The Ranch

“The Ranch”
The thing Chris loved most about heading down to the ranch was the drive from Texas Road 68 to the Lazy J Ranch.  The long partially paved road weaved through the summer green Texas landscape, flanked on both sides by enormous ash trees.  Growing in clumps of two or three, the trees had been here long before the road, long before the Teegardens, and certainly long before Chris.  Reaching a small break in the grove, Chris turned left onto a smaller, totally unpaved road.  After five minutes, he was out of the Ash grove and into a wide open valley.  After scraping his car on the cattle guard, he sped up the winding driveway, kicking up a cloud of dirt and laying on the horn.
         Uncle Rudy lumbered out of the house first, letting his eyes adjust to the bright Texas morning.  The sun and work had aged him far quicker than time ever could have, and he looked much older than 53.  His jeans and baseball cap were tattered, and his boots were covered with mud, a direct result of his habit of early work. 
         “I already done fed the horses and checked on the cattle, but there’s still shit to be shoveled and fences to be rode.  I expect you’ll have it done before you get any lunch,” said Rudy with a big smile.
         “Unfortunately for you, I already grabbed a bite in Corpus, so I might be able to go without working for a whole day,” replied Chris, smiling all the way through.
         “I always told your daddy when y’all moved to the city you’d lose your workin’ back, looks like I’us right, now get on in here and we’ll fix you some breakfast,” preached Rudy. 
         The kitchen was bright, natural light streaming in from the windows.  The yellow walls were warm, and Chris could practically taste the scrambled eggs the second he walked in.  Seating himself at the table, Chris watched as Rudy warmed the eggs and bacon on the stove.
         “So you had a good drive down here?” asked Rudy. 
         “Yeah, it wasn’t too long, I stayed the night at some hotel in Oklahoma.  Over two days it’s not that bad.” Chris replied.
         “You know your daddy and I used to make that drive in one night,” said Rudy.
         “Well I knew you would want to put me straight to work, so it wouldn’t do for me to get here late in the afternoon and too tired,” sighed Chris.
         “Juevos Rancheros and bacon, breakfast is served,” said Rudy.  “I’ll put your bags up in your room, you eat, then we’ll get to work.” 
         “Thanks,” said Chris, tired just hearing the words “we’ll get to work.”
         After he finished breakfast, Chris and Rudy headed out to the stable.  It was somewhat rickety, around 20 years old, but it looked as if someone had put a fresh coat of white paint on it this spring.  There were 10 stalls in all, and horses in six of them.  Rudy had all 10 of them filled, but had recently sold four to some boys headed out to the rodeo circuit. 
         “You can hop on Cinnamon if you want to.  She’s gettin’ old, but she oughtta still remember you,” said Rudy.
         “Sounds good,” said Chris, ready to get to work.
         “You remember where the tack is, and everything you’ll need to fix the fences should be hangin’ on the wall.  By the time you finish that, we’ll be ready to shovel out the stable and eat us some dinner.”
         “I’ll beat you back here,” said Chris slyly.
         Chris walked over to the tack wall, which held everything anyone would ever need to work on a ranch.  Taking a bit and set of reigns, he shouldered the saddle and blanket and walked over to Cinnamon.  She was an old horse, about 10 years old, but still strong.  Brown towards her hind end and white towards the head, she had brown speckles from her shoulders to her hips.  Stroking her neck, he gently slipped the bit into her mouth and hooked the reigns onto it.  She took the bit pretty well, and didn’t kick when he put on the saddle.  It took him a few tries to get it tightened correctly, but his time in the city hadn’t forced him to totally forget how to saddle up a horse.  After rummaging in the tool drawer looking for a set of pliers, Chris was saddled up and ready to go. 
         The entrance to the ranch featured a white, boarded fence, but the property was too big to put the wooden fence all around it, so the rest of the property was fenced in with barb wire.  Guiding his horse away from the entrance, Chris pulled his black cowboy hat down low and brought Cinnamon up to a gallop.  The wind whipped around his face, and he inhaled deeply.  The fresh Texas air was so different from the city, and Chris had to shake memories of the University from his mind.  He had come to Texas to get away from the city and school, but his thoughts kept going back. 
         Coming up on the first section of barbed wire, Chris pulled up on the reigns and hopped off the horse.  He pulled on his yellow mule skin gloves and grabbed the pliers out of his saddle bag.  Over time, barb wire will sag from too much tension, and if the wire sagged low enough, the cattle could get out.  Once a month, Rudy or the ranch hands would come out and ride the fences, looking for any sagging, and Chris cussed Rudy under his breath for saving this “little” chore for him.  Taking a deep breath, Chris prepared himself for the numerous nicks and cuts that were bound to occur.  Using the pliers, Chris wound up the wire until all of the slack was gone, and then tacked down the excess wire.  With his gloved index finger, he plucked the wire, the first of miles to be fixed. 
