It was getting late and everyone went home. David and his friends had stayed around a while to listen to music and hear the stories from Curley and Chet. It was close to midnight when Donna came in. She was Curley’s wife and came to count the money and take her husband home. She smoked a lot and had the gravelliest voice of any woman they had ever known. She washed Curley’s cup and stood behind the bar counting the money. When she was done, she turned off the lights and shooed the boys towards the door. As they were leaving, Chet asked them to come back. He liked these fresh young cowboys; he had a million stories to tell them. They all went outside and got into their cars. Chet walked the block to his house, but Donna and Curley got into an old tan Cadillac and drove off over the tracks. David and his friends went home and decided that Curley’s would be their occasional hangout. They wanted to hear more about Chet and Curley.
The rest of the summer flew by and even after school started, the boys would go hangout in the bar. This was their last year in school, they were seniors and had plans to make. There was a war going on and college to think about. It would be a busy year of dances, football, and evenings in town. David’s parents didn’t mind him hanging out, but he needed to be home early on school nights and he never stayed when the weather was bad. David only went out on weekends; he had to help his dad with the ranch chores and he never missed a chance to ride Rusty. Sometimes if he was out late, Rusty would be waiting by the porch for him. No one knew how he escaped the corral, but he was noisy and would wake the boy’s parents so David had to watch the clock. Rusty won David a lot of rodeo prizes those two years. The more he rode the red horse, the better he got. Some of the winnings paid for the next rodeo, some for evening at Curley’s, and the rest went into savings. David didn’t have the grades to go to a big college, but he could get into a junior college in Denver, maybe Arapahoe Community College. Graduation day was coming and David was looking forward to what was to be his best rodeo season ever.
In April, David and his dad went to the auction, they needed another horse for his dad and were selling some calves. As they were looking at horses, they came across some that seemed better than the rest. A young Mexican man was putting a saddle on a horse, then taking it off and moving on to the next, just to show these horses were already ready to go to work. His dad picked out several in that group to bid on and then struck up a conversation with the young man. His name was Juaquin Torres. He was from Baja of Mexico and worked with his grandfather rounding up wild horses and breaking them. They came to this auction together and Juaquin introduced his grandfather. He didn’t speak English but both David and his father heartily shook his hand. His family was very poor and the horses fed his family all year. David asked Juaquin how he learned to handle the horses the way he did. He pointed at his grandfather and said he was a Supai Indian and they have a special way with the horses and taught him how to train them when he was a young boy.
David liked the young man. He spoke with perfect English but shared an interesting view of the world. It seemed as though nothing got him down. The rest of the auction went well, all of the calves were sold and at a nice price. David’s dad got one of the horses and they went to load her up to take home. She was a beauty, white with red freckles. She was tall, had sturdy legs, and a surprisingly short mane. With just a whisper from Juaquin, she walked right into the trailer. David’s dad then mentioned to Juaquin that David was going off to college and would he be interested in a job at the Ironwood Ranch. Juaquin spoke with his grandfather and then returned to them to say yes. He got his things from the old pickup and hugged his grandfather, then he hopped in the Chevy with David and his dad and rode back to the ranch. His mom was sure surprised; she expected a new horse, but not a ranch hand. She shook his hand and told him he could take meals with the family and could stay in the little bunkhouse. She reached into a closet and got out sheets, blankets, and pillows and handed them to David, told him to get Juaquin settled, and then bring him back in an hour to wash up for dinner.
The bunkhouse was a small log cabin close to the barn. It had a bathroom and six bunks for the seasonal workers and a wood-burning stove. Juaquin settled in and made his bed. He pulled a chair over to his bedside and took a picture in a homemade picture frame out of his bag and placed it on the chair. It was a picture of his mother and he never left home without it.
Juaquin washed up and combed his hair at the bunkhouse then joined David and his dad for the walk back to the house for dinner. That night, it was pork chops and a big bowl heaped with mashed potatoes, gravy, and peas. Juaquin took only one pork chop and that’s when David’s mom got up and heaped a lot of food onto his plate. She told him that he needed his strength to work at the Ironwood Ranch. They ate in silence but as she cut the apple pie into big slabs, she asked Juaquin about his life. Juaquin’s eyes lit up and with a big grin, he told his short story. His English was good because he spent a lot of time in Arizona with his cousins who are Pimas from his mother’s side of the family. His family was able to travel to Mexico unhindered by border patrol. They would round up the horses, break them, and bring them to auctions to pay the bills. David asked him if he went to school. Juaquin told him that he did attend the “sister school” but the horses seemed more important as his grandfather got older. He said he would like to go once a year to see his mother and grandfather, but he was grateful for this opportunity. He had such a warm smile and a quick wit. The whole family knew he would be part of their family a long, long time. When the pie was all gone, Juaquin got up and offered to wash the dishes. The surprised look on everyone’s faces made him chuckle. David saw the look of delight on his mother’s face so he volunteered to help. Besides, he wanted to get to know this young man better. As they started to clear the table and talk, David’s mom and dad went out the door holding hands. They were going to go to the barn to visit the new horse, and then walk to the top of the hill to sit on the bench under the cottonwood and watch the sunset over Pikes Peak.
