Chase
I got hammered the night I caught my girlfriend with Robert Jamison in bed. We yelled at each other, she told me she just dated me for the status of being Chase's girl and how she never really liked me. I stormed out of her house, telling her to forget me. Forget us. I left her house a fucking mess.
My first instinct was to drive to Joe's. I needed a drink to cool me down.
"What's the matter, Chase? Arguing with the Jaminsons again?" The bartender asked me.
"Yea! I guess you can say that." I decided not to share my personal life with him. Even though it would be a matter of hours before the whole town knew about Helen's secret liaison with Robert. Still, I wasn't ready to be made fun of in public by the bartender.
An hour later, I was downing loggers as if they were water and I had been in a desert for months. I didn't notice how drunk I was, until I got up and felt the world spinning
"Are you ok son?" he asked again.
"Yea!"
"We can have one of the guys drive you home, if you want."
"I'm ok. I just need to freshen up." I went to the bathroom, splashed water on my face. Nothing changed. I decided to leave anyway.
Hellen always knew how to get to me in the worst possible ways. We started dating when I turned 20. I had rejected an offer to work in Montana and decided to stay at our farm in Copper Creek, Colorado, to help my brother Silas and my dad. We were the Walker family together with my younger brother Joshua.
That night Hellen reminded me of all the wrong reasons we stayed together. Her lies, the boring sex and of course my temper. We dated for two years. She was pretty, she insisted so I decided to go out with her.
Hellen loved showing me off at Joe's every Friday night—and anywhere else she pleased. Looking back on those two years, I can probably name three or four guys she cheated on me with. Back then, I was too "in love" to see it. And every time I finally reached my limit, she'd threaten to do something reckless to herself just to keep me from leaving.
My uncle was the mayor of Copper Creek, and over the years, our family became powerful in town because of everything we did for the community. I got involved in the town's affairs myself, doing whatever I could to help people in need. Whether it was fixing fences for a struggling rancher or pushing my uncle to address issues the townspeople brought to me, I always tried to do what was best for Copper Creek.
The guy Hellen was with, Robert Jamison, was our family's nemesis. Him and his brother Jared owned a liquor store and sold booze to all of Copper Creek's underaged minors. They were pretty popular amongst the kids but the town hated them. They decided who would get served and refused service to basically anyone who would get in their way. They knew everybody's drinking habits and controlled special orders. And by special I mean drugs that came in and out of town and were available illegally at their joint.
Our farm was small, but we were located in one of the city's most prestigious pieces of land, fertile for growing palisade peaches. Selling peaches in Colorado was a highly lucrative seasonal business. We sold them wholesale to established roadside stands and supermarkets, generating a lot of money in gross sales over the summer.
We tried to stop the Jaminsons at all costs. Especially because they were very good at spreading rumors about our family. My brother Silas once had to give a formal explanation to the Coppler Creek Herald, just to prove that he was never a drug abuser and was definitely not one of the Jaminson's frequent customers. Then finally Robert hooked up with Hellen. Which, in hindsight, was one of the best things that ever happened to me. She didn't have an excuse to emotionally manipulate me and he would never get laid properly if he were to be faithful. Which probably wouldn't be the case either.
Although the majority of our city folks hated them, combating the Jaminsons became a challenging task, primarily because there was a part of town that liked the party scene that they promoted so well.
That night, I was so angry. I wanted to hurt Robert badly. So I decided to vandalise his property. Take advantage of the fact that he was sleeping over at Hellen's and his brother Jared was away working.
Leaving the bar drunk wasn't the problem, but keeping up with my plan was. I saw a caff trapped in a barbed wire approaching Robert’s land. I was so drunk, I forgot what I was doing at the property to begin with, so I saved it. Fucking Robert Jaminson pressed charges for trespassing and I got arrested.
So there I was at the county jail, waiting to get bailed by my dad. Preparing to get scowled from now until eternity, for doing what I did.
Apparently being humiliated for being in the drunk tank wasn't enough. I also had to calm down the rookie who arrested me. Gerald was working the night shift and was in charge of the outlaws for the evening. He was scared shitless of my uncle.
