Last of the Summer Tomatoes (9 page)

“That sounds like an awesome job. I love drawing landscapes.”

“Well, he loved it too. But it didn’t pay very well, so he gave up his car for a motorcycle. Said he could get around the state better for less gas. He… he had an accident.”

“Oh man, I’m sorry.”

“Yeah, it hit everyone hard. He had just turned forty. He had told grandma that life begins at forty. It devastated her. She didn’t live more than three months after that.”

“That’s rough.”

“Yeah, at fourteen, you think your dad is a rock, has only a couple of emotions, you know, laughter, getting mad, but you never think dads can get sad.”

“Your mom said he cried. I… I’ve never seen a grown man cry. Hank says men don’t cry.”

“Whoever Hank is, he’s a jerk. Men cry. We have feelings, you know. Haven’t you ever cried?”

Kyle swallowed hard, remembering his breakdown in the kitchen just the previous afternoon. “Uh, yeah, when I was a kid.”

“Guess you haven’t experienced stuff to cry about yet. But believe me, men cry. Don’t try to be macho and hold it in. It’s not good for you.”

“I’ll keep that in mind.”

“So who’s Hank?”

“My stepfather.”

“You like him?”

“No, not really. He… he hits people.”

“He hit you?”

Kyle played with the bandage on his thumb. “Only when I deserved it.”

Sam sat up straighter. He turned to kneel right in front of Kyle. “No one deserves to be hit. Ever. And from what I know about you, there’s nothing in the world that you could do that would deserve such punishment. Hank sounds like a bully.”

“He’s a union boss at the docks. His word is golden.”

“His ass is mine if I ever meet him.”

“Why?” Kyle looked up into Sam’s eyes.

“Because of what he’s done to you. I don’t know the whole story, but when my mom tells me to watch out for someone like she said to do with you, I know there’s a horrible story there.”

Kyle shrugged and looked away. “Won’t matter. Hank won’t be visiting here, and I hope the timing works out that when I leave here I only have to go… back there for a few days before I move into my room.” Kyle noticed a sliver of sunshine coming through the window. “Looks like the storm is over. Should we find Walt?”

“Sure. Pops will be wondering where we got off to.” Sam stood up and brushed his jeans off.

Kyle stood up as well, wanting that closeness back, wanting that little bit of protectiveness that Sam talked about. But Sam wasn’t going back to the city with him in August; Kyle would have to learn to deal with Hank himself.

“P
OPS
,
how’s the radar looking?” Sam poked his head into the office.

“Looks like we’ll have more rain, but the noisemakers are heading off to the east.”

“Well, we do need rain.”

“Yep, it’ll help the garden. Your mother will be happy.”

“Yeah, I’d hate to see her if she doesn’t get her blue ribbon this year.”

“Oh, there’d be hell to pay. How’s the chicken coop?” Walt took off his hat, rubbing his head.

“We fixed a small hole, but in the process, Kyle injured his thumb. Figured after lunch I’d drive him to the clinic for a tetanus shot, just to be safe.”

“Damn, forgot about that. We should have taken care of that earlier, this being a farm with miles of wire. I’ll have your mom call ahead so they now you’re coming.”

Sam leaned out of the office doorway. “We’ll go after lunch, if that’s okay?”

Kyle looked away from the safety procedure manual that was hanging on the wall. “Yeah, okay. Um, what does this shot involve?”

Sam grinned. “No worries, no ass shot. It’s a small needle in the upper arm. You may not even feel it.”

Walt stood up and stepped around his son, placing his hand on Sam’s shoulder. “You know, your last one was when you were what, ten? Maybe time for a booster while you’re there. Check with your mother.”

Sam nodded. “I’ll do that.” He turned back to Kyle. “So what about it, we’ll have a bonding experience at the doc’s.” He used air quotes around “bonding.”

Kyle shook his head. “So looking forward to a shot.”

Sam walked over and slapped him on the shoulder. “Buck up. It’s an excuse to go to town.”

Kyle shrugged. “Your mom had to take me yesterday. I don’t want to have to make you go again.”

Sam wrinkled his brow. “What, you don’t like our little town?”

“I don’t want to be a burden. How… um, how much does this shot cost?”

Walt walked by them to walk out into the pasture. “Son, I’ve told you, don’t worry about the cost of anything. And believe me, getting this shot is much more cost-effective than having you get tetanus.” He went through the side door. “You guys mind running the fences before lunch? Make sure we don’t have any weak spots, just in case we get any more bad weather. Don’t want any panicked escapees.”

