Not a single family member showed for my Biker Grandpa’s 80th birthday. Not even my father, his own son. I watched from across the street as Grandpa Jack sat alone at that long table, his weathered hands folded over the helmet he still carried everywhere, waiting for two hours while the waitstaff gave him pitying … Read more
My son’s fiancée invited me to a fancy restaurant then deliberately disappeared when the $3,000 bill arrived. She wanted to embarrass me and get me arrested by the police. Just because I ruined her party by coming to meet my son on my bike in front of his friends. Actually, she never liked the fact … Read more
My hands wouldn’t stop shaking the day I put my Harley up for sale to pay off medical bills of my only daughter who was fighting cancer. But I have to make the hard choice. The “For Sale” sign I’d taped to the seat was like a knife in my chest, but Emma’s latest medical … Read more
They laughed at my old Harley and faded leathers when I pulled into the Thunder Road Bar. “Look what rolled in from the nursing home,” one of them said, loud enough for everyone to hear. It wasn’t the first time. Won’t be the last. At 73, I’ve watched the world change around me. These days, … Read more
“Sir, I’m going to need you to step away from the fence. Now.” The security guard’s hand hovered near his radio as I stood outside Fairfield Elementary, clutching a brown paper lunch bag. “Parents have complained,” he added, eyes avoiding mine. I’d fought in war, survived three motorcycle crashes that should’ve killed me, buried more … Read more
I hated my father-in-law’s motorcycle more than anything in the world because it stole my husband from me. The day that old Harley crushed John beneath its weight was the day I swore I’d never forgive Frank for introducing his son to those death machines. We haven’t spoken since the funeral six years ago, where … Read more
I stood frozen in the doorway of my father’s hospital room, staring at the nurse who was casually throwing his prized leather vest into a garbage bag like it was medical waste. Fifty years of my father’s life – his patches, combat medals, the memorial patch for my mother – stuffed between soiled sheets and … Read more
I hated the old bikers who started showing up at our church. These bikers (gangsters more appropriately) had no place in God’s house, especially not these gray-bearded Vietnam vets who refused to dress properly for worship or leave their sinful past behind. Every Sunday, they’d rumble into our church parking lot on their loud Harleys, … Read more
I called police upon that old biker who was a menace to our community, and I was determined to stop him before another child disappeared. Five kids had entered his house over the past year, and not one had emerged alive. Oh, he had excuses—mumbled stories about “relatives coming to get them” or “special facilities” … Read more
I spent twenty-three years of my career as a state trooper harassing motorcycle riders on the open highway. I pulled them over for the smallest infractions. Wrote tickets when warnings would’ve sufficed. Treated every leather vest like it hid a weapon, every group ride like it was a gang operation. I watched them through narrowed … Read more