One moment he was beside me in the back seat, headphones on, blanket across his lap; the next, he was in the middle of three lanes, crouched down, shrieking with his palms pressed to his temples.
People leaned on their horns. Windows rolled down and insults were hurled into the air like stones: “Control your kid!” “What’s wrong with him?” Phones appeared everywhere, as if his panic was entertainment for passing strangers.
I stumbled into the road, heart hammering, calling his name, but Tobias didn’t know me in that moment. To him, the world had collapsed into an unbearable roar of engines, horns, voices, light. Every step I took closer only made him retreat further into himself.
It wasn’t more traffic—it was twelve motorbikes sweeping out from the far lane, their riders guiding the machines into a perfect circle around my child. Big frames, leather jackets covered in badges, helmets decorated with snarling skulls and flames—men and women who looked like they belonged to the sort of club you crossed the street to avoid.
Engines killed, the riders dismounted. One of them, tall with a braided black beard, turned to the line of motorists holding up their phones. His voice, though calm, carried the weight of a command:
“Put the cameras down. Now.”
The air changed instantly. Screens slipped back into pockets, mutters silenced.
Then, instead of storming toward Tobias, the bearded rider lowered himself slowly onto the tarmac. He lay flat on his back, leaving several feet of space, and spoke in a low, almost conversational tone.
“You know what’s special about my bike?” he said to no one in particular. “It runs like a heartbeat. Two cylinders, always the same rhythm. You can count on it, no matter what.”
Tobias’s rocking slowed a fraction. His eyes flicked toward the man.
Another rider, a woman with auburn hair streaked white, eased herself down cross-legged a short distance away. “Mine’s different,” she said gently. “The pistons fire in another pattern. You’d probably hear it if we started them side by side.”
Patterns. That was Tobias’s language. His world often spun out of control, but repeating sequences, predictable structures—those calmed him.