Rodeo terms: Performing in the Show = performing during the rodeo. Performing (or a run) in the Slack = roping or riding outside the rodeo performance (slack is usually run after the show or in the morning before the next show). A run is an attempt to rope/wrestle the steer/calf or to ride the horse/bull. Average = aggregate (the aggregated points from the runs: for timed events, less is better; for judged events, more is better). Go-round = when all contestants in an event have completed their run; there may be two or more go-rounds, with or without a finals decided by high points or low times in each event. The short go is the common name for the finals.
No sex occurs between persons under 18 in this story.
“Daddy, I’m so hungry! Can we stop soon? I’m REALLY hungry!”
“Yes, Baby, I’m getting off at the next exit that shows food and fuel. We’re coming up on Phoenix, so it should be real soon. Do you need to go potty before we get there?”
“Daddy, I’m not a baby! I don’t go potty; I go to the restroom, and no, I don’t need to…right now. But I’m so hungry!”
“Here we go, Sweetheart: see the sign? We’ll take the next exit and get you some food before your belly button eats your backbone!”
“You are so silly, Daddy!”
Zane put on his right turn indicators to let Brad know they were getting off, and Brad flashed his lights in return. The first few offerings were fast food and none had a parking lot big enough for their rigs, so he continued toward town to a café he had been to before that had good food and plenty of parking. He found room for his truck and horse trailer on the deserted north side of the lot, with room for Brad to park his rig beside him.
Zane climbed down out of the cab of the Customized Mack Anthem and waited for his long-legged six and a half year old daughter to scramble out of the sleeper, across his seat, and hop down into his arms. He caught her, twirled her around, kissed his on the cheek, and set her on the ground, loving her inevitable giggle when they twirled.
She darted around the front of the truck to find her ‘best friends in the world’, Brad and Carole Simpson’s daughters Stacy and Sammy. They greeted each other with hugs and complained in unison about never getting to eat until they are starving! Carole interjected, “It’s only been a few hours since you gorged on junk food at the carnival, girls. I’m pretty sure none of you are starving. Stay put — we’re going to wait right here until your daddies check the horses and we’ll all go in together.”
The complained, but waited impatiently for all of three minutes before their dads appeared, took their hands, and led them across the parking lot to the brightly lit café. As they neared the door, Casey suddenly froze. She was looking at a poster in the window beside the door.
“That’s her, isn’t it?” she asked her dad, who, along with everyone else, stopped and looked more closely at the poster. It was quiet for a moment as they stared at the beautiful young woman on a golden horse racing through a rodeo arena. She was wearing a shirt trimmed with rhinestones and sequins, boots the color of her horse, and a golden hat with a bejeweled band; her long, wavy blonde hair flew behind her.
The lights glittered off the jewels on her shirt and cast a golden glow around her hair and face. The poster read “Prescott Frontier Days Queen — Champion Barrel Racer Cassie Collins riding Goldie.”
Zane’s heart skipped a beat, and then raced as he looked at the “Sweetheart of the Rodeo” in her chosen element. Even though his emotions were raging, he calmly replied, “Yes, Honey, that’s your mommy. She’s almost as beautiful as you, isn’t she?”
Still staring at the poster, Casey asked in a tiny voice, “Daddy, why doesn’t she love us?”
Hearing the pain in her voice and seeing the stricken look on Zane’s face, Carole picked Casey up and held her. “Honey, your Mommy loves you. She really does; famous people like your mom have so many commitments it’s hard for them. And she lives in California; you and Daddy live in Texas, and…” She stopped speaking, knowing there was no explanation. She hugged the little girl tightly, and let the tears in flow silently down her cheeks.
Stacy and Sammy recognized the anguish of their friend and mom, and hugged their mom’s legs tightly while reassuring Casey that THEY loved her!
Zane turned his head away and wiped the tears from his eyes. He felt Brad’s arm encircle his shoulders, and pat him on the back. Casey saw the torment on her daddy’s face; she wiggled free of Carole to go to him, climbed into his arms, and hugged him with all her might. Carole picked up Stacy, Brad picked Sammy up, and they held each other in group hug that lasted for several minutes.
“I’m sorry, Daddy; please don’t cry. I shouldn’t have asked about her; I know it always makes you sad! I just saw her and thought that girl looked like the picture you keep in my room, so wanted to know if it really is her. I don’t care if she doesn’t love us! I have the bestest daddy in the world, I love you, and you love me! We don’t need her!”
Carole choked back her tears; “You do have the bestest daddy in the world, Casey, and he loves you enough for two people!” Pausing for a second, she added, “And Stacy and Sammy have the bestest daddy in the world too!”
Casey clung to her daddy, and sat in his lap when they found a table. Stacy sat on her daddy’s lap, Sammi on her mom’s.
Stacy looked up at her dad and asked, “Daddy, I don’t want to make everyone sadder, but I have one more question. Why does the rodeo poster have a big picture of Casey’s mommy in the middle and little pictures of all the cowboys around her? And why is she all glittery?”
Carole saw the look on her husband’s face, and interjected, “Stacy, Sammi, Casey, do you remember when we were at the ghost town near Reno and we panned for gold?” The girls all nodded. “Remember that we found some shiny flakes that we thought were gold in the sands, and we were all excited? What did the man tell us when we showed it to him?”
Casey answered, “He said ever’thing that glitters is not gold. He said the flakes were Fool’s Gold, and then he showed us real gold and told us that it didn’t shine until it was cleaned up and polished!”
“That’s right, Casey. Now I am not saying your mommy is Fools Gold, or anything bad about her. She was my best friend before she left and went on the tour full time, and she was a good mommy to you. What I’m saying is, just because you see a picture of her that is all pretty and glittery, it doesn’t mean she doesn’t make mistakes, and she made a big one leaving you and your daddy, sweetheart!”
Zane was afraid that would only stir the pot, but by the time the waitress left with their orders, the girls had moved on. They asked if they could have their own table and moved to a table next to the adults, who had not moved on.
“Damn her!” Carole hissed to Zane and Brad. “How could any decent human being abandon that precious little girl? Don’t get me wrong, Zane, you’ve done the best job anyone could possibly do! She’s an absolute angel, smart as a whip, and sweeter than sugar! I just don’t understand how Cassie can just completely ignore the two of you like she does! The Bitch doesn’t call, she didn’t even send her a birthday or Christmas present last year!”
Zane had no answer; he shrugged, looked at his daughter and her friends chatting happily at the table closest to their booth, and changed the subject. “We should be at Cal’s ranch in another hour. If he’s awake he’ll make us come stay in the house; if not, let’s bunk in the trailers tonight. We can drink coffee with him in the morning and catch up.”
Carole gave him a disbelieving look, shook her head to clear her mind, and joined the planning session. Oh, she was still steaming inside, but if everyone else could move on so could she! However, this was the first rodeo where their paths collided since she abandoned her family and friends, and if she got her hands on her “best friend”, she planned to yank all that golden hair out by the roots, cussing her the whole time!
The girls were holding hands as they walked back to the rigs when Stacy turned around and declared, “We are so happy your new sponsor got us these rigs with the pretty pictures of the coast and seagulls on them!” Carole told the girls she agreed, and the men beamed.
The wrap was a coastal scene complete with breaking waves, sand dunes, and their sponsor’s trademark seagull featured on both the living quarters and the cab of the Mack diesel. “Gotta thank you again for that one, buddy,” Brad told Zane. “Your new connections in the oil business are really paying off! We may not win the rodeo, but we always win the drive up!”
***
Casey fell asleep within minutes after the diesel engine began to hum, and Zane’s mind wandered back to the poster, and then to the woman on the horse that had been his love since high school.
They were sixteen again and getting ready for prom. Cassandra Collins had moved to their little town in west central Texas from Tennessee mid-way through their sophomore year, causing quite a stir. Her beauty caught everyone’s eyes; the boys swarmed her like bees to a sweet flower, which meant she bore the ire of the jealous girls. It was her personality, however, that ultimately won over the girls and kept the boys interested, but at arm’s length.
Adhering to the pecking order, the top senior boys all took their best shot, and then the junior boys took theirs. Zane sat back and watched them swing and miss, but he was more smitten than anyone, so he learned from their strikeouts. His break came because, as smart as she was, the curriculum in Tennessee was not equivalent to Texas’, so she needed help in her classes. He knew it was dangerous to be parked in the friend zone, but he was the top student in the class, so he volunteered to help her.
Zane played football, basketball, and ran track, but his love was rodeo. He practiced the sport in season after school for an hour, and then he practiced roping in his arena. With the chance to help the lovely Cassandra, however, as soon as he finished practice he returned to the school library where she was studying.
Study sessions in the library ended at Dairy Queen with a soda, a blizzard, or a sundae, and then a ride home in his pickup. Her mother liked him, appreciated him helping her daughter catch up, and appreciated not having to drive six miles back to town to pick her up. The first time she asked him to stay for supper he begged off because his parents were expecting him to eat with them, so Mrs. Collins called his mom and asked when it would be okay for her to provide Zane with a meal next Wednesday, as a reward for all the help he was giving her daughter.
His mom laughed, knowing Zane felt helping Cassandra far from a burden, but agreed that Wednesday would be good; no sporting events were on Wednesday, and his chores were light.
Zane noted that Mr. Collins was never there on Wednesdays, and wondered if that was the reason he was invited. Perhaps Mr. Collins didn’t like him, or perhaps he had business every Wednesday; it was hard to tell, but Zane never got a good feeling when he was around Cassie’s dad.
In a way, he was curious about her dad’s feelings toward him, but being with Cassandra and her pretty and gracious mother for four hours on Wednesday was indeed a reward, so he didn’t pursue his curiosity.
After the fourth meal, Cassandra walked him out to his truck, and, for the first time, walked around to the driver’s side with him. She was holding his hand, and she had begun to do when they were alone. When he started to open the door she pulled him back to her, put her arms around him, and presented her pretty face and plump lips for a kiss; Zane promptly complied.
Every girl who had first hand knowledge had told Cassandra that Zane was a good kisser, but when their lips met something passed between them that shocked her and him. The ‘goodbye kiss’ went on and on, and ended with both of them quivering and panting.
He was head over heels, and was certain she was too….until she accepted a date to the prom with a senior.
She assured him it meant nothing, but she wanted to go to the junior-senior prom and, Zane being a sophomore meant he wasn’t eligible, so she accepted Jimmy’s offer. Zane was crushed at first, but then he got angry. By Friday he had charmed, Suzanne, the senior girl who Jimmy had dumped in order to take Cassandra, into taking him. They agreed to keep their date a secret so they could blindside their exes.
