Page 10 of The Only Seconds that Matter
“Johnny and I go way back to high school.I used to keep his dumb ass out of trouble when he got too drunk to walk.”At this, Sarah faced Johnny.“Let’s go then.”
Sarah and Johnny launched into a very animated conversation as they headed toward the arena.Along the way, a few other men stopped to slap Johnny’s hand or bump his shoulder, and because Johnny had to hold a ten-minute conversation with each of them, the rodeo announcer had already begun by the time they made their way to the bull pen.The riders there were wearing heavily fringed chaps, protective vests and varying shades of cowboy hats.Johnny struck one of them upside the head in greeting, and within moments they were in a fake wrestling match that Victor believed to be some kind of weird ritual straight men came up with in order to touch one another.
“Boys,” Sarah said to Victor with a roll of her eyes.
“Sarah, can you take Victor to get some food and I’ll find you in the bleachers later?I gotta do the ole pep talk with Sean,” Johnny said as he pulled away from their grappling.
“Sure thing.Come on.”
There was a food truck parked behind the announcer’s stand, so Victor and Sarah got into line.Like Johnny, Sarah was chatty, so she asked Victor the usual introductory questions.They each ordered some form of fried food and then headed up into the bleachers, where Sarah recounted the story of Johnny’s rehab.The doctors had warned that he may never be able to walk again, let alone ride, but Sarah reiterated that Johnny was a stubborn jack ass of a man and there was no motivation for him equivalent to getting back in the saddle.
Someone came into the ring bearing the American flag, so the announcer asked everyone to stand for the national anthem.Victor surveyed the crowd, looking for Johnny, who had still not yet returned.Maybe he was planning on staying with Sean until it was Sean’s turn to compete.Hopefully he hadn’t gotten some wild idea to participate as well.
After the anthem, it was time for barrels.First to emerge from the gate on a muscled chestnut was a woman with a rhinestone cowboy hat and pink tassels on her chaps.The crowd whooped as the horse whipped around the first barrel, throwing up a cloud of dirt around the turn.
Sarah leaned over to whisper, “That’s Daisy, Johnny’s ex.”
“Oh?”
“Crazy Daisy is what I call her,” Sarah muttered with a sardonic look.“You could say Johnny’s got a thing for beautiful, toxic women.He has terrible taste.”
“What’s toxic about her?”
“She cheated on him.”Whatever Sarah said next was drowned out by the cheers of the crowd as Daisy and her chestnut sprinted back toward the gate.They cheered again when the display board showed her time.She had a pretty quick time.“Several times.”
“Not good.”
“What’s worse is that he took her back and she did itagain.They’re always on-again, off-again.They can’t stay away from each other.Of all the shitty women he’s dated, she’s the worst.”
“Good barrel racer though,” Victor commented.
“God bless Johnny’s soul, he’s hit his head a lot, so he isn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.He’s a good guy who’d do anything for anyone, and she’s always used his goodness and stupidity against him.That’s what pisses me off the most.”Sarah sighed.“But he’s a grown man who makes his own choices.”
“You two ever date?”Victor couldn’t help but ask, wondering if jealousy had anything to do with Sarah’s assessment.
Sarah made a face like Victor had asked her to eat a worm.“Fuck no.We have been friends since childhood.He’s like my brother.”She paused, thoughtful.“I mean, I did kinda have a crush on him as a teenager, but as a fat girl, I felt like I literally had no other options.Thankfully he’s an idiot, so he never found out, and I moved on.”
Victor could relate, for different reasons.“He’s single now though, right?”
“Fortunately, yeah.Let’s see if Daisy tries to sink her little claws into him again.She usually comes running back to him when she burns through her catalogue of hot runners-up and gets lonely.No offense, but Johnny’s a man.All y’all ever do is think with your dicks.So he might think about taking her back.”
They’d finished all the food except the cheese fries they’d saved for Johnny when finally Victor saw him climbing the bleachers.When he arrived, Sarah handed him the cheese fries, and Johnny attacked them with a relish explained by the can of beer in his hand.
“How’s Sean holding up?”Sarah asked.She turned to Victor.“Sean’s a rodeo buddy of his he’s been mentoring.”
“He’ll be fine.”Johnny plopped down next to Victor, knee briefly bumping his.With his long legs, Johnny must have found it difficult to fit all his limbs in his allotted space without jostling someone else.“Y’all want a beer?”
“Are you even allowed to have that?”Sarah asked while accepting the bottle without hesitation.
“Ain’t nobody said a thing to me yet.”
The barrel racing ended, and the junior saddle bronc riding began.Because this was such a casual affair, the horses they had didn’t seem particularly rank, not like the ones Victor had seen in some of the NFR clips on YouTube.And because it was a youth division, the horses weren’t that large either, nothing over eight hundred pounds..
Johnny did a running commentary while tossing back his beer and obliterating his cheese fries.He excused himself once to retrieve more beer from the truck, and when he returned he had a six-pack in hand.Meanwhile, the bareback division had begun.Johnny was barely seated by the time Sean’s Appaloosa horse leapt from the gate, head down and back legs flying, her tiny wisp of a tail swishing with irritation.Johnny let out a loud whoop and a boomingYOU GOT THIS SEAN!moments before the mare dumped Sean in the dirt and took off bucking until the pick up man could remove her flank strap.For a second Victor worried Sean mightstayin the dirt, but then he picked himself up and pumped a fist in victory.Johnny stood up to hoot and holler, whistling when Sean limped over to the fence and climbed it.Sean had managed to stay on eight seconds, and his score was favorable.Johnny looked ecstatic, and he drank more to celebrate.
Sean ended up winning his division, which was impressive given the competition.Johnny had crushed a few beers by the time the bull riding began, and he was starting to get tipsy, as was Sarah.They kept demanding Victor drink, too, but Victor knew that someone had to drive Johnny’s drunk ass home, and it’d have to be him.So he turned down the offer of booze and left to get a hot dog.
An hour later and Johnny was fully drunk, so much so that he could barely navigate the bleachers without Sarah’s help, and she didn’t offer much, considering how much she’d also consumed.Victor stood nearby to keep them from falling, but his concern was unnecessary.When the announcer started playingSave the Horse, Ride a Cowboyover someone else’s ride, Sarah and Johnny began singing along, tossing an arm around one another and laughing after every few words because neither of them could carry a tune.Every time the chorus came on, they’d yell the lyrics and spin around, which nearly knocked them over each time.