"It's ok Gerald, I'm alright. Nothing bad will happen to you. I promise, I was the one who was wrong," the alcohol was starting to fade. I've been there for almost five hours. I knew my old man would take his time and would not bail me out in seconds. He wanted me to pay for embarrassing myself. He was embarrassed by my behavior, I was sure.
The night went by painfully slow and there was nothing I could tell Gerald that would convince him that my uncle wouldn't get him fired.
"You know Gerald, the definition of insanity is trying something in the same way multiple times and expecting a different result. So technically, this," I made a signal to both of us with my index finger, "is literally insanity at its best." He couldn't reach. "Don't worry, ok, you'll keep your job." I knew saying that wouldn't make any difference since I had been telling him that for the past five hours.
A couple of hours went by, before Gerald approached me for the last time.
"Chase! Your dad's here! You are free to go!" he opened the jail cell. I could tell he was relieved.
But as for me, I knew freedom was the only thing I wasn't going to get if Mr. Walker got his way.
We rode home. He said nothing. When we arrived at the ranch he dismissed me coldly.
"Come talk to me first thing tomorrow. Get some sleep!"
I said nothing and went to my house to try and sleep. Took me a while.
I woke up the following morning, with a hangover and my heart beating fast from the nightmares I had the night before. Nightmares where my father made me leave town and ban me from the family business. Fending for myself from scratch has always been a fear of mine.
I walked to the main house knowing something bad was coming. When I got there, he was sitting at the kitchen table.
"You wanna play hero?" not on purpose, I thought to myself. He hands me his phone and shows me plane tickets. "Ok then you're responsible for someone who actually needs saving from now on."
Emily Winsor, she was untouchable. Her father was one of our largest buyers, owning a large supermarket chain with franchises all over Colorado. He himself lived in New York, where he ran his empire. She had been caught smoking weed and as her punishment, I would be in charge of making sure she worked full time at the barn this summer. Our barn consisted mainly of four of Mr. Winsor's horses. It was a deal with him and my dad. It was not an extensive stable but it demanded a lot from us. We worked from dusk till dawn and I wondered how a city girl would have the endurance to keep up with all of the daily chores.
"Come on Walker! You want to set me up to babysit that brat? Can't you make me hoof all the horses next month or something? I don't want to be stuck with a teenage junkie."
"She's not a junkie. She's going to Yale next fall and you're taking care of her end of the story. Now go to work. The barn doesn't run by itself."
My dad didn't even let me finish speaking. My old man always liked taking care of everyone. He became that way after my mom passed away, softer. Seven years have passed since she left us, and I still think about her every day. I miss her cooking, I miss her.
I opened my email and he had already forwarded Emily's tickets to me. I would spend the summer filling report cards, making sure she is in her room by 8, waking her up if she isn't at the barn at five-ish. I swear, I'd prefer he sent me away. I only did that kind of thing for family. My brothers were everything to me.
When Joshua decided to become a bronc rider, I followed him on tour making sure he didn't get into any trouble. Josh had a tendency of hanging with the wrong crowd. Silas had a reputation of being too jealous over his ex-girlfriend Julia, which led him to their breakup. I also defended him. Julia called me and I told her to forgive him. My brother didn't deserve losing her. They were great together.
When I drove to the airport the next morning I thought about Emily and how I don't remember much of her, I just knew she had buck teeth and wore disgusting braces. Kind of annoying little fourteen year old too. Her father and her only visited when she needed a new horse. I remember her asking me about breaking stallions. She didn't believe me when I told her it wasn't really a problem for me. She was fourteen and I was eighteen at the time. But aside from that, we never really spoke. Now I am stuck with her for the summer.
When I got to the airport, the flight was delayed.
CHASE: Hey bro!
SILAS: Hey. Where are you?
CHASE: Guess
SILAS: Airport?
CHASE: Yep
CHASE: I can't believe I am doing this. Babysitting a teenage junkie. I swear to God. Why didn't I take that job in Montana. None of this would have happened.
