Love Means No Boundaries - Andrew Grey

Suddenly the brake lights came on, and the car pulled to a stop in his lane and Joey put on the brakes, tires screeching beneath him. “Jesus Christ, not again!” Joey yelled into his helmet as another car came toward them in the other lane cutting off his escape route.
The pain and fear from the last accident came flooding back along with another worry about Robbie sitting behind him. ROBBIE felt the seat swerve and jump beneath him, and he couldn’t figure out what was going on. Then the bike pitched him forward into Joey before bouncing him up off the seat. He heard the sound of gravel beneath the wheels, and they were sliding again, first to one 93 Andrew Grey
     
side and then the other. He had no idea what to do and felt completely helpless. “Joey!” he called out into the helmet that surrounded his head, but it hardly mattered. Gripping Joey as hard as he could, he held on to him as the bike kept moving but eventually slowed down.
    “Oh my God! Are you okay?” He heard a female voice call out as he felt them stop and the bike engine died. All he could hear was his own breath reverberating in his ears in the helmet. “You’re not hurt are you?” The female voice got louder, but Joey hardly paid attention, he just sat there on the back of the bike, gripping Joey for dear life, his heart still racing a million miles a minute.
“I think we’re okay.” He heard Joey’s muffled voice answer as they both stayed stark still. He felt Joey turn around. “Are you all right?” Joey’s voice was clearer, and he nodded his head, not trusting his voice enough to answer directly. He didn’t seem to be hurt, just scared. “Dad!” The female voice called out. “What were you doing?” The voice got farther away. “You’re not supposed to be driving.” There must have been an answer because he heard the voice again.
    “To get the mail? You almost caused an accident.” He felt Joey’s hand on his arm.
“I think we’ll get home.”
Robbie nodded again, refusing to let go of Joey as the engine started again, and they began to move. They felt like they were turning, bouncing slightly. Then the ride became smooth and they rode slowly back to the farm.
    Robbie felt himself tense at every bump or turn. Then he heard gravel beneath the wheels, and Joey turned off the engine, but neither of them moved. “We need to get off.” Slowly, Robbie released his grip and straightened himself up before pulling his feet on the ground and getting off the bike. He heard Joey’s feet on the gravel before feeling his fingers on the chin strap, and the helmet 94
    Love Means … NO Boundaries
lifted off his head, and he could hear normally again. “Are you okay?” He heard Joey whisper softly.
“Yeah, I’m fine. What happened?” Robbie tried to keep some of the emotion out of his voice, but he didn’t think he succeeded.
“I almost hit a car that stopped in the road. Some old guy turned in front of us. I drove across a driveway and onto a lawn to keep us from hitting him.” Joey’s voice sounded cold and distant.
     
He heard footsteps again and the soft whir of gears. He figured Joey was putting the bike away.
     
Robbie waited for Joey to return, but he didn’t. Instead Robbie found himself standing where Joey had gotten off the bike, wondering where the hell he was. “Joey?” Nothing at all, just the sound of the farm around him.
     
“Robbie.” He heard Geoff’s voice calling from what he hoped was the farmhouse and footsteps running toward him. “What happened?” “I don’t really know.” He was so confused and hurt. Joey had forgotten him. “Something happened while we were riding, and he brought me back here.”
     
“Where’s Joey?” He could hear definite annoyance in Geoff’s voice.
     
“I don’t know.” He thought he was going to cry, but swallowed hard instead. “I thought he was putting the bike away, but he never came back.” Robbie didn’t know what to make of it, and then he felt Geoff’s hand on his arm, leading him across the yard.
    “We’re almost at the back door.” Robbie felt the step with his toe and climbed into the house with Geoff gently guiding him inside and to the kitchen table.”
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“How was the ride?” Eli’s bright voice cut through his own gloom.
“It was great until someone pulled out in front of us. Joey managed to avoid it and saved us. It was a rough ride, but we were both okay. When we got back here, he helped me off the bike, and