Chapter 74

Drew

Sunshine is bright on my face, warm on my back as I drive along the Kentucky back roads that have been my home for all my life. At one point I thought they would trap me, keep me in a situation I didn't love, one where I only knew struggle, sacrifice, and anger. It wasn't until I got on a bike behind the man riding alongside me, though, that I knew how important these roads would end up being in my development. The first time I got on a bike with him, I knew things would change for me. It was a pounding in my chest and a turning in my gut, but it wasn't fear. For the first time, it wasn't fear. My insides didn't shake when he got close to me, I didn't look to my mom, silently asking for permission. I knew if we were with him, she trusted him implicitly.

The sound of the wind in my ears, the feeling of freedom I'd never had before. The open road was my first love as I let all the stress of my young thirteen years fade away when I ride behind him. He helped me buy and fix up my