Chapter 3: The First Ride
The rain had cleared by midnight, leaving the asphalt slick and reflecting the amber glow of the streetlights. Jax walked out of the diner, his heavy boots echoing in the quiet street. Behind him walked Leo, carrying a small, worn backpack that contained his entire life. Jax stopped beside his vintage Harley-Davidson, a machine he had spent months rebuilding piece by piece in his spare time. It was the only thing he owned that truly belonged to him.
Leo looked at the roaring metal beast with wide, uncertain eyes. ""Is this yours?"" the boy asked, his voice swallowed by the cool night air. Jax reached into the saddlebag and pulled out a spare leather jacket, far too large for the child, and a helmet he had bought years ago hoping he might one day have a passenger worth protecting.
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""Put this on,"" Jax said, kneeling down so he was at eye level with the boy. For the first time, he noticed how thin Leo was, how his shoulders trembled slightly from the cold. Jax carefully buckled the helmet strap under Leo’s chin, his rough hands surprisingly gentle. ""Hold on tight to my waist. Don't let go, no matter what.""
Leo nodded fiercely, wrapping his small arms around Jax’s broad torso. As the engine roared to life, a deep rumble vibrating through the frame, Jax felt the small boy lean into his back. As they rode through the sleeping town toward the outskirts where Jax’s trailer sat, Jax realized that his life had irrevocably shifted. The lonely road he had walked for years was suddenly no longer empty.