The prom was two weeks away. For several days, Zane kept his distance from Cassandra, who acted surprised and hurt by his neglect. After not seeing him for ten days, her mom knew something was up and confronted Cassandra, who simply explained it to her as she had to Zane. It went over about as well with mom as it had with Zane, and mom spent an hour explaining why Zane was mad.
In her heart, Cassie already knew what she did was wrong, but she wanted to go to the prom, so Zane should have accepted it without being so childish; he didn’t own her! They weren’t even officially going steady!
Saturday arrived without further contact with Zane, but she had the prom dress of her dreams and a handsome senior football player as a date! She was excited all day!
Yes, she knew about the expectation that she would have sex with her date after the prom, but she had no intention of letting things go that far. She might allow him a few liberties — in fact, she was anticipating trying new things with someone she’d never be with again — but he would not have her precious cherry: she was saving that for Zane!
Cassandra and Jimmy made quite the splash when they entered fashionably late. The skillfully decorated ballroom at the Country Club looked perfect and a band was playing. There were dancers, but even they paused to gawk at and talk about the newest couple.
He escorted her to her seat at a ‘senior table’ to the left of the stage, near the band. Jimmy was elated to have the lovely Cassandra as his arm candy, and she was delighted by all the attention.
They basked in the limelight for more about ten minutes, with seniors dropping by to say hi and pay their respects. The women complemented Cassandra on her off-the-shoulders dress; the men ogled her lovely shoulders and the enticing swell of what was otherwise well hidden.
Suddenly, the spotlight drifted away, back to the entry hall and red carpet. Suzanne, with her auburn hair falling in long curls around her face and onto her bare shoulders, strolled in like a queen. Her bright green dress drew everyone’s attention to her lovely limbs, shoulders, neck, and curvaceous body. She was smiling at her date, who wore a well-fitted black tuxedo with a cummerbund the exact color of her dress.
She had her arm through his, pressing against his big bicep, and he was adoringly eyeing his striking date. They ignored the attention, including the fact that everyone dancing stopped and stared, and made their way to the ‘senior table’. Two seats were reserved on the opposite side from Jimmy and Cassandra; Zane pulled out her chair, seated her, and then took his seat beside her.
Most eyes turned to Jimmy, who suddenly looked like he had developed heartburn, and to his date, whose heartburn must have been worse.
Both couples danced, worked the hall, and did what they could to charm the voters for Prom Queen and King. Only seniors were eligible to run, but everyone could vote, and both sophomores wanted their dates to become royalty. Suzanne played the role of Zane’s new girlfriend perfectly, molding herself to him when they slow danced, and gazing adoringly at him when they were apart.
Cassandra intended to do the same, but she quickly learned that Jimmy was not a gentleman when slow dancing, so she found ways to keep herself separated from his tentacles while pretending to enjoy herself immensely. Suzanna had no such problem with Zane; instead, it was he who was resisting her advances.
When the votes were counted, it was no surprise that Suzanna was elected Prom Queen and Jimmy Prom King. That necessitated a King-Queen dance that was rather cool on Suzanna’s side, but gave Jimmy a chance to start his apology and begging for forgiveness.
As soon as everyone was invited to join the royalty, Cassandra grabbed Zane, pulled him to the floor, pressed herself to him, and began her apology and begging.
Sitting in the truck ten year later, heading from Phoenix to Prescott, Zane couldn’t decide if that was the start of something great, as they had always told one another, or just an example of him ignoring an early warning sign.
***
Cal was beating on the door of the living quarters soon after the sun came up, offering coffee and breakfast. He let them know he had already fed the horses and turned them out into the trap, so all they had to do was come up to the house and eat. They all slipped on sweats and flip flops, hugged Cal, and made their way to the big, ramshackle house he called home.
Rosa was waiting for them in the kitchen with a big grin and a hug. She announced she had made fresh flour tortillas and salsa, and had eggs, bacon, and pan sausage ready so they could make their tacos. As always, the food was amazing; how Rosa could turn simple breakfast tacos into a flavor buffet was beyond their understanding, but they appreciated her almost as much as Cal.
He had hired Rosa to be his housekeeper and cook only a few months after his wife died of ovarian cancer at age 42. She had appeared at his door, telling him in Spanish that she heard he needed help with the house. He had invited her in, discussed the job with her, and hired her on the spot.
She was a lovely woman of 35, with thick brown hair and light brown eyes flecked with yellow. Her husband and son had been killed when the drug cartel came to their village to conscript teenagers –boys, to fight, and girls, to entertain the fighters. Jose had refused to let them take their son, so they gunned him down. Julio had grabbed his father’s gun and killed two of them before he was killed, but their courageous actions gave the villagers the courage to drive the gangsters out.
With her family dead, Rosa left the village on their donkey, carrying the little money they had saved and enough clothes for a few days. A month later she arrived at Aqua Prieta near the Arizona-New Mexico border. Lacking the money to pay a Coyote to guide her across, she sold the donkey and wandered afoot until she found a fresh wash under the border fence and crossed. After walking across the rough country for two days, she caught a ride with a crew of agricultural laborers, and worked with them until she heard a couple of women saying the owner of the orange orchard had lost his wife.
She took the initiative and Cal hired her, papers be damned. Two years later her immigration status was of little consequence, because she was sporting his ring, bearing his son in her belly, and returning his love in spades.
After they ate, Cal announced that he was taking the girls — all the girls — shopping today, and he would deliver them safely, dressed in the finest finery, to the rodeo before the afternoon performance began at 3 pm. The girls may have been young, but they already loved to shop, and Carole… Well, although she always felt guilty after Call spent a fortune on them, she did love to go shopping with him. He not only gave her an unlimited account to draw on, the sales girls treated her like royalty in his presence!
Rosa said she was going too, because she wanted to buy some new clothes for after the baby was born so she could regain Cal’s attention. Everyone laughed at that, knowing that her husband practically worshipped the ground she walked on.
After Carole and the girls got dressed, the men brought the slideouts on the living quarters in, loaded the horses, and headed north to Prescott, home of the Frontier Days, which claimed to be The World’s Oldest Rodeo. In a few weeks they would be in the West of the Pecos, Texas rodeo, which would make the same claim, and, over the course of the rodeo tour, they would be at Greeley, Colorado; Payson, Arizona; Pendleton, Oregon; Calgary, British Columbia, for the Stampede; and Cheyenne, Wyoming, all of which claimed the “oldest rodeo” tittle.
Regardless, Prescott was a competitive rodeo that paid well, and in their present circumstances, that was what mattered. The National Finals Rodeo in Las Vegas was in their sights, and winning here against the other teams in the running accomplished two things: adding to their total earnings, and leaving their competition further behind.
Brad and Zane had started the year on fire, placing in the top five in each of the big four rodeos in Texas. More importantly, they won at least one go round in each rodeo, and won money in all but three go rounds. They were second at San Antonio, first at the world’s biggest and best paying rodeo in Houston, second again at Austin, and fourth at Fort Worth, before winning every round at San Angelo..
Their draws had been good and the breaks had gone their way to the extent that the other team ropers would sneak up and rub on them like the Blarney Stone, trying to catch some of their luck. They stood eight thousand dollars above second place in team roping when the tour moved on from Texas and scattered across the country, and two months later, they had increased the lead by 2k.
Zane had been almost as good in tiedown calf roping, winning first at San Antonio, fifth at Houston, second at Austin and Fort Worth, and winning the average again at San Angelo. The go-round money alone would have him in the top five, but with the wins he was sitting seven thousand above second place in calf roping and eight thousand ahead in the All-Around Cowboy competition.
Given their early success, the adults sat down for a serious discussion, and then brought the kids in for their input. They had kids and they had ranches and business obligations, but the lure of the Finals in Vegas was great, and the money they could win there made the money they had won to date look paltry. They had to decide whether to commit to making rodeos all over the country to keep their standings, or do as they had done for several years: win some money in Texas and the surrounding states, and settle for that so they could meet their other obligations.
This was not an easy decision for Zane. When Cassandra suddenly abandoned the ranch, her husband, and daughter, to concentrate on making the finals in barrel racing, Zane had dutifully withdrawn from the tour to stay home with his daughter, work the ranch, buy, train, and sell horses, and handle his growing business interests. While he had continued to rodeo in Texas and the surrounding states, he had been off the rigorous national tour for about four years.
Brad had roped with another partner for an additional two years before deciding to stay in Texas for the last two. He was not as invested in land or business as Zane, and the lure of big dollars in the Finals shone brightly to him and his wife.
Zane and Casey lived off the earnings from selling cattle bred and raised on the ranch. That allowed him to use his winnings from the previous years and his earnings from buying, breeding, raising, training, and selling roping and barrel horses, to invest in real estate and in mineral rights in the Delaware Basin of far west Texas and eastern New Mexico. That investment advice came from Cal, who had what the SEC might call ‘insider information’. That was a serious crime, unless you were already a billionaire or a major investment group; then it was just ‘the benefit of good research’.
Cal was not a billionaire, but his friend with the info was, so Zane swallowed hard, made the Sign of the Cross, and handed over almost all of his hard-earned money.
Brad had the same information but wouldn’t go in that deep; he put in about half of what he had, and, now, nearly four years later, both were more than ecstatic about the result. Their royalties were mostly reinvested, but their accounts were filling nicely, and they could afford nice things.
Brad added to and fixed up his house, and added a deck and swimming pool. Zane added to the section of land his grandfather willed to him, buying another half-section Zane. That gave him ownership of 960 acres of beautiful Texas Hill Country, with a half-mile of Llano River frontage. He paid more than he wanted for the 320 acres, but the land had more than doubled in value in the three years he had owned it, so that looked like a winning decision also.
Because of their business acumen, or more accurately, the acumen of their contacts — as the man said, “Sometimes it ain’t what ya know, it’s who” – Zane and Brad were set financially, at least for the next few years. That was a big factor in deciding whether to go hard all year and try to win the championship, or try to build their businesses.
That Carole was a certificated teacher who could enrich whichever paltry home school curriculum program they decided on was another big factor.
The deciding factor, however, was when Coastal came forward offering to enrich their sponsorship after their early success. The additional funding would ensure their fuel, food, and other expenses on the road were covered, and the wrap job for their rigs was an added bonus. The company had the artists weave their logo and name inauspiciously into the beach scene, which became a moving work of art.
Coastal got with Mack trucks, which offered to become their other major sponsor. They quickly accepted, and Mack set them up with the newly-introduced Anthem trucks. The wrap job, extending from the front bumper of the trucks to the back gates of the trailer made people on the street stop and stare, and Zane was afraid they were going to cause wrecks due to the rubber necking when they went down the road.
