Shock Talk by Bob Larson

Author:Bob Larson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Thomas Nelson
Published: 2010-03-28T00:00:00+00:00

11

Ladies and gentlemen, will you please rise for the presentation of the colors.”

In unison, thousands of spectators stood as cowboys removed their hats and placed their hands over their hearts. From the far end of the arena, three young women on galloping horses burst into the coliseum. Each held a staff with a flag that unfurled as they raced toward the other end of the arena and back toward the center. One rode a white horse, another a palomino, and the third a gray. The riders crisscrossed at breakneck speed, just missing each other, in a circle-eight pattern. Then they stopped and presented their flags at attention: a Colorado flag, a Canadian maple leaf, and the United States’ Stars and Stripes.

The flag presenters rested their reins on the saddle horns as a woman dressed in a flamboyant cowgirl outfit stepped from a box seat near Billy and his entourage. She walked toward the horses, carrying a cordless microphone. The spangles on her brightly decorated vest reflected the glare of a single follow spot that traced her movements. Her flowing western skirt, with embroidered designs of cowboy symbols, moved in waves as she walked.

“Will you please join our rodeo queen, Miss Tiffany Johnson, as she leads us in the singing of our national anthem.”

Near the judge’s booth, a six-piece band struck up the introduction to “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The cavernous coliseum didn’t have the best acoustics, and the words to the song echoed off the steel beams and concrete roof, high above the dirt-covered floor.

Billy winced. He never liked hearing an audience of amateurs try to hit those high notes at the end of the song. It grated on him. Worse yet, Miss Johnson was less than talented, and her effort to soar flatted out. The audience happily sang along, creating a tune that barely resembled Francis Scott Key’s ode to America. They broke into whoops and cheers as the three women once again galloped around the arena and exited as quickly as they had entered.

Billy, Allison, Gabriel, and Dr. Kingman had the best location in the house, ground-level box seats so close to the action that they heard the wheezing of the horses’ breath. The scent of earth, mingled with the smell of horse manure, was overpowering. Small clods of dirt, flung in the air by the horses’ hooves, landed in Billy’s box. Allison had been told she would be “up close and personal,” but this was more than she had imagined.

For Billy, this night was an ambivalent trip back in time. Part of him felt at home with the life that dominated his early adult years. The camaraderie of cowboys, the adrenaline rush seconds before the chute gate opened, the cheer of the crowd at the end of a successful ride— all these rekindled recollections were welcome. Recalling bucking broncos and hard-to-heal bruises didn’t bother him. However, he was uncomfortable with revisiting other less pleasant memories. The pain he felt was from the years he wasted trying to find himself in too much booze and too many meaningless relationships.

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