Big, Black Bike, Last Part

This was a big bike! I had no idea how to learn to ride it.

Carmen and Josefa burst out of the caravan. Carmen clapped her hands. “You got it, you got it! Did Vati really let us have it?”

I nodded.

Josefa pointed toward the merry-go-round. “See that boy over there? It was his.”

Still holding the bike, I said, “Vati give him ten free tickets and two Marks. He was happy with that.”

Carmen grabbed the bike. “Let me try to ride it. I’m the biggest.”

Since I had no idea how to ride such a large thing, I let go. Carmen held it by the handlebars and stared at it. “Can you hold it while I get on it?”

“Yes.” I held on to the bike, but with Carmen trying to get on I didn’t have enough strength to keep is upright. The bike, Carmen, and I landed on the grassy ground.

Carmen picked herself up and scowled at me. “Can’t you hold it steady?”

I stood, too, leaving the bike on the ground. I shook my head. “I can’t. You’re too heavy.”

Josef came closer. “People get on bikes by themselves,” she said. “I don’t think it works if someone holds the bike.”

Carmen stared at the big, black monster on the ground. “Okay,” she finally said. “I’ll try it by myself.”

She stuck one leg under the crossbar and onto the pedal, and pushed off the ground with the other. The bike moved for a few seconds and crashed again. Carmen jumped off just in time.

To my surprise, she grinned. “I think it will work this way. I rode it for a little while, didn’t I?”

Josefa and I nodded.

“Maybe I could give you a push when you’re ready,” I volunteered.

And that was how we three girls, even little Josefa, learned to ride our bike. For a while, we took turns and pushed each other, and each time we tried, the bike went further.

We rode our big, black bike with one leg under the bar, pedaling as good as we could until we got good enough to ride with our leg swung over the bar, practically sitting on it.

For several years after, when we moved from one town to the next, Vati stashed our precious bike in the pack caravan after he’d packed the dismantled attractions.