Random signatures used to disguise the pattern.
The girl touched one.
“That man was named Snake.”
Hank smiled.
“You skipped him.”
“Didn't need S.”
“Poor Snake.”
“He smelled weird.”
Hank laughed.
She became serious.
“I want to throw it away.”
Hank stopped.
“Okay.”
“You think I should keep it?”
“Doesn't matter what I think.”
She stared at the cast.
“Everybody says it’s proof I was smart.”
Hank nodded.
“You were.”
“I hate looking at it.”
“Then don't.”
She looked up.
“That easy?”
“Some things are.”
The girl considered.
“Can we burn it?”
Hank smiled.
“Plaster doesn't burn well.”
“Oh.”
“We can smash it.”
Her expression brightened.
“Really?”
“Your parents okay with that?”
Her father, standing nearby, raised both hands.
“Please.”
So they took the cast outside.
Placed it on a workbench.
The girl put on safety goggles.
Hank handed her a small hammer.
She struck.
Once.
Plaster cracked.
Again.
A piece containing Eagle fell away.
Again.
Preacher broke.
The girl laughed.
Harder.
Not because the event was funny.
Because destruction sometimes felt like choice.
Hank did not join.
He watched.
The girl eventually handed him the hammer.
“Your turn.”
Hank looked at his own name.
Still intact.
He struck directly through it.
The cast split in half.
Dust spread across the bench.
The girl exhaled.
Long.
Then smiled.
“Better.”
Hank nodded.
“Better.”
They swept the pieces into a box.
Not sacred.
Not preserved.
Trash.
Her decision.
Years passed.
The nine-year-old became fourteen.
Then sixteen.
The Biker Leader became sixty-two.
His beard went almost completely gray.
Knees worse.
Patience slightly better.
The girl became fascinated with criminal psychology for a while.
Then emergency communications.
Then engineering.
Eventually she decided she wanted to design safety systems for public spaces.
Her father blamed Hank.
Hank denied everything.
“You taught her codes.”
“I signed my name.”
“You encouraged her.”
“She came pre-encouraged.”
At seventeen, she returned to Sturgis.
First time since the incident.
Her parents asked whether she truly wanted to.
She did.
Hank met them outside town.
Same general highway.
Different year.