“Sure, Pops. Hey, you want me to put Kyle on ol’ Bess?”

“I think you’ve got time for a riding lesson. But if they don’t take to each other, put him on the ATV.”

Kyle looked over at Sam. “ATV?”

“All-terrain vehicle. Four-wheeler?”

Kyle still looked confused.

“Hmmm, the power of a motorcycle on four wheels.”

“Uh, okay.”

Sam tugged at his arm, heading in the opposite direction of the pasture. “Come on, you’re gonna either learn horse or ATV today.”

K
YLE
stood next to a behemoth of a horse. Or what seemed like a behemoth. Ol’ Bess seemed nervous, her skin twitching, her head going up and down, snorts coming out of her nose. He turned to Sam. “You sure she wants to be ridden? She doesn’t seem very calm.”

Sam dragged a saddle out of the barn. “She’s fine. That’s natural horse body language. Don’t worry, I swear, she’s the easiest ride we’ve ever had.” He swung a blanket over her back, then the saddle. A few tugs, a knot, and a buckle later, the saddle was in place. He placed the bit in her mouth and adjusted the bridle.

“Okay, you approach the horse from the left. Just like with the cows, put your hand on her hindquarters to let her know you’re there, lest you get kicked. Once on her left, put your foot in the stirrup and swing over, like this.” Sam mounted Bess, then dismounted. “Always from the left.”

“Why?”

“It’s a universal thing. So any horse that’s been broken will know the rider will come from the left. I think it had to do with when the cowboys and soldiers carried rifles and swords. Their weapons were holstered on the left, thus they mounted from the left so they didn’t have to swing their weapons over the horse.”

“Makes sense.”

“Okay, your turn. Do just what I did, and once you’re up, I’ll adjust the stirrups.”

Kyle approached Bess just as Sam did. He hesitated for a moment, then placed his foot in the stirrup and swung over. He grabbed on to the round knob on the saddle, holding on for dear life.

“Let go of the saddle horn, use your thighs to keep your balance. Once you get used to her, you’ll feel at one with the animal. You won’t feel so off-balance. Take the reins in your left hand; you’ll lay the reins against her neck to show her what direction you want to go. Have her walk for you. Give her a little nudge in the sides, she’ll walk. Walk the corral, turn her around, walk the other direction.”

Kyle did so, and she started to walk. It was a heady experience, being on top of such a large animal, them working together to walk the corral. They went around once, turned around, went around again.

“Great! How do you feel?”

“It’s… weird. I can feel her walking, feel her movements under me, but I don’t feel like I’m going to fall anymore.”

“You want to try a little faster? You’re gonna bounce a little, and yeah, your balls aren’t going to like it much, but you do get used to it.

“
What?
”

“Just nudge her a little more into a trot. Hold on with your knees to keep from bouncing right off of her.”

Kyle did and immediately Bess started to walk a little faster, making him bounce in the saddle. He squeezed harder with his knees to try to keep himself steady.

“Looking good! We’ll leave anything faster to another day. You want to walk her along the fences with me now? We can probably get the large pasture done before lunch. You probably don’t want to ride much more than that today for your first day.” Sam went back into the barn and led another horse out. He saddled it and placed a few tools in a bag that hung from the saddle.

“Okay, ready?”

Kyle nodded.

“Again, we’re only going to walk the fences. Just walk.” He opened the gate, led his horse out, and waited on Kyle. “Don’t worry, she’s not going to bolt now that the gate’s open. She’s been with us for quite a while. She knows where the warm barn and good food is. She doesn’t want to escape to the big bad world.”

Kyle nudged her forward out of the corral. He did half-expect the horse to take off, but Sam was right. She stopped right next to the other horse. Sam closed the gate and mounted his horse. “This is Mike, a gelding. He’s pretty easygoing too.”

“Gelding?”

“He’s been fixed.” Sam led them out to the pasture.

Kyle snorted. “Poor guy.”

“Well, in workhorses, if they aren’t snipped, after a while they’re just mean all the time. Keeps ’em calm, plus it’s healthier. Has something to do with the testosterone level.”

“There’s a lot to learn about these animals, huh?”

“Yeah. I thought about becoming a veterinarian.”

“Is that what you’re studying?”

