His hands shook when he inserted the key into the ignition. The sight of his trembling fingers nearly undid him. He was sixteen, for God’s sake! He wasn’t eleven anymore. There were nearly five years and seven hundred miles between him and his father. With anger and fear boiling together in a vicious acid in his stomach, he slammed his foot down on the kick-start and the dirt bike snarled to life. Jamming his helmet on his head, he sped off down the driveway, riding faster than was smart around the switchbacks.
Before he knew it, he was on the logging road and slowing down at the overlook. He killed the bike, put the kickstand down, and walked over to a rock beyond the edge of the road. Sitting heavily, he dropped his head onto his knees and bellowed into the fabric of his jeans. Why had
