Dominick
Ali and I both had decided to ignore the unpleasantness as I talked with Jason, giving him a bunch of last-minute pointers and recommendations before the ride. He'd only just gotten his permit recently, and he seemed to have a good head on his shoulders based on the few times we'd ridden around the neighborhood together. He was always the perfect, careful rider, and I hoped that he wouldn't disappoint me on this longer trip. I already had a lot on my plate dealing with Ali, and the last thing I needed was to be outnumbered.
As we finished making preparations for the trip, I couldn't shake the feeling I'd made a mistake. I'd given up some of my authority by negotiating with Ali, and she'd taken advantage of that to ditch the riding boots in favor of something a little less safe. Maybe Helena's instincts about me had been right, back when she was afraid of telling me about the baby.
I tried to push the upsetting thought away, reminding myself that nobody was perfect. I'd missed all of Ali's early childhood and every major milestone in her life, and on top of that I never had a decent father of my own. Maybe I had made a mistake, but I could learn from it and in time become the best dad possible—for Ali and the new baby alike.
"What's that?" Jason asked as I handed the child riding belt to Ali, who blanched at the question.
"It's for safety," I said, trying to avoid embarrassing Ali further. "To make sure Ali doesn't fall off."
"I don't actually need it," Ali interjected quickly.
"Yes you do," I said loudly, then bent down to whisper to Ali. "Do you really want to do this now? In front of Jason? We had a deal, and I'm not going to compromise on your safety. It's not too late to leave you here with your mom."
Ali huffed, but snatched the belt from my hands. With a sullen look, she attached the harness end of it to herself and climbed onto the back of the bike.
She was in a hurry to grow up, I realized.
With a deep breath I finished attaching the safety belt and made sure everyone had their helmets on securely. After that, we were off. The first few minutes of a ride were always the most intense, but the body got used to it after a while. I hoped that, in spite of everything, we'd still be in for a pleasant time once we made it to the interstate.
I was absolutely wrong.
It's always the quiet ones, they say.
It turned out that Ali was no exception. Even remembering the way we'd met, the way that she'd lied and cheated her way into Ristuccia Memorial Arena, I still wasn't prepared for what came next. She was, after all, a very smart girl.
One I never expected to do something so stupid.
But she did.
It was subtle at first, just a tiny bit of tension released on the belt that connected Ali and I together. It took me a second to realize the implications, and by then it was too late. With a swift gesture, Ali detached the other half of the harness from herself.
Shivers of absolute horror ran through my body.
"What are you doing?" I shouted at the top of my lungs, but heard no answer. I looked frantically for a safe place to pull over, but there was nothing. "You need to hold on tight," I yelled, but she probably couldn't even hear me over the sound of the engine.
A bike slowing down on the interstate was at least as dangerous as waiting until the next exit. With an absolute sick feeling in my stomach, I realized that I had no choice but to hope she'd hold on tight.
But she didn't.
I felt her behind me, tossing and turning. I needed both hands to keep the bike straight, but even so I desperately wanted to reach behind me and grab her. She moved again and one hand let go of my waist, and that was it.
The entire thing only took a couple of seconds, but it seemed like an eternity as she slipped from the bike and fell onto the pavement behind, her small frame tumbling down the freeway.
My heart felt like it was exploding and I screamed in pain, slamming on the brakes as hard as I could. Horns were sounding around me as I jumped off the bike, barely even registering as Jason safely passed the two of us. I wasn't the religious type, but that didn't stop me from praying for Ali's safety as I rushed towards her now motionless body, frantically hoping that the child I loved was safe.
And that she would continue to be safe. There was a lull in our lane, buying me a couple of precious seconds as I frantically ran towards Ali and the SUV that was approaching us. Gruesome statistics still flashed in my mind, the life expectancy of an injured person on the freeway was not good.
I made it to Ali moments before the SUV did, scooping her up into my arms just as the driver managed to safely merge back into the other lane and avoid a collision. We were safe, but not for long. The SUV had been blocking my view of a small car, just a few yards away now.
Just like it had been blocking the car's view of me.
We'd gotten lucky once, but it wasn't going to happen twice.
There was absolutely no way I could escape in time, but I couldn't stand the thought of Ali being hurt. Without even realizing what I was doing, a reflex kicked in and my body seemed to react on its own. After a lifetime of playing hockey, I instinctively knew what to do when there were only a couple seconds left in the game and you couldn't make it to the goal.
You take the shot from where you are, and you hope for the best.
And that's exactly what I did.
With every bit of strength that I had, I stood my ground and threw Ali out of the way as hard as I could, tossing her off the road and towards the guardrail. Her light body flew out of my arms, landing just a couple feet away.
It wasn't much, but it was enough.
When the car slammed into me an instant later, I was the only one who got hit.