Tailgating is Not a Family Value

by John Kilkelly
illustration by Mark Reusch

It was too hot
Even for a motorcycle
Too hot to think
Too hot to breathe
He stopped for the day
In a seedy desert town ringed
By trailer parks, truck stops
And bars
Pulled off his helmet
Made sure the bike was in the shade
Went in for a beer
There were whole families in there
The TV glared down in Technicolor nastiness
Children ran around in circles
Chasing each other while
Mom and Pop sat at the bar
And tried to forget themselves
He squeezed in, ordered a beer
And began a conversation
With a cheerful drunk
About his bike
And how far he’d come
And how fucking hot it was
After a while
A small blonde
Nice teeth and happy eyes
Smiled shyly at him
And said she didn’t want a beer
He took her outside
To show her the bike
And later, after he’d wound down
He took her for a short ride
She clung to him
She was wearing a short denim skirt
And little white socks
And he told her to be careful
Of the hot pipes
She took him up to the top
Of a nearby hill
Where they could see
The whole sorry town
And it was getting cooler now
She pulled him to the ground
He spread out his blanket
And let her go on top
She wrapped her legs around his waist
And showed him what
The Wild West was really like
And when he brought her back
And she slid off the bike
She told him he’d better go
Her Pappy was gonna be mad
And she had school tomorrow
And he looked at her in shock
And laughed
Then rode the hell out of town