Page 46 of Wrench
motorcycles. During the two months I was living in Sturgis, there was an annual world-
famous motorcycle rally that took over the town. Ten days of revving motors, live music,
drunk screams and fighting, police sirens¡ it was hands down the most annoying ten
days of my life. One night, I drank an entire bottle of wine just to knock myself out after
six nights of sleep deprivation. And I guessed Isaac was one of those guys.
And did I ever want him.
My door cracked open an inch.
¡°Knock, knock,¡± my dad said while knocking, which defeated the purpose of knocking.
¡°Come in,¡± I answered, and he walked in wearing his ¡°lucky¡± striped vintage
Diamondbacks jersey that he had worn since I was a little girl. Grease stains from
dropped nachos or pizza covered the white fabric, but he still wore it with pride. ¡°I¡¯m
gonna watch the game at Tony¡¯s tonight. You staying in?¡±
I looked at the clock. Six at night and still no call from Isaac¡ or anyone I wanted to
hear from, for that matter. ¡°Looks like it.¡±
¡°All right¡ umm¡ you need anything before I go? Some snacks? Umm¡ or to talk¡¡±
I smiled at him and shook my head. ¡°No thanks, Dad. But thanks. Really.¡±
I saw him bite the inside of his cheek before asking, ¡°Were you just on the phone with
someone?¡±
¡°No.¡± I sounded so confident from almost immediately becoming distracted by
thoughts of Isaac, I didn¡¯t even mean to lie.
¡°You sounded like you were fighting with someone¡¡± He looked more concerned than
before. ¡°I hope you were on the phone.¡±
¡°Oh, right,¡± I shook my head with my eyes closed, mentally wiping the image of him
away. ¡°Yeah. Travis called. He wants to meet up but I¡¯m not sure¡¡±
¡°Oh, wow.¡± He said. ¡°That¡¯s a big step.¡±
¡°I don¡¯t have anything to say to him¡¡± I said shaking my head. ¡°He hurt me so badly.
Nothing I have to say would be anything he¡¯d want to hear, anyway,¡± I said.
¡°Looks like he has a case of the old ¡®Don¡¯t Know What You Got ¡¯Til It¡¯s Gone
Syndrome¡¯.¡± My dad stood proudly at his joke. I giggled with my nose scrunched, trying
not to cringe too much at his Dad humor.
