Vetting the Bull Rider

The letter and the tickets were sitting on the table, and she stared at them. Her mother circled the table with her arms crossed, a look of pure irritation and disgust on her face. She never looked away from her daughter's face the entire time, making sure that she knew that her mother was angry. Alex continued to look at the letter and the tickets that she had bought for her and her best friend, only Meg may be returning to her bed, Alex may be traveling along.

Her mother was a simple woman, with simple values. She was a nurse, she wanted her children to go to college, and she wanted them to have her values. She didn't mind Alex going to college to be a vet and not a doctor. She was also okay with Alex being a large animal vet, however, she did not approve of rodeos and therefore the letter on the table was sin.

"You need to send out to somewhere else to intern" Sharon said as she took a seat. She didn't know what she was more made at, the fact that her daughter bought tickets for the biggest rodeo in the world or that; that same rodeo wanted her daughter to work for them for a season and her daughter had accepted. Her daughter sighed. Alex slid her glasses up her nose and planned what she could say to her mother. Only one thought came to mind.

"Then I guess I will cancel this job opportunity, which is a VERY big chance to get my name out there to treating large animals...and accept the offer from the circus." Alex leaned back in the chair. Her mother hated anything that had unfair labor and abuse to animals. Rodeos only catered one of those things, circus circus had both and surely her mother would pick the lesser of the two evils. Sharon Smirked at her daughter.

"Alex, they hurt animals..."She began, but stopped when Alex held up the letter and began to read through it as if it were a grand speech that she had been planning for graduation.

"Dear Miss Alexandria Harrley,

Thank you for responding and accepting our proposal to work as our travelling vet for this years rodeo season. Due to growing public concern about the treatment of the bulls and horses, we would like to add another duty to your job than we have to our past post graduate students. You will be a judge on horseback to ensure that the bulls and broncos are treated properly by both gate keepers and riders during events, as well as your regular duties with the animals.

Please meet us at our first show in Columbus, Ohio. There we will introduce you to the other staff and your help. Please bring all that you will need as you will be loading onto the tour bus and setting off immediately for our next stop.

Yours, The PBR." Alex set down the letter. Sharon had her head propped in her hands on the table, regarding her first born in a slightly lighter way. She raised an eyebrow at Alex.

"And the reason for that, child of mine?" Alex smiled softly. Her mother was worn from being a single mother for so long, the worry lined her forehead for years and it was now permanent. Her red bob was an attempt to look young in her 40s, and her scrubs were covered in snoopy to make her elderly patients feel young as they lay dying in the hospital. Alex set the letter down on the table again and chucked her boots off as she wasn't able to remove them when her mom was standing over the letter and tickets she received in the mail.

"It is my job to make sure that the PBR is humane, You know damn well that with me sitting there, not one man is gonna get away with anything. Mom, I am 21." She pulled her mothers hand into hers and rubbed her thumb a crossed the back, the same way daddy used to when she was stressed about him leaving again. "I am going to be the travelling vet. I want to change the face of rodeo...the way daddy did. I want to be a part of the life that was kept hidden from us." She pressed between her mothers fingers to relieve her anxiety. Sharon looked at her daughter in defeat, Alex was like her dad in too many ways to count. She closed her eyes and remembered what it was like to be married to the man in the spotlight, how they had to own two houses, just to keep their children out of it and how she had been fired for the camera crews invading the hospitals repeatedly. They still did from time to time but she used her maiden name so no one could point them to her.

"Honey, you realize that the minute you step into that world, you will be recognized." Alex nodded to her mothers fear. It was her not being able to tell people who her daddy was in school, he couldn't go anywhere without cameras fallowing him or someone recognizing him and begging for an autograph.

"The Time has changed mom, after what happened with princess Diana the paparazzi can't be that crazy anymore." She tightened her grip on her mothers hand. "I won't be in danger." Sharon glared at her daughter and then lightened up again.

"You lived out of the spotlight, alot of those men are mean and distasteful. You are a woman encroaching on a mans job. I have never seen a woman tend to those animals..." Once again her daughter silenced her, this time with a look. Alex felt her mother felt that a woman's place was still t the feet of a man, even her grandma thought so. "At least explain to me how this is all gonna go along?"

"Me and Meg are heading down with the truck and trailer, watch the show and then she will bring it back. I am loading up on one of the tour buses and heading to the next stop." Alex let go of her mothers hand to prepare for the next part of the argument. Sharon raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Truck AND trailer?" And then it clicked. "YOU ARE TAKING THE HORSES?!" Alex's mother shot up out of her chair in a fit to look out at the pasture where the remainder of Jim's rodeo horses and cattle were grazing quietly. Her fist pounded on the counter top as she turned back to Alex, lurching when she found her daughter only feet from her.

"I am taking Whiskey and Spirit, and there is nothing for you to do about it. Whiskey Throttle was willed to me and I pulled Spirit from his mother before she died. MY horses." Alex took a step back from the shocked expression that her mothers face had. She had taken it a step too far, farther than what she planned to, but the thought of not bringing a memory of her dad on tour killed her and stirred emotions that had been long ago buried. Sharon placed a hand over her heart, and shook her head.

