The morning sky would soon reveal itself to Jeff Hanson: astronomical twilight first, followed by nautical twilight and then civil twilight. He knew each stage intimately but his mind was not on the morning sky. Instead, Jeff Hanson was thinking about how much weight he’d lost on his way to becoming a pervert. That was what he’d come to think of himself as anyway. After all, any thirty nine year old guy that looks up seventeen year olds skirts could be called nothing else, right? Once or twice on accident maybe not, but today was Friday and he’d been out here everyday since Monday, so, yep, pervert!

But he was only looking-he would never do more than that-he had a fifteen year old daughter at home. Thinking of Alyssa stirred the familiar pang of guilt that had taken up residency in his gut and Jeff shifted gears, standing on pedals that no longer creaked, accelerating the expensive road bike into the dark. When he sat back down on the thinly padded seat he continued to hammer the pedals, increasing his speed along Highway 41. His thighs no longer brushed his gut; his breathing was even despite the effort. Two month's shy of his fortieth birthday he was in the best shape of his life, and as he slowed for the turn onto Johnson Road he thought of how his daughter had provided the final piece of motivation to get him where he was.

It was on Wednesday, the one night Jeff insisted they have dinner together-no sleepovers, both cell phones off, just the two of them. He had prepared Alyssa’s favourite dish of Chicken Alfredo with garlic bread, and while she waited for him to sit down Alyssa breeched a subject that would make any single parent uncomfortable.

 “Dad, don't take this the wrong way, but if you ever want to get another date you need to loose some weight.” Not much surprised him when it came to Alyssa, so he’d sat down without responding. Alyssa waved a forked chunk of chicken, as if it would somehow magically make him see her point. “I mean seriously, it’s been almost six months since your last date.” Stuffing her mouth she chewed with a grin. Jeff dug into his own plate and waited-he knew there was more. When Alyssa continued to grin at him, her brown eyes sparkling with mischief, Jeff had had enough.

“Okay Lyss, what gives?” He started to grin himself.

Alyssa twirled more pasta before answering. “Well dad, it’s just that if you lost some weight you wouldn’t need to date anymore overweight bimbos.”

The look on Jeff’s face made Alyssa laugh out loud. She was referring to Ellen Byers, a local bank manager from Morgantown he’d spent three weeks dating shortly after their move to Georgia. In some ways Ellen may have been a little slow on the uptake, but an overweight bimbo? And was he really having this conversation with his fifteen-year-old daughter? Alyssa stopped laughing long enough to stuff more pasta in.

“Alyssa, Ellen was a short fling-I thought-” Her grin lit up her face, stopping Jeff in mid sentence. “Okay, what gives?"

Her head tilted down while here smiling eyes held his-it was her signature look. “I didn't say it, okay, Katie did.” Katie Holmes was Alyssa’s best friend. Jeff was thankful that she had made such a good friend so soon after their move, although in the beginning it was Jeff who had to endure Katie’s mother. Each time Macy Holmes dropped her daughter off she insisted on coming inside, peppering him with questions while her eyes darted about. It had taken several visits before the seemingly overprotective parent gave her approval for the girls to spend more time together, sleepovers included.

“What did Katie say Lyss?” More past twirled; freckled cheeks rose.

“That Ellen only dated you for your money and that you only dated her for her boobs.”

“Alyssa Hanson!” Jeff tried to look stern but it did no good. Father and daughter were soon caught up in laughter.

“Dad,” Alyssa said, reaching for her glass of milk. “You are so cold busted!”

That Friday Jeff visited the local bike shop in Morgantown. In his early twenties he enjoyed riding the road and had spent several years with a central Florida bike club, cycling forty to fifty miles with the large group on weekends. But what he’d loved most was riding alone in the early hours, and that was what Jeff was remembering as he left the bike shop and loaded a new custom fitted Greg LeMond carbon fiber road bike into his truck.

