Long Trip

      You wake up with a start! My God! I'm on my bike!! Need to stay awake! You are riding with about 30 other bikers,it's night. The roar of the bikes,and the whine of the tires on the road have caused you to doze off for a split second....that could be just enough time to kill you. You have been riding all day...you need a break...now. Up ahead,you see an all night diner,the guys up front signal to turn in. Not a minute to soon,you tell yourself.

     Pick-up trucks in the gravel driveway...never a good sign. Everyone parks,stretches,and heads inside. We're tired,hungry,and just want a break from our "steel horses". When we walk in,everyone in the place stares at us. They see the big black boots, the leather outfits,the long hair,the bloodshot eyes. They stare,but they don't say anything...yet. You look around, you know that they all heard you coming from two miles out. It sounded like thunder rumbling in the distance. The two old men at the counter talked about the coming rain. They were wrong;there is a storm brewing,but there won't be any rain this night.

         Remember those pick-up trucks? Local boys, "yokels" as we like to call them. You see them in the booth in the far back; six,by my count. Not enough to be a problem. But they love to talk,just loud enough for you to hear. Hell,I would spot them two of their's to one of me!! Mostly talk,they want some trouble,but are afraid of our numbers. You think to yourself,if only one biker came through here,he would be a target. That thought makes you mad,mad enough to fight.

          Suddenly,I feel my uncle,and one other guy with a hand on each shoulder,pushing me back in the booth where we are sitting. My uncle says, "don't start the trouble". "Watch for it,be ready when it comes,and don't take any shit when it does come". "But never start it....never give them the satisfaction of thinking that they were right".

             This night,the "yokels" were lucky. There was one person in that diner who didn't care if he got out alive,and damn sure didn't worry about them getting out alive. The fire that burned that night was white-hot,and ready to explode. I never did like loud-mouthed assholes,and never will. Think about this page the next time you stare at a biker...we have feelings too. People just sometimes bring out the wrong ones. Then,storms happen..................