The Bike Shop

I stuck my tongue in her mouth and said, "Let's pretend we are having a wild summer fling while we get that sorted out."

Her tongue dueled with mine. "You didn't have to say 'pretend,' did you?"

"I should take you right here. Right now." I pressed her hand to my hardness.

"None of that, if I am supposed to be a proper girlfriend and meet your folks." She grinned at me and I kissed her hard.

I picked up the phone and called home. "Hi, Sharon is free tonight, does that work?"

"It's short notice, Alex, but yes, let's have her come tonight. May I talk to her?"

They talked for a minute or two. Sharon hung up and turned to me. "She said to call her Ellen and come casual. She sounds nice."

I kissed her again and said, "She is my mom and she is nice."

Sharon punched me. "If I am your girlfriend, I have to look like a girl. Come out to the van and help me dress."

She was down to her underwear and looked daggers at me. "Don't you dare attack me right now! There are only three dresses. You've seen me in the fanciest. What about this one?"

She held up a plaid that was not in fashion at all. I frowned and she held up the other one, a navy blue pleated number that also wasn't fashionable but would do. I smiled as best I could.

"Perfect."

"Let me fix my face and you can help me into it."

In fifteen minutes, we were on our way. The body next to me was definitely a woman, even if the chest was flat. I squeezed her hand. "You look really nice, boss."

"I will beat you later."

The conversation started slow. Sharon got a glass of wine, and so did I, after a hard look from Ellen. By dinner time, the folks were talking bikes with Sharon and excited by her tales of racing. She showed them several scars from crashes and Mom oohed.

The dinner was Mom's special beef stew with red wine, and tasted terrific. Sharon and I both asked for seconds.

My dad asked about the loan problem and Sharon said, "Alex says we are going to turn the shop around, financially, and get the loan current again."

All three of them looked at me, and I said, "That's right. We've almost doubled the cash flow in two weeks." Mom gave me a look that said this wasn't the kid she was used to.

Ellen served strawberries with ice cream and pound cake in the living room. It was delicious. In the middle of finishing the dessert, she said, "Sharon, I've been worried about you and Alex getting too thick too fast, but I can see you have a fine relationship and are good for each other. I hope you will let me help if you need it."

Sharon smiled and stumbled, trying to say thank you. "You are very kind, Ellen. When I took Alex on to fix bikes, I had no idea what I was getting. We're good at working together, and we..., I mean, we are good with other things too."

Dad and I laughed, and the women giggled. After helping in the kitchen, we made our exit and I drove her back to the shop. She dragged me into the van and sat on me. "You not only get to me, but now your family reaches out and is extra nice. Give me a kiss before I cry."

There was some teary makeout, but I cut it short because there were tests tomorrow at school.

I climbed the stairs at home, half asleep already. As I passed their bedroom, Mom said, "Come in for a minute."

I sat on the edge of the bed and they looked at me. He said, "That's some girlfriend you have there."

"I know. I'm stuck on her."

Ellen reached out her hand to me. "Can you keep from falling completely in love?"

"Probably not. You offered to help. We need to do something to get her out of living in that miserable van. The shop income will do it eventually, but I just hate to see her have to live that way now."

She said, "We have an extra room. Do you want me to invite her to live with us until something better can be arranged?"

"That would be the best present I can think of."

Dad put his hand on Ellen's shoulder and said, "Honey, they are not going to spend the night in separate beds. Are you prepared for that?"

She looked at me, smiling, and said, "Yes. I couldn't stop them if I tried. Besides, he has had to listen to us making love forever, so maybe it is our turn to suffer."

Dad pulled her to him for a ferocious kiss. "Why, you wild woman. I never knew..."

She looked at me, "You'd better go, I am going to beat him and he is going to ..."

I closed the door carefully and smiled all the way to a dreamless night's sleep.

I was hard at work on some bikes the following afternoon when Mom showed up in jeans and a tight blouse. She went in the office and closed the door.

They came out together in fifteen minutes, smiling. Sharon punched me. "Good for nothing. Think you can put up with me around the house, do you?"

Graduation day arrived. Half the class was going to college and half wasn't. Lots of us wouldn't see each other again for a long time. Tears were easy to come by. But I felt strangely separate from my classmates. My girl had me in a different orbit. I was helping to rescue a small business, and I was in love with the owner. College and classes and drinking parties seemed far off.

The morning of the ceremony came. Sharon had cancelled her registration in an important race to be there, and was going to sit with my parents in a new dress Mom had been the fashion consultant for.

