Chapter 03

Rayka

The girls and I hang out by the pool, the argument in the car is forgotten as we laugh and joke, when the meat is ready, we get out of the pool and put on our robes to sit by the table.

My dad went all out with the meal consisting of Beef Brisket and Pulled Pork accompanied by macaroni and cheese, mashed potatoes, and pickles. For dessert we have a Banana Pudding and vanilla ice cream.

After dinner we go back to my room and after taking a hot shower and putting on a comfortable outfit, we lay down on the bed to watch a movie, I put on the movie Wolves with Jason Momoa as the villain, I love this actor and I haven't had a chance to watch this movie yet

“Oh, back home.” I speak at the end of the movie. “Of this bad wolf, I certainly want to be the little hat.”

“We already know what kind of man to look for to be Rayka's boyfriend, an older guy, who is very tall, with long hair and a brave face.” Sarah says.

“Perfect description, if you find one like that, you can deliver my address.” I say, making everyone laugh.

Sarah takes the control to choose the second movie, after a while looking, she chooses the movie Gods of Egypt with Gerard Butler in the role of the villain.

“Well girls with beautiful villains like that it's hard to root for the good guys.” I speak when Gerard appears as the merciless Set.

I hear my cell phone ring and when I see who is calling, my smile disappears on the spot, I can't believe Bryan had the courage to call me, he must know that I will rip off his crown for hurting Liz.

I reject the call discreetly so that no one sees, especially Liz, I'm not in the mood to talk to him today, let alone cause more fuss with him going to Arlington and forgetting to invite my friend to stay with him.

Bryan calls again and I refuse again and holy shit he doesn't touch himself, he calls again a third time he will not give up and maybe it could be something serious, I pause the movie and answer at once.

“What do you want?”

“Good night to you too, Rayka.” Bryan laughs.

“Just say what you want before I hang up.”

I see that the girls are looking at me to know who I'm talking to and by the look on Ness's face, I think she already suspects who it is.

“You love me, and you wouldn't do that.”

He might just want to piss me off, but I'm not in the mood to waste my time with him, I'd rather keep watching the movie and drooling over Gerard. I hang up on him, without even answering.

As soon as I pick up the remote and the cell phone rings again, Ness starts laughing, probably because my expression isn't the friendliest.

“Are you going to torment me all night?”

“Wow, what kind of mood is that?”

“Do you swear you don't know, you idiot? Just say what you want and leave me alone.”

“Okay. Okay. Okay. Okay. I can see you're PMT, so I called you, because Ness isn't answering her phone and I need to talk to her, do you know where she is?”

What do you mean, do you know where she is? I can't believe he could have forgotten that me and the girls got together, he can't be that stupid, come to think of it he is that stupid.

“She's next door, I will put her on.” I hand the phone to Ness and speak loudly. “Your brother is definitely an idiot.”

Since the phone is not on speaker, we can only hear what Ness says.

“What do you want Bryan?”

- Why would we go to Arlington?”

Why would we go to Arlington? Why does he want us there?

“I will put it on speakerphone, and you explain it to the girls.” Ness rolls her eyes and sighs deeply. “It's Bryan, we're all together, as we have been every year before New Year's for 6 years.”

And so, we confirm that he has forgotten.

Ness turns on the speakerphone and pulls the cell phone away from her.

“Good evening, Liz, and Sarah.”

I notice Liz's eyes glaze over when he says her name, how can she be content with so little from him?

“Good evening.” They reply together.

“So, I called to extend the invitation to Ness and Rayka, but since they are together, the invitation goes to all four of them. I am with two friends in Arlington and the cousin of one of them has been challenged to ride a bull tomorrow that no cowboy has ever been able to ride.” That will certainly be interesting to see. “I know Rayka loves this kind of event, that's why I called, so what do you say you come and spend the New Year's Eve here?”

“Look Bryan, we'll talk it over and if we decide to go, we'll let you know.” I say and hang up the phone. “So, what do you think?”

Just looking at Liz, I know she's dying to go and be with Bryan and that makes me sad, because she's better than that, she deserves more than small and mere moments. As for me, I can't deny that I was curious to see this bull, which is probably not part of the PBR circuit, since there are none that are invincible like this, even my father's bulls have suffered some stops.

“You know that for me, we go.” Liz shrugged.

“For me, the important thing is to be with my friends during the turn to the new year, the place is the least.” Sarah says.