The big diesels pulled the trailers with ease and provided a nice bed, refrigerator, TV, and toilet for the kids. Brad complained that the cockpit was like a spaceship, but it rode and handled like a dream.
They were living large and loving it as 2018 turned into spring.
There was, however, a fly in the ointment for Zane and Casey – their abandonment by Cassie.
Zane had argued against her going on the tour full time from the moment she brought it up, citing Casey and their desire to have at least one more child while they were young, and then going hard on the tour when the kids were three or four years old.
He argued against it one last time before she left, but her father had convinced her she needed to do it now, and that Zane was just trying to hold her back. He begged her not to go, but she loaded Goldie in the trailer and herself the cab with her worthless daddy. She shed tears as they pulled away, and shouted out the window her promise to come back at the first break.
That was more than four years ago. After more than two years of dating Zane, almost three years of marriage, and a child, she left them behind. Casey was eighteen months old when Mom left that last time. She promised to call her every night and to come home every time the schedule allowed, but by Casey’s second birthday, the phone calls were weekly, and she had made three two-day stops at home that entire year. Even when she was there, she was antsy and distracted. She did send expensive presents to Casey and Zane for every important date she missed, and sometimes for no reason at all. Zane couldn’t tell if it was because she missed them, or felt guilty.
The phone calls continued to diminish in frequency, until they were limited to Christmas and Casey’s birthday; nothing to acknowledge Zane’s birthday or their anniversary. The demands of the rodeo tour had been augmented by sponsor-paid TV appearances to hype the next rodeo, talk show appearances, a few minor roles in prime-time TV shows, and a bit part in a movie. She got positive reviews for her portrayal of a cheating girlfriend in the movie, which Zane and her mother believed was due to extensive practice.
Eighteen months into their separation, Zane’s many friends on the road began phoning him with stories of her conduct, featuring drugs and fractured marriage vows. Her omnipresent companion for all this was daddy dearest, who introduced her to the pipe and the straw, and to the pills she needed to face the day after using the pipe and/or straw all night.
Wanton sex with a variety of men was a part of the party life she chose over husband and child.
Zane asked his friends for photographic, video, and audio evidence on her and on her dad. He got it quickly and in volume, and he and his mother-in-law both promptly filed for divorce. Texas being a no-fault state, their evidence would have made no difference to the judge, but when asshole dad went after their property, horses, and cows, it gave them the advantage they needed.
Cassie hadn’t been heard from since she called crying after she was served, but Daddy came after everything. When they threatened to ruin her reputation, which would drive away her many sponsor and end her budding TV and film career, Daddy changed his mind. When confronted with the loss of his meal ticket, and Zane and Gram got everything except half of the funds in their joint checking and savings accounts at the time they filed for divorce. Since almost all of their money was now in investments, that meant little to either party.
The papers were signed and the marriages were terminated in ninety days.
***
Brad parked his rig behind Zane’s, along the fence in the back, away from the arena. They were performing in the show, sleeping through the evening slack, and roping again in the morning slack so they could head home as soon as they finished. Prescott didn’t have finals, so the team with the lowest total time on two steers was the winner; the same was true with calf roping.
That meant each of the two runs was for a lot of money, with no chance to make up time in the short go. They were fired up, focused, confident, and ready to win it all!
Cal’s white limo made its debut at 2:45, the 6’4″, 250 pound ‘driver’ opened their doors, and the girls alighted in their finery, as promised. Cal looked like any other cowboy, sporting Wranglers, a grey Stetson, and worn boots, but the pearl snap white shirt with red roses and vines embroidered across the shoulders and chest were a little grander than the other cowboys wore. He escorted his entourage to his perfectly situated box seats, located about a third of the way down the arena.
As with most PRCA rodeos, the Grand Entry featured the local sheriff’s posse and plenty of pretty girls. The prettiest and shiniest, of course, was the rodeo queen, Miss Cassie Collins!
She wore her trademark rhinestone and sequins shirt, golden boots, indigo jeans, and a white hat with a jeweled hat band. Her long blonde hair blowing behind, she received a roaring ovation as she carried the American flag around the arena in the grand entry, with the crowd standing in honor of the flag.
Zane was out at the trailer taking care of final details before the team roping started; Casey was sitting in Cal’s box seats right next to the fence. She locked her eyes on her momma, and saw nothing else. Cassie’s first pass around the arena was ridden fast and hard; she saw nothing but the other riders. As the posse formed up in the middle, she made another pass around the arena with a huge smile for her doting fans. As she passed the chutes she was looking right into Cal’s box, and everyone saw surprise replace the smile, if only for a moment.
Casey was standing against the railing with her little hand hanging over; it appeared she was reaching for something.
Cassie finished the pass and joined the others in the middle of the arena, flag perfectly placed. Supreme Court be damned, there was a non-denominational prayer, followed by a moment of silence. Everyone remained standing as the arena band played the Star Spangled Banner, led by a local high school songstress with great range and timing.
Cassie stared at the box where the little blonde beauty stood with her hand over her heart. The child looked so much like her it almost had to be Casey, but Zane never appeared in shows on the days Cassie was performing, and he certainly wouldn’t bring their daughter!
He had been very, very clear in informing her that Casey deserved more than a mom who popped up for a few days, and then disappeared for months, so she should just leave them alone.
Cassie was still puzzled when the anthem ended and she began her final circle of the arena with the flag. This time she looked intently at the box; she saw the little blonde with a dark haired woman standing behind her with her hand on her shoulder: Carole!
‘OH MY GOD! It really is her! The daughter I haven’t seen in almost four years! She’s gorgeous!’
Cassie completed her pass, handed off the flag as she left the arena, jumped off her horse, tied it to the fence, and hurriedly started for the box seats where her beautiful daughter was sitting! She stopped mid-stride, realizing that reunion was impossible.
SHE had abandoned her daughter and husband! SHE had left home and made promises SHE didn’t keep, just like the vow SHE didn’t keep that SHE made in front of God, her family, and much of her hometown to love, honor, and cherish her husband, forsaking all others!
He shoulders slumped, she retrieved Goldie and rode back to her trailer with her fake smile plastered in place; the show must go on! Once inside the living quarters, however, she wept bitterly.
Brad and Zane warmed up their horses while the cowboys tested the rank broncs bareback, and then sat on top of the chutes to gauge the barrier during steer wrestling. They were the last team up in team roping, so they got to watch the first three goes before they returned to their horses and prepared them to enter the arena and compete.
They had drawn a running steer, and since they were here for the money, agreed that Zane would throw early if the steer was within range. It was a dicey decision that was more likely to end in a miss than a catch, but Suds rated the steer and the barrier perfectly, breaking as hard as the steer. Zane threw on the second jump out of the box, and the rope settled around the steer’s horns. He turned the steer; Brad reached under him with the loop and came up with both legs. They faced up, the flag came down, and they had a 5.2 run! Not their best by any means, but about as good as you could do with a fast steer like this, and the best time of the show. It was also better than any time in the morning slack, and the announcer made a big deal of that!
In reality, it meant little, because there were thirty teams left to go in the slack before the first go-round was settled tonight, and they could be out of the money by dawn. Still, it was a good run.
“Damn, I don’t know why the rest of us keep showing up where you guys are! That was fuckin’ immaculate! You know your competition, Rick and Joe, went 8.4 plus 5 on that gazelle last night, and today you turned him into a pup!
Brad, you lucky SOB; the handle your partner put on that runner was a thing of beauty; caught him, slowed him, turned him with you right on his hip, and viola: best time of the first go!”
“You’re right about that, Sonny. Hell, I’ll bet YOU could have caught two legs with that handle,” Brad teased back.
They rode on back to their rigs with Sonny and his partner, Buddy, who asked, “Hey, Zane, I saw the kids are along, and so are ours and a bunch of others. This turned into a real ‘family rodeo’ for May, when most are still in school. Does that mean you’ll be hosting the traditional singalong tonight after the show?”
“Don’t think the girls will let me refuse, Buddy,” Zane replied with a grin. “Y’all know you’re welcome, and invite anyone you want to be around, okay! Now, I’ve got to go warm Junior up again for the calf roping.”
The steer wrestling ended, and Zane was first out of the box; he drew a big, fast calf. The times in the slack had been slow due to the size of the calves in this pen, and he was worried about Junior acting up in the box. He had been on the road a long time for a young horse, and he need to be rode hard a few times in the pasture to get some of the orneriness out of him. That would start next week, but tonight he had to go and go fast.
Zane whispered in his ear and held his head high; Junior settled in the box, coiled like a Cobra ready to strike, forefeet prancing, and Zane nodded to release the calf.
The calf took off like he was shot from a gun; Zane released the reins, and Junior was hot on his tail. In fact, Junior broke so hard Zane figured he broke the barrier, but they caught the calf on the third jump. Zane had to throw a lot of rope, but the loop settled over the calf’s head. Junior slowed him while Zane hit the ground running; he ‘picked him up and laid him down’ quickly.
He put the loop in the pigging string over the right front leg, gathered the back legs, gave the three legs a double wrap and hooey, and threw his hands up. The judge dropped the flag, Zane mounted up, put slack in the rope, and waited for the judge’s nod. He looked back at the barrier and saw they got out clean.
A kid ran out and released the piggin’ string, gave it to Zane, and ran back to the fence.
“We have a new leader, folks; the best time of the first round, so far, goes to Zane Rhys with a 7.9 second run! He takes the lead by 3/10 of a second. That gives the remaining contestants something to shoot at!”
***
The bull riding was over and the arena cleared; the fans were gone, and the announcer was calling cowboys to the first event of the slack. Those so minded, and especially those who had their wives and kids along, began gathering in front of Zane’s trailer with lawn chairs and blankets, waiting for the playing and singing to start.
The girls were still in their new clothing, but Zane and Brad were in their relaxing duds. Brad had drug out his big fire pit, which was really a truck wheel he had cut the insides out of, and he had a nice little fire built. The kids, and there were easily a dozen and a half now, were burning marshmallows to make s’mores, and the conversation among the score of adults was light and hospitable.
“Zane, between the hot dogs and s’mores the kids are getting full now. You ’bout ready to kick this off?” asked JB, a huge bulldogger with a heart of gold and a petite wife he adored so much they had five kids.
Zane pulled his guitar out of the sleeping quarters and sat on a stool he always carried with him. “Come sit by me, songbirds, and I’ll let you pick the first songs.” The kids all took seats on ground blankets the parents had spread around Zane and Terry, who sat on a stool with his banjo.
Red River Valley won by consensus, and the kids all joined in. Zane stopped after the first verse, looked at the adults, and warned, “You know the rules! If you stay, you have to sing! Now get with it!” They did.
