The Fall
There’s a guy in my hall who walks with a limp in his left leg. I asked him about it on my first day in the dorms, and he told me about how he got it. When I got this assignment, I remembered him, and thought it would be a good topic for this.
His whole life, Chip’s wanted a motorcycle. He rode his bicycle and pretended it was a motorcycle, he read everything he could about them, and saved every birthday check, summer job money, and even tooth fairy he got. He wanted to be able to buy his own motorcycle and safety gear the day he turned 16, and not have to worry about money when he bought it. Right before his 16th birthday, a friend of his mother’s was riding his Vespa and got into a crash, and that freaked her out. She never wanted him to buy a motorcycle in the first place, and her friend’s accident didn’t make her feel any better. Chip waited two years, until his 18th birthday when he became a legal adult, and talked to her about again. She finally said that since he was eighteen, she couldn’t stop him from doing it if he really wanted to, and said “go ahead”.
He spent the next six months shopping for a bike, buying safety equipment, and finding a good class. Finally, in July of 2013, after 18 years of waiting, Chip rode a motorcycle for the very first time. He loved it and as soon as the class was over, he bought his own bike: a 1987 Honda Rebel 250. He rode it non-stop for months until October, when he sold it on craigslist and bought a new bike: a 2003 Honda Shadow 750. His engine was now three times as big, which meant he was riding with a lot more power and speed. He rode until winter forced him off, and on the first warm day of spring, he was back out on the road. He took road trips down to Cape Girardeau and up to Springfield, Illinois to ride with groups, and even joined a group called the Patriot Guard, who rides with the remains of soldiers who were killed in action to the cemetery. He went on several rides with them and even...