will tell you a story. It is a story of your ancestors. Long before you were born, white people brought bad magic to the First People.The women of the tribe could not give life to girls. Before the moon could see their face, the baby girls died. But the people did not blame the white people. They blamed the red wolves. The elders of the tribe accused the red wolf of making their women bleed. So, the braves went into the forest and began to kill all the female wolves. A male wolf-chief told the elders, unless the killing stopped their women would continue to only bleed. Being a proud people, the First people were not moved by this threat. They continued to hunt and kill the wolves. This war between wolf and man continued for many moons until there was only one childbearing girl left in the tribe.

"Mi Dios. What did the First People do?" asked Francesca.

"The last girl in the tribe asked Grandmother moon to send her a playmate because she was lonely."

"What did grandmother moon say?"

"She said she was going to send a red wolf to declare a truce with the elders."

"What did the wolf do?"

"He made a pact with your ancestors, that they would allow their own kind to mate with the people. Girls would be born again, and their wolf spirit would make them strong. The tribe would survive."

"But Abuela, you never gave birth to a child. Didn't the red wolf promise all tribal women, children?"

Abuela grasped Francesca's hand, caressing the birthmark with her own knurled hands.

"You have his mark. That was his promise to me!"

Francesca stared at her hand and hugged Abuela.