by Casey Peeler
Chapter 7
Barrick
When I heard Cadence scream, I thought she was bleeding or something. It never even crossed my mind that Rascal was hiding out in that stall. In fact, my heart was beating so hard before I got there, I thought if something had happened to her that I’d never forgive myself. Not to mention that Ms. Mae would probably kill me.
I tried to act as if it was no big deal, but that didn’t go over very well with her. She stormed out of here like she was on fire. I can’t imagine what she’s telling Ms. Mae. Knowing I don’t need to worry about it, I finish cleaning the equipment, and start working on the stalls.
I’m about halfway through the stalls when I hear the door slide open again. I don’t pause; I just continue to work as I would any other day. I hear someone clear their throat. As I wipe the sweat from my brow, I look over my shoulder and see Cadence.
“So you’re back,” I state nicely.
“Unfortunately,” she replies, taking a seat on the wooden stool.
“I don’t know why you’re sitting down because there are four more stalls to go.”
“I told you I wasn’t cleaning stalls and I meant it,” she says with her legs and arms crossed.
“Fine,” I say as I prop my pitchfork against the wall. “If you don’t want to do this then how about you take that wheelbarrow full of cow manure to the compost pile.”
“The what?” she asks, standing from the stool.
“Take it to that pile behind the fence line. It’s a compost pile. It’s a way to reuse waste.”
“So I take this wheelbarrow and dump it back there?” I nod. “Well, that doesn’t look too hard.”
“Then have at it.” She rolls her eyes, and makes her way out of the barn. “Oh, here’s a pair of gloves for you so you don’t ruin those pretty hands of yours.”
She snatches them from me, and I can’t wait to see how this is going to play out. I finish cleaning the stall and decide to watch her for a moment. Little does she know we always use the bucket on the tractor to make this a super easy job. Peering out the door, she’s almost to the fence line. She’s made pretty good time getting down there, probably due to the fact that she’s in killer shape, but when she attempts to dump the manure it doesn’t go as easy as she planned. I watch her try over and over again to spill the contents into the pile. Then she begins to swat at something, and before I know it, she lands right in the middle of a huge pile of compost. I bite my lip to refrain from laughing, but it’s no use. I double over and take a step back inside the barn. When I gather myself together, I go back to finish the other stalls and wait for the storm that’s about to enter in three, two, one.
Cadence
Just as I’ve almost gotten the shit in the shit pile I lose my flippin’ balance. Damn these boots! I scream from irritation and look straight toward the barn. I bet Barrick knew this was going to happen. I stand and as I take a step I slip and fall yet again.
Take.
A.
Deep.
Breath.
Yeah right! I huff and start on a mission to give Barrick yet another piece of my mind. With the wheelbarrow in tow, I march back to the barn. I drop it loudly and startle him, but I can already see the joke’s on me.
“So wasn’t so easy was it?” he asks.
“Guess you could say that. I’m going to shower before I help Gran in the garden.”
“No need darlin’, she can use you as fertilizer,” he says with a wink. Did he just freaking wink? Asshole.
I dust the manure off of my shoulder and walk toward the house with my head held high.
As I approach, I can see that Gran is already in the garden. I decide to suck it up and deal with this shit, literally.
“Lord have mercy child. What happened to ya?” Gran asks, looking me up and down.
“Your boy down there had me take the cow shit to the compost pile and you can see the shit won,” I say with my arms outstretched.
“Bless your heart. Didn’t you use the tractor?”
“Tractor?” At that exact moment I hear an engine and I’ll be damned, Barrick is using a bucket to haul the rest of the manure down there. He looks toward us and waves. It’s on like Donkey Kong.
“Oh, Cadence, I’m sorry. Why don’t you go get a shower?”
For the first time, I can see that Gran is acting like a caring individual rather than a tough, country woman trying to teach me a lesson.
“But first, can you dust some of that off right here in the garden?” I start to open my mouth to say something very inappropriate. “I’m just joking. Go get a shower. I’ll be in shortly.”
I turn to make my way inside, but stop to glance down toward the barn once more. It’s so on.