Page 146 of Worth the Fall
“That’s a pregame?”
“That’s definitely a pregame.”
The bartender complied with their request and turned the T.V.s up way too loud.
I glanced at the T.V, playing the rodeo channel, which was incredibly odd for a bar in the middle of Chicago.
The camera panned to the chutes. The sky behind the arena was a bruised, terrifying purple, illuminated by jagged veins of lightning. A thunderstorm was screaming across the plains.
It was a tiny arena, smaller than any of the shows I had been to. Some county fair or something, but with that storm brewing, I was sure it wouldn’t be going on much longer.
The camera zoomed in on the horse in the chute, and I felt like cold water had been dumped down my spine.
“Marty?” I whispered.
Martha looked at me. “What?”
“Oh no. Please no.”
The camera panned up slowly.
“WE’RE LUCKY TO HAVE THE NUMBER ONE BAREBACK COWBOY IN THE WORLD WITH US TONIGHT!”
Sitting on the horse that was already losing his mind as the thunder rolled, dressed in his light blue pearl snap, was Colton.
I stood up so quicklymy new drink tipped over. “No…he’s fishing.”
He wasn’t wearing his safety vest. He wasn’t wearing a neck brace. He wasn’t even wearing gloves.
He didn’t look like the “number one bareback cowboy;” he looked like a man possessed by a hungry demon.
“Allegra?”
The noise was fading out. My vision was going dark around the edges. “Colton, no. Oh, please no.”
He gave the nod right as lightning flashed.
“COLTON NAAAASH!”
Marty didn’t buck like a professional rodeo horse; he panicked. Thunder cracked across the audio, and rain started pelting the dirt.
The horse freaked out and started running.
Colton was still hanging on with one hand, trying to look like the cowboy who had shattered records in Sioux Falls. His body was whipping around. Rain had drenched his hair and soaked through his shirt.
Martha had finally looked up to see what had suddenly sucked the life out of me. She gasped loudly and covered her mouth with her hand.
Lightning cracked again, and the horse lost its mind. He took off, running so fast around the arena. Colton had no choice but to grab onto the rigging with both hands.
I was shaking so hard I could barely stand.
Marty bucked and kicked. Colton was starting to slip off his wet back. The horse slammed Colton’s body into the fence, but still he hung on.
Two more times, the stupid horse rammed Colton into the arena fence.
The pickup men were racing after him.
My fingertips were tingling. I had stopped breathing.
