Chapter 6

After we all recovered, we went out for lunch at Five Guys. I had a “Little Cheeseburger” with the works, small fries, and a chocolate milkshake with whipped cream. I was feeling famished and ended up going back for a second LC, which I devoured before mom and dad finished their meals.

Yeah, I’m a young woman now, but I scarfed down that food like a typical hungry boy. I’ll work on my manners at another time. When my body tells me it needs fuel, I am not going to be miss prissy and eat daintily.

I found that the most challenging part of our time out was to avoid reaching out and touch them as the lovers they now were. I wanted to stoke my mother’s hand and lay my hand on my father’s thigh and give it the occasional squeeze. What helped me avoid acting on my desires was keeping my fingers busy with eating. By the time we were done, I had eaten all of my meal, and most of their fries, too.

Being a Saturday, we went to the local Blockbuster and rented Sling Blade, Blade Runner, and Mars Attacks! From there we made a run to the local Albertsons to grab a few yellow and green squash, and some steaks to grill. We also got the fixings for salads — no iceberg lettuce for us. We got spinach, romaine, radishes, carrots, baby cucumbers, and a block of mild cheddar to shred on top of it all. We had our favorite dressings at home already, so didn’t bother with those.

Even before the change, my parents allowed me, and my brothers, to drink alcohol at home, under their supervision. Their thinking was that if we had access to it, we wouldn’t feel the need to go out to parties to get drunk. Apparently, it worked for my two older brothers. I was starting as a Freshman; thus I had not been invited to any parties where alcohol might be available.

Dad grabbed a beer for himself and a couple of wine coolers for mom and me, as I got the VCR set up to watch Mar Attacks!

Pop sat in the middle of the couch while mom and I sat on either side of him. It felt really nice to sit there with them. More so when he put his arm around me. We laughed throughout the movie. It was a riot. The cause of the death of the Martians was hilarious! Who knew that Slim Whitman’s yodeling would be their demise!

When the movie ended, I popped it out and put it in the rewinder. I had learned that it was terrible for your VCR to use it to rewind videos. Besides, you can move on to the next movie immediately if you have a dedicated rewinding machine.

We took a break to get things ready for dinner. We had three, one inch thick NY Strip steaks, which pop had in a nice whiskey based marinade that we all favored. They would stay there right up until it was time to grill them.

Mom started to make the salads while I sliced the squash, lengthwise, for grilling. A touch of salt and pepper for flavor and they were ready to go. I had them laid out on a tray which I covered so that they were ready to go when dad said it was time.

As I had finished my part of the work before mom had completed hers, I grabbed the cukes and cut them up for her. I then tackled the cheese and grated it. Soon, we had it all done and in bowels, which we covered and put back into the fridge.

Supper wouldn’t be for a few hours more, so I decided to get out for a bit. In Oklahoma, it is possible to get a license to ride a motorcycle of 250cc or smaller at the age of 14. Not many girls bother to go that route. I, on the other hand already had mine.

I changed into my riding gear. A full set of black with neon pink (it had been neon green) piping with kevlar lining. My helmet was a full face model with flip-up visor; it was also neon pink with flame graphics.

Grabbing my keys and gloves, I kissed mom and dad, told them I was going riding until time to start dinner. In later years, I would be carrying a cell phone, but at this time they were like carrying a brick and were too expensive.

I pulled my 1990 Yamaha TW 200 of the garage and started it up. It was an excellent motorcycle for beginners, and it was street legal and off-road capable. It was that off-road capability that resulted in my parents getting me the kevlar lined riding gear.

Once I got it started, I had a thought. I made another wish. This time it was one to keep me safe while riding.

“Djinn, I would like to make my next wish,” I said to the air.

“What is it you desire, young Billie?”

“I wish for my motorcycle to always be in top form, from front tire to rear, and always be full of fuel. Further, I want to be able to see any dangers as I ride and be able to avoid them without causing anyone else to come to harm.”

“It is good that you think of others. Your wish will be fulfilled as you intend, but there is a small cost. Fuel is not free, so it must be paid for. As you always have the funds to pay for anything you need, payment cannot be taken in a physical form. Instead, you will be required to pay for it in labor. Said labor will be paid at the rate of five dollars an hour. It can be almost anything, especially around the house to help the family.”

“I find that acceptable, thank you, my Djinn.”

“So, I am your Djinn now? Do you think you own me?”

“No, but I don’t know what else to call you, and you are connected to my family and most directly, now, to me. That’s all, and you know it,” I said with a smile.

“Yes, I do know it. I find it amusing to tease once in a while. Sometimes more often.” And, with that, the Djinn as gone.

With a 1.7 gallon tank with a fuel economy above 50mpg, I would be hard pressed to have to work an hour a week to pay for my fuel. Life as Billie Joel wasn’t bad at all.

I restarted the engine and immediately noticed the difference. It was running smoother than before. Possibly, better than it had been brand new. I flipped down my visor and took off, watching for traffic as I left our driveway.

Supper prep would be in about two hours, so I planned accordingly. There was a local track we could use, and I planned on using it today. It was a motocross track where local races were held. I pointed myself in that direction and off I went. It was a 20-minute drive each direction. That meant I had 80 minutes, tops, at the track. A few riders were doing practice laps when I got there. I signed in and waited to join them when the current run finished.

My bike may have been in the best form ever, but that did not make me a better racer. I was able to avoid a severe crash, thanks to my wish. I might have otherwise ended up in the hospital with critical injuries.

I made a total of three runs before I had to head home. It had been fun, and everyone treated me no differently than when I had been William, which was a pleasant experience. I didn’t want to have to make friends all over again.

On the way home, I stopped in at the QT on the way to grab a bottle of water. Riding is a sport, and more physical than a non-rider knows. I needed to hydrate. It was at this point that all my good fortune left me.

I had parked my bike on the side of the building. It was, sadly for me, out of the line of sight of most of the road and the parking lot. It did not help that I was paying more attention to gulping down my bottle of water than my surroundings, either.