Oh! Susanna followed Clementine, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie, and Zane added a few Hap Palmer favorites. The numerous Texans demanded Deep in the Heart of Texas and The Yellow Rose of Texas. By then it was well after dark and little heads were nodding, so they took a break to put the kids in their trailers and say night prayers.
When Zane came back out of the trailer, he saw that the three young barrel racers wearing colorful hoodies, who had listened to the kids from the tailgate of a pickup parked way in back, had backed it in behind the chairs. It was hard to see their faces, but he waved a welcome and invited them to come sit up front. One shouted that they appreciated the offer, but the tailgate was comfy.
The beer coolers were brought out once the kids were in bed, and Zane was given a Lone Star in a Prescott Frontier Days koozie. He thanked the donor and took a sip, then strapped on his guitar and Terry took up his banjo. Billy the Kid, a 5’8″bat-shit crazy bull rider who loved to sing, play, dance, and fight almost as much as he loved his 5’10” wife, waved his harmonica so they knew he would chime in.
By request, they started with three George Strait classics: Amarillo by Morning, The Cowboy Rides Away, and I Can Still Make Cheyenne. After that came Garth Brooks’ The Beaches of Cheyenne, and Aaron Watson’s July in Cheyenne, which was written to commemorate the death of young bull rider Lane Frost.
Zane insisted they lighten it up a little, so they sang Meet Me in Montana and the Green Leaves of Summer, followed by Terry and The Kid doing Blue Tail Fly while Zane drank his beer. He joined in for Wildwood Flower, Rocky Top, and Foggy Mountain Breakdown, which necessitated a break and a beer.
Zane noticed the barrel racers in the pastel hoodies were singing along on most every song, so he again waved for them to sit on the blankets up front, and they again demurred.
When he took his seat, Zane declared it was time for the women to get some exercise, which drew a cheer from the men. In accordance with the tradition recently established, when Baby’s Got Her Blue Jeans On began, all the women had to get up and parade around the circle, stopping in front of the stage to shake their booties at the crowd. The rainbow clad barrel racers tried to remain on the tailgate, but Carole and another woman drug them off and made them join the parade.
That was so much fun that Billy the Kid decided they should sing I Like Big Butts, and then Honky Tonk Badonkadonk, which resulted in a female-only line dance of epic proportions. The ear-to-ear smiles proved the girls was having a great time, and the men were having even more fun. Zane admitted there were a lot of prime badonkadonk on display, but he tried to keep his eyes off the married women.
He knew two of the three barrel racers were single, but the third had kept her face covered with the hoodie so well he didn’t know who she was or her marital status. Regardless, she did have a prime badonkadonk, and she certainly knew how to shake it.
Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy was their last nod to the pop country sound Zane intensely dislike, but Billy did a great job of rapping and the ladies danced, so…
Another, longer beer break gave Zane a chance to visit with friends he had seen but rarely since his sabbatical began four years ago. He was making his way back to the barrel racers, but when he looked up, they were gone. He started back to his stool and signaled his two bandmates.
Before he got there, Billy the Kid’s darling wife grabbed him and declared, “I know you are going to end this with some of the songs we all love, but can you play one more line dance for us? I promise you we’ll make it worth your while!”
Zane visited with his partners; Billy ran over to a trailer, picked up a metal feed bucket, and returned. They played Copperhead Road with Billy drumming on the bucket and singing like Steve Earle. The women did themselves proud and left the men drooling with their line dancing/booty shaking. The hoodies were back, and Zane found their movements particularly memorable, even with the hoodies covering most of their faces. Strange they had their hoodies up, since it was barely cool, but you never know about styles.
Zane sang Tennessee Whiskey when things calmed down, and then gave his usual intro to Bob McDill, “the greatest songwriter of our lifetime”.
She Don’t Know She’s Beautiful, Louisiana Saturday Night, Rake and Rambling Man, Come Early Mornin’, and Good Ol’ Boys Like Me followed, and then Zane warned, “You boys haven’t been holding your end up so far, but this is your redemption. If you can accept that life in a hillbilly band is but a metaphor for life on the tour and the guitar is your horse, you know your woman deserves better. So, when I sing ‘Amanda‘, you’re going to look your wife or girlfriend in the eyes and sing to them. They won’t mind that you can’t carry a tune, as long as they see the love in your eyes and hear it in your voice!”
I’ve held it all inward, God knows, I’ve tried
But it’s an awful awakening in a country boy’s life
To look in the mirror in total surprise
At the hair on my shoulders and the age in my eyes
Amanda, light of my life
Fate should have made you a gentleman’s wife
Amanda, light of my life
Fate should have made you a gentleman’s wife
It’s a measure of people who don’t understand
The pleasures of life in a hillbilly band
I got my first guitar when I was fourteen
Now I’m over thirty, still wearing jeans
Amanda, light of my life
Fate should have made you a gentleman’s wife
Amanda, light of my life
Fate should have made you a gentleman’s wife.
By the end of that song, there were a lot of women cuddling in their man’s lap.
Zane was looking down as he strummed the opening cords of the last song. “Some of you will think this is a downer of a song to end the night, but I prefer to focus on the message. It may sound strange, but this song always reminds of Teddy Roosevelt’s poem, The Man in the Arena. He tells us that the man we should praise is the man who’s out there fighting the big battles, even if those battles end in defeat. Is this song an allegory? I say it is; nothing ventured, nothing gained, and striving for greatness is never a bad decision, in my opinion.
And with that bit of personal philosophy laid out, here we go: The Dance.”
Looking back
On the memory of
The dance we shared
‘Neath the stars above
For a moment
All the world was right
How could I have known
That you’d ever say goodbye
And now
I’m glad I didn’t know
The way it all would end
The way it all would go
Our lives
Are better left to chance
But I’d have had to miss
The dance
Holding you
I held everything
For a moment
Wasn’t I a king
But if I’d only known
How the king would fall
Hey who’s to say
You know I might have changed it all
And now
I’m glad I didn’t know
The way it all would end
The way it all would go
Our lives
Are better left to chance
But I’d have had to miss
The dance…
It was quiet after Zane finished. Lawn chairs were folded and couples stopped by to thank him for hosting them before they walked arm in arm back to their trailers. Zane folded his stool and put it back into storage under his trailer. When he turned back, he saw that the barrel racers were still sitting on the tailgate, in a quiet but animated discussion. He watched for a moment, then made his way toward them.
The one in the middle tried to climb down, but her friends held her arms, keeping her in place. Zane was intrigued, but a sinking feeling developed as he got closer. “Hey, Ladies, thanks for coming tonight. We appreciate your beautiful voices as well as the way you dance.” With a teasing grin he added, “And I especially appreciate the way you shook those cute badon…”
He froze in place only a few feet from the tailgate, staring at the young woman in the middle. Her head was down, but when the girl on her right pulled the hoodie back, she looked up into his face. She had an embarrassed or even frightened look, but there was a sense of hopefulness too.
“Hi, Zane. You sing as beautifully as ever. Thank you for doing this, and for letting us be a part of it.”
His heart was racing in his chest, but his face remained pleasant. “You are more than welcome, Cassandra, Lindsey, Renee. You added a lot to the singalong, and I have to say you line dance and shake your badonkadonks exceptionally well. You are always welcome.”
He tore his eyes off his ex long enough to make eye contact with the other two, and gave Lindsey a wink. Her face lit up for a moment, but then she looked at Cassandra and told Zane, “You two have a lot to talk about. We’ll see you mañana Cassandra, and down the road, Zane.” Renee and Lindsey walked away, even though the pickup Cassandra was sitting on was Lindsey’s.
Zane turned his attention back to the tailgate. “Do we? Have a lot to talk about, I mean. We haven’t even spoken in the better part of two years — why start now?” He stared at his ex-wife for a few moments, wondering how it was possible that she had gotten more beautiful when she was already the most beautiful girl in the world when they got married.
When she continued looking down, her boots swinging back and forth under the tailgate, he said, “Okay. I didn’t think so. See ya around.”
He turned to go, evoking a hurried, “No, don’t go yet! How is Red? I noticed you were riding the colt you raised; he grew into a magnificent horse; he’s fast, and pretty good in the arena for a rookie, but he’s not Red. Is he okay?”
“Red is at home in the pasture resting up. Unless things fall apart, he’s going to Cheyenne with me. Red’s getting older, and from time to time he’ll stumble, but he’s not ready for retirement quite yet. Junior is going to be fine, but Red will handle the deep box and long barrier at Cheyenne better. At least that’s what I’m hoping. How’s Goldie? She seems as quick and fast as ever.”
“She’s still the reason I’m in Vega s every year. I’ve had offers of over two hundred thousand for her, and everyone wants to know who bred and trained her. I just give them one of your cards — I still have a few left, but you may have to give me more before long, if you are still doing that.”
“I’m taking a sabbatical this year from horse raising; just chasin’ the dream one more time. But I do appreciate the referrals. I’ve sold more than a few from your recommendations.”
“Yes, I know! One of them is hard on my heels in second place, and if she had a real rider I’d be chasing her!”
“That’s Goldie’s cousin. She’s a good one, but I’ve got one of Goldie’s younger sisters I’m holding onto until I find a deserving rider; that’s when you need to get worried!”
“Can I look at her sometime? I love Goldie like you love Red, but she’s gonna need some pasture time soon enough, and there is nothing out there like a Zane Rhys bred mare.”
Zane considered her words, knowing that didn’t sound right; she should have said horse, not mare. They both remained quiet for a moment.
“Can I see her?”
“Well, sure. We’re going home tomorrow, and we’re staying in Texas for a few weeks before we start the July 4 grind. Come by anytime, but call first.”
Those sky blue eyes were pleading more powerfully than her words. “No, I mean our daughter. Can I see Casey? I promise I won’t wake her; I just want to see her up close.
I saw her sitting with Carole in your friend Cal’s box during the grand entry, and I almost fell off my horse. Please, Zane! I know I don’t deserve it, but…please!”
He knew better; hell, he knew better than to have this conversation, but he couldn’t keep a mother away from her daughter… even if she did abandon her.
Zane swept his arm, hand up, toward the trailer in the universal gesture for ‘be my guest’; Cassie hoped off the tailgate and walked to the door. She entered quietly with Zane following; he pointed toward the bunk bed to the left and she crept toward it.
Looking down at the sleeping blonde angel, her daughter, she stared in awe. “She’s so beautiful!” she whispered. She knelt beside the bed and then leaned down to kiss Casey gently on the cheek. The child stirred, opened her eyes briefly, stared at Cassie, gave her a brief smile, and then closed her eyes again.
