should…”
“Gumbo, listen. This song is called Maverick Tendencies. It’s my most famous number. Maybe your listeners would like it. See what you think…”
Joanna starts to sing then, over the phone, the song that Boda had heard her singing earlier:
We were driving the cattle to another hick town,
My lover blaming me for the rain coming down.
As some good steer makes a run for open ground,
Joe makes a loop to pull that maverick down.
And I’ve got maverick tendencies in my heart,
Since the night you broke me apart.
Your love is gonna set me loose from the noose.
I’ve got maverick tendencies in my heart.
Joanna’s voice is crystal clear, riding the notes like the cowgirl she is singing about. Boda can’t take her eyes off the show; it looks like Joanna is singing for her life. There is a desperation hidden beneath the melody and the words. This, and the story the song is telling, really get to Boda. Jesus, this woman can actually sing: every note a flame. This is a real torch song…
As that good steer runs for wide open space,
Joe standing tall in the saddle, rain on his face,
He throws the lasso to catch the traces
Of a prey that won’t be branded or placed.
Boda picks up one of Joanna’s guitars. She plucks at the simple chords of the melody. Joanna closes her eyes and actually smiles at Boda, as they go into the chorus together.
I’ve got maverick tendencies in my heart,
Since the day you broke me apart.
Your love has set me loose from the noose.
I’ve got maverick tendencies in my heart.
Boda is bewitched by the song. Or is it the singer? There is something about Joanna that reminds her of Coyote. The singer and the taxi-dog share the same place in Boda’s newly born Shadow, that space reserved for the lonesome, the beauty of the remote.
The rope slips free from the horns of the steer,
That maverick beast runs on without fear
Into wide open fields. I won’t shed no tears,
Come the morning, Joe, I’ll be running clear.
Boda realises that she is being mesmerized. She has to pull back from the song, the situation. Charrie, let’s ride!
Shadow riding, and suddenly Boda is inside Charrie, working the controls so that he starts up, and then working the cab with her Shadow, speeding towards the neon cafe sign. Boda swings the guitar over her shoulder, ready to hit Joanna with it. Joanna’s eyes open, and she raises the gun, coolly, finger tight on the trigger, straight towards Boda’s head. Joanna carries on singing. Final chorus…
I’ve got maverick tendencies in my heart,
I’m gonna pull this old world of mine apart.
I’ve a heart that won’t be tamed, blamed or ashamed
I’ve got maverick tend—
An explosion from outside, lights at the window as Boda feels the jolt inside, as Charrie smashes into the neon sign. Joanna turns her head towards the sound. “What the fuck was that?” Boda completes the guitar swing and then brings it forward, a glancing blow against the singer’s head…
Echoes of a song drift through the body of the instrument, the snapped strings and the hollow bones of Joanna. The blond wig falls off, revealing an all over No. 2 crew cut. Joanna screams—a deep manly voice this time. The telephone falls. She tries to bring the gun back on target, but Boda has the advantage now. Boda grabs the gun and turns it on the singer.
“Sit down.”
“Please… don’t hurt me.” He’s crying in his woman’s voice now, swinging between male and female. “Please… no visible marks.”
“Sit down!”
Joanna sits.
“You’re Country Joe, aren’t you?” Boda asks. “You’re a transvestite.”
“I am not a transvestite. How dare you? I am a proper child. A child of Fecundity 10. That’s all. I’m special. Very, very special. You will pay for this, girl.”
Boda picks up the telephone. “Gumbo? You still there?”
“What’s going on, Boda?” Gumbo answers.
“Get off my case,
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