No Rules by Sharon Dukett

Author:Sharon Dukett
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: She Writes Press
Published: 2020-06-14T16:00:00+00:00

Once again at the onramp, Lynn and I marveled over the people we’d been meeting on our trip.

“Isn’t this great?” I asked her. “And we can see everyone again on the return trip.”

I had no way of knowing that Lynn and I would never get the chance to hitchhike back east.

Chapter 17

June 1972

Chicago, Illinois

It was still daylight when Lynn and I reached Chicago. We arrived in the backseat of a Cadillac convertible driven by a couple who agreed to drop us in Old Town, where Rob had said he would meet us.

I called him from a phone booth, and he told me he’d be there in five minutes.

We stood prominently on the sidewalk, where Rob could see us. I had no idea what he’d be driving, so when two motorcycles came roaring through traffic and jumped onto the wide sidewalk in front of us, Lynn almost fell into me getting out of their way. I was ready to scream at the laughing driver, but as he pulled off his sunglasses, I recognized Rob.

“Hey, Sharon, welcome to Chicago!” he shouted.

My mouth dropped open because of how different he looked. He had grown a beard and cut his hair shorter. He was wearing a brown leather fringed jacket and looked tougher, not like the laid-back acid head of Venice days. Even his bike had changed. It had been remodeled from a California chopper into a racing street bike with short forks and cropped handlebars. There was a streetwise kind of sexiness about Rob now that I had never seen before.

He stepped off his bike and engulfed me in his arms, then leaned over and kissed me. “This is a great city. You’re going to love it here!”

I had a sense he was right.

“I want you to meet Frank.” He motioned toward his riding partner. Frank was an attractive man with long, wavy hair and a full beard, as well as a dimpled smile. He nodded toward us. Lynn raised her eyebrows at me with a smile.

“I wonder what Marty would think of this?” Her tone was provocative. “So, Sharon, is it safe to ride with these guys?”

“Did you come all the way out here to be safe, or to have fun?” Rob teased, jumping back on his bike. “Come on, we’ll take you back to the house.”

Frank shot Lynn a wink as he reached behind him to pull down the passenger stirrups. She stepped on his bike as I adjusted the stirrups on Rob’s and maneuvered on behind him.

As I reached my arms around Rob’s waist, I felt both comfort and anxiety, anticipating the excitement and terror of the ride ahead. We took off, weaving through traffic at speeds that made my pulse race. After a few minutes, I began to relax and let myself trust his instincts, smiling over at Lynn as she watched for my reaction from the back of Frank’s bike.

Too quickly, we arrived at a brick building where Rob lived on Sedgwick Avenue, in a section he referred to as New Town.

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