         While working, one’s mind has a tendency to roam and Chris’s mind kept roaming back to the University of Colorado.  He had always been smart, but very lazy when it came to school.  His dad was a hard ass, due in most part to the fact that he was not exceptionally smart and had to work for everything he had.  While Chris got A’s on every paper he wrote at CU, he rarely showed up to class, and as a result, he was kicked out of the school.  His counselor was appealing it, but Chris knew it wouldn’t work.  As big of a failure as it had been, he was reluctant to tell his parents, and couldn’t find the right time to do so before he left for Texas. 
         Sopping with sweat, Chris headed for the shade of the stable.  Letting Cinnamon drink up some water, Chris put away the saddle and bit.  He grabbed the shovel and pitch fork off of the wall and went to work cleaning out the horse stalls and putting down new bedding.  Just as the summer heat was beginning to subside, he headed in the house for dinner, his college failure still weighing on his mind. 
         Rudy was whipping up some steaks in the kitchen, and laughed as Chris came in.
         “You city boys think you’re so tough, but one day of work cuts you down to size.”
         Chris just grunted and pulled out a chair.  “Rudy, can I talk to you?” he asked.
         “Well sure boy, let me get these steaks out real quick,” he said reaching into the oven and pulling out the steaks.  He grabbed two Budwiesers from the refrigerator and set them on the table.  The charred smell of steak filled Chris’s nose, and he momentarily lost his focus as Rudy set the sirloin on their plates. 
         “I dispatched the hands to the Corpus for the night, so we have the house all to ourselves.  What you want to talk about?” Rudy asked, stuffing his face with steak. 
         “I failed out of college and I don’t know what to do and if I tell my dad he’s gonna kill me or worse yet hate me,” the words shot out of Chris’s mouth before he had a chance to think about what he was saying.
         “Slow down son.  How did a boy as smart as yourself flunk out of college?” asked Rudy.
         “I don’t know, it was all so boring and pointless, why would I have to take a history class if I want to be an English teacher?  I just lost interest I guess.  I don’t know, I get sick to my stomach just thinking about it,” Chris moaned. 
         “Well just eat some of your steak and head up to bed, I’m sure you’ll be able to think clearer tomorrow when you wake up.”
         “I’m not really hungry, I think I’ll just get to bed now,” replied Chris, ashamed at the confession he just made.
         “I’ll put the steak in the fridge for you to eat tomorrow.  I have a nice little surprise for you,” said Rudy calmly.
         Chris showered and crawled into bed, a day’s work wearing on his body and a year’s worth of frustration banging around in his head.  He heard the door creak open and pretended to be asleep until he heard Rudy clamor into bed.  Knowing he was in for a long night without sleep, Chris began to think of what he would do.  Running away to Mexico, becoming a mechanic, and making a home for himself as a hermit in the mountains all crossed his mind.  Tossing and turning for hours, he finally slipped into a deep sleep around 10 o’clock.
         Somewhere in the dark he heard a sound.  Finding it annoying, he pulled his head under the covers.  Again, there was the sound.
         “Chris, how many eggs do you want?”
         “One more hour,” was his reply.
         “Not gonna happen.  How many eggs do you want?” the voice was so annoying.
         “God damn, three I guess.  What time is it?” mumbled Chris.
         “Five thirty.  I need you to help me put out the grain for the horses and cattle.”
         Chris pulled himself out of bed, and then nearly cried out in pain.  Every muscle he knew he had and every one he didn’t know about were screaming at him to get back in bed, or at least stop moving.  He groaned, pulled on a new pair of jeans, and creaked down to the kitchen for breakfast.  Rudy was again standing at the stove.  Mexican by birth, he had been brought into the country and legalized by Chris’s dad’s family when he was young.  Despite its shady background, his Mexican heritage enabled him to make some great meals.
         “I know you like to start early, but why in the hell do I have to?” grumbled Chris.
         “The thing I like most about you is that you are just so pleasant to be around in the morning,” said Rudy cheerfully.  “The reason you have to start early today is because of a little surprise I have for you.  We can’t start ‘till later on, so you’ll have to get all your stuff done early.”
         “Wow, I don’t know how to thank you,” said Chris, wiping the sleep from his eyes and readying himself for yet another day of work.
         After all of the chores for the day were done, Rudy told Chris that they would be heading over to a friend’s house.  The surprise awaiting him, he found out, was a new horse that needed breaking.  Hopping out of Rudy’s red Dodge Ram, Chris laid eyes on the beast that was to be tamed.  Standing close to five and a half feet tall, a beautiful white mare was calmly walking around inside of a metal corral. 