Cassie hovered over her for several minutes, swaying slightly and hugging herself. In a distraught voice she whispered, “Oh, God, what have I done?” and then hurried from the trailer. The sobs started as soon as she cleared the door, and continued as she ran away.
Zane watched her go, knowing she had just confronted the cost of her treachery.
***
Both runs in the morning slack were successful. Their team roping time was 5.0, and beating their 10.2 average (aggregate) was going to be a task for anyone. More importantly, none of their main competitors had a chance to beat them because their first round times were too slow.
In calf roping, Zane pretty much nailed the door closed with a 7.0 second run. Given that all the first round times were 8.4 and above, someone was going to have to have a very fast run on a tough pen of calves to top his 14.9 total.
By noon they were loaded and pulling down I 17 south to Phoenix, where they caught I 10 east. It was a sixteen-hour pull back to their ranches, even with the speed limit being 80 on I 10 in Texas, so they were spending tonight at a friend’s ranch near Las Cruces, New Mexico. That was a little less than halfway, so they could sleep until seven and still be home by mid-afternoon.
Four other couples with kids joined them at Natalie and Tally Evans’ ranch, which had a heated pool. Natalie’s little sister, Jo Fay, was home from grad school at Texas Tech for the summer, and she let Zane know early and often that she was available and ready. He never had sex with anyone in the trailer when his daughter was along, but Casey solved that by eagerly joining the slumber party in the ranch house with the Evans and Simpson kids.
Jo was your typical 5’2″, eyes of blue blonde, with an athletic body. Slender legs, narrow hips featuring a high, tight, round ass, a small waist, and 32 B boobs, which he learned when she threw her bra at him while doing a strip tease. She was indeed athletic; acrobatic too, and uncannily limber. Zane was glad he was in tip-top shape from lifting, running, and hard work, because she could go full speed all night long.
Zane hollered “Calf Rope!” around 2 am, and gave her a choice of going back inside the house or sleeping on the other side of the bed. She chose to stay, but at 6:30 he found her bouncing up and down on his morning wood. There was just enough light to see that her cherry-tipped tits were actually quite substantial on such a small frame, and that that hard little ass was actually a pile driver.
She wanted to come visit next weekend, but he begged off, doubting that he would be sufficiently recovered by then. At age 22 she was only four years younger than he was, but her youthful vigor wore him out. Carole, with a smirk, volunteered to drive for him since he was up all night; he declined, but said he might take a rain check around Ozona.
Their Mack MP8 engines were humming and the Allison transmissions were shifting as they roared through the mountains and foothills between Las Cruces and El Paso, and El Paso and Van Horn. When they hit the flatlands, though, they learned that the 80 mph speed limit was still closer to 90 on I 10, so they let the 505 horsepower engines do their thing. The engines laughed at the 43 ft. trailers carrying two horses, which didn’t weigh a fraction of the loads they were made to carry.
Zane was watching the mesas covered in windmills and wondering how much it cost to send that electricity to some city across the state, and what they did with the windmills when they stopped working. Ironically, there were pump jacks all around the wind turbines.
Casey was in the sleeper with her iPad, when he suddenly heard small voice at his shoulder. “Daddy, I’ve been having a strange dream I want to tell you about. It started at the rodeo in Prescott, and it kind of happened again last night. In my dream, a blonde angel sits beside me and strokes my hair, and then kisses me. I open my eyes, and the angel is Mommy, but she disappears when I wake up and look for her.”
Zane wasn’t sure how to respond. Should he tell her about Cassie’s visit at Prescott, or let it remain a dream? He decided she didn’t need to be let down yet again by her mom, so he asked how last night’s dream was different from the night before.
“Last night she came to my bed, watched me, and kissed me, but then she got on her golden horse and rode in a barrel race. Her hair was flying and she glittered like gold in the sun, and then she was gone. Why am I having these dreams, Daddy?”
“Honey, it’s probably from .seeing the poster of your mom at the cafe and then watching mom ride in the grand entry the next afternoon. Now that we are following the tour, we will probably start seeing her more often, and you can talk to her. Maybe that will help.”
“Gram talks to me about her, sometimes. She says she was the best mommy in the world until her daddy the asshole tricked her into leaving all of us!”
“Casey, baby, it’s not nice to call your grandfather an asshole. Just say your grandfather, or mommy’s father.”
“Gram always calls him an asshole. She says ‘your grandpa the asshole’, or ‘Cassie’s daddy the asshole’, or ‘my ex-husband the asshole’.”
“I know, Baby, but you are too young to talk that way. Just call him grandpa, okay?”
Casey starred at him for a moment, then stated unequivocally, “He stole my mommy from me; I’ll never call him grandpa! I hate him!”
She turned her back and retreated into the sleeper, her iPad held above her head as she played a game, or texted her friends, or whatever she did on that thing.
Zane’s mind drifted back to her mommy, and Gram’s contention that she was the best mommy in the world before she suddenly abandoned them. He agreed, and thought she was also the best girlfriend and wife in the world for the years before she left with her dad the asshole.
She had been the best fiancée too, and he could relive every second of his proposal to her.
It happened the day after they graduated from high school, at their favorite swimming hole on the banks of the Llano River. She was wearing a little black bikini that barely covered the essentials, he was wearing loose cutoffs, and they had been swimming for about an hour.
“I’m hungry — let’s eat!” she had proclaimed. They ran to the blanket; Cassie stood impatiently while Zane knelt and reached into the picnic basket for some of his mom’s fried chicken. When he pivoted on his knee, faced her, and held up a small black box covered in velvet, she looked at it with a puzzled frown, looked at him, and looked back at the box.
Zane opened it, and her sky blue eyes fell on a golden ring with a 1.85 ct. Lone Star Cut Mason County Topaz set among four sky-blue Topaz interspersed with diamond chips.
Cassie’s mouth fell open; she looked back at Zane, and he solemnly asked, “Will you marry me? I know we’re only 18, but I also know that you are the love of my life, and I can’t imagine not having you at my side to face the world together.”
Cassie’s amazement turned into tears; she fell to her knees and vowed, “Yes, Zane, the love of my life, I will marry you, and we will face all the world’s trials and joys together!”
He slipped the ring onto her finger; she kissed him, and then pushed him down on his back. She slipped off her top, and then her bottoms. She unbuttoned his cutoff jeans and pulled them off. That was the first time they had seen each other completely naked, and each thought the other was perfect.
“You are my first, you will be my last, and my only,” she promised as she placed a knee on either side of his legs and began lowering herself onto his steel-hard cock. Her friends had told her it was easy, and it certainly was in the porn she had watched, but getting his big thing inside her little thing quickly disproved all that.
Zane had watched some porn too, and, although he also was a virgin, he realized early on this was going to be difficult to accomplish. ‘They’ said that the woman needed to be relaxed the first time: maybe give her a few alcoholic drinks, or lots of foreplay. He had no booze, so he rolled her over and began his effort to relax her through foreplay.
He spent several minutes just kissing her and caressing her luscious body; he hoped that didn’t have the same effect it had on him — he was getting more tense rather than less! Cassie’s active tongue and her sighs were not helping.
He knew that her ears and neck were erogenous zones; his mouth lingered there while his hands swept up and down her sides, raising goose bumps on her arms. Slowly, his mouth made its way to her collarbone and across her upper chest to those delectable cherries topping those creamy white mounds. While his mouth worshipped her titties, his right hand found her nether lips and began rubbing them gently; his left squeezed her near ass cheek.
She felt wet and swollen, but his finger would barely penetrate beyond her folds.
After properly paying homage to her delicious breasts, his lips trailed downward; she writhed as he frenched her belly button while resting his chin on her mons. He spread her legs, looked down at the pristine pussy of his beloved, and became mesmerized. “Zane…” she asked inquiringly, wondering at the sudden cessation of his efforts.
He broke the trance and murmured, “You are so beautiful!”
His head lowered and he blew gently across her wet pussy; she moaned.
Licking around and between her pink labia caused her to moan loudly. His tongue paused long enough to allow him to pull on her pubic hair with his teeth; she moaned more loudly. When his tongue spread her labia and swirled inside, her lean, smooth, and muscular legs wrapped around his head; she arched her back and screamed like a panther in the night.
Zane didn’t really know what he was doing, or what he had just accomplished, but he did know that was a much more powerful quake than she had produced from their episodes of heavy petting.
When she came down from her climax, her legs fell off to either side, and the pink pearl he was seeking appeared at the top of her slit. He gently licked it, causing her to gasp, and then flicked his tongue over it a few times; she gasped louder and grabbed his hair. “Oh god!” she moaned. He did it again, and she proclaimed “Oh, Zane, do that! That feels so good!”
Following his Internet guidance, he forced another finger into the quivering swamp that had developed between her legs. He flicked her pearl a few more times, and then kissed and sucked it with his lips; Cassie arched her back, pulled his head hard against her pussy, rubbed it against his face, and screamed so loudly she could hear it echoing down the river canyon.
Her pussy flooded so badly Zane feared he might drown in her delicious juices, but her legs feel apart and she released his head before he became endangered.
She fell back panting, and he crawled up between those lovely legs.
‘If she isn’t relaxed now she never will be’, he decided. His thick seven and a half-inch shaft was in his right hand; he began dragging it up and down between her labia to coat it with her slick juices. She hissed with each passage, and her hands grasped his shoulders.
“Do it!” she ordered, but Zane continued to work his cock between her outer lips. His fingers had encountered an intact hymen, which he didn’t expect given the amount of times she’d spent horseback riding since she was a child. He didn’t want to hurt her, but it was time; he couldn’t wait longer.
He rode her high, per the instructions, rubbing the head of his cock over her clit and dipping deeper each trip. The hymen was strong, but they were equally frantic in trying to break it so her fiancé could fill her tight little pussy. She grabbed him by the hips, she pulled herself up when he drove down, and the barrier gave! There was a moment of pain, and then she felt so full. She didn’t know if Zane’s cock was bigger or smaller than others, but she was sure it wouldn’t have fit if it were any bigger!
Once embedded, he established a rhythm that he hoped would allow him to last at least ten minutes, which the instructions said was the minimum necessary for the female to achieve orgasm from intercourse. Obviously, the instructions didn’t know Cassie, whose hips were banging against his, whose mouth was muttering and screaming unintelligible things, and who achieved another huge orgasm in less than five minutes. She made sounds a human can’t make as she spasmed again and again, and when his hot sperm bathed her insides, she screamed like a siren on a fire truck, bucked wildly, and passed out!