Alyssa was at the computer when he arrived with the shiny new bike and Jeff was sure her first question would be about cost. Instead she got up and hugged him, saying: “I'm proud of you dad-I know you can do it.”

And do it Jeff did, riding fifteen miles almost every morning for the next two months, quickly shedding fifteen pounds. He then started riding to his office after his morning ride, adding another ten miles to his daily routine, and by month five his employees no longer teased about his funny shoes or his spandex shorts-the proof was in his lack of pudding. In search of a ride with more distance Jeff studied Map Quest from his office computer and discovered Johnson Road, a thirty mile loop that left Highway 41 two miles short of Morgantown, travelled east for ten miles before turning south for another twenty, eventually angling back to the highway just south of his home. He asked a local born employee, Trevor Walker, about the road: “That’s Sunnyland-I got a bud lives out there on five acres. Its part of un-incorporated Humboldt County, mostly trailers and farms we call red neck city.”

Jeff found ‘red neck city’ much to his liking. He no longer had to deal with tanker trucks buzzing him along 41; he no longer had to watch for cars pulling out from side streets. The Johnson Road loop was the perfect ride, until the Monday of his third week riding it, when he met the girls.

That Monday Jeff woke to an empty house. Still somewhat concerned about letting Katie’s brother pick up the girls for a rare Sunday night sleepover, he called Alyssa while donning his riding gear. She assured him she was fine and Jeff left the house, thankful for a light tail wind. The temperature dropped as he left 41 and turned onto Johnson road, picking up his pace. The country air was asleep, soft as cool silk on his face. Soon it would be filled with familiar smells: sulphur from wells, frying breakfast, hay bails, and the dung of animals that fed on the tasty grass. Nautical twilight was well underway and only the brightest stars were visible. Venus burned; Orion twinkled.

He was turning off his bar light just before the turn when he heard the distinctive hiss of a tire going flat. It wasn’t the first time one of the thin road tires had caught debris but he had everything he needed in his seat bag and was stripping the tire off the rim when a voice startled him.

“You need help with that?” He rapped his knuckles on a spoke and dropped the tire lever. Looking up he saw two figures approaching from a side dirt road. High school for sure, maybe seniors, wearing clothes that he would never allow his daughter to leave the house in. He thought of Alyssa’s recent request for one of the popular mini-skirts and his clever reply: If Katie’s mother lets her wear one…

“My father’s got a compressor if you need air for that tire.” Air came out as are and tire sounded like tar. They stood confidently despite the early hour, their back packs slung low, and Jeff thought: This is their bus stop-their turf.

“I, uh, have a Co2 cartridge that will fill it, but thanks.”

“How far do you ride?” How fire? Her accent was cute. He later found out her name was Tammy.  

“About thirty miles, give or take.” Jeff looked around and realized they were completely alone; the only house in sight was the abandoned shack on the corner. 

“That’s a nice back.” Bike? What the hell?

“Thanks, I haven’t had it that long.” Keeping his head down Jeff inserted a new tube and seated the tire bead back onto the rim. Ignoring their whispers while inserting the CO2 cartridge onto the tire stem he caught a scent of perfume mixed with soap and looked up. Ten feet away they sat in the road, leaning back on their hands, as casual as cats in the daytime. Immediately his face flushed and he lowered his eyes-miniskirts concealed little when the girls wearing them sat with their knees raised. 

“It’s okay if you want to look.” No accent this time. The other girl, Kelly, was talking. “Really, it’s okay.” Jeff did look, taking in more of the view. They were both cute, both had blond hair, and both wore pink.

*

He was halfway to the turn now-halfway to the girls-and the guilt he was feeling had not subsided. It was Friday, and he’d spent every day this week leaving his house late, pretending to work on his bike while he watched them? So, was there something wrong with him? Or would he even be questioning himself if Tammy and Kelly were not so aggressive? Certainly not, Jeff thought, reaching for his water bottle. If any of Alyssa’s friends had ever…

And there it was! The answer came to him as fast as the last bank of mailbox’s that flew by. He sat up and coasted, his heart rate slowing with his speed, thinking back…

…three weeks ago. He was in the garage cleaning his bike when the sound of shuffling sneakers alerted him. Alyssa, with Katie in tow, home from school for another midweek sleepover.

