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LoveStoryLogic.pdf ©2003 by A. D. Manning 57
“And I’m Harley Davidson Johnson,” Harley was always louder than he needed to be.
“Say guy, what kind of a name is ‘Felix’ anyway?”
I let my irritation show. “C’mon, Harley, what kind of a name do you have?”
Felix held up a hand. “It’s no problem, Miss Reid. Harley has a perfectly sensible
name, I think. Your parents liked motorcycles. Right?”
“Liked ‘em?” Harley replied. “Lived on ‘em is more like it.”
“So it’s a good name,” Felix said. “To answer your question, my birth mother named
me Felix. She didn’t keep me long enough to explain why. That name is all I have from her,
so I wear it proudly.”
“Sounds good to me, Felix,” Harley said. “My mother’s a dock supervisor over at the
Simplot fertilizer plant. I betcha she’d like you. I haven’t seen my dad in years, so I kinda
know what you mean.”
Felix recovered his suitcase from the baggage area. By then, he and Harley were far
into a discussion of Harley’s family and motorcycles. They talked steadily and sometimes
shared laughter. They were like that all the way out to the parking lot. When we got to my
car, Harley threw Felix’s things in the trunk, opened the driver’s side door and tipped the seat
forward so Felix could get in the back. Harley got in the car while I still stood on the
passenger side.
I huffed a little, got spare keys out of my purse and unlocked the door on my side. I
climbed in the back myself and sat next to Felix. I got two sheets of kleenex out of my purse
and handed one of them to him. “Your mouth is bleeding, Professor.”
I turned to the window and wiped away several quiet tears.
Harley stopped telling whatever biker story he was in the middle of. He started the
car and drove us out of the airport parking lot in silence. We reached the freeway entrance. I
felt a light touch on my shoulder.
“Grief is not a constant thing, Miss Reid,” I heard Felix say. “It comes and goes in
waves. You first get the news and it crushes you. Every move you make and every word
you speak is a tremendous effort. But then it isn’t long before normal life forces you to get