Modern Day Cavegirls - Dirty Love

Su-jin shrugged just a bit, "It does not matter. Love is often something which doesn't care about details. He knows the right word. That is all that matters."

Kwang-jo nodded, "I heard him say it. I didn't know anything about all of these factors, but I heard it, so I knew that he called to you."

He smiled, "I think that I understand the relationship that you might have had with his mother over there. It doesn't matter much to me, Su-jin.

I would like to ask," he smiled warmly, " – and very humbly, now that I know of your ancestry if I could call you sometime. I have been here for over two years and you are the first person that I can speak Korean to – well, other than a Korean couple in a rented car who were lost in the winter.

I can always treasure a friend, if you think that it would be alright."

Su-jin looked up at Kwang-jo. By Korean standards, he was good-looking – if you didn't have her father's defective outlook. By American standards, she thought he looked pretty good too. The coveralls didn't hide the fact that he was well-built, but he didn't tower over her.

And he was very likeable, now that they'd spoken for this long. But ...

"I think that I would like that, Kwang-jo. But I wish for you to know that my relationship was a romantic one. I say this only so that you understand me a little better. If it changes your thoughts I would not blame you."

He laughed!

He had to step away until he had it in hand, but he really surprised her with it.

"Tell me, Su-jin," he asked with a smile, "can two people not be friends – if there is nothing between them in romance? I am happy to meet you – regardless of the rest. It does not matter to me, though to show that I wish for us to be open, I like both."

He shrugged, "It does me no good here either for all that. I have met no women who show me any interest at all beyond a first glance, and to look for men in this town?"

He shook his head, "I have too much to lose in my career."

He bowed just a little and smiled, "So now we know each other, yes?"

Su-jin bowed the little bit that she was able, "Then I am very pleased, Kwang-jo."

Tyler opened his eyes and raised his head from Su-jin's shoulder to regard Kwang-jo for a moment with his blue eyes. Then he did what he always seemed to do whenever he met someone.

He reached out, "Hi."

Su-jin smiled and handed Tyler to Kwang-jo to watch as they began an animated discussion at Tyler's level. It gave her time to think - well ... to TRY to think objectively. In a very real way, she hoped that something changed and that Jodi could suddenly see a way that she could keep Tyler.

But Su-jin seemed to realise after a moment that it wasn't likely to happen and so she had to think of a life with a young adopted son and whether she could even do it. She guessed that she could and knew that she loved Tyler more than enough to want to.

Looking at them, Su-jin thought that having Kwang-jo for a friend would certainly help Tyler to learn English, since she guessed that his wouldn't change the way that hers sometimes did when she was stressed.

Bobbi walked over and grinned, seeing the way that the police officer and the little boy were laughing and smiling.

"I keep having these thoughts the longer that I know you," she said quietly, "You just seem to draw people to you somehow."

Su-jin looked over, "I don't think that I can agree with you, Bobbi. If it was me who drew him, I think that it would also be me there in his arms – but it is not."

Bobbi didn't turn her head, "Is that what you'd want, Su-jin?"

Su-jin shook her head, "So far, Kwang-jo seems like a good man to me. I have never sought a man in my life. He would like to offer his friendship and I think that I can accept it – but he knows how I am. I made it clear to him.

I have just never met a man who seems so likable to me as he is. I guess that I will learn about him soon enough. We like each other enough to try to start a friendship."

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On Thursday afternoon the day was already deep into stupid hot if you were out on the highway. The road which stretched out in front of you was little more than a dark, shimmering, and indistinct ribbon.

It was worse if you were in a vehicle which had no working air-conditioning. At the very least, you were under a roof. You might not be enjoying the cool air which came out of the vents in an air-conditioned car, but at least the sun wasn't trying to light you up.

Max sat a little forward on the big, wide seat on her Servi-car. It was an interesting position, slightly uncomfortable for a man since you were really sitting on the long leather horn of the seat. It made you pay attention, though it wouldn't take long for a male to want to be sitting on something more comfortable.

It was also a little uncomfortable to females though in a different way, since the engine down below was a frame-mounted V-twin which brought out an interesting variety of vibrations to your labia and yet never provided the logical progression of giving you something more a little higher where it really mattered.