After the dishes were done, Juaquin went to the bunkhouse and brought out a small guitar case he had brought to the ranch with him. He leaned an old wooden chair that David’s dad made against the wall on the porch of the bunkhouse and took out a funny small guitar. He put his feet upon the rail and started to play. A sweet sound came out and Juaquin started to sing. In his slow tenor voice, he sang some old Mexican love songs. David sat on the porch of the ranch house and his parents could hear the music at the top of the hill. And Rusty came to the rail to listen to the music.
After graduation, David was busy. He had rodeo and helped at the ranch. He liked spending time with Juaquin. The young man taught him and Rusty some new tricks. Rusty got better and better at calf roping and so did David. Juaquin called him Roja, Spanish for red. He was always amazed that David’s hair matched Rusty’s and he never missed a chance to tease him. Needless to say, David kept his hat on. One day, they all went into Colorado Springs to buy Juaquin new clothes. He got two pairs of boots, one for working and one for church. He got new jeans, shirts, and a warm winter coat. But what made him really happy was his first authentic cowboy hat. His clothes and straw hat were so worn that he threw them away when he got home except for the hat. He put on his new Stetson hat and cut holes in the old straw hat and put it on Rusty. The horse pranced around the corral while the family laughed. As soon as he could, he rubbed his head against a fence post and off came the hat. Without waiting, he took a big bite out of it. Juaquin rescued the hat while saying something in Spanish to the horse. No one knew what he said but every time he did, Rusty would turn his back to him and that made the family laugh some more. The straw hat was hung on a wall in the tack room in the barn and was there still.
Juaquin went to a few rodeos with David’s family, but he mostly spent time at the ranch. He competed in a few things but left the rodeo thing to David. Sometimes he would go to Curley’s with David and his friends. Curley and Chet would make him drink his beer at the bar so the boys wouldn’t be tempted to have some. Chet
would come out from behind the bar and tell stories about his navy days and he always ended up telling the boys to never join the navy; it makes you drink. Everyone laughed when he said it, and after a while, the boys would finish the sentence for him, “It makes you drink.” Juaquin was a little afraid of Curley but he liked Donna. Sometimes, he would talk like her on the way home. He said she had the voice of a mountain lion.
Summer was coming to an end and two of David’s friends were getting ready to go to college. One in Greeley Colorado and one in Arizona on a football scholarship. David’s mom had sent his paperwork to Arapahoe College in Littleton and was getting ready to take him to Denver to find some housing. Juaquin was there to help at the ranch and it was important that David felt good about leaving to go to college. But before any of that could happen, they got a letter that would change all of their lives. David got drafted by the army. There was a war in Viet Nam and he was called upon to serve. His mother was clearly upset and his father told him that he was needed and it was his duty. He joined the army when he was young and remembered going to South Korea. It was the end of that war, but he felt like he had made a difference, he had done his duty. Juaquin walked around giving him a funny salute and told him not to worry, he would take care of Rusty and keep him trained.
That weekend, the boys went to Curley’s one last time. David’s other friend announced he got his draft notice, but it was too late, he had joined the marines. He said he didn’t join the navy because it makes you drink. They all had a good laugh and on the way home, David told Juaquin that he will miss his friends, Curley’s, Chet, and even old Curley himself. The rest of the ride was quiet because what David wanted to say was, he also would miss Juaquin, his parents, Ironwood Ranch, and Rusty. He didn’t say it out loud, but he felt the loss in his heart. It would be one of many.
Chapter 4
Summer was over and David was scheduled to go to basic training late September. All of his friends had either gone to college or in the service. He was scheduled for six weeks of basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia, took a little break to go home and back for Infantry School. Then to Fort Ord, California, for deployment to Viet Nam. There were a couple of other guys from his senior class leaving at the same time. He spent the time helping his father and Juaquin fix things around the ranch and he wanted to help his mother all he could. He was getting to be very good friends with Juaquin. Sometimes he would go with Juaquin for long rides after dinner just to spend time with Rusty, and sometimes they would ride slowly while Juaquin played his guitar and sang the Spanish songs his mother had loved so much. They would ride to the top of the hill where the cottonwood sheltered a hand-carved bench his father had made for his mother. The view to the west was Pikes Peak. The sunset behind the mountain and it would make the prairie grass shine a soft golden color. The bench had a big tree carved on the back and his father put a fresh coat of varnish on it every year. In the summer, his mom would put an old quilt and pillows on the bench and have a picnic with his dad. They called it prairie date night and David knew he needed to stay away from them and let them enjoy their evening.
The time had come to go, David’s parents drove him to Denver to report and the whole trip was spent in silence. They left early in the morning and even stopped for breakfast in Castle Rock on the way. They arrived around nine and he was scheduled to leave at ten thirty. His parents got out of the truck and at one time or other, one of them was holding to their only son. His mom wrapped her arms around him, or his father had his arm resting on the young man’s now broad shoulders, or was tousling his hair. When someone came to take him to the staging area, both his parents hugged him and silently got into the truck. They were almost to Colorado Springs where they pulled over at the scenic overlook of the Air Force Academy to watch the planes take off and land. They stood at the front of the truck and just held each other. They both cried a little that day as if their hearts were breaking; their son became a man that day and he would never know just how proud and sad it made his parents. David’s dad had joined the army and knew what basic training would do for his son. He would come home for a short visit around Thanksgiving between basic training and infantry school. His dad knew he would not be the redheaded, fun-loving boy that was hanging out at Curley’s with his friends. He knew he would be a taller young man. He was going to miss the boy.
