Club Foyer>Chillout Room > Rainwear Fiction>
by James
Penny stood in the shed and stared at the shiny red motorbike. She had bought it in spite of all the comments against it by friends and family, learned to ride it around the streets near her flat, and tomorrow she would be taking it out for her first long trip, a journey of about fifty miles to visit her friend Sally. She had made sure it was full of petrol, the oil and tyres checked, and that the bike was ready to go. She went indoors.
In a large bag in the hall was the suit that she had bought that day. The salesman in the shop had been very kind and helpful, making sure that she tried on the suits which she had looked at, fastening them up fully to ensure that they were comfortable and fitted properly. Eventually, after trying on several suits, she had bought a red and blue PVC one with a warm quilted lining, consisting of long trousers which came way above her waist, and a jacket which covered her down to the tops of her legs, with a belt. The man had also thrown in what he called a “special offer”, a one-piece waterproof suit which he said could be worn over another motorcycle suit, in order to keep the rider completely dry. The additional cost of a few pounds had seemed worthwhile at the time, though Penny had not tried the suit on or even unpacked it. Earlier in the week she had bought boots, gloves and a new helmet to replace the rather scruffy one which had come with the bike, as the previous owner had no further need for it. The helmet had been a bit of a problem, as Penny had tried on the full face type but found it very claustrophobic. Eventually she settled for a good quality helmet with an open face and a visor, which was much more comfortable. All the new kit was in the hall, waiting to be worn for the first time.
On Saturday, Penny rose early, and dressed warmly. Under her ordinary trousers and jumper she wore long thermal pants and a vest with long sleeves, followed by a thermal roll-neck jumper. After breakfast, with all her dishes cleared and washed, she knew the moment had come to get ready to ride to Sally’s. She stood her boots up side by side, and placed the legs of the suit trousers over them, rolling the rest of the trousers down so that the boots stuck out of the trousers, making it easier for them both to go on together. The moment had come. She placed her feet, in their long wool socks, into the boots and pulled the trousers up, past her waist, and slipped the elastic braces over her shoulders. The whole garment fitted perfectly, and Penny bent down to close the zips down the side of the lower legs, making the trousers fit snugly round the boots. She also pulled up the two little zips at the sides, under her arms, so that the trousers enclosed her firmly, hugging her figure and making her feel slightly restricted. Before putting on the jacket, she took the large silk scarf which her Mother had left on a previous visit, saying that she no longer needed it, but Penny might be able to use it. She folded the opposite corners together to form a triangle, then picked up the scarf by the ends and held it for a moment. She knew that she must cover her mouth and nose, as the helmet she had bought offered no face protection, but she had never worn a scarf over her face before. Come on, girl, she thought, you are a motorcyclist now, you must cover yourself up properly. She took a deep breath, and placed the scarf over her lower face, pulled the ends behind her neck and tied them in a single knot. As she stood looking at herself in the hall mirror she could see that the scarf was going to come loose in seconds, so she reached behind her head and pulled the knot tighter, and then tied a second one to keep it all tight. She stood for a moment, aware of her heart beating, as she smoothed the silk material down her face. Then, as if returning from a trance, she picked up the jacket, which was quite heavy, and put it on. She did up the zip on the left side, and then found that there was a second zip, on the right, so that the first one was completely hidden. She did that one up too, feeling the jacket enclose her, making her stand up, disciplining her almost. You will stand up smartly, it seemed to tell her. She fastened the broad flap across the front, which covered the outer zip and fastened with poppers on the left hand side, right to the top, and then proceeded to the belt, which was long and quite wide, with a pin buckle on the one end, and another about a foot along its length. She fastened the first buckle, tightly enough to make sure the wind would not get inside, and then threaded the remainder of the belt through the next buckle. She stood again before the mirror, admiring the way the jacket emphasised her figure – and she was of the opinion, shared by many, that she had a good figure. She turned up the little collar, and another surprise awaited her. The collar, like the waist, was secured by a buckled strap, and she watched her hands in the glass as she did up the strap, tucking the scarf in, again making sure it was tight enough to protect her from the wind, not too tight to throttle her. Gloves, she thought. The heavy biking gloves had come with a light cotton liner, and she put these on, pushing them up the inside of the coat sleeves, which then zipped down for further protection.
As she went to pick up her helmet, she noticed the bag containing the outer waterproof suit. Did she really need that, she wondered. After all, she was dressed from the neck down in PVC, leather boots and gloves, and her helmet with its visor was going to keep the rain off her head and upper face. Perhaps she had been silly to buy the outer suit. On the other hand, she had bought it and it seemed silly not to use it. She unwrapped it, noting that the legs had big wide bellows bottoms to make it easy to put on the suit over boots. Without stopping to think, she quickly donned the one piece suit, with its elastic sleeve cuffs, large overlaps in the material round the seat and stomach areas, to avoid water getting in, and a big collar coming right up to her chin. She fastened it right up, and closed the bellows on the legs with their Velcro fasteners, but as she reached round the back to put the collar straight, she realised that there was a built-in hood too. She quickly pulled it up over her head and fastened the two poppers under her chin, feeling the lightly elasticated front hem round her forehead. At last she could put on her helmet, buckled under her chin, and her gloves, which she had to tuck into the sleeves of the rainsuit, under the elastic cuffs. Finally she collected her handbag and keys and went out through the back door to the shed, where she removed the bike, started it up and rode off.
All through the journey Penny was warm, as the sun was shining, but she never for a moment considered removing a single item of the special clothing. After all, the discipline of dressing up warmly was a part of the pleasure of riding, wasn’t it? Sally was delighted to see her, and helped her take off her suits, admiring the zips and buckles which helped to enclose her friend, and, at the end of the day’s visit, she was very careful to make sure that Penny was fully dressed up for her ride home. After that, the two friends met frequently, but nearly always at Sally’s. After all, the journey was a pleasure for Penny, and the arrival and departure was a pleasure for them both, as Sally took more and more delight in checking Penny on her arrival and departure. They may still be enjoying themselves as we speak!
Pic manip by Jane
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