You could always lean forward a long way to improve the sensations, but then it was a Servi-car and it left you looking like you were a kamikaze dying to get someplace desperately for a piss.

So either way it was unsatisfactory in the long run, though it was necessary now since there were two riders perched on that seat. Doing it this way let Jane sit behind Max as they made their way from Angel Fire to Santa Fe. The road was interesting, but not as interesting today as it might have been if it wasn't such a scorcher of a day.

Two hours.

Two hours and ninety-odd miles, each way.

Yeah.

They didn't have a roof and they didn't have air-conditioning.

What they did have – other than the sun trying to bake them was miles and miles of sun-fried asphalt and the steady blast of superheated air coming straight at you. It was enough to almost curl your eyelashes up enough to fall right off.

Max was getting the brunt of the effect since she was out front. She would have gotten even more, but Bobbi had heard of the trip and questioned their sanity. Jane's phone began to vibrate and she reached to answer it.

"What the hell are you two doing?"

It was Bobbi and Jane sighed, "I told you, we're going to Santa Fe to get – "

"I know that," Bobbi snapped as she listened to the roar of the wind over the connection, "Tell Max to pull over. I'm right behind you."

Jane looked back and waved while Max signalled and geared down to pull off the road. Bobbi was on them before they'd even gotten off.

"Turn around and go back," she said, "I need you both to be at work tomorrow.

With all of your skin still on your bodies.

Riding through everything short of open flame isn't wise out here today. So turn around and head back to the hangar. Call this Maya woman up and tell her to meet us with the bike at Santa Fe Muni. We'll fly it back and that way, I've still got both of my sisters – even the new one."

Max looked over with a curious grin.

"Yeah," Bobbi smirked, "I can't let you do this. Your new sister warranty isn't even up yet. I don't want to void it."

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An hour later, they were in the air and headed for Santa Fe. They were out of the mountains and were letting down to their cruise altitude of eleven thousand in the Twin Otter. At this altitude, the air was a lot cooler.

"Just as an observation," Bobbi said to Max over the intercom, "the way that I see it, a motorcycle – or a trike – which has only one seat, probably wasn't designed to handle the load of a passenger. That additional load probably wouldn't matter much most times.

I noticed – now that I know you Max, and so I now look at your vehicle - that your back tires are pretty much shot. Again, it might not mean anything most days and in most places. Seeing that made me think of your engine oil. You probably haven't been able to do the normal maintenance for the past while, since that would mean money that you probably didn't have.

We can take care of all of those things – all of that stuff – but not today. Sorry to say, but I know you now and that means that I get to ask the silly questions sometimes, like 'are you both out of your fucking minds?'

Janey wouldn't think of operating an aircraft that wasn't fit for the job. A vehicle with worn-out tires, carrying a little too much weight on a super-hot day makes about as much sense as a woman kneeling naked with her ass up in the air on a city sidewalk holding up a FUCK ME sign.

You might not get exactly what you had in mind, is all I'm saying.

I'm sorry to sound like grandma here, but I care about you both. Don't do things like this without thinking first. I've got more than enough reasons to have my hair go gray early."

Jane was flying right seat, being the co-pilot. She looked off to her right as she spoke, "Grandma NEVER used to talk like that, Bobbi."

She looked over and seeing Bobbi's expression, her smile faded instantly, "Sorry."

Even so, she had to struggle with it and lost for a few seconds here and there. Bobbi kept looking ahead, but also, she looked across a few times.

"You're not supposed to be sitting there with a shit-eating grin while I'm lecturing you. It's in the rules."

"I know," Jane groaned with the effort, "I keep having trouble with the visual, I'm sorry."

She burst out laughing three seconds later.

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Since they weren't using the cargo facilities, they had to settle for being way the hell out in General Aviation Parking again. Jane was off searching for Maya who was probably waiting in the freaking parking lot while Bobbi sat with Max as they shared a cold soda.

"So how do you like the job?" Bobbi asked Max.

"It's great," Max smiled, "I really like it. Jimmy cracks me up all the time and even so, he always has things to teach me. There's just so much to know.