When Zane finally regained consciousness himself, he realized Cassie wasn’t moving. He quickly checked her pulse, which was strong and fast. Not knowing what else to do, he kissed her. Like a sleeping princess, that did the trick! Her arms came around him, her mouth moved against his, and her tongue searched for his tonsils.
She broke away from the kiss and, with wonder, asked, “What did you do to me? I had no idea there were feelings like that in my body! Oh my god, Zane, that was the most amazing thing that’s ever happened to me!”
Dazed and confused, Zane quietly replied, “I had no idea, either. I’ve read about it and seen enough porn, but actually touching your perfect body, tasting you, smelling your wonderful scents…and then feeling myself inside you… it was overwhelming! When I entered you for the first time… there are no words! And when we came at the same time…indescribable, Angel! Just indescribable!”
He rolled off, and she snuggled tightly to him. Wrapped in his powerful arms she felt safe and content and he felt fulfilled. Of course, they were eighteen, so the snuggling quickly led to a second round, with Cassie on top. She was sore and extremely sensitive, so it took a few minutes for her to get properly mounted. She rocked back and forth, moved her hips in a circle, leaned over and tried going up and down, all with Zane’s cock as the central spike. It was his turn to moan, groan, and whimper while she explored and experimented. After a quarter-hour or more, she had it figured out, she thought, and began to use a combination of forward backward, circles, and up/down movements to seek another astounding ‘feeling’ like the one she experienced earlier.
Cassie kept coming close, but couldn’t quite get there; until Zane grabbed her hips, almost violently thrust up into her, and spewed quarts of his ejaculate into her! When her pussy felt the white-hot sperm splashing against her cervix, it began quaking and quivering. She saw a bright white light, threw her head back, cried “AAAAIIIIIEEEE”, and collapsed on top of him. He held her in place, his cock still pulsing and her sweet pussy still quivering.
***
Red came prancing and nickering to meet them, and acted jealous of Junior and Suds when they backed out of the trailer. He calmed down when Casey offered him a slice of apple, and stayed with her until the apple was gone. Zane rubbed the travel horses down and turned them loose in a separate trap; they jumped, crow-hopped, bucked, and ran wild for a few minutes, before looking for the hay they knew was at the feeder.
They were going to be at home for a few weeks, so Casey and Zane put all their clothing and the food from the trailer refrigerator inside the house. They cleaned up and began making their rounds, starting with Zane’s mom, Sue/Grandmomma, and dad, David/Grandpa. They had a good hour-long visit, and then Sue announced that they were all invited to Gram’s house for supper.
After being on the road for the better part of three months, a home cooked meal sounded wonderful to both of them. Casey got in the back seat of his pickup with Grandmomma, and his dad got in the passenger seat up front. There was dust hanging in the air on the lane to her house, and Brad, Carole, and their girls were climbing out of their crewcab pickup when the drove up.
“So this is a homecoming party for the rodeo bums?” Zane asked his parents.
“It is! I baked three pies and brought them over earlier; Elle made smothered steak, mashed potatoes, and fresh green beans for her favorite son-in-law and favorite granddaughter. Your dad helped too; a gallon of his famous homemade ice cream is in Elle’s freezer!”
***
“Miz Collins, Miz Rhys, that was the best meal I’ve had since… well, since the last time you invited us over to eat!” Brad stated as he pushed his chair back from the table. “I’m gonna have to slip off and loosen my belt a notch or two, but my appetite is truly sated. Thank you so much!”
“It’s so good to have all of you in my house again,” Elle exclaimed. “Sue and I are always happy to cook for you, and we intend to do it again before you slip off on the July run. David too: he picked, cleaned, and prepared the green beans, AND made that delicious ice cream you all had two helping of! It’s no wonder you need to let your belt out! Sue’s pie and David’s ice cream on top of all that steak and potatoes!”
The girls asked to be excused so they could go outside and play; the women began cleaning off the table while the men had one more glass of sweet tea. “We will be glad to wash the dishes, ladies, in partial payment for having us over for a feast like this!”
“We’ve got it, Zane. I got a new dishwasher while you were gone, and I washed the pots and pans as soon as I got through using them, so we’ll be back in a minute and we can all drink some tea and catch up.”
The men talked cattle and horses, and David assured them that the teenagers they had hired to ride the horses and feed all the livestock while they were gone had done a great job. It’s not easy to leave a ranch full of cattle and horses for the better part of three months, but the kids they had hired were responsible kids with good parents, and David, Sue, and Elle checked up on things, so they weren’t that concerned.
The women folk were back in less than fifteen minutes, a fresh pitcher of tea and a pitcher of ice in hand. The conversation meandered from the standings after Prescott, to the rodeos they were going to before and after Independence Day, to how the kids were doing in home school and what they did before and after rodeos.
Brad and Zane talked about the standings and their plans for the rest of the summer; Carole talked about home school, keeping the kids busy and entertained, and described the singalongs that had become almost a tradition for the married couples with kids, and anyone else who didn’t want to go dance or party.
Elle looked around the table, looked down, swept her eyes back around the table, and hesitantly asked, “I don’t want to ruin the mood, but did you run into my daughter anywhere along the way?”
Zane forced a smile on his face and replied, “We did! Out at Prescott just the other day. She rode in the grand entry — she’s the rodeo queen, naturally — and ran barrels in the same show with us. She’s looking healthy, pretty as ever.”
“Did you talk to her?” her mom asked.
“I did. She came to the singalong with two other barrel racers. They stayed around after we finished for a few minutes. We talked briefly, mostly about Red, and then she asked if she could see Casey up close.
Now, don’t tell Casey this, because she kind of woke up for a moment while her mother was looking down at her, then went back to sleep. On the way home she told me she had a dream that her mother was an angel and she came to visit her. I didn’t tell her, because…well, because I don’t know what Cassie’s state of mind is, and I don’t want Casey hurt anymore.”
With unshed tears in her eyes, Elle said, “I’m glad she cares enough to want to see her daughter, but did she explain anything or say anything about the future?” Zane shook his head.
Carole looked at Zane apologetically, reached across, and put her hand on his. “I was going to tell you today anyway, and this seems like the right time, so please listen and let me tell the story just as I heard it, okay?” He nodded, and she turned to Cassandra’s mother.
“She did explain a lot to me. She came to our trailer the next morning and asked if we could talk. As you know, Elle, she was my best friend for several years, but we haven’t been on speaking terms since…well, since she left.”
Elle nodded, and Carole continued. “I’ll admit I was pretty frosty toward her, but she begged me to give her five minutes. I agreed, but I looked at my watch like I was timing her. She began by telling me what happened the night before with Zane, and about seeing Casey during the grand entry. She looked like she was going to break down, but she described how she felt when she saw Casey in Cal’s box seats, how she felt listening to you sing — especially when you said what you said before you sang The Dance — and how devastated she was looking down at her daughter and knowing she had done what she did.”
Everyone at the table was watching Carole intently; she looked at Zane and said, “I knew she was hurting, but I wanted her to know how badly her actions had hurt you and Casey, so I told her what Casey said and asked when she saw her poster at the cafe in Phoenix.
Elle, I know this was cruel, but I told her exactly what that darling little girl asked. She was staring at the poster and she asked Zane, ‘That’s her, isn’t it?’ Zane answered yes, and said something like, ‘Yes, she’s almost a pretty as you.’ Casey stared at poster a little longer, and then turned to Zane and asked, ‘Why doesn’t she love us, Daddy?'”
There wasn’t a dry eye in the house, and Elle and Sue both gasped. Carole forged ahead. “When it happened, I thought Zane was going to melt. Oh, he kept his cool and told her that mommy did love her but she was busy all the time, but Casey saw right through that, of course.
When I told Cassie that story, she just slumped to the floor of the trailer and sobbed. I felt bad about being so cold, so I brought us each a cup of coffee and invited her to sit on the couch and talk.
Zane, I haven’t had a chance to tell you about this, and I want you to understand — you too, Elle — that I’m not taking her side, I’m just recounting what she told me. She said she had an epiphany on a Sunday morning almost two years ago. She awoke hung over from booze and drugs, with the biggest jackass on the tour in her bed. She went to pee and take some aspirin. She happened to look out the window, saw they were gathering in the bleachers for Cowboy Church, and suddenly felt an overwhelming need to go.
She cleaned up, dressed, and walked over. She kept her head down and glanced sideways at the people, but one looked like they were judging her. She knew they should be because they knew what she had become. They just nodded, handed her a bulletin, and made room for her in the bleachers.
After a few songs and prayers, Cowboy Bob, the preacher, began telling them how you can be ‘reborn’ in Christ. He said no matter how great your sins, you can have a ‘spiritual rebirth, a regeneration of the human spirit from the Holy Spirit’, she told me.
He then introduced several people who gave testimony about their own rebirth. The last one was a young woman who described living with an older man who gave her alcohol and drugs, and who sold her body for money so they could buy more booze and drugs. Cassie said the testimony struck her like a lightning bolt, and she saw herself in the young woman.
The young woman then told them that she gave herself to God, and was born again in The Spirit. She also maintained that she was also a ‘born again virgin’. Certainly not physically, but though her pledge to her Lord that she would refrain from sex until such time as she was wed in His House to a good Christian man, and she would never have sex outside marriage again. A young man came and stood beside her, and she renewed her pledge to her husband of two years.
Cassie said she was, figuratively and literally, struck dumb and paralyzed. She could see and hear, but she couldn’t talk or move her body, and her mind was on fire. She sat there, frozen in place, while the preacher led the benediction, and people started leaving. Several paused to say they were glad she came, but she still couldn’t speak to reply.
The young woman, her husband, and the preacher came to her. The young woman took Cassie’s hands in hers and asked if she was all right.
Cassie said she could speak again, and she told the woman, ‘I’m you before you were saved!’
They talked to her, they prayed over her and with her, and she felt a spirit pulling her. The preacher went over to a water trough, got his bandana wet, came back, blessed the water in the bandana, and squeezed it on Cassie while praying for her forgiveness. He said the water washed away her sins, and proclaimed she was forgiven. Cassie said it was if years of filth were washed from her, and she wept unashamed.
The young woman challenged Cassie to take the pledge: to give up alcohol and drugs, and to become reborn as a virgin. She said she cried and cried, while nodding her head that she did want to. They gave her a pledge card; she made the pledge aloud, prayed with them, and signed the pledge.”
Carole paused. “I see that you are all as amazed as I was. I looked at her rather skeptically, but she looked me in the eye and proclaimed the pledge from heart, and then prayed to the Lord to help her keep her promises to God and man.
Frankly, I was taken aback. Zane, you guys always went to Cowboy Church on the tour, but you were always the religious one. I remember you and your family being Episcopalians — is that right?”
