Episode 4: The Accident

I still don't have a bike, as it turns out. I didn't want to spend five hundred bucks on something I'm hardly going to use. I told Lani that at the bike shop, said it was a rip off, and she turned to the shop guy and said "Sorry." That did it. I stormed out and she followed me, listing off all the dollars I'd spent on the car: $300 on the front brakes, $65 a month on insurance, $80 a month on gas, $60 on that overpriced oil change and on and on. I said I didn't want to go for ice cream anymore, and besides, she'd probably be vegan by the time we got there or something. Well, that really pissed her off. She hopped on her bike and beat me home. It was all a real kick in the teeth.

But I don't want to fight with Lani. She acts angry, but she looks like I'm crushing her soul or something. So a couple days later I brought home a box of ice cream. She always gets home at 5:10 pm, so I cut her a slab, put a candle in it, and waited by the front door. I wanted it to be the first thing she saw: me with a slab of ice cream. Me, ice cream. Me, something sweet. Me equals something sweet. I can be sneaky too. But 5:10 came and went and she never showed. Ten minutes later, the slab was melting and sliding around the plate, so I put it in the freezer. I was getting pissed, thinking she was blowing me off, even though The Office was on tonight and we had plans, when she banged through the front hall.

"What happened to you?" I asked.
"Some asshole pulled into the bike lane right in front of me."

So then she rants about all the vehicles on the road, shows me her bruised elbow, shows me online where it happened, tells me how the driver behind shouted at her as if she'd done something wrong. I said I was sorry that biking wasn't going to work out, but not to worry, the car is purring along these days anyway.

She stopped. "It's all of YOU who should get off the road, not me."
I heard the bathroom door lock and the bath run.

So much for ice cream. I was an "all of you." The bathroom was a vault and I would need a combination to get to Lani.

The next day, I trashed the lamp with the beads. I lied to Lani, told her I saw the light flickering, and when I went to inspect, the cord was hot and there was smoke at the plug. Then I suggested we nab a new one next week. There's this eclectic house near the duck pond with all kinds of goodies and they were going to some family cabin this weekend.

She shrugged, said okay, might be fun.

They also have four bikes they keep in the "bike room" (people talk about their stuff a lot in the break room. That's where I heard about the Ikea rug, too). Lani will be thrilled when I pick one out for myself. . .

Lani's Ride.
View The Bike Trip in a larger map Lani chose this route for the bike lane on Bay Street, and the car-free route up the goose. Regardless, the traffic proved perilous, and she slammed into a van when it pulled into her bike lane! Then got yelled at by a driver behind! Terrible. . .

View Larger Map Here's a close up of the site of the accident. Lani's right; you can clearly see there is a bike lane there.