Ellen rescued me from the dumps with a hug and a kiss."You have four years to celebrate, Alex. You have studied hard and played hard and done well. Dad and I are very proud. Don't let your worries about Sharon and the future spoil this day. She doesn't want that. You and she are more than strong enough for whatever comes your way."

It was just the kind of pep talk I needed. I used a mental broom to sweep all that brain trash into the corner. I hoisted her up and twirled her around and gave her one of my hot Sharon kisses."

"Wow! I guess I said the right thing."

"You did. You are my mom, after all. My sexy, loving mom."

Dad came into the kitchen and saw us. "Are you hitting on my woman?"

They hugged and kissed and she said, "I had to get him out of the dumps. He was worrying about things he shouldn't. At least, not yet."

He clasped my shoulder. "We have a wonderful woman in the house. She's been fixing things all these years."

I sat on a hard chair, in the middle of the football field, with eight hundred other seniors, cooking in our robes. I thought about high schools all over the country that June morning, going through the annual ritual of ushering their graduates to the next step on the path to being grownups. There was the usual recitation of prizes, and, midway through, I was surprised to hear my name. I stumbled forward, finally remembering that the Principal had named me the student with the highest ranking in athletics and academics combined. I got up the steps without tripping and even put the plaque in the correct hand so I could shake his and say thank you. Lots of clapping. My Dad was standing.

After that, the handing out of diplomas was anticlimactic. I was still caught in a crowd when Sharon grabbed me and we had a wild public kiss. "You didn't tell me!"

"I didn't know. It's one they don't announce in advance."

Then I had kisses from Mom, and back slaps from Dad. And lots of congratulations from my friends. The crowd was slowly filtering out, most people ignoring the reception hosted by the high school auxiliary, featuring non-alcoholic punch. Several girls I had dated passed by, givng Sharon a hard look. She looked so good in the new dress, and so happy. It was great to see the big smile on her face after the tough times she had been through. A stray thought went through my head, "my sister, my lover." It was like that between us.

Saturday was a big day for the shop and we couldn't afford to be closed for long. Sharon and I had made a deal with the folks for a nice dinner in the evening. But right now, we were moving fast to get back to work.

Business was so revived, customers were waiting as we drove up. There was real hope for turning the loan around, with only ten days to go. At five o'clock, as I was writing the last repair tickets and nudging folks to the exit, Sharon came out and whispered we had hit a new high for one day's revenue. We high fived each other and laughed.

We were still laughing when we got home and hit the shower. Mom and Art were dressed and having a drink on the back patio.

Sharon wiggled and squirmed in my hands under the hot water. "I love you, Alex."

I pulled her in tight. "We are going to make this happen, love."

Mom had been working on Sharon's wardrobe. Sheer stockings, with a garter belt that went over the pale yellow lacy lingerie. A bra that looked suspiciously as though it had a bit of padding in it. A spring flouncy dress that just touched her knees, and heels in lavender.

I had my blue blazer and an open striped shirt and felt underdressed to escort this vision.

We walked out on the patio and Dad whistled. Sharon blushed at the same time she glowed.

We were waiting for dessert when Dad asked, "Have you figured out how to make love and bikes and school go together?"

Ellen said, "Isn't that pretty tough talk for tonight, Arthur?"

He said, "Look at them. She has been keeping a bike shop alive by sheer willpower, and winning races at the same time. He just won the prize for top scholar-athlete in his class and knows bike repair backwards and forwards. I am in awe of both of them."

Sharon squeezed my hand, "I haven't told him this, but I've been thinking. We can be into bikes at school. He's very smart, and I will make him study or revoke his privileges. If we are lucky, with this shop breaking even, I can sell it and maybe buy an interest in one at school. That's only part of the story, but it is a start."

I couldn't believe the sacrifices she was talking about making because of me. Mom and Dad were staring at us, not knowing what to say.

After a long silence, I took a deep breath and got down on my knees. "Sharon, from the bottom of my heart, I love you. Will you marry me?"

She climbed into my arms, crying and saying yes. Mom and Dad looked dazed. People at other tables were looking at us and smiling.

Dad paid and we drove home in shock. When we got to the house, Sharon made everyone sit down in the living room and said, "I believe Alex and I love him dearly. He is so strong, but I know the other three of us are sitting here wondering if a man at eighteen knows what he is getting into. With your blessing, we will do some version of what I said at dinner and we will take it one day at a time. No wedding ceremony and no baby until we can see our future better."

Things were quiet while Sharon climbed into my lap and Ellen climbed into Dad's. Everyone was on the edge of tears.

Dad said, "I wish I had half the gumption at your age that you do. Ellen and I will help as much as we can."

Sharon and Ellen were crying wet tears on their men. We hugged them.