         “Wow, now I really don’t know how to thank you,” said Chris, excitement beaming in his eyes.
         “Hold your thanks until you try to get up on it,” replied Rudy.
         They broke out their ropes and a bit and headed to the stable.  Picking out two of the horses, Chris and Rudy saddled up and rode to the corral.  Chris lassoed the mare, and used his horse to pull the reluctant mare to the edge of the corral.  Rudy tied the horse to the metal fencing and then they set to putting the bit in the horse’s mouth.  After a good hour they got the bit in.  Not knowing what was next, Chris waited for Rudy to direct him.  Rudy looked up at him, smiling.
         “You fixin’ to get on that thing or just let it sit there?” asked Rudy jokingly.
         After one refusal on Chris’s part and much banging and screaming on the horse’s part, Chris was on top of the mare with the rope in his sweaty palms.  Though the horse was tied to the fence, Chris could feel the raw power under him, just waiting to be turned loose. 
         “Now when you’re ready, we’re gonna set him loose,” Rudy called out.
         “What do I do?” asked Chris.
         “Hang on tight,” was the reply.
         Feeling butterflies in his stomach, Chris reluctantly nodded to Rudy that he was ready.  Rudy untied the mare’s back legs, and the horse shot away from the fence.  Chris gave a shout and the horse began to buck.  Rudy quickly moved to the front legs and untied them, and the horse was loose.  It was all a blur to Chris, and all he could think to do was hold onto the ropes.  His hat flew off, but he held tight with his legs clinching the sides of the beast.  Vision blurred, he saw blue sky, then brown dirt, back to blue sky, then brown dirt.  One more round of blue sky, and the brown dirt was suddenly rushing up to greet him.  Chris hit the dirt, popped up onto all fours, and watched in fear as the horse reared up onto its hind legs, eyes wild with rage.  Still on all fours, Chris scurried for the corral rails, leaped onto them, and Rudy pulled him over the fence by his belt.
         Lying on his back, the faint sound of laughter in the background, Chris took deep breaths until he could think again.  The laughter became clearer, until he moved his head and saw Rudy sitting on top of the corral, swaying with the apparent humor of the situation.  Chris rose to his feet, and his uncle gave him a hand up to the top rail.  Sitting down, Chris looked at the beast, now calmly pawing the soft dirt of the corral.
         “Good ride cowboy,” his uncle said, able to compose himself after the belly laugh of the previous minute.
         “How long was it?” asked Chris.
         “Probably about four seconds,” Rudy said. 
         “Can I give it another go?” Chris asked.
         “Take a little break for now.”
         Chris paused, basking in the moment.  He had ridden a bull a few times before, but it was not as wild as that had been.  He thought he could do this for the rest of his life.  Working hard, day in and day out, living with family, working with animals.  The early mornings he would have to get used to, but with time he could become just like his uncle.
         “Will you let me work here permanently Rudy?” asked Chris.
         “No.”
         “Why not?  I work hard, and I learn quick.  I can already ride, and I know how to do most of the stuff you guys do on the ranch.” Chris said.
         “You’re right.  You could work down here and do everything the hands do just as well if not better than they do it.  But I’ll tell you why you can’t,” Rudy said.  He gestured out to the horse, now striding around the corral, doing its part to stay away from the two monkeys sitting across from it.  “That horse is what y’all call a metaphor.  I was never too smart, and I a’int smart now.  But that horse is just like life.  Every once in a while you come up on a hard patch.  You get tossed around, bucked up and down, and maybe you even eat shit, like you just did.  It’s no different than what you’re goin’ through with school now.  So you flunked out.  You bit the dust.  Big deal.  It’s not the end of the world, and it’s definitely not the end of your life.  Sure your daddy’ll be pissed, hell, he might even try to hit you.  But you gotta get back on the horse.  You, son, have got potential, and I’ll be damned if I’m gonna let you waste it slingin’ shit on some cow farm.  So you get back on that horse, and like Chris LeDoux said, cowboy up.”
         Rudy put his arm around Chris’s shoulder, and they sat for a while, just looking out over the Texas landscape.  He was right.  All of the tension that had been welling up inside of Chris was suddenly released.  Sure, his dad would be mad, his mom would be disappointed.  But the real failure would be for Chris to take the easy way out, move in with some bums, and work at McDonald’s for the rest of his life.  He was kicked out of CU, but not out of all colleges.  He looked up at Rudy, smiled, and then looked up at the blue Texas sky.
         Patting his back, Rudy said, “Now how about you get back on that horse?”
         Chris smiled again, swung his legs over the rail, and jumped into the corral.  He picked up his hat, dusted it off, and pulled it down low on his head.  He got back onto his horse, looked at Rudy but couldn’t think of the words.
         Rudy winked and said, “This time, get a better grip on that horse, and show it who you really are.”