And it's a lot of work, but he's patient and he's always ready to help if I need it."

Bobbi nodded, "Just wait, it's not the weekend yet. That can get pretty boring sometimes."

She sighed, "And I'm kicking myself a little. I think that I probably put off hiring for that job too long. I should have listened to Jimmy a long time ago."

Bobbi put her hand on Max' arm and Max looked, so Bobbi passed over the soda, "I think you're doing well, and I've heard very positive things about you from quite a few at work. So guess what that means in my nutty life?"

Max sat with her eyebrows raised, thinking. She drew a blank and shrugged at Bobbi.

Bobbi threw up her hands. "It means that we just start getting you trained, you like the job, the job likes you – and then something else happens. I'll probably get the official word tomorrow, but a little bird at the bank told me that my financing changes have been approved. Almost all of that means very little to you Max, except for one thing.

We can get started on the Norseman restoration. So that means that poor Jimmy is going to lose his lovely paduan learner for a while."

Max looked down and smirked, "Lovely, right."

Bobbi groaned, "Do you often have these bouts of not believing what is obvious to others? Those were Jimmy's words."

Max took a sip from the soda and handed it to Bobbi with a nod, "Yeah. It's not that I don't believe it when I hear things like that, Bobbi. It's that I tend to doubt what I hear a lot.

Up until just days ago, I never heard a single compliment over the way that I looked in my life since I've been on my own. I believe that I only ever heard things like 'You look really nice' from my parents – since from the time that my father got sick, I've never heard that even one time until now.

Of course, living the way that I have been means that most of the time, I looked like somebody who would, at the very least, swipe the change from your last four trips through the drive-through at the coffee shop, since you left it right there in plain sight in your unlocked truck."

Max reached into her pants pocket and produced a twenty which she handed to Bobbi.

Bobbi looked back with raised eyebrows.

Max shrugged, "I think you must get the same things every time. The change I find in your truck every day is the same amount. I used a little to get myself coffee twice off the coffee truck at work and the guy made that bill out of the pile that I gave him so I could give you that back.

I dunno what happened. But now I hear nice things about my looks – ok, especially now that I got my hair cut by somebody else. I hope you all don't mind too much if it takes me a little time to adjust – 'cause to me, it's fucking weird."

She smiled at Bobbi, "I only take it at full value if I hear it from you or Jane. That's when it means something to me – a lot. So thanks."

Jane stepped around the side of the plane, "'Kay, open the cargo door and Max, please help me with the ramp."

A long, tall woman with sleek black hair down to her butt walked up with two men who were pushing a customized motorcycle between them. Bobbi stared at the bike as her mouth drifted open, "Wow ... "

She looked from one end to the other, "Fucking ... wow."

The woman held out her hand, "I'm Maya – and you can't know how good it is to hear someone say something like that about one of my babies. I usually only get to hear things like this at shows and I don't get to very many."

Bobbi grabbed Maya's hand and shook her head with a smile, "I'm Bobbi. I never look at bikes anymore. The customs that I see are ... not well done and even if they are, they're all something I've seen a lot of before. Other than that, the hogs are all stock with a few OEM bits bolted on and one crotchrocket looks pretty much like the next. What you've done here ... gorgeous."

"Thank you," Maya smiled with a little bow before she looked around, "So you're Max?"

Max was standing off to the side with her hands jammed into her hip pockets. She took one hand out and held it up, "That's me."

Maya smiled, "I hear that you have a Yamaha 650 twin – real old."

Max shrugged, "Yeah. It was given to me by Jane, but I haven't done anyth-"

Maya was shaking her head, "If you haven't started anything with it yet – please don't. Sell it to me. I'll give you plenty good cash for it now that they're hard to find – or maybe you might like one something like it that I've already got built up."

It started a conversation that ended with Maya saying that she'd come with a truck to get the Yamaha on a particular day.

The talk turned then to Jane and Maya's expression grew serious as she pointed to the bike as her manner of speech showed her old connection to the streets.

"Listen Chica, this thing is no toy, ok?

The engine is a 1200 Harley like they put in their own bikes, but that's where it ends. This girl here, she's for real, and she don' like only going from one coffeeshop to the next. She likes road, see? She was born to the road – not the street.

