Page 4 of The Auction
That was one thing we did do a lot. We lied to each other. Or at least, I lied to him a lot. I didn’t give a shit how my hair looked, I was just trying to buy some time.
“Hair’s fine,” he grunted.
Together, we made our way to his battered, old Ford pickup. I hopped into the passenger side and did the trick where you had to slam the door shut twice to get it to stick. He started the engine and I knew we had a little less than an hour’s drive into town.
The horse auction was to kick off at noon, promptly.
My auction would soon follow.
Or maybe not.
“What if they don’t let you do it?”
“What are you talking about?” My father lit a cigarette with the car lighter (yeah, he was still smoking because, fuck it, if you’re going to die already, why not go down doing what you love?) but other than that, didn’t spare me a glance.
“You know,” I said. “What if they don’t let you sell me? What if it’s not even legal?”
“Ain’t sellin’ you, girl,” he spat. “Just lettin’ folks in these parts know you’re open to marriage. You’re what, nineteen?”
“Twenty.”
“’Bout time then.”
“But you’re offering up the farm as incentive. Folks around here are going to have thoughts about that.”
“Yeah, it’s called a dowry,” he drawled. “Fathers have been paying money to give their daughters away for centuries.”
I didn’t correct him and say, not in this century. I also didn’t point out that he hadn’t used the word dowry two days ago when he told me what was going to happen today.
“Want you comin’ with me to the auction Friday.”
“Why?”
“Lot of cowboys will be there.”
“So?”
“Time you got married. Need to leave this farm to your husband.”
“Husband? You won’t even let me date.”
“Datin’ isn’t weddin’. Time you got wedded and bedded before I leave this earth.”
“You can’t do this. You can’t just…marry me off to some cowboy.”
“You belong to me, girl. You’ll do as I say. Wear your church dress. That’ll drive up the bids.”
“Bids!”
“It’s how an auction works. They make an offer and I take the best one.”
There were tears after that. I took myself off to my room thinking I would need to run away right then. Herb musthave counted on that because he locked me in my bedroom. From when I was a kid, the lock on my bedroom door was always on the outside.
For two days I’d been allowed bathroom and kitchen privileges and that was it. Until I got over my snit about getting married.
I considered telling him my secret…that just because he didn’t allow dating didn’t mean I hadn’t done it.
Would I call Kevin a boyfriend? Not really. But he was keen on me and that was something.