“Nah. Decided to go into engineering.” Sam pulled up next to a loose connection on the wire fence. “Hang on, let me reinforce this.” Sam pulled out some pliers.

“You think there’s a lot of repairs to be done?”

“Nah, not really. This actually could have been overlooked today, but figured while we’re here, might as well tighten it up.”

“Will cows really try to go through a loose fence?”

“If they panic, they can. They’re almost like a collective mind. You’ve heard of a stampede, right?” Kyle nodded. “A couple panic, and they all panic, moving almost as one as a herd. I’ve seen them run right through a fence.”

“Wow.”

Sam mounted his horse again, both of them riding on up the pasture. “It wasn’t pretty. We had a rare tornado touch down nearby; it was so windy it took quite a few shingles off the house. The main herd ran; we had to put down two of them.”

“Really? Why?”

“If an animal that large breaks a leg, there’s really no way for it to heal. They can’t lie down for a long period of time and you really can’t keep them in traction, either. Because they’ll try to stand, try to put weight on the limb even while it’s healing. It won’t heal right and can cause major pain. It’s more humane to put them down.”

“I don’t see how anyone can do that.”

“My dad can’t. He calls Hotchkins, over at Circle H. He can’t even watch. He’d never make it on a beef farm. Hell, it kills him to send the male calves away.”

“You send them away?”

“Just as in humans, the cows will give birth about fifty-fifty male, female. Only the females give milk, right? We only need a couple of bulls for this size of herd, and those are only good for three to four mating seasons. We have to keep genetic diversity in the stock. So yeah, most of the male calves are sent to Hotchkins.”

“And he?”

“Don’t get me wrong. He’s not out there shooting cows all day. They are humanely slaughtered for their meat. He’s actually much more caring than what you’ll find at most large slaughterhouses. His cows are babied too, right up until the last day. They are free to roam, eat, play in the ponds.”

“I told your dad, I’d never thought about where the food comes from before.”

“Yeah, it’s easy to remove yourself from foods’ origins when all you see is packaged stuff in the grocery store. It always takes me a day or two to get back my ‘farm legs’ after being away at school.” Sam stopped, finding another spot that needed reinforcement.

“How often do you have to do this? Run the fences?”

“Eh, we try to go at least a couple times a month during the summer; winter not so much as the cows tend to stay near or in the barn during the coldest of the winter months.”

“It’s a lot to do.”

“Farming’s never boring.”

“I think I’ve learned more in a couple of days than I did in four years of high school.”

Sam mounted up again. “I can imagine. Come on, I’m getting hungry, let’s wrap this up. You think you can handle a little faster?”

“I can try.”

“Just… if you feel yourself falling, just let yourself go, and don’t reach for the ground. You’ll break your wrist. Let your butt take the brunt of the fall.”

“I really don’t want to fall at all.”

“No one does. But sometimes it happens. But you are doing great! Taking to ol’ Bess there just about as good as you did to the cows.” Sam nudged Mike off to a very slow trot, turning to watch Kyle behind him.

Kyle nudged Bess forward, becoming a little more comfortable with the slow trot. They rounded the west end of the pasture and headed back to the ranch house, having to stop once more to fix a loose connection. They made it back to the barn just as another round of rain started.

“Lead Bess into the barn, I’ll show you how to take the saddle and bridle off.” Sam shut the gate behind them, leading Mike into the barn after Bess and Kyle.

Kyle stopped next to the stall marked Bess and dismounted, remembering to go to the left. Once on the ground his legs felt wobbly, and he almost fell over.

“Whoa there, give yourself a chance to get your legs back underneath you. Tonight take a long hot bath before you go to bed and take some aspirin and lots of water. I’m afraid your legs aren’t going to like you tomorrow.”

“How on earth do you get used to it?” Kyle could feel a little bit of burn along his inner thighs.

“Lots of riding. Get those muscles used to being in the saddle. But don’t think you’re alone. It still takes me a couple of riding sessions to get my muscles used to it. Sitting at a desk listening to lectures doesn’t take much balancing skills.” Sam showed Kyle how to take the saddle and bridle off. “The saddle goes over the railing by her stall; the blanket goes next to it. Take the bridle and clean off the bit—” Kyle raised an eyebrow. “—the piece that went in her mouth. Clean it with the water in the bucket, and then hang it on the wall under her name. We’ll want to give them a quick brush down, and then it’s lunch. I don’t know about you, but I’m starving.”