Feb 16 '06 - 668 W, 3 I - Vote Good + 12 :: Bad - 13 Malcolm BMX: Meet the Boss
Published February 16, 2006 by C.I.C.L.E.
Monthly Feature :: Contributed by Brady Russell
If you missed it, read the first one.
Malcolm
BMX might quietly admit to himself that he hated the snow and the ice,
that he hated them to ride through and he hated them most when they
accumulated as he tried to ride, but Malcolm BMX would never say that
to anyone. He especially would not say it to the guy he was going to
see.
5 AM. The Suburbs.
Malcolm BMX, the five-foot-eight revolutionary bicyclist was rolling
down Meadow Haven Avenue on a mission. His 2-inch mountain bike tires
crunched sleet as he pedaled slowly in low gear. He had on a red scarf
and a yellow one, both flapped behind him in the wind, a little like a
cape. The world looked vintage through his yellow tinted goggles.
He
arrived at 2258 Meadow Haven Avenue as the garage door opened. He
rolled up onto the driveway, set his feet on the concrete and ice and
pulled his gun. The SUV had maybe moved three feet when it stopped
because the driver could see a man in his driveway in his rearview
mirror. The sun was not up but it was near enough that there was light.
He could see the person in his driveway had a gun.
Malcolm BMX motioned for the man to get out of his car. He did.
"Cell
phone. Let's see it." The man reached into his inner pocket and pulled
out his Motorola. Malcolm BMX told him to toss it to him. He caught it
left handed and put it away in his waterproof parka. he asked for his
Blackberry and his pager, too. Both were tossed. "Release the rear
door," he told the man. The man reached into the cab of his SUV and hit
a button. The back came open a little. "Kill the ignition." He did.
Then
he told the would-be driver to open the back up. Inside lay a beautiful
full suspension mountain bike with disc brakes, knobby tires and all
the other tricks for winter riding. He also had full winter riding gear
inside.
"Put that shit on. You're riding to work this morning."
The man's eyes widened.
"I'll be with you the whole way."
The
man pulled the winter gear on over his very expensive suit. He put his
Sebago shoes in a satchel and put on the clip-ins that he also had
sitting back there. Then he added his own wool hat and goggles to it,
and followed in front of Malcolm BMX. He rode sullenly. BMX had refused
to let him move his SUV back inside. He told him his wife could do it,
even though BMX knew that the man had been divorced only six months
before and now lived alone.
BMX hated riding the 10 miles to
this man's office, but, to him, if anyone ought to ride their bike to
work, even as the sleet and snow fell, it's the owner of bicycle
factory.
(c) Brady Russell, all rights reserved.
Brady Russell works in politics. He has been a national
organizer, a local organizer, a campus organizer and is currently the
Pennsylvania Lobbyist for ACORN. He started writing in elementary
school and never stopped. In fact, he remembers his second grade
teacher scolding his class for not trying any of the writing exercises
she had put out for them, which she finished by saying, "except for
Brady and he's done all of them."
Sometime in high school he decided he would not pursue studies in writing and just try to do it himself. Brady had a few opinion pieces published in some small magazines around the country, but so far he's largely been writing in a closet and keeping his work there.
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