The time flew by and David arrived on a bus in Colorado Springs. Juaquin was there to meet him. He barely recognized David. The red hair was getting darker, darker than Rusty’s. He shook his hand so hard that David thought he would break his arm clear off. Then he did the funny salute, then he talked the whole way home. David only had four days and tomorrow was Thanksgiving. Juaquin talked about all the food they were making as if David hadn’t eaten the whole time he was gone. Tonight was fried chicken and his mouth watered as Juaquin described the food. He had taken over helping David’s mom in the kitchen and was learning how to cook and even showed him a few new things. Juaquin stopped the old Ford outside the gate and David got out to open it. He got a tear in his eye as he looked up at the hand-carved tree branch over the gate and committed it to memory. It was a beautiful way to welcome him home to Ironwood Ranch. He opened the gate and let the truck drive through and then slowly closed it again. As he turned to get back into the truck, he saw it drive away. He thought Juaquin was playing another joke on him, then he saw something in the distance. It was Rusty, all saddled up and running to meet him. It was as if he knew he was at the gate. The big red horse stopped and nuzzled David. He couldn’t stop hugging and petting his horse, and it took a good ten minutes to climb up and start the walk towards home. He couldn’t imagine a better welcome than this, but he got home and saw the banner and balloons all over the house. His parents were on the porch waiting for him and he barely made it onto the porch before they were hugging him. Rusty got a few carrots and went to get a drink while the family went inside. Juaquin was helping David’s mother set out the chicken and fried potatoes and his dad told him to wash up. David couldn’t stop smiling. He loved ranch talk and missed the family a lot. He mostly missed Rusty; the horse was his best friend. Dinner was full of stories about the town, the neighbors, and what was happening on the ranch. They laughed, ate, and were happy. No one even thought about him leaving in a few days. It was a holiday and he was home; that’s all that mattered. David was very tired but wanted to take care of Rusty. He went outside with Juaquin and when the ranch hand whistled, the horse came over to them. It made David laugh. They took him to the barn, removed the saddle, and brushed him down. All without saying a word. David slept like a rock that night. He had the best chicken dinner in the world and got to sleep in his own bed. He did notice that it seemed smaller but you never forget comfort. He had a nice Thanksgiving and spent some time with Rusty. His mother drove him to the bus station when he had to go. She hugged and kissed her son, and she told him to come home in one piece and to write. Then she handed him a couple of spiral notebooks that would fit in his shirt pocket and a handful of pencils. David asked her what he was supposed to do with the notebooks. She told him he would know. And if he needed more, he would let her know. He handed him something else. His dad’s staghorn pocketknife. She said it makes the best pencil sharpener, but someday, it might save his life. By then, the bus arrived so she kissed her son one more time and held his face with both her hands as if to memorize every inch of it.
It was hot and humid in Saigon Viet Nam when David arrived on a C-130. It made him unusually tired but after a few days, he got used to it. He spent a couple of days at Tan Son Nhut Airbase then was attached to the 199 Infantry at Long Binh.
He started out writing letters home every day but eventually, he ran out of things to say so it was once a week, some things he couldn’t and wouldn’t write about. He tried to find something funny to write about. One day, he was out with his platoon and it came to him why his mother gave him the notebooks. They stopped to rest and David took out the first notebook and broke a pencil in h
alf. He put one-half in his pocket and sharpened the other half with his dad’s pocketknife. Then he dated the first page and started to write. He wrote about the people, sights, smells, and most of all, he wrote about how scared he was. He wrote small and used both sides of each page so as not to waste any space. These notes were for him to see only. He would continue to write to his family, but his real feelings were safe in the notebook. He didn’t write in the books every day and one notebook would last him two months. When some of books were full, he would send them to his mother and ask her to just put them in his closet. She would send more. His mother never read his notes.
The first year passed quickly. Things changed there and there was talk about the troops going home. David continued writing his notes. There were friendships formed in that thirteen-month stint with other ranchers and rodeo fans. Word got around fast and you could tell where they were hanging out because they played country music. But there were also losses. David wrote about the losses in his notebooks. He saw horrific things in that war. Things that no human being should see. He found that he wasn’t frightened if he wrote it down. He always wrote a note to his mom on the first page and his address in Calhan. Sometimes days would go by without writing and sometimes he had to write several times in a day. When his thirteen-month tour was over and he had a chance to stay, he found out that he didn’t need to. They were slowly pulling troops out anyway. He went back to finish his time at Fort Ord and go home. He was excited to make the long-distance phone calls and hear his family’s voices. That was the only time that David felt so homesick that he cried each time he hung up.
The Winter's Trail Page 3