Maria Gonzalez sat on the hard wooden bench between her two friends and stared fixedly at the scoreboard. Her time of 16.082 seconds was still holding third place behind Marsha and Kim. Only one racer had yet to ride and she was about to make her run. Kim and Marsha almost always placed top three, but Maria was new to barrel racing and had not placed better than fifth this season. A top three finish here in Austin, the biggest event of the season, would assure her of an invitation to ride again next season, even though she wouldn't have the points otherwise. She was so nervous that her mouth was dry and her heartbeat was pounding in her temples. Her long fingers unconsciously stroked the beads of her rosary.
The final rider thundered down the chute and as she crossed the line the clock began running. Maria didn't watch the girl; her eyes were glued to the clock. The rider chose to go left first, which meant she would have two right turns before the long straight away to the finish. She cut the last barrel very tightly and it leaned over at a dangerous angle. The crowd watched as the barrel slowly tumbled to its side. In racing you could touch the barrels, but if you knocked one over there was a five second penalty. With that barrel falling Maria was assured of holding third and she, Kim and Marsha all jumped up and down and hugged. It was the first one, two, three finish for Valdez Junior College that season.
Maria had been born and raised in Valdez. Her father worked as security advisor for one of the big defense contractors and her mother ran a small clothing shop. The two had met in Mexico City where her father had been an embassy guard. Her mother made a very comfortable living with her shop, which catered to the large immigrant population in Valdez. She sold dresses, skirts and tops in traditional patterns and colors and all of her cloth was imported from Mexico. She also did a small but lucrative business with some of the richest Anglo families in town, to whom showing up in "authentic" Mexican garb was the new Chic. They had two children, the older a boy named Curtis who took after his father and the younger was Maria, who looked like a carbon copy of her mother.
Maria had earned a scholarship to Valdez Junior College for her scholastic achievement. Her real desire was to go to A & M and become a vet, but it was expensive and two years free at Valdez while living at home would make it much easier for her folks to afford her final two years at A & M. Maria wasn't sure she was ready for living so far from her family and friends anyway, so the JuCo seemed the best option. The fact that Kim was going to Valdez too had made the decision easy.
Kim Hall had been her best friend since third grade. Kim was tall and had movie star good looks, she was also very charismatic and Miss Popular both in high school and later at college. She was the first freshman to be Captain of the riding team, based on her scores from high school. It was only though her intercession that Maria had made the college's barrel racing team at all, most of her training had been in dressage. Placing today meant so much to Maria
,
because it validated her friend's faith in her and let Maria feel like she had proven Kim right when the tall blonde had gone out on a limb for her with the team's faculty advisor last summer to get Maria on the team.
Laughing and joking the three girls waited for the bull riding competition to begin. The crowd grew restive as the excitement built; bull riding was the most dangerous sport at the rodeo and thus the most popular. Kim's boyfriend Bo, and Maria's boyfriend Carlos, rode bulls, as well as Maria's older brother Curtis and most of their male friends. Curtis was tall and lean, with heavily muscled arms, blonde hair, blue eyes and a devil may care "bad" boy image that made him a hit with all the girls. He had even dated Marsha for a while, but with Curt girlfriends only came in flavor of the week.
Maria was short and slight with the olive complexion, brown eyes and thick black hair of her mother. Her figure was lush with a heavy "tear drop" ass, nice legs and large full breasts. No one would ever guess she was Curt's sister and usually assumed they were a couple when they were together. The two were extremely close and shared many secrets of each other's private lives. His decision to keep riding after high school and not go to college hadn't sat well with their parents and for a few months she was his only contact with the family.
Maria held her breath as the competition began; Curt had drawn a cantankerous old bull named Diablo. Maria was worried about Curt because his ribs had barely healed from being gored up in Abilene a month earlier. The doctor had told him his season was done, but now she was watching him settle in on Diablo. Maria just didn't understand the machismo driven need that drove her brother and boyfriend to compete in such a dangerous sport. All she could do now was watch and pray.
The gate swung open and old Diablo came out bucking. The fans cheered as the big bull spun around before going on high, but Maria was silent, her eyes were glued to Curt's face and the grimace of pain. When the buzzer sounded, he came off smoothly and was out of the ring before Diablo could get zeroed in on him. The bull had done pretty well, but the score of 65 was a dissapointment. Bo and Carlos both failed to do any better, each being thrown early in the ride. Surprisingly, Curt's 65 held up throughout the competition. With one rider left it looked like he might win, despite his seemingly poor score. By then Bo, Carlos and Curtis had joined the girls in the stands with some of their friends and girlfriends.
"Up next, the state's only girl bull rider, Connie Robinson, riding Hellbent," the Pa announcer called.
"Girl bull rider?" Maria asked incredulously.
"Yeah, that he-bitch from hell won her court case last year," Curtis said.
"Bull riding, perfect sport for a bull dyke," Bo said and the guys burst out laughing.
"Si, she is muy loco," Carlos added.
Maria was barely listening as the string of insults continued. Her eyes were focused on the chute and the lanky cowgirl settling in on a mean looking black bull. She wore a red shirt and red chaps with silver fringe that caught the light. Apparently someone other than the boys thought she was gay, or it was a strange coincidence because she had the number sixty-nine today. She finished cinching up and put one hand on the rail as Hellbent stirred, once she steadied herself she put her free hand up and nodded.
When the gate swung open Hellbent took a single prancing hop and then bucked. Both his font and rear legs seemed to be off the ground as he exploded like a coiled spring, trying to dislodge the rider. His feet barely hit the ground before he twirled violently sideways and kicked again. The bull's feet never seemed to be on the ground at the same time and there was a point where Maria would have sworn by the Virgin that his nose and tail were pointed in the same direction
,
he was twirling so violently. Through it all the rider kept her hand and feet free. Maria was amazed at the way she seemed to absorb all of the motion with her hips. At no point in the ride did she ever seem to be off balance, and even the jerking motions of her arm and shoulders, and the losing of her hat seemed contrived, more for effect and points than out of actual necessity.
Eight seconds. It seemed such a short amount of time, but to Maria it seemed hours. The entire ride played across her mind in slow motion. She was still staring when the buzzer sounded, the girl dismounted and the world returned to normal speed. The crowd was cheering as the clowns got Hellbent back into the chute. The girl retrieved her hat and then looked into the crowd and raised her hands in triumph. In that instant she seemed to be staring into Maria's eyes. If the eight second ride seemed to last hours, that instant of a glance seemed to last an eternity. Maria noticed how tall the girl was, her long clean-cut arms, the heavy black glove she wore and even the red bandanna tied around her boot. Every detail of her face and body were impressed on the small girl's mind, as if she had been staring at the girl for hours. She had high cheekbones, an aquiline nose and strong chin, thin lips and the most haunting gray eyes.
"Fuck," Curt said. The sudden curse seemed to break the spell and the world returned to normal time. When the score of 83 came up the crowd went wild, but the girl just tipped her hat and walked away. Maria's heart was beating wildly and she felt flushed. Her clothes seemed to be too tight and her breathing was heavy, like she had just ridden herself.