Gas? She wants only Hi-test. Actually, what would really make her happy is aviation gas, so if you can find any, give her a treat once in a while.

The tank is almost dry since you told me you're flying it home.

This sweet thing, she started life as a Buell White Lightning and she's juiced. She got the Thunderstorm heads and honey, she got the cams to max it all, so that's like a Harley that's actually awake and on beans all the time. This rolls like no Harley you ever rode, trust me.

This girl don' waddle and she don' slouch. You can actually corner. You get these tires hot, they get sticky. You get them sticky and you can corner with your knees down, you won't drag nothing.

I looked at the firmware and I made a few changes for the fuel injection profile with these pipes so forget about fuel economy. That went out the window with the stock pipes. She runs a little rich to keep things like valves and valve seats from burning up. Between the throttle and the fuel injectors, there's a little black box. It's there to make sure that you get that mixture.

Don' touch it.

Jou mess with that, jou gotta bring her home to Mama Maya to untangle what chou done.

The downside of that it that she shakes like a sick dog when she's idling at lights. If it bothers you, just pretend like she's panting.

Don' just nod at me.

This is no cruiser, ok? You ride her hard; she'll tell you she's a happy girl. What that means to you is that you gon' feel like you been someplace and back on a fast horse, not some lazy hog with loud pipes.

You said you wanted drag pipes – so you got drag pipes. Real ones, not like the dealers sell. I bent them up custom myself. If you're under the revs where she comes on the cams, it's not bad. She's like Glinda the Good Witch of the North. No attitude and she purrs like a leopard with a down low grumble, see?

You don' do the stupid blip the throttle thing with this one, comprende? Fuel injection – that's why it's there. That shit went out with the trash a long time ago. You'll just piss her off."

Maya nodded as she held up a finger and she spoke slowly for emphasis, "Chica, you get this girl on the cams and you'll meet her other side – and then she's pure Wicked Witch of the West, honey."

She smirked and pointed to the little art scene on the back of the gas tank, "Hence the name.

You'll feel it when it happens and everybody in TOWN gonna know, trust me. You play like that at night and anybody can see that the pipes are not factory. Little blue flames you can see in the dark. She's worth a fat ticket right there, so use your pretty head.

And while I'm thinking of it, remember; those are open pipes – do NOT take this bike off road and into anything like dry grass or bush – not with those pipes. They give way bigger tickets for starting grass fires.

Ok, last thing. The engine has new sleeves and rings so jou gotta complete the break in. I did most of it for you, so I think you might only have maybe two hundred miles to go. Until then, you keep her like the good witch. Only the good witch, comprende? I did the loud part for you out on Highway 25.

So you get to know each other while you finish the break in miles. She'll be due for an oil change within two hundred after that and you want to do that to get rid of the oil pan full of tiny chips from the break-in."

Jane nodded and they helped get the bike into the Twin Otter and strapped down. Bobbi gave Maya preliminary directions for when she came to look at the Yamaha and they parted company as Jane jumped into the co-pilot's chair and began to set up for the engine starts.

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"What do you think?" Jane asked Max as they sat outside the coffeeshop on their way back home hours after landing, "I like it. Everything feels right to me and I'm just getting used to feeling like I'm riding some beast that's always a little hungry."

Max nodded, "I like it. The seat is pretty good and the way that I always end up against your back is my favorite part. I get to hold on to you and feel a little proud, like I'm the one with a secret."

Jane chuckled, "Not that much of a secret, the way you always sneak your hand to my boob when you think you can get away with it."

"Meh," Max sighed, "Fringe benefits.

I am a little glad that we stopped off at home so I could ride my trike a little tonight. I like riding with you, but it feels more like home on my piggy."

"Yeah well, maybe you oughta hide it when Maya comes to see the Yamaha. She might get ideas about doing your trike too and then you'd have no wheels."

"Doubt it," Max smirked.

"Just wait until she pulls out her bankroll in front of you," Jane said, "She can be hard to resist if she's waving that around."

Max shook her head like it never would happen. She looked over the other way, noticing some motion, "Who is that?