SILAS: Don't talk about leaving again Chase.
CHASE: You have a better idea?
SILAS: Yea...NOT LEAVE!
CHASE: Dad is on a mission to make the world a better place. Ever since mom died. He's been different.
I shouldn't have brought up the subject of our mom's death. Silas never really came to terms with it and constantly brought back the fact that I left the hospital before they turned off the machines.
SILAS: We all changed Chase! And you know how I feel about you leaving us there and how everytime you talk about leaving it feels like we are back at that hospital all over again.
I felt like calling him and saying that she was already gone. That it didn't change much about me being there or not, but I knew that would amount to nothing. He wouldn't listen. We've had that conversation countless times.
CHASE: I just want out of this situation. Our farm is not a rehab center.
SILAS: Oh come on Chase! Don't see it as a rehab center but rehab on horses.
CHASE: Fuck you Silas! I'm serious. I hate this shit.
I asked him how things were going with his present girlfriend. He told me things were crap. I said they couldn't be worse than my situation and he told me they were. He explained how he doesn't really see a purpose to their relationship and was trying to find out ways to save it. He still loved Julia, that would never change.
Julia was every guy's dream come true and most guys at school had crushes on her. She was tall and blond. Wore sun dresses my brother loved, encouraged him to follow his dreams and helped Silas with his internal struggles. She never once looked at another guy but Silas, yet that didn't stop him from developing a pathological jealousy over her.
We talked for a couple of more minutes. I encouraged him to stop thinking about her. When I hung up, there was still no Emily.
After an hour at the airport, I was sitting with my face in my hand, elbows propped on my thighs and a sign that said Emily Winsor over on the top of my head.
Someone touched me lightly over the shoulder. When I opened my eyes I saw a stunning big hazel-eyed, dark-haired girl, smiling at me.
"Chase?" Her smile was beautiful. "It's me, Emily!"
I stood up fast, arms crossed around my chest. Sign in my hand beneath my armpit. I wasn't expecting a goddamned playboy bunny. My body reacted before my mind could catch up.
"Where are your braces?" That came out automatically.
"What?" She scratched her forehead, "I don't have braces," She kept on looking at me with a puzzled look hoping for an explanation. I had none.
"Ough..." fuck. "Let me get your bags. The car is in the parking lot." Her hot pink bags with the I'm literally just a girl sticker did not make this situation any better. Carrying it to the car and seeing Mr. Gomez, the mailman, stare at me with a smirk, just made that day officially worse than the one before.
We continued walking.
"Why did you ask me about braces?" She insisted.
Because when I last saw you, you were this annoying little eighth grader with braces and now you are hot!
"You had braces the last time we saw each other." I gave her a faint smile and continued walking.
"Oh! You remember!" We got to the car. I placed her bag inside the trunk. I wasn't sure how I would spend the next twenty minutes with her. She kept on being...festive.
"What else do you remember?" We got to our seats and I slammed the door. She had that gorgeous smile on her again.
"Your hair wasn't as long...Or silky." Shit!
"Silky?"
I guess I'll shut up now.
It's safe to say that our first interaction was one of the worst possible. To top it off I couldn't stop staring at her boobs. They were tight against her black baby T-shirt. They were fucking perfect! My mind wondered. I considered opening my mouth to make things better, but didn't. I figured I would probably come up with something even more embarrassing. So I focused on subtly rearranging the situation in my jeans, praying she wasn't paying attention.
"It's Pantene!" She said, another smile. Apparently I was supposed to know who Pantene was.
"Whose Pantene?" I asked and said nothing else, not risking to insult some relative or close friend of hers.
"Pantene! My shampoo." I was still not getting it, "you said my hair was silky."
"Right! Yea...well, it's doing a good job."
"What shampoo do you use?"
"I don't know."
"You don't have a brand?"
"No."
I managed to shut up after saying. She got the message. I hope I didn't insult her by telling her I didn't know the brand of my shampoo. I was just happy I managed to stay quiet for the rest of the ride.