"Alexandria, you go pack your bags and your horses and leave here. You want to be a part of your daddies world, go be a part of it. Don't you come back here, you don't belong here anymore." Sharon whispered quietly. Alex tried to hug her mother, but she turned away. "I said go on, If anything bad happens to Whiskey, that is on your mind, not mine." A deep pain settled in their hearts, slowly at first and then it grew bigger and then it grew cold. Alex pushed her mouth into a frown and nodded.

Alex walked upstairs to the bag she had already packed, her veterinary supplies already safe in the truck. The walls of the house began to creep in on her, she wasn't welcome here. She yelled at her mother, she broke her mothers rule of staying far from rodeos, and she was taking a million dollar horse into the public. After making sure everything was in the truck, she moved to the barn. She whistled a lonely tune and the horses came, darkness had come down and all that she could see was the sky above the tree line. Hot breath blew on her face as she waited for Spirit to come along. Clipping the lead on she led Whiskey into the light of the barn. His gold patches gleamed in the mildness as they walked to the trailer. His one blue eye watched her curiously. She stroked his velvety pink nose in loving affection as she remembered that she should put in sunscreen for him. Whiskey was a small quarter horse, almost in his 20s. When her father wasn't riding bulls he was riding horses in other rodeo events. His want to teach Alex and her sister how to barrel race was the undoing of her parents marriage...and right before the papers were signed he was gored by a bull on live television while his daughters watched at home...secretly in Alex's bedroom. His dying words were that he loved them, he loved Sharon. As Alex passed by the trophy room she placed her hand against his, painted on the wall when he won the world title. They had re-built the barn and all four of them put their hands in paint and on the wall.

Was this how he wanted it? did he want us to all split up to conjure our dreams?

She grabbed her other horses halter and clipped the lead. Spirit was a larger horse, tho Whiskey was in his genes somewhere. His golden color flooded the hallway as he passed beneath the lights and made the area look like the sun was coming in. He was sunshine on most cloudy days, but not today. Today she was mourning.

As she pushed the dividing panel in on Whiskey, her phone rang in a quiet tune, she let it play as she pushed Spirit against it and closed the next. The caller ID said Meg.

"What happened with your Mama? She told me to keep the trailer at my house, that it wasn't to come back to the ranch....." Alex remained silent for a long while, focusing on the long black duster and how heavy it was on her boot. Meg waited as always, the cowboy persona had seemed from father to daughter's, tho the persona was deep in this one.

"I told her...In a round about way that I was an adult...That I was taking my horses...that I was taking Whiskey Throttle." This time Meg was silent. Alex could imagine her running her manicured fingers through her long blonde hair and closing her eyes as she threw her head back in shock.

"Did you tell her that you knew she was going to sell Whiskey?" Meg asked softly. Alex lifted the ramp and locked it in place crossed the doors. Her Dads old black cowboy hat fell off in the dirt.

"No, but she thinks that this will go like any other old fight..." She replied as she bent to lift the hat back to her head. "She thinks that because she told me to get out and I wasn't welcome that I am gonna roll over like normal and not do it. She is gonna watch me roll down the driveway with the trailer to go to your house like when she told me that I couldn't take Whiskey on that trail ride?" Meg laughed on the other end as she remembered that night. Alex had put Whiskey back in his stall and took Spirit instead just to appease her mother.

"So, the bill said that Whiskey was to be sold on Monday. You are just gonna let your Mama walk out in that barn, by that time you will have made it all the way to North Carolina with the tour, and find out that the multi-MILLION dollars she made of Jim Harrelys Quarter horse is gone?" Alex climbed in the cab of her truck and took a deep breath. Spirit wouldn't get back in the trailer after she took Whiskey out...her subconscious knew that. That is why Whiskey had got in first. Alex chuckled lowly.

"I'M headed over."

*******************

Meg looked at her best friend sleeping on the floor, then back on her 'Thanks for applying, but fuck off!' letter. Alex was headed for bigger and better things, but now Meg had to tell her dad and her shitty mom that she hadn't been accepted to any colleges. Alex's letter was lying right where they had left it the night before, bug and bold was the PBR insignia and Mr. Ty Murrey's signature at the bottom. Alex needed an assistant...No. Meg couldn't do that...could she? Below them, she heard her mother fumbling in the kitchen, probably drunk. It would get her away from this hell hole. Meg looked at Alex, still fast asleep, and slipped from her bed.

She met her mom in the kitchen, nursing a cup of coffee and some pills on the table. She looked like her mom again, she was clean and dressed for the office job she had gotten fired from but her hair was all bedhead which meant that she had gone to the interview drunk and then decided to go to the bar and get more drunk before finally coming home and feeling like the hangover was at an end. Her dad was standing at the sink looking worn and still in his pajamas, even tho it was time for him to leave for work. Neither had noticed her yet, the scene was tense and Meg could feel her dad was on the edge of exploding. At this point her mom looked right at her.

