Light

Chapter 11: Headlight

Kai pulled on black leather gloves as he walked over to his motorbike. It was a dangerous looking thing, all pipes and sharp angles. In one powerful movement, Kai straddled the bike and I watched his long leather jacket flutter into place on either side of the machine. He switched the ignition on and pressed the lever on the left handlebar. The engine roared to life, and I started doubting my ability to see this through. Kai's motorbike looked as intimidating as him.

"I didn't know motorbikes had GPS," I asked dubiously.

"Yeah, BMW GS bikes don't usually come with a GPS, but I got one fitted."

"Why do you need one? Do you get lost easily or something?" I baited.

Kai only shook his head. "I got the R1200 because it's made for rough terrain. I've been in some sticky situations in the past. Best to be prepared. You ready?"

Sticky situations? That definitely didn't sound like he was doing legal things. Did BMW even offer a service of fitting a GPS into their models? Unless Kai got it done illegally, which was highly likely. Must've cost a lot of money either way. I walked up to the beast of a bike and realised I wouldn't be able to sit on it as smoothly as Kai. To start with, it came up to my waist. I'd probably have to pole vault to get on it gracefully.

"See this?" Kai pointed to a small grey lever sticking out near the bottom of the bike. "Put your left foot on that and use it to push off the ground."

"Ah, right. Okay, but are you sure I won't break it? Not that I'm saying I will, or that I want to. I'm just concerned that, you know, it might break? Plus I don't have that kind of money for repairing it and everything," I replied nervously.

Kai raised an eyebrow and I sensed a rebuttal coming.

"Are you trying to say that you're overweight?"

"What? No! No, I'm just worried that I might break the pipe by standing on it! This isn't about me, I'm worried for your bike."

"That 'pipe', is a footpeg. If it can remain intact after being used countless times, by people much heavier than you, then I'm pretty sure it won't break now. Look, it's normal to feel nervous, just accept the feeling and get over it. There's no need to hide behind words."

I smiled sheepishly. At least I got him to talk for longer than five seconds.

"Ready?" Kai asked, clearly amused.

I smiled again as I nodded in response to Kai's question, but it didn't reach my eyes. Who would've thought that the first time I'd sit on a motorbike would be to visit Mum at the hospital? Kai's face softened slightly, and I caught his expression before his stoic mask snapped back into place. I placed my foot on the peg, using it as leverage, and swung my right leg over the bike gracelessly.

"Hey, that wasn't so bad. You could've just told me it's like sitting on a horse!" I said as I tried to get comfortable on the seat. 

"It's not the same as a horse. Horses are unpredictable, they don't stand still and they smell."

"How would you know?" I asked, intrigued by the breadcrumbs of information Kai was dropping.

"I know more than most," he said cryptically.

I frowned and thought about how to ask him more without sounding nosey. Of course he'd be careful with his answers though, for all he knew I could go to the police and tattle. I'd already threatened him with that the first time we met. The memory of that night made my stomach drop like I was sitting on a rollercoaster. I shook my head, trying to focus on the present task at hand: surviving a motorbike ride.