by Casey Peeler
Chapter 6
Cadence
She did not say I’m cleaning out cow shit. There’s no way in hell! Gran gives me a tour of the barn and tells me we are going to take a ride on the Gator. What the hell? I’m not a zookeeper. As she leads me outside, I see a funky looking golf cart. It’s missing a front window and it has storage in the back. I take a seat next to her and in bright yellow is the word Gator. Oh! I got it! Gran turns the key and starts the ignition. Within seconds I know this is better than a golf cart because it goes faster than a snail’s pace. She points out all of the different areas of the farm and what they do each day. So far, I’ve seen cows, horses, a small pond, pigs, chickens, and a garden. The only thing that continues to stand out in my mind is Barrick. I’m not sure why, but something about him pisses me off. He has this attitude about him like he’s perfect or something.
Arriving back at the barn, Gran remains seated. I stand, and she tells me to have a seat.
“Why?” I question.
“Cadence, it’s too early for this nonsense. Have a seat,” she says.
“I’m good standing.”
“Suit yourself. Today you are going to help Barrick clean the stalls.”
“What? I don’t know how to do that,” I say crossing my arms. “Why can’t you do it?”
“I have a few calls to make about pick up and deliveries.”
“It’s not hard. After you finish that we will start in the garden. I don’t want the sun to get up too high or we’re liable to have a stroke out here.”
“What did you say? A stroke?” I ask with concern and confusion.
“Not literally. If you haven’t noticed it’s hot and sticky here, makes you feel like you’re a stick of butter melting. I can promise that you don’t want to be out here in the heat of the day, but if you don’t get to moving, you will be.”
“I’m not doing any of it Gran. This is not what I signed up to do.”
“Sugar, the moment you disrespected me was the moment I knew it was time to teach you a lesson or two about life. So pick up those boots and march your ass right in there.” Holy shit! Gran cursed!
“What? Shit ain’t a bad word. Look out there. There’s plenty of it,” she says pointing to the pasture. As I turn back to Gran I notice my cellphone lodged in a pile of crap.
“Gran, my phone! It landed in a pile of crap.”
“Well, brush it off.”
“Oh, no, I’m not touching that and now I need a new phone. How am I going to talk to Lauren and my other friends without a phone?”
“I have one in the house. Now quit your whining and get started on those stalls.”
Reluctantly, I follow Gran into the barn. Hearing a crazy sound, I have no idea what I’m about to do, but I pray it doesn’t have anything to do with a cow’s tatas.
Barrick
Over the sound of the milking machine, I can hear Ms. Mae. She’s giving that girl an earful and then I hear Cadence fire back. That girl doesn’t know when to shut up. I’d love to take a piece of duct tape to her mouth. Doesn’t she know Ms. Mae is her grandma and she’s supposed to respect her? I shake my head as I hear the barn door slide open. I stand there knowing I have a few more minutes until it’s time to remove the cups from the udders.
“Barrick, I’ve got to make a few phone calls. Cadence is going to help you in the stalls. Isn’t that right?” she says, looking at Cadence. I want to laugh, but I know better. Ms. Mae would chew me out.
“I guess,” Cadence replies.
“Now you listen to Barrick and do what he tells ya. You hear me?” Ms. Mae says to her and as she’s about to comment, Ms. Mae cuts her off. “And don’t you ‘whatever’ me either missy!” I cough to try and cover my laugh.
Ms. Mae leaves us alone in the barn, and Cadence stands there with her arms crossed with her weight all on her right side. I know I shouldn’t think this, but she’s hot when she’s pissed off. Maybe I should try and piss her off more? Nah? Well, maybe. It could be fun.
“Cadence, right?” I question.
“Yup.”
“I’ve got a few more minutes with this last set of cows, and then I need to clean up before we get started. So follow me,” I say as politely as possible.
Glancing over my shoulder I see that she hasn’t moved. “Are you comin’ or what?”
“Hell no, and nobody’s gonna make me either.”
“Whatever, isn’t that your word?” I smart off to her.
“What’s that supposed to mean?” she asks, getting defensive.
“It means you’re too good to get your hands dirty and to respect what Ms. Mae has asked you to do. Where did you come from?”
“New York,” she says with a smile.
“Well, you need to learn to use something called manners. I know you got ‘em.”
She gives a huff and another whatever, but finally follows me into the milking room.
“Can you go and turn that pump off?” I ask, pointing to a switch by the pump.
Reluctantly, she walks over to the pump, and stares. “It’s right there.” I point again, and she doesn’t do anything. Knowing it needs to be stopped as soon as the milking is done, I move from the cow and walk toward her. Just as I reach her, she turns the switch. You’ve got to be kidding me. So this is how we’re going to play?
I calmly walk back to the cow and look at the others that need to have their cups removed. She’s only supposed to clean stalls, but why not show her what it’s all about.
“Cadence, come here a second. Let me show you something.” She rolls her eyes and walks to me. “Let me show you how to take the cups off.”
“Um, no. That is not what Gran asked me to do.”
“I believe she said you had to do as I asked, and you might need to learn since you’re helping out.”
“How about I watch instead?”
“Fine, but if I know Ms. Mae, this is in your future,” I say while removing the cups.
The look on her face was pure disgust. Once I finish removing the cups, I lead the cows into the pasture. Knowing I have to clean the lines before the next round of milking this afternoon, I decide to go ahead and show Cadence how to clean the stalls.
“I’ve got to clean up in here, but let me show you how to clean the stalls. When I finish I’ll come and help.”
Walking to the stall closest to the entrance, I grab two pitchforks and hand one to her.
“Cadence, we need to scoop the manure and place it in this wheelbarrow. Once that’s finished, check for any urine. The smell can get pretty bad so we spray a solution to neutralize it. Once that is finished, we add fresh hay to the stall. Think you got it?”
“Yeah, doesn’t sound like rocket science.”
“Great, I’m going to clean up then I’ll help you.”
She takes her pitchfork and steps in the stall. I give her five minutes before she’s crying like a baby.
Cadence
I’ll be damned if I’m going to let some country backwoods boy think he can do this better than me. I take my pitchfork and walk into the stall. It smells like shit in here. Looking down I know why. I start to laugh, I’m in Delight, also known as hell, with a pitchfork and it smells like a sewer. I guess it can’t get any worse than this.
I take the pitchfork and stab it into the ground. As I lift it, I realize it’s a lot heavier than I thought. I turn to toss it into the wheelbarrow, but as soon as I turn the pitchfork over half of it falls back onto the ground. Shit! Trying it again, I scoop it up, and place it in there perfectly. I continue at a steady pace until I’m at the last pile. As I pick it up I’m horrified. I scream louder than I ever have in my life, drop the pitchfork and quickly run out of the stall and straight into Barrick.
“What’s wrong?” he asks calmly.
“Big. Nasty. Slimy.” I stutter as he looks at me like I’m crazy. He looks over my shoulder and investigates the situation.
“You mean to tell me he’s a pet?” I question.
“Kinda. He’s welcome here. He keeps the varmints away.”
“Well, this girl doesn’t do snakes,” I say as I point to myself and walk toward the door.
“It won’t hurt ya. I promise,” he yells behind me.
“I don’t do snakes,” I yell back as I slide the door open and walk toward the house.