"So...Meghara, I opened your response from LCC, even a community college doesn't want you. When are you going to get your shit together?" Meg watched her dads shoulders, deciding if he was gonna explode that comment about his little girl would have done it already.

"Right, I'm going to go on a trip with Alex. I'll figure it out then." her mother raised an eyebrow and her dad looked at her in a way that she wasn't sure what it had meant.

"So you are just gonna fly on the coat tails of someone who aspires to be nothing more than a farm hand for the rest of her life as opposed to finding a well paying job that doesn't require college, because obviously college is out of the cards." Her mother sipped her coffee knowing she was igniting a fight over who Meg should be hanging around. Western riding style like Alex, or English like non barbaric people? Vet school or business? Alex or Stacey that bullied the shit out of Meg every day of her life? To Meg and her dad, the choice was very clear on who she should be friends with. Meg took this fight in stride however, Alex's fight with her mother gave her a little it of confidence. But if Meg pulled this card her dad would be against her too.

"It beats not being able to find a job and drinking, and doing drugs all day like my mother. Alex needs an assistant, and I need a vacation and some new Ideas of what I want to do with my life." John walked over and put a hand on his wives shoulder.

"Meghara, that was uncalled for. Your mother has a disease." Meg rolled her eyes and picked up an apple.

"My mother makes a choice everyday." She didn't want this to end the same way that Alex's fight ended however. "Dad, I need time away from things here. I want to see some of the country. Please. " John sighed and nodded, Lydia screwed up her face.

"Alex is no good for you, all she does is drag you down. Stacey would have gotten you a job at the printing company she works for...." At this point Alex was walking into the room fully dressed and ready to load her horses back in the trailer and head for the first event.

"Yes, Lydia. Because all Meg's dreams revolve around fashion and makeup." Alex smiled curtly, it was always a forced smile with Lydia. Alex would never disrespect her best friends mother, even if the woman was as vile and disrespectful to her. Meg smiled and hugged her friend.

"Will you put Sweet Pea in the trailer? I decided I want to go with you." Alex looked deep in her friends eyes and saw how much Meg wanted this, she also seen the fear...But the longing to be free was what caused her to nod and hug Meghara tighter. She walked out of the room on a mission to get on the road as fast as possible.

"Meg..." John whispered softly to his daughter. Meg looked at her father and softened her gaze even more. She knew that nit being here would put more weight on her fathers shoulders but it was what she needed to do. In order to get her life together, Meg needed to take a break from her life, see a little bit of the world and bring back enough inner peace to help her make the decision about what and who she wanted to be. Even Alex had agreed last night and had tip toed around asking her friend to come with her, but it was a choice that Meg had to make for herself.

"Daddy...I will be fine. I just need to go and explore some other things. Maybe I will find a job that will make you proud, no matter what it is...." She stepped closer and hugged her father as her mother popped two more pills in her mouth. As she backed away her heart dropped a little as she thought her mother was moving on to a drug addiction. John sighed and whispered good luck as Meg ran to pack bags.

Outside, Alex led her friends black filly from the barn. She paused at the trailer, realizing for the first time that her horses were stallions. The two boys nostrils flared at the smell of Sweet Pea and Alex mentally kicked herself. She had just graduated from vet school and had forgotten all basic knowledge. Sweet Pea nuzzled her cheek looking for affection, he soft velvety feeling of her lips brought Alex back to earth. She closed two dividers in the trailer and placed the young female in the last section. Opening all the windows in the trailer, she gave each horse some hay to keep them busy on the ride. Meg emerged from the house carrying three duffel bags and two pairs of cowboy boots. Alex leaned back on the trailer, throwing the old duster in the goose neck of the trailer.

"So I have a debate...."Alex whispered. Meg raised an eyebrow as she loaded her things into the backseat of the truck. She had time to straighten her long blonde hair? Alex touched her knotty curls and though of hat a sight she must be.

"Hello! what is the debate?" Meg waved in her friends face. Alex stuck her tongue out as she shut the front door of the trailer and moved to the truck.

"I am trying to decide on whether we should drive everywhere...or if we should lot in our horses with the circut horses. I mean, the pro barrel racers are travelling with the PBR so what if we loaded our horses with them?" She climbed in the drivers seat and started the old diesel engine. Meg buckled her seat belt quietly. She was burning to ask Alex the dreaded question but she wasn't too sure of how to say.

"It doesn't matter to me." Alex looked at Meg as they pulled onto the gravel road. The trailer hitched as Sweet Pea lurched but quickly settled down. Alex touched her mouth in thought for a minute. Meg unfolded her arms and leaned forward. "Where are we sleeping?" Alex looked panicked at her best friend. Whoops....

"We...Are sleeping on a tour bus...." Alex looked back at the road and realized that she never told her friend or thought about it since she had talked to Ty. Meg narrowed her eyes but seen as they pulled onto the expressway that it was too late to turn back.

"Whose tour bus?" Alex sighed.

"The tour bus that the big bull riders are riding on...."