“I don't deny that I love watching a rodeo and I really want to see that invincible bull that Bryan said.” I says with some excitement.

“Like Sarah, I don't mind going either, and we can make this trip a nice adventure before graduation and before we embark on our future professional routine of seeking recognition.”

“Okay, let's go to Arlington then, I will ask my dad if we can use his jet, because it will be much faster than getting a last-minute commercial flight, and from there we'll head back to the college.”

They get up excitedly already starting preparations for our trip, I leave my room and go to my parents' room, knock on the door, I hear my father saying to come in.

“Rayka, is everything alright daughter?” My mother asks when she sees me.

“Yes, it's just that Bryan just called us to meet him in Arlington, and I was wondering if we could use the jet.”

“Daughter, of course you can.” My father smiles. “But just out of curiosity, what are you doing in Arlington?”

“There's a riding challenge there.”

“Rayka Griffin Powell, don't tell me you're thinking of going there to ride.” My mom says angrily.

As tempting as the idea is, I haven't ridden in years, and I've never done it in public.

“Of course not. I just want to go, because Bryan said he's an invincible bull and I want to see that, it's just curiosity really.”

“Richard's challenge.” My father speaks in a disgusted tone.

I don't remember that name, but from the way my father looked, he must not have a good relationship with this man.

“Who is he?”

“Richard Rivera is a breeder of riding bulls, a few years ago he tried to join the PBR, but I refused him entry because the methods he uses to train the bulls are too cruel.”

Now I understand my father's displeasure, he always defended that it is not necessary to mistreat a bull to make him a good riding bull, because it is something that is in the animal's DNA, it just needs to be trained to give a beautiful show. That is why the PBR only accepts troopers who follow this concept. And the worst thing is that because of some like this Richard, that the rodeo has a reputation for mistreating animals.

“After that he started attending the clandestine rodeos and then the rumor began to circulate that one of his bulls does not leave any pedestrian mounted for more than 5 seconds, and for six months he has been challenging any pedestrian who agrees to ride the bull, promising to pay 2 million to whoever stays the 8 seconds.”

It's a very tempting prize, I wonder how many have tried it.

“Andrew, wasn't it this bull that nearly killed a pedestrian the other day?” My mother asks.

“Yes, it was, Dulce, he jumped and fell backwards over the cowboy, the poor boy narrowly escaped death.”

“This riding thing is very dangerous; it should be banned.” My mother says.

Despite loving my father and respecting his passion for rodeos, my mother never understood the thrill of riding, when it all comes down to 8 seconds. Seeing her say this, I remember the lecture I got when she found out I was riding on the farm, I can still hear the screams she gave. She even wanted my father to fire Kaneki for teaching me how to ride, she just couldn't do it, because my father knew it was my choice to ride and that Kaneki couldn't stop me, only make sure I didn't get hurt.

“Dulce, we have already talked about this, living in itself is already risky, it is not the bull's fault, he just learned to see man as an enemy, as something that will bring him pain.”

I already know that this conversation is going to last for hours, and I don't want to be in the middle of it, because I know that in the end it will end up leaving me and I'm not in the mood to get complicated today.

“I'm going back to the girls; I will call James myself and let him know about the trip. Good night dad, good night mom.”

“Good night princess.” My father says.

“Good night daughter and be sensible on this trip.” My mother speaks.

“I always have a mother.” I say as I leave the room.

When I enter my room I don't see the girls, but I hear their laughter coming from the closet and I go there, I find the 3 of them trying on my boots and I find it funny how excited they are to choose the ones they are going to wear.

“Can I know what's going on here?” I ask making myself noticed and scaring Sarah.

“Hi Rayka, since we are going to a rodeo, we should go properly dressed, but we don't have that kind of clothes here, only you do.” Liz says.

“Feel free to explore my closet, just don't take the brown mid-calf fringed boot, because I'm going to wear it.”

“All right, that leaves us with how many to choose from? About 15?” Ness asked laughing

Ness knows very well that I have a passion for boots, I would have many more, but I try to control myself.

“For your information, I don't have 16 boots in my closet, I have 18 between boots and boots, not counting the 5 I have in Boston. And while you're having fun, I'm going to call the pilot and make sure we have a flight to Arlington and good rooms at the hotel.”

I leave them there and sit on the bed to make the calls.