Biker Babe

Biker Babe Chapter 1:  An Adoptive Family? For as long as she could remember, Cara was on her own, taking care of herself.  It wasn't that her mother didn't care, it was actually the opposite. Cara's mom was a single mother receiving no child support since Cara's father wasn't in the picture.  Cara knew nothing about him. Because of this, Cara's mother worked extra hard to provide for her daughter, the only thing that kept her going, the greatest gift in her life.  She would always work several jobs, including babysitting kids in the complex, waiting tables, cleaning homes, and dancing topless at the local bar. She wasn’t home a lot, but she did everything she had to do to make ends meet, to pay the bills, to put food on the table, and to occasionally surprise her daughter with a little treat.  She hated leaving Cara, but she had to. She’d ask various neighbors and friends to watch her, and little did she know, Cara wasn’t watched very well. She often was running the halls of the apartment complex or playing outside unsupervised. She was basically alone, until she began to meet her “adoptive” family. The first was Steven.  Cara met Steven when he was eight and she was seven.  Cara was playing with cars outside in the hallway near the apartment of the neighbor who was supposedly watching her, but was fast asleep inside her apartment after finishing off a bottle of vodka.  Steven’s mother had just moved into the apartment building with Stephen and his older brother after Stephen’s father went to prison for committing various crimes in association with his motorcycle gang, the Downtown Dragons.  Not all of the members were criminals, but a few got involved in some illegal jobs they thought would be lucrative in terms of making money, and Steven’s father was one of them.   Cara noticed Steven sitting outside of his mother’s apartment, reading a book far too big for his age, when she approached him.  “Why are you doing school work on a Saturday?” she asked him. “I’m not.  I am just reading.” he replied. “But why?  Why would you read if you didn’t have to?” she asked him, giving him a weird look. “I like to read,” he said. “Yuck!  Why would anyone want to read, especially a book without pictures!” she exclaimed. He shrugged his shoulders at her.  “I like to read,” he repeated, “And why are you playing with cars?  Aren’t girls supposed to play with dolls?” “I don’t know.  I don’t like dolls; I like cars,” she said. “Okay, well, I like reading,” he said, going back to reading his book. “Hey, do you want to play with me?” she said. He smiled at her, never having too many friends before, “Sure!”  After that, the two became inseparable. They did everything together, from playing manhunt in the hallways, running around in the halls and outside, riding the bus to school together, climbing on the jungle gym in the park across the street, and sitting near his door.  He would read out loud to her and she would listen to stories that she never would have read in her lifetime. He would also help her with all of her homework everyday and her grades went up significantly. Cara couldn’t have found a better friend than Steven, and they remained so throughout the years. The second “adoptive” family member was Steven’s older brother by four years, Trevor.  Trevor was supposed to be babysitting Steven, and by extension Cara, but really didn’t care for the job.  Instead, he let the kids run buck wild throughout the complex, while he hung outside with all of his friends (his mother would have killed him if he had brought them all inside!).  Trevor idolized his father, as he was older when his father went away to prison, and was very fond of motorcycles. His friends shared similar interests and they had friends and siblings, attracting some older friends to the group.  Some of these older friends, from the high school, were even part of the Dragons motorcycle club. At first, Trevor would yell at Steven and threaten him to stay away while his friends all hung out, so Steven and Cara would play in the playground.  Steven would be hanging on the monkey bars or sitting on the swing reading, but Cara would sit at the top of the jungle gym, eventually moving over to the fence to watch the older guys.  She wasn’t doing it to be creepy, but Trevor’s older friends were always tinkering on mopeds and later, cycles and cars. They usually worked on pieces of garbage bikes that they would repair and embellish with parts they found at the junkyard or stole. Sometimes, they hung at the gas station next to the complex, and the owner would let them help repair some of the nicer cars and bikes brought into the shop.  Cara could care less about the guys, but was fascinated by the cars, and especially the bikes, that were being repaired. She wanted to know what they were doing, what parts they possessed and how they got the things to work. She would sit and stare from afar, while Steven would sink farther into his books.   One day, when Trevor was fourteen, and Steven was ten and Cara was nine, Trevor came over to the fence.  “Look, Cara, what is your deal? You are way too young to date any of them! They are almost double your age!” “Ew. Gross. No way!  I want to see the bikes.  I want to fix them too,” she said.  He looked at her like she was crazy. “Really?”  “Yes, really,” she said.  He rolled his eyes and rejoined his friends, laughing with them.   One of them, Robbie, a sixteen year old whose bike was being built, pushed Trevor jokingly.   “Then tell her to come over here.  We’ll show her what we are doing!” he said, not finding Trevor very funny.  “I was like that when I was her age, too.” And that was that. The group had a new little pet,  a cute little tag-a-long to protect, a protege to teach, and a new little sister, and along followed Steven, book and all.