Page 106 of Bulls and Their Boy

I had so many things I wanted to say to them, but I couldn’t. I saw why Joel didn’t want to talk much about his father. “You all have a nice day.”

I stepped away from the car and watched them arguing after she rolled up the window. I guessed the one that wanted to leave won the fight, and they soon were heading back down the road.

“Burke! Hurry!”

I turned to see Damon holding Joel tightly, with his arms pinned to his sides. I went to them and took him from Damon only to see why Damon had been holding him like that. Joel started to thrash around and throw punches, so I grabbed his wrists and commanded in a low but firm voice, “Stop! Now, boy!”

Joel came around, but his eyes were bright red and streaming tears. “I…I…I….”

He was hysterical, so I picked him into my arms and carried him back to the guesthouse while he cried on my shoulder the entire time, his arms wrapped pitifully around my neck.

He didn’t say a word until we got back into our bedroom in the guesthouse, and I laid him on the bed. Once he was there, still as if he were sleeping, I got beside Joel, leaving enough room for Damon to get on the other side of him. Flanking him like that, it stopped his shaking and he covered his face with his hands. “I’m sorry, y’all!”

“Shh, Joel, no need for that. What the hell happened?”

“Yeah, Joel, what did they say to you?” Damon pushed.

“Daddy wan’ed me ta go wit’ ‘em. He said we’s goin’ ta church, and I needed to repent. He heard about me and y’all.”

“Jesus,” I whispered. “Joel, lots of people are like him, and you’re always going to have them saying things like that. You can’t break down every time.”

“It’s him! All he done to me and Mama, and he has the gall ta tell me I’m a sinner?” He got flat on his back, but the tears didn’t stop. “I ain’t tol’ y’all ever’thin’ ‘bout ‘im. He was a damned ol’ drunk, ne’er had a nice word for me, and all me and Mama did ever’ day was to pick ‘im up off the floor and clean ‘im up from his drunks. My mama, she saved and saved for a new sofa-couch, and it was purty. She was so proud o’ it, and she came home from work the very next day, and he’d pissed all o’er it. Pissed hisself on it!”

There was a lot more trauma than we’d guessed. “Joel, baby, why didn’t you ever tell us?”

“Would y’all? Iffin your daddy was the one pissin’ and pukin’ all over, and sayin’ mean ol’ nasty thin’s to ya? Then he finds Jesus, and that ol’ gal and he’s so much better ‘an us now!”

“Joel,” a woman screamed, and he sat bolt upright on the bed.

“Mama!”

He scrambled off the bed and ran out of the room, with us on his heels. We stopped as we got to the front entrance to see him being held there, his mother rocking him a little. “That piece of pig shit! I tried ta get here, honey. You don’t pay him no mind at-all!”

She let go of him and came to Damon and me, laying a hand on each of our faces. “Y’all chased ‘im. Tol’ me y’all chased him off here. Good on ya! I’m obliged to ya.”

“We’re not going to let anyone hurt him,” I told her, and she beamed up at me.

“Yeah, Mama, Damon pulled me away and Burke chased ‘em right off. Made me proud as hell.”

“Y’all don’t let ‘im or that nasty piece of work he married near my boy, ya hear? He’s no good, right to his black, stone heart!” To Joel, she said, “Honey, go out and make sure I put my truck in park. I got out so quick!”

“Sure, Mama,” he said and took off running.

She waited until he was gone and let her hands fall. “They’re a-fixin’ to try ta cause y’all trouble, tellin’ folks yer messin’ with Joel in bad ways. I know y’all’re gonna hear ‘bout it, but don’t worry a tick. I called Noah, and he’s already on the phones, chasin’ that som-bitch right outa town.”

Damon looked to me, and I saw the fear there. Like Joel, he’d been the target of bigots, including his own family. I had two men to calm. “Mrs. Barnes, I promise, I’ll keep…we’ll keep Joel safe from his dad. We will keep him here, on the property, and I’ll call to see what I have to do to get him a restraining order. If we do get trouble from this town, we’ll move. I’ll take him to the ends of the earth to protect him, I swear that to you,” I told her, looking her in the eye, but as the last word faded, I looked also to Damon.

“We can find a ranch anywhere.”

“That’s appreciated. I don’t want my boy to move. I’ll make sure this town keeps their noses outa yer bu’ness.”

“I’d appreciate that, Mrs. Barnes.”

“You take care of my boy, call me Pam.” She rose and turned to Damon. “You don’t talk much, do ya?”

He stammered and then finally shook his head before he ducked it.

She got a kick out of that and was still laughing when Joel walked through the door. “It were in park.”

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