He told me.
“Do you have enough?”
He nodded.
“Actually?”
He rolled his eyes.
“Yes, Mom.”
“Just checking.”
Then he hesitated.
“Can you come with me to get it?”
That question meant more to me than he knew.
We bought it together.
Evan handed over the money himself.
Money he had earned.
Money he was finally allowing himself to keep.
The seller helped load the bike into the car.
Evan spent the entire drive home looking backward at it through the rear window.
“You’re going to hurt your neck.”
“I don’t care.”
The first place he wanted to ride was Jeremy’s park.
Of course it was.
For almost an hour, he raced the path while I timed him.
Thirty-nine seconds.
Then thirty-eight.
Then thirty-eight again.
“Your stopwatch is broken.”
“Or that’s your speed.”
“No.”
He took off again.
Near the far end of the path, a younger boy’s bicycle chain slipped off.
