by Casey Peeler
Chapter 10
Cadence
Oh my gosh, I can’t wait to take a shower. I’m sticky, hot, smell like dirt, and ate way too much junk today. Walking into the house, my phone dings and I get a thrill of excitement. I have service! Yes! I spend the remainder of the afternoon making myself feel brand new again as well as talking to Lauren between her classes. She calls me after dinner and I fill her in on today’s adventures, and she tells me she needs a picture of Barrick. I tell her I’ll see what I can do before hanging up and going to bed.
My alarm goes off at four. What the heck? Shit! I forgot to set it for six. I quickly reset it and roll back over, but I hear Gran and Mom talking loudly in the hall. All I can make out is dance and respect. Maybe just maybe, she’ll take me to that hillbilly studio today, I mean anything is better than milking cows and cleaning stalls all day. My hopes are dashed when I hear Gran tell Mom she will not until school starts.
I shake my head, check the clock, and doze back off until I have to either get myself up or wake up to the sound of a clanging frying pan. I’m choosing my alarm.
I throw on some old dance clothes and walk downstairs to get the day started. I’m hoping to get some time to myself today so I can dance. I see Gran’s boots sitting at the door and know that I’m going to have to get some ‘old’ clothes and some boots of my own. I just pray I don’t fall in them again today.
After breakfast, I text Lauren and tell her it’s time to put my plan in action. Knowing Barrick can’t hear anything over those machines, I walk to his truck and turn the switch one turn before finding a heavy metal station and turning it up as loud as possible. I kill the switch and walk into the barn with a smile.
“Mornin’ Cadence,” Barrick says as he’s milking a cow. Let me show you how this works in case you ever have to help.” I want to run right back into the house, but I know I’ve got to play nice. I slowly walk toward him. “Honestly, it’s not that hard, and you don’t have to touch the teat if you don’t want to.”
“The what?” I ask.
“Boob, tata, breast, yabos…” he explains.
I cover my face. “Oh my gosh. I can’t do this. I just can’t,” I plead.
“Yeah you can. Come here. I finished with Daisy.” He bends down and I have to admit I watch his ass more than his hands. “Just take this metal cup and remove the suction. Then it just falls off. See, it’s easy,” he says.
“Right,” I say with my arms crossed.
“Try it,” he says. I hesitate. “Come on. Don’t be a chicken.”
“Fine,” I say as I take a step forward. He stands behind me and tells me what to do. I try to grab the cup but move back quickly. I cannot touch a cow’s boob. I just can’t. After the third time of me going back and forth, I feel Barrick behind me. He takes his hand and grazes my arm until he finds my hand and assists me. I hold my breath and within a second it’s over. I did it. I removed the cup without touching a cow.
“Good job. Now try the next one by yourself.”
“I don’t know,” I say, unsure.
“You just did it. No worries.” I nod and take a deep breath.
I bend toward the cow’s girl parts and as I place my hand on the cups and pull, the cow begins to moo. I jump, turn and scream right into Barrick’s arms.
“Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! Ohmygosh! I’m done.” I squirm as he bursts out laughing.
“I wish I had that on video. That shit would go viral.” He keeps laughing and now I’m pissed. Yeah, you just wait until later today, I think to myself.
“Ughhhh!” I smack him on the shoulder and take a seat in the corner farthest from the cow.
Barrick
That had to have been the funniest thing I’ve seen in a long time. Who am I kidding? That’s the funniest thing since Cadence landed her ass in a pile of shit. I tried my best to keep it together but when she started running and jumping and hollering I couldn’t help it. I’m surprised the cows didn’t go ballistic.
Cadence refuses to help me, and I’m not surprised. I knew her pleasant attitude yesterday had to be a fluke. Why did I think she had changed? She’s only been here a few days. It will take a lot longer than that to remove the stick up her butt. She watches me as I work and I can’t stand the prissy attitude anymore. She needs to either help or get out. When I see that she has no intention of helping the rest of the day, I suggest that she go help Ms. Mae in the garden.