 “Dad, do you know how to skateboard?” Alyssa had asked.

No ‘hi dad, how was your day’. That was his Alyssa-to the point when it mattered. He hung the towel over his bike before answering. “I did my share when I was younger, why?”

Alyssa dropped her backpack, head tilted, eyes up. “Well, me and Katie want to learn, and her mom said she could use her credit card to buy a board. I was hoping that-”

“I could buy you one too?” Alyssa became unusually quiet. “There’s more to this-I know you two-so what gives?” Alyssa stood frozen in place while Katie studied the zipper on her pullover.

“Okay dad, there's this guy at school,” Alyssa started, but before she could finish Jeff seized the rare opportunity.

“You have a boyfriend?” Both girls remained silent but Jeff could see a smile on Katie’s face. “Alyssa Hanson, you are so cold busted!"

“Dad!” When Katie giggled Jeff turned on her.

“Katie, please tell me he’s not some bimbo with big muscles!” Katie turned three sheets and glared at Alyssa.

“Dad, please! I really need a board. And okay, his name is Jeremy. He goes to the skate park every weekend and he asked me to meet him there.”

“Ah, so you want to learn to skate so you can-”

“Yes dad, can you help me please?”

Following dinner they shopped the Internet. Jeff was surprised by Alyssa’s knowledge of trucks and wheels and boards, prompting him to ask, “So you’ve been hanging with this Jeremy for a while now?”

“Yeah, I guess so, but he’s cool dad. He doesn’t have to be with the in crowd, he does his own thing, you know?” Jeff knew. He was proud his daughter did.

Two days later the skateboards arrived. Jeff showed them the basics then sat back and watched as the two struggled with the unfamiliar sport. In the days that followed two more of Alyssa’s friends showed up, boards in hand. Apparently skateboarding among the girls at school was catching on, and Jeff suspected Alyssa and Katie had something to do with it. Soon he was holding nightly clinics in his driveway, where parents would pull up in oversized SUV’s, waving as they deposited their knee pad, elbow pad clad teen.

Jeff got to know the girls better than some of his own employees: there was Kelly Freeman, reserved at first and then as talkative as ever; Shay Johnson, clearly the most athletic, constantly scolding the others on technique; Katie, with her infectious giggles, seemingly more determined than the others; and Alyssa, his pride and joy, constantly reminding him of how much she appreciated what he was doing with a high five or a peck on the cheek.

                                            *

Jeff passed the decrepit barn with the rusted tractor in front, satisfied now that he had his answer. With all the sleepovers, pool parties, and the recent skateboarding fiasco, he had never once looked at any of Alyssa’s friends with the same eyes he used on Tammy and Kelly. There was nothing wrong with him, and the simple answer was to stop coming out here, which was exactly what Jeff had decided- today would be his last trip on Johnson Road.

                                                      *

Two days after their argument Tammy was still pissed at her ex-best friend. She knew Kelly had the upper hand when it came to boys and it was no surprise when she had started the quarrel. “Come on Tammy, Daryl looks at me way more than you, and can you blame him?” Kelly had slept with plenty of guys at school, but this time they were competing for a real man. If only she could get Daryl to go for her instead of Kelly, that would show the bitch!

Monday morning she woke early, hoping to beat Kelly to the bus stop and praying that Daryl was early. (She didn't believe Daryl was his real name-when Kelly had asked he was too nervous and had hesitated before answering.  Besides, he didn’t look like a Daryl.) When she opened her underwear drawer the idea struck her so hard she laughed out loud. The pink lace underwear she chose went directly into her backpack.

                                                      *