it.”
I was loving this. April jammed her hands onto her hips. “He put soap on my toothbrush. I want him to use the other bathroom down the hall, the one with the yellow shower curtain.”
Still, Cliff laughed. “Are you sure? Maybe you just got a bad batch of toothpaste.”
I could see steam coming out of her nostrils like a hooky bull seeing red. “Oh yeah? Dad, he sent me ten black faxes —he used up my entire toner cartridge! What next, a flaming bag of dog shit?”
“Oh, come now,” was all Cliff would say. “How do you know it was him?”
Apparently she hadn’t yet seen where I’d drawn moustaches and dicks all over her eight by ten modeling portfolio glossies. “Why do you always stand up for him, daddy? You don’t believe your own daughter when I tell you what a worthless jerk he is?”
“Oh, come now,” I said, handing Sadie the bowl of green beans. “How bad of a feller can I possibly be?”
“Yes.” Even that creepy Marcus agreed with me, seemed. “Is there maybe something else between you two that you haven’t told us?”
“ Oh! ” April just fisted her little hands in frustration and spun around. “That’s it ! I’m eating in the kitchen!”
I called out, “While you’re there, can you get me another Bud?” Cliff had been letting me drink since I recently turned eighteen. He said eighteen should be the legal drinking age, for boys anyway, like it had been in Texas in my dad’s youth. I didn’t want any of their Sidecars or Old Fashioneds, so I opted for beer.
“Sit on it and spin!” April yelled back.
I raised my eyebrows. “Such talk.” I knew I was loading it on heavily for the benefit of Cliff and Marcus. But wasn’t it to everyone’s benefit to get along?
Cliff frowned. “That’s another reason she’d never make a big hit at an Ivy League school. Those places expect you to talk all hoity toity. Dyno, you going back to the practice ring tonight?”
“Sure,” I lied. “I was wondering if I could borrow one of your horse trailers. Was thinking of bringing Hindsight back from the arena. Sequoia can help me. He’s been acting funny lately.”
“Funny? What way? I could send Doctor Roberts over to the arena. No need to bring ’im back here.”
I frowned, trying to look professional. I even picked my teeth with a toothpick. “Well, why pay the stabling fee if we’re not gonna use him in the regional?”
It was agreed I could take the trailer. Cliff even acted like he wanted to come for a few minutes there. That was a close one. Luckily my mom reminded him he had to go over some inventory report April had printed out.
So I waited the polite amount of time after dessert to bail out of there, picking up Sequoia on the way with the one-ton pickup hauling the trailer.
Only we didn’t go down to the Last Chance arena. We went the opposite direction once we hit Manilow Avenue.
Sequoia said, “I scored some Ecstasy we can do once we’re done with this job. It’s not that weird Chinese stuff either. It’s direct from Russia.”
“No thanks. I’m not into any of those bizarre chemicals since I joined the circuit.”
“You on some kind of health kick? We don’t really need to get healthy until a few days before the roundup.”
Sequoia hadn’t qualified for any of his events, making him even more bitter and self-destructive than before. I still liked the guy, but was having second thoughts about leaving him behind in the dust. He was my assistant rodeo coach when he wasn’t plastered, which wasn’t that often anymore. He’d barely squeaked out of high school with a much worse GPA than me. I was trying to get him a job as a night herder for Cliff Pleasure, now that I was too valuable to work at night. I needed my rest.
“Hell yeah I’m on a health kick,” I said, “and you should be too. The way you’re going, you’re gonna wind up in a ditch before you’re even old enough to drink. Why don’t you cut it back a little? Maybe, like, not
I was loving this. April jammed her hands onto her hips. “He put soap on my toothbrush. I want him to use the other bathroom down the hall, the one with the yellow shower curtain.”
Still, Cliff laughed. “Are you sure? Maybe you just got a bad batch of toothpaste.”
I could see steam coming out of her nostrils like a hooky bull seeing red. “Oh yeah? Dad, he sent me ten black faxes —he used up my entire toner cartridge! What next, a flaming bag of dog shit?”
“Oh, come now,” was all Cliff would say. “How do you know it was him?”
Apparently she hadn’t yet seen where I’d drawn moustaches and dicks all over her eight by ten modeling portfolio glossies. “Why do you always stand up for him, daddy? You don’t believe your own daughter when I tell you what a worthless jerk he is?”
“Oh, come now,” I said, handing Sadie the bowl of green beans. “How bad of a feller can I possibly be?”
“Yes.” Even that creepy Marcus agreed with me, seemed. “Is there maybe something else between you two that you haven’t told us?”
“ Oh! ” April just fisted her little hands in frustration and spun around. “That’s it ! I’m eating in the kitchen!”
I called out, “While you’re there, can you get me another Bud?” Cliff had been letting me drink since I recently turned eighteen. He said eighteen should be the legal drinking age, for boys anyway, like it had been in Texas in my dad’s youth. I didn’t want any of their Sidecars or Old Fashioneds, so I opted for beer.
“Sit on it and spin!” April yelled back.
I raised my eyebrows. “Such talk.” I knew I was loading it on heavily for the benefit of Cliff and Marcus. But wasn’t it to everyone’s benefit to get along?
Cliff frowned. “That’s another reason she’d never make a big hit at an Ivy League school. Those places expect you to talk all hoity toity. Dyno, you going back to the practice ring tonight?”
“Sure,” I lied. “I was wondering if I could borrow one of your horse trailers. Was thinking of bringing Hindsight back from the arena. Sequoia can help me. He’s been acting funny lately.”
“Funny? What way? I could send Doctor Roberts over to the arena. No need to bring ’im back here.”
I frowned, trying to look professional. I even picked my teeth with a toothpick. “Well, why pay the stabling fee if we’re not gonna use him in the regional?”
It was agreed I could take the trailer. Cliff even acted like he wanted to come for a few minutes there. That was a close one. Luckily my mom reminded him he had to go over some inventory report April had printed out.
So I waited the polite amount of time after dessert to bail out of there, picking up Sequoia on the way with the one-ton pickup hauling the trailer.
Only we didn’t go down to the Last Chance arena. We went the opposite direction once we hit Manilow Avenue.
Sequoia said, “I scored some Ecstasy we can do once we’re done with this job. It’s not that weird Chinese stuff either. It’s direct from Russia.”
“No thanks. I’m not into any of those bizarre chemicals since I joined the circuit.”
“You on some kind of health kick? We don’t really need to get healthy until a few days before the roundup.”
Sequoia hadn’t qualified for any of his events, making him even more bitter and self-destructive than before. I still liked the guy, but was having second thoughts about leaving him behind in the dust. He was my assistant rodeo coach when he wasn’t plastered, which wasn’t that often anymore. He’d barely squeaked out of high school with a much worse GPA than me. I was trying to get him a job as a night herder for Cliff Pleasure, now that I was too valuable to work at night. I needed my rest.
“Hell yeah I’m on a health kick,” I said, “and you should be too. The way you’re going, you’re gonna wind up in a ditch before you’re even old enough to drink. Why don’t you cut it back a little? Maybe, like, not
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