Zane was close to struck dumb and paralyzed too, or at least his astonishment made it seem so. Cassie was never a religious person! Oh, she professed that she believed in God, but she didn’t much believe in organized religion and she was wishy-washy about attending services. They were wed in Zane’s church because the Collins didn’t have one they attended regularly, so to hear that she claimed to be a born-again Christian, reborn virgin, and recovering drug and alcohol abuser was way beyond his comprehension.
He took a deep breath. “How much of this do you buy, Carole? It’s such a departure from… from the things she was doing, the way she was acting, it’s hard for me to believe. I mean, if she saw the light almost two years ago, why hasn’t she come to see her daughter? Why hasn’t she tried to talk to me, or her mom, or any of us, until this week?”
“Lots of good questions, Zane. Let me respond to your first question by saying I felt she was being honest. I asked her the second question; she told me that her transgressions were so great she didn’t deserve to see her daughter, husband, or mother, ever again. Part of her self-imposed penance was to deprive herself of contact with her daughter and husband until she became more worthy.
However, her mentor recently suggested she overcome her fear and reach out to you if she saw you at a rodeo. She was terrified that you would treat her as she deserves to be treated, but you were incredibly nice to her. You let her see Casey, and even touch and kiss her.
I’m going to repeat verbatim, to the best of my ability, what she said next. ‘Carole, you have to understand that I never stopped loving Zane and Casey. Even at my worst — high on drugs and booze, being used by men — I still loved them. I know that makes no sense, and I hate myself and my father for what I became.
I was a grown up with a child and husband, so I can’t blame my bad decisions entirely on him, but he convinced me using cocaine would only help me ride faster, and that I deserved to enjoy my youth and celebrity. He made fun of Zane and Casey, called them my rope and chain, and said Zane wasn’t good enough to win on the tour so he was trying to keep me barefoot and pregnant so I wouldn’t become a star.
That sounds so stupid, lame, and ridiculous sober, but filled with arrogance and drunk or high on weed or cocaine, it sounded reasonable.
So I partied, I enjoyed my celebrity, I got used by people and I used people, until my barrel times started falling off and the media stopped calling for interviews. I felt dazed and confused all the time, my blood pressure was high, and what I thought was a bad UTI turned out to be a STD. I wallowed in self-pity and self-loathing until that Sunday morning that changed my life. ‘
She said she didn’t want me to intervene for her, or anything like that; she just wanted to tell me herself what a fool she had been and that she’s changed. She said after two years clean and sober passed in a few weeks, she would approach you and talk about letting her back into Casey’s life.”
The kids chose that moment to come storming back into the house wanting more ice cream, so David got them each a cone. The adults sat there staring at each other and the table. When the kids were back outside, Elle said, “Carole, did you get her phone number? I would like to talk to her. I know I swore I’d never forgive either one of them, but it sounds like my daughter has seen the light.”
Carole said she had her number, and would text it to Elle and anyone else who wanted it. Sue did, but Zane said nothing; Carole included him anyway.
“Did she say anything about her asshole sperm donor?” Elle asked.
“Only that she has refused to have anything to do with him since that Sunday.”
Zane put a very tired daughter to bed at 8:30, and then sat up until after mid-night considering all he had heard and all the possible ramifications. Cassie had turned his world on its ear yet again.
***
Brad and Zane worked on their ranches, worked with their cattle and horses, and enjoyed a couple of weeks off. Oh, they ran up to Cleburne and Weatherford just to blow out a little soot, but mostly they stayed around home until the they headed to another of the world’s oldest rodeos, the West of the Pecos Rodeo in Pecos, TX.
They then headed for Reno, Nevada; on to Cody, Wyoming; Belle Fourche, South Dakota; Mandan, North Dakota; back to Livingston, Montana; and then down to Casper, Wyoming. All those rodeos, and they had yet to encounter Cassandra. Zane couldn’t figure out if that was good or bad luck; part of him wanted to see her, part of him wanted to keep his distance.
That streak ended in Cheyenne when she walked up with a lawn chair for the sing-a-long Zane was playing by himself. No hoodie or hiding this time; she wore shorts, a tee shirt, and sandals with her hair in a ponytail. The others greeted her cordially; Zane turned away before she caught him watching her.
Casey and her friends were singing silly songs and clowning around to entertain the crowd, so she didn’t see Cassie until Zane took a break after 20 minutes.
“Daddy…?” his confused daughter asked quietly.
“Yes, Casey, that is her. Why don’t you go over, say hello, and introduce your friends to her. She would like that.”
“But Daddy…”
“No buts, Casey. Stacy, Sammy, come on with us and I’ll introduce you to Casey’s mom, Cassie.”
“The glittery lady on the poster riding the golden horse? She’s here?” Sammy asked. Zane nodded, the girls all joined hands, and they approached Cassie.
“Cassandra, I want you to meet Brad and Carole’s girls, Stacy and Sammy.” Cassie slid off her chair, knelt down, and shook hands very formally with the three girls. Casey stared at her intently. Cassie’s lip quivered, but she recovered and invited them to tell her about their trip to Casper, Wyoming and the big carnival at the fair.
Zane interjected, “If you don’t mind, I’m going to leave them with you for a minute while I take care of something.” Cassie nodded and mouthed, “Thank you.”
When he turned, Zane saw that Brad and Carole, as well as pretty much everyone else, was watching him. Apparently, having a civil, if brief, conversation with his ex-wife was big news.
Ten minutes later Zane returned to his stool from inside his trailer with a new classical guitar. He warned that he had only been practicing on it for a short while, so cut him a little slack.
The three little girls had been joined by a few more boys and girls, all of whom Cassie was animatedly entertaining. Brad and Carole had brought their chairs over to sit by her, and they were watching and smiling at how good she was with the kids.
With the youngsters still going strong, Zane led everyone in singing gospel songs: Will the Circle be Unbroken, In the Sweet Bye and Bye, When the Roll is called up Yonder, Unclouded Day, Swing Low Sweet Chariot, and Amazing Grace. By then the kids were playing out, so Zane took another break.
Casey was sitting in her momma’s lap, barely awake, but she resisted being put to bed, saying she wanted her mommy to hold her while her daddy played and sang. Cassie looked so hopeful that he agreed. Against his better judgment, of course.
“My mom, Sue, loved the music her parents played on their stereo when she was a child, so the playlist around our house was different. Most of you know who The Everly Brothers, Ricky Nelson, Patsy Cline, and Elvis are, or at least know some of their music, and I hope you enjoy this homage to our grandparents and the late 1950s and early 1960s.
Like any good entertainer, Zane sang to the women in the crowd, maintaining eye contact with each one for at least a part of a song or songs. He started with the Everly Brothers classics, Let it be Me, and Wake up Little Susie. He introduced All I Have to do is Dream by saying this song described the way rodeo cowboys and cowgirls felt when on the road with their families back home. Cathy’s Clown, which sounded almost like Cassie’s Clown, was quickly followed by Ricky Nelson’s Poor Little Fool, Never Be Anyone Else but You, and Lonesome Town.
He then sang Crazy and Hello Walls by Willie Nelson, and ended with three of Elvis’s best. He began with Are You Lonesome Tonight, and then insisted the men sing to their women on the last two songs; Love Me Tender and I Can’t Help Falling in Love. It was sappy but effective; everyone left arm in arm, leaving Zane alone with Cassie, who was holding a sleeping Casey.
With a firm jaw, Cassie confronted him. “One thing we both know is that you were never Cassie’s clown, Zane. I was Cassie the Clown; you were the hero who took care of our child, our ranch, our horses, and our businesses. You were at home doing the right things for our family while I was using drugs and making a mockery of our marriage vows. As soon as you had proof, you confronted me and ditched me, as you should have.
It was I who disrespected our marriage and our daughter, who threw away the future we had dreamed of and planned for. It was I who disrespected me, who let me be used by men – and women. You were never anyone’s clown, and certainly not mine!
Carole let me know that she had told you my sad tale, so all I’m going to say is, I know I don’t deserve a chance to get to know my daughter, to be in her life or yours; my sins against you are too great. But if you can find it in your heart to give me more of these moments…if you can find the grace to forgive the unforgiveable and allow me to see my daughter, I swear to you — and to God — that I will respect whatever boundaries you set, and abide by any rules you make!”
“I want to say that your vows don’t mean much, Cassandra, but I won’t. Let me think on it and we can talk again sometime. We’ll likely be here because we’re not going to chase any more money while Cheyenne is going on, so check back with me when you are around.
Now, would you like to put her to bed?”
Casey didn’t say anything about her dreams when she woke up, but Zane dreamed of a blonde angel who had fallen from grace and was petitioning for help to avoid the fires of hell. He awoke in the chilly Wyoming morning covered in sweat.
***
Two days later, with a winning run in team roping and a second in calf roping under their belts, Brad, Carole, and two other couples asked Zane to host another get together. Brad said they would grill hot dogs, sausage, and burgers, and would provide all the sides, if he would have another singalong. He had been practicing with his new guitar and was anxious to try some new songs, so he readily agreed.
After the meal, Zane had the kids singing Hap Palmer and Sesame Street songs, and reading Dr. Seuss to guitar music, before blending in some of their favorites like She’ll be Coming Around the Mountain, I’ve Been Working on the Railroad, and Texas Star. They took a break for dessert and had just settled back into their chairs when a pickup blaring Hip Hop roared up alongside them and a guy yelled, “Hey, Cuck! Good to see that you’re back together with your slut! We do appreciate you staying home and letting us use her whenever we want!”
As soon as he saw who it was, Zane had pulled a couple of rocks up by his boots. His guns were inside, but he knew Clay was packing and would take care of things if Rick and his boys went that route. Casey was sitting on her mom’s lap in the first row; she looked puzzled, her mom looked devastated.
Without moving from his chair, Zane hollered, “Why don’t you boys come on over here and talk to me up close. Hard to hear ya with that crap playing so loud!”
“Nah, we’ll let you pussies sit around and sing love songs to your wives, and then we’ll give them a good fucking while you’re gone!” Rick yelled.
Every man in the crowd arose as one; Rick laughed, gunned his engine, and spun his tires in the gravel.
Zane had a rock in each hand; he fired the first rock at the driver’s window like the baseball pitcher he used to be. It went straight through the open window, hit Rick on the chin, and glanced off onto the dashboard, bringing the loud music to an abrupt end. The second rock was in his hand now, and it flew through the window, where it busted the windshield from the inside, glanced off, and busted the face of the passenger.
Rick momentarily lost control of his truck and sideswiped a corner post of the horse barn. His truck died, and you could hear the loud-mouth passengers screaming, “Get it going! They are coming to get us! Get out of here!”
