“Are you sure? It’s not good to keep your problems in your belly, because then they grow and grow until you are so fat you look like an elephant and you will have to sleep outside because you won’t fit in the door.”

I was laughing now and she tickled me.

“Go on. Go ride your new American bike.”

I did as I was told and went downstairs with my bike, and she came with me.

“Let’s see you ride to the end of the drive, but turn around before you get to the street.”

I got on my bike and rode feeling free and happy again. When I got to the end and turned around, I could see my mother smiling.

“Go on, let’s see that again. You ride very well,” she said when I came back. Again I went to the end of the drive, and this time when I was coming back, I saw both my mother and Hanan watching me. I felt more of that bad feeling, and I don’t know why, but I wished that Hanan would go away. This was the first time I had ever thought such a bad thought, and I got dizzy from it, as if my bicycle had replaced her magic and made it seem dirty.

“Hi!” she called as I got closer.

My mother stood up. “You two have fun. Just don’t ride down too far.”

I felt a bad tingling as I watched her go inside.

“Can I ride your bike?” Hanan asked.

“We should probably wait until my mother comes back to help you. I’m not strong enough to hold the bike up.”

“I think it’s because the road is bumpy. I’m sure if we rode on the street I would have no problem,” she said, smiling.

“I’m not allowed to ride in the street.”

“There are hardly any cars. Besides, the street is wide enough in this area to fit a car going in each direction.”

“There may not be a lot of cars, but when they come by, they are going very quickly and they are not prepared to stop for someone on a bicycle,” I said, repeating my father’s words.

“Your beautiful bike deserves to go on the street.”

“What do you mean?”

“Your bike is from America and there the streets are all smooth like glass, not rocky like this dirt road.”

“But it’s doing fine. You saw me riding it.”

“Yes, but it might feel sad and want to go on a smooth street.”

“The bike?”

“Of course. It might just decide to go on its own to a place that has a nicer surface.”

“My mother says—”