Page 18 of The Only Seconds that Matter
With a sigh, Victor pushed back from the fence and headed back to the barn.He had work to do.
* * *
That night, Victor called Oscar, just as his mother had asked him to.When Oscar picked up, Victor could hear music and shouting in the background.Oscar yelledGive me a minute!and Victor waited until Oscar had found a semi-quiet room to be in before saying anything.
“Hola, hermanito,” Victor greeted.“I hear you and Mom are at it again.”
“Ugh,” Oscar grumbled.“She was a complete bitch to my fiancée.”
“And you, I’m sure, were on your best behavior.”
“Mom was acting like I’m supposed to take her side over Violet’s.”
“You didn’t even tell me you were dating someone.”
“I didn’t?Well.It’s been a fast thing.I’m really in love with her.”
Oscar was head over heels for all his girlfriends, and he’d had many, starting in fourth grade.Victor liked to joke that he was so gay because his brother was so straight.The universe craved balance.“Four months is really fast though.”
“We’ll make it a long engagement and get married once we’ve been together a year.She’s already moved in with me.”
Of course she had.Oscar couldn’t stand to be alone for a single second of his life.
“Mom’s upset because she made some comment about the horse barn smelling, which is true.It smells like horse shit,” Oscar continued.
“I’m guessing she’s not an animal person.”
“She has a cat that she likes.But no, she doesn’t care about horses.She’s a city girl.That’s what had Mom all up in arms.Like, I’m sorry I’m not dating some backcountry redneck chick.Violet smokes weed and reads books and knows what foie gras is.Fucking sue me.Also, she thinks that I can’t handle children.Like hey Mom, I’m twenty-six, not a fucking baby.I can figure out parenthood.”Oscar snorted.“I hate that I’m now her one last hope for grandkids.You were supposed to be married and pregnant by twenty-one so I wouldn’t have to deal with this.”
“Yeah, sorry about that.”
“What’s going on with you?”
“Nothing.Same old, same old.”
“How’s Oklahoma?You see any tornadoes yet?”
“I’ve seen some nasty looking storms, but no twisters.”
They talked for another thirty minutes.Oscar chatted about his fiancée, who seemed like a completely different person than the one their mother had described, so who knew the truth.Victor was willing to believe she was somewhere between “disrespectful harpy” and “cultured angel”.In true Oscar fashion, he didn’t ask a single question about Victor’s love life, which was a relief.He did ask Victor if he was making enough money to live by.Victor had to wonder if Oscar was asking in hopes of requesting money down the line, but thankfully, Oscar didn’t bring that up.
After hanging up with Oscar, Victor made a late night dinner and sat down to watch TV and glance at Grindr, as if his conversation with his mother were some sign that he needed to check again.He had only two messages.One was justVagina????from a 52-year-old man in a trucker cap.The other was from a man without a photo asking tocheck out these men who suck and fuck at sexxxfuckmen.com.The account was deactivated already.
Victor deleted both messages and decided it was time to go to bed.
CHAPTER 6
As spring trickled into summer, Victor’s life stayed quiet and steady, just the way he liked it.Johnny visited often out of the blue and without warning.The only time he called Victor to ask if he was available was when he was bringing Taylor for a lesson.After a while, Victor started to feel endeared to Johnny’s cluelessness around typical social conventions, like showing up unannounced to distract someone from their work.But he didn’t always want to chat.Sometimes he was perfectly willing to stand at the rail of the round pen and watch Victor work.
In just a few lessons, Taylor had already progressed in her balance and the lightness of her hands.Much of teaching children to ride was teaching them how to deal with fear, but Taylor had none of that.Even when the horse she was on spooked at a flapping tarp by the open barn door, Taylor kept her seat and reached out to soothe the horse when it snorted and twitched.She’d find any excuse to extend her stay, always asking Victor if he needed help cleaning stalls, brushing horses, or filling water buckets.She’d run down to visit the cows, then chase the dogs around in a few circles before Johnny called her back to the truck.
“She always this energetic?”Victor asked as they watched her dash from one end of the steers’ paddock to the other.The steers were still young enough to be playful, because they hopped and bucked along after her.
“You got no idea,” Johnny said.“If I didn’t know better, I’d think her mama gave her crack cocaine.”
Victor snorted.“Is that why she gives her over to you so much?”
“Probably.I shouldn’t say this, but Taylor’s my favorite niece.The other kids are alright, I guess, but none of them are interested in the horses like she is, at least not yet.”
