Motorcycle

It was a Sunday afternoon, West had just come home from college the day before while on spring break. He was enjoying the nice day fixing his motorcycle in his parents’ driveway while his mom was hastily cooking Sunday dinner and his father was out with his gulf buddies celebrating one of their friends 60th birthday. As West was fixing his motorcycle, a little boy about 5 years old walked over from the neighboring house straight up to West and began to speak without hesitation.

“What’re you doing?”

West ignores him at first, but this doesn’t phase the little boy who asks West again,

“I saiddd, what’re you doing?”

West lets out a sigh knowing that he’s going to be trapped in a conversation for a good hour.

“I’m fixing this bike kid.” West said annoyed.

“…That’s not a bike?”

The little boy replied as he proceeded to turn his entire head to the side confusingly at the motorcycle then back up. His confusion quickly faded as he begins to argue with West.

“That’s not a bike. My bike isn’t like your bike and neither are my friends or my families or…”

West interrupted the little boy before he could continue on,

“Your right kid, it’s a motorcycle. Some people call it bike…as a nickname…”

“OOOooOOhhh…wait, my mommy has a motorcycle sometimes but…I don’t know, I never seen her motorcycle before…”

The little boy says extremely confused.

“Kid, what are you talking about? How much sugar have you had?” West laughs to himself at the odd conversation he’s having with his little boy. After the little boy just continues to stare dumbfounded at the motorcycle, West starts to feel weird and asks the little boy.

“Should I call your mom?”

The boy says,

“Yeah ‘cause my mommy’s motorcycle makes her butt bleed…does it make your butt bleed?”

West just stops what he’s doing completely at this point and thinks to himself ‘This is why I don’t talk to kids.’ The little boy looks at West waiting for his answer. ‘He can’t be serious right now? My ass bleeding?’

“…No, never little kid. I …”

The little boy blurted out,

“HOLD ON!”

The little boy runs towards his house as West looks away, he thinks ‘I should just go inside and pretend to go to sleep.’ As West begins to hastily put his tools away, the little boy and a woman walk right up to him. West slowly stands from behind his bike, the woman shyly stretches out her arm to shake his hand. West extends his arm to shake as he introduces himself.

“Hi, I’m West. Debra and Mike are my parents, I’m here for spring break.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Niya and you’ve already met my son Preston…That’s actually why I came over here.” She let out a huge sigh before she asked, “What exactly did he say to you?”.

West’s entire face turns bright red,

“Honestly… he said that this motorcycle that you own occasionally…makes you bleed…from your … ugh…butt. I don’t know why but he just said it and then asked me if my bike made my a… I mean butt bleed and I just said no, I really have no idea honestly. I wasn’t trying to have some weird conversation with your kid…”

Niya burst into laughter. West and Preston both look at Niya with great confusion. Niya regains her composure after a good minute or two, then grabs her son by the face and says,

“Baby, what I tell you is not always for everyone to know” She laughed. “It’s private secret stuff, okay?”

Preston just shook his head,

“Okay mommy.”

“Okay, go back inside you left your juice on the table, you better hurry up before Coco gets it!” She exclaimed. The little boy’s eyes lit up and without hesitation he ran back inside.

Niya watches Preston go back inside and then focuses back on West as she continues to giggle uncontrollably to herself, who was still very confused and she owed him an apology and an explanation.

“I am so sorry first and foremost for my very odd introduction and if my son made you feel uncomfortable with his conversation...”

She could not stop laughing,

“... and secondly I would like to explain what he thought he meant when he was talking to you, so my son is literally always with me and recently due to him barging into the bathroom while I was on my menstrual cycle, he’s been …”

Oh my god, please stop. I am so dumb, I am so sorry. Please you don’t have to finish. It’s okay…”

West continued to ramble as Niya couldn’t stop laughing but nodded her head in agreement to what West was saying, she tried to talk again but didn’t get much out before laughing again,

“It’s very hard to explain things to children, especially at his age..”

"I can see why" Wes laughs.

"Okay, well I am going to leave you to continue working on your cycle" Niya winks at Wes. "I'll make sure to keep Preston out of your hair, sorry again for this awkward exchange".

"Listen, this interaction with the two of you has definitely made my day. Hope it made your day too." Wes replied.

Niya smiles at Wes before heading back to the house. Preston shortly behind her looks back at Wes and waves. Right outside their front door, Preston turns around to Wes and shouts,

"Make sure to be tissue paper for your butt!".