The posse of pissed off cowboys got there just as Rick backed his truck away from the barn, slammed on the brakes, and tried to put it in drive. Someone yelled, “Pick up the rear wheels!” Six or seven big men grabbed wheel wells and the back bumper, lifted, and held the rear end off the ground while other men started pulling doors open. Rick was racing his engine, as if the tires would catch in air.
The four punks were pulled out of the cabs, and someone turned the ignition off. They set the rear end down, and the posse marched the punks into an unused barn off to the left.
Zane wasn’t a part of the posse, but he reached the back of the barn just in time to see Rick get his belly punched by a big fist, and his face slapped by another when he bent over in pain. “You punk-ass sons of bitches think you’re gonna come over by our families and talk like that?” asked a huge bulldogger belligerently. He drew back his fist: “We’re fixing to teach you little candy-asses some manners!”
“Hold on!” Zane ordered loudly.
The bulldogger paused, fist drawn back, and said, “Come on Zane, we’re just handling your light work. Let me rearrange his face a little!”
“Don’t give a hairy rat’s ass what you do to the others, Rambo, but this piece of shit is mine! Ricky-boy, you had a lot to say to me back there while you were in your truck and I was surrounded by children. I couldn’t hear you clearly then; how about you repeat it now, with me face-to-face with you?”
“Look Zane, we was just funning you a bit. We’re glad you’re back, and we wanted to give you a hard time as a welcome, of sorts,” Rick said with a lopsided grin.
“Gutless as always, I see. Can’t catch a calf when the pressure is on, and you damn sure can’t face a man one-on-one, can you sissy-boy? How about you other punks — what were you yelling? Something about fucking somebody, it sounded like. Maybe each other? You all look like girly boys to me.”
“Look, Zane,” Rick began.
“SHUT THE FUCK UP, ASSHOLE!
I’ll tell you what we’re gonna do. You boys are gonna take off your belts and hand them to a real man. Then you’re gonna drop your drawers, bend over, and we’re gonna do what your daddies should have done! We’re gonna take turns wearing your scrawny asses out with your own belts!”
Rick shook his head. “You ain’t gonna do no such thing! You touch me and my daddy’s lawyers will have you in jail tomorrow!”
“Well, boys,” Zane said to the posse. “In that case, I say we tuss ’em up, toss ’em in the back of Rick’s pickup, ride ’em out to the canyon west of town, put a rock on the accelerator, and run this piece of shit truck with these four pieces of shit right off the rim. What is that? About a thousand foot drop? Daddy’s lawyers won’t be much help then, will they?”
“Great idea, but I’ve got a better one! Let’s strip them naked, tie them together in a daisy chain, and then run the truck off the cliff! You three get some ropes and piggin strings; the rest of y’all cut their clothes off with your knives!”
“Wait! Wait!” cried one of the youngest-looking loudmouths, “I was just along for the ride! Rick said we were gonna do some weed and some ladies! I swear I didn’t know he was gonna do something stupid like that! Fuck, everyone but that dumb ass knows you don’t fuck with the old men on the tour, and especially not with Zane! Let me go, and I’ll swear you never left the singalong!”
The other one they drug from the back seat chimed in, sobbing and swearing he would never say a word to anyone if they let him go.
“Okay, Ricky and Ricky’s ass kisser — what will it be? You pull your pants down for a whuppin, or over the cliff?”
“You wouldn’t really…” Ricky’s ass kisser started. Rambo grabbed him by the throat, lifted him onto his tiptoes, and growled for the others to cut his clothes off. He flounced around, croaking “No! No! Whippin!”
Rambo released his grip; “What you say, boy?”
“Whippin! Whippin!” he croaked again, holding his throat.
“Then hand me your belt and drop trou. By the way, boy, that means you gonna swear none of this happened too, doesn’t it?”
“Yes Sir! I’ll never say a word to anyone. If they ask, I’ll say none of you ever left the singalong!”
Zane stepped up right in Ricky’s face, grabbed him by the throat, raised him back on his tiptoes, and said, “That just leaves you, Ricky-boy. Since you’re gonna die at the hands of unknown assailants anyway, I think I’ll just fuck you up a bit first. Maybe rearrange that face you’re so proud of, pull off an ear, use your nuts as a punching bag, and then cut your pitiful little dicky off and stick it in your mouth. None of that will matter anyway, because I’m going to set the truck on fire with you in it and let you cook a little while before I run it off the cliff! Hell, your parents won’t even have to have your remains cremated!”
He released the pressure on his throat, and for the first time, Rick looked really scared. “Look,” he began, “I apologize…”
“SHUT THE FUCK UP! I DON’T WANT AN APOLOGY — I WANT TO KNOW WHETHER YOU ARE GOING TO HAND ME YOUR BELT OR BRAD IS GOING TO CUT YOUR CLOTHES OFF! NOTHING ELSE!”
“Whipping!” Rick responded, and unhooked his belt buckle.
Zane took it and waited while Rick equivocated. “Get your pants down! Panties too!”
“Please…” he begged pitifully.
Zane stepped lifted him up by the throat again. “You know why I’m doing this? I’ll bet you think it’s about what you yelled, don’t you? Nah, it’s because you have been a spoiled rotten little bitch your whole life! All you’ve done is corrupt people and do evil. You bully people with daddy’s money, drug women and girls and claim you seduced them, and brag about it to your minions. Guess what? That shit ends tonight! It ends with you having your ass on fire from the beating, or with your ass on fire going over a cliff, but it ends! Comprende?”
Rick nodded as best he could; Zane released the pressure, and Rick unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. He looked at Zane, hoping to see mercy, but saw icy resolve instead. He dropped his trousers and bent over.
“Hands on knees!” Zane ordered. When he complied, Zane hit him a mighty blow across the ass with the folded leather belt. He screamed, and someone stuck a dirty rag in his mouth as a gag. Zane handed the belt to Brad, and he hit him even harder; Rick whimpered and began pissing on his clothes, bunched around his feet. The line formed behind Rambo and Clay, but after Rambo busted his ass so hard Rick had to be restrained, Clay retargeted the belt across his upper thighs, which also busted his balls. Rick screamed and passed out.
“Who’s next?” Clay asked of the terrified threesome. All three were sobbing and almost incoherently begging for mercy.
“Have you boys learned a lesson here today?” Brad asked. They nodded frantically and chorused, “Yessir!”
“Then take your sniveling friend here back to his trailer. And boys, if a police officer shows up at any of our trailers, tonight or anytime in the future, they will find your brutalized and burned bodies in a canyon, somewhere, in the near future. So if this piece of shit tries to call the law, or call daddy and have him sic the law on us, you boys need to help him see the light. Is that clear enough, or do I need to repeat myself?”
He did not need to repeat himself.
Rambo threw Rick over his shoulder and the posse escorted the boys back to the truck. They laid Rick in the bed, and his ass kisser drove the bent up truck away.
The men of the posse returned to their seats and apologized to their wives and families for being called away for so long. Zane picked up his guitar, apologized for the lengthy break, and asked if they wanted to continue, or if it was time for the kids to go to be in bed.
***
Rick the rich badass died that night. Not physically, but he turned out his calf the next day, gingerly climbed into his beat-to-hell truck holding a pillow to sit on, and drove off with his trailer and horse in tow. His running buddies were asked what was going on, and somehow the story of him getting a spanking for bad language, bad comportment, and being a little bitch his whole life got out.
The part of the story about cliffs and burning bodies wasn’t told, but him bent over, bare ass in the wind, crying like a baby while pissing on his clothes made the rounds, and he became the laughing stock of the rodeo tour.
When he failed to show at any more rodeos no one mourned. His stature in the rodeo world was summed up by others as “Good riddance to bad rubbish” and “Even mounted on the best horses his daddy could buy he was a poor excuse for a roper, and an even worse excuse for a man.”
After the shortened singalong, Cassandra carried Casey to Zane’s trailer, laid her down in her bed, and kissed her. Then she sat down and told her story from its start, when she and daddy left the ranch to go conquer the tour, to the fateful Sunday morning when she literally saw the light, and then to the present.
Zane sat quietly, watching her impassively, as she described the lonesome nights after she first left, and how her father made fun of her husband and daughter while plying her with alcohol and offering weed, coke, and pills. He even brought men to their trailer trying to tempt her, she said, and he took her to parties that were more like drug-enhanced orgies.
She swore she held out until she won the NFR for the first time, and then succumbed, drunk, and drugged without her knowledge, in the party her daddy hosted after the rodeo. She admitted that her success accelerated her demise, and she began to believe her daddy’s constant harping about her being too good to be married to a loser like Zane.
She described the terror of waking up hung over and still strung out, knowing she was scheduled to appear on local TV and radio that day. She described her aborted movie career, which ended after a minor role, saying the next role she was offered was nothing more than porn. Of course, her ‘agent’ dad thought it would lead to greater things and got mad when she refused.
Looking him directly in the eye, Cassie stoically stated, “Zane, once I cheated on you, lying to you was easy. I used drugs to get me through the day, and more drugs to keep me from admitting what a slut and whore I was, so I quit calling you and Casey except on holidays. I could not even think of you or my daughter because it broke my heart each time I did. Yes, the stories you heard were true; I did some truly horrible things. It was easy to take the drugs and use whatever man was available to keep me from thinking about what a fuckup I had become.
The problem was, you can’t stay drunk or high all the time, and sobriety was gut-wrenching. It wasn’t withdrawal from the drugs; sobriety meant memories came flooding back, and I knew I had ruined my reputation and the life we had planned. You and my daughter, my mother, and all the friends I had gained over the years abandoned me, because I had abandoned them.
My ‘friends’ had become people like Rick, and yes, he wasn’t lying — to my eternal shame, I had sex with him and with number of others just like him.
I was in a spiral headed straight to hell, and I couldn’t pull out. But then God intervened.”
***
So, what do you think, boys and girls? Can someone “see the light” and turn their life around? Or once a cheater always a cheater? Divine intervention? Rebirth? Reborn a virgin? Really?
Come on, you see their stories on the news: they write books, do TV interviews, and have movies made about them. Robbers, murderers, billionaires who destroyed lives in the name of profit – and then they see the light, take the pledge, and become productive, trustworthy members of society.
The bible is full of them, right? The tax collector who became a disciple. Saul, the murderer of Christians who becomes Paul, the right hand of Christ. Rehabilitated and reborn.
What about Cassie? Takes the pledge, goes two years without sex, sacrifices her relationship with everyone she loves because she is unworthy of their love. What does she deserve?
Zane is deeply troubled. Things were simple before, if sad…now what?