Mouth Kisses

"Hey assholes! Let's get rippin'!"

"Does everyone have gas? Better fill up now because we have a long trip ahead of us."

It's 4 AM and the sun is still hanging out on the east. I wake up, make some coffee and a light breakfast. I'm staring out of my kitchen window waiting for my morning ritual to start. The black of the early morning is starting to fade into light and I make my way to the bathroom to finish what I started. The fun is about to begin and the road awaits.

I walk out into my garage and push my bike out onto the side of the street. She is already loaded up from the night before and has a full emergency gas can. The only thing I have to do is finish getting ready and leave.

I look at my phone and read the text messages. Everyone is on their way to the rendezvous point. I throw on my cut, blow a few lines of booger sugar up my face, smoke a quick cancer stick, fire up the bike, and blast off.

As I'm riding, I notice how quiet the road is compared to how loud my pipes are. I'm already having a good time and the anticipation of seeing my brothers is killing me. Most of us have families and jobs, so these rare trips are what we look forward to for months sometimes even the year. The weather is perfect for the end of an Arizona summer. The air smells of cut grass, morning dew and exhaust. All I see is the worn road and the occasional car. My bike is running like a racehorse on steroids and making noises of ecstasy at every twist of the throttle. I’m approaching 7th street in Phoenix. I make my exit and see the bikes all lined up. I am immediately washed over with joy and happiness. I reach into my pocket and take another blast of sugar. It's almost time to roll.

I'm greeted by a few of my brothers and I'm handed a beer. We cheers and hug each other. I walk into the house and hear my name yelled from the back yard. Brother Changle runs in and gives me a manly wet kiss on the mouth and hugs me.

"Dude, I'm so stoked you made it!" He said, "I was worried you'd be stuck at work!"

I replied, "Fuck that shit, I'm not gonna miss this trip, let's get RAD!"

I make my rounds and greet the wives and girlfriends then we all migrate outside and load up. Brother Peez fires up his chopper and we all follow suit... it's time to fucking roll.

I hear our eldest father figure, PeewPaw, yell "Hey assholes! Let's get rippin'!" following, "Does everyone have gas? Better fill up now because we have a long trip ahead of us."

I do a quick bump of white girl and we all pound our beers. Kickstands up and away we roll. Finally we can escape our normal lives and start our trip to California. Everything I have been waiting for is coming to fruition. This is what it's all about; freedom, family and being a bunch of dumb fucks with my brothers.

The feeling of true happiness and excitement is fueled with every mile blasted down the I-10 freeway. We are clearly breaking a few laws but it’s all in good fun. The thunder from our hot exhaust pipes echo through the valley and pedestrians are giving us the stink eye. We make our next exit and speed towards the I-8 freeway going towards San Diego. This is where the real riding goes down. Theres nothing that can go wrong now. The planets are aligned and time is on our side. Im listening to the sound of my bike and the noise of the wind and road. I lock the throttle, lean back, and relax. I look to my right and Mary, one of the ol’ ladies, snaps a picture of Changle and myself in action. Looking forward I notice that we are all in formation and Odin himself couldn’t break us away. This is absolutely perfect. This is a memory. This is personal. This is life.

Our ride toward the coast continues...