Small Town Girl (Farkle Minkus)

Chapter Nineteen: Girl Meets Lucas' Deepest Darkest Secret

The boys and I sat on top of our desks in Mr. Matthews' room. Lucas and Zay were talking about something, who knows what, and I had Farkle's hand in my lap, playing with his fingers. Every so often, he would rub his thumb against my fingers and smile at our hands.

"I swear, you two are disgusting." Lucas teased. I rolled my eyes.

"I know. We are absolutely, completely, vomit-inducing." I looked over at Farkle. "and I am perfectly ok with that." He  nodded in agreement, while Lucas laughed and shook his head. That's when,  all of a sudden, Riley and Maya burst into the room.

"We have changed the life of somebody in this room." Riley announced.

"Oh, please not me." Zayn whined.

"I'm happy with my life the way it is." Farkle said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. "I got tall and my teeth came in nicely." Zay gestured to him and I laughed.

"Yeah, we're not talking about you two." Maya assured them. "And just to clarify, Farkle and Skipper count as one."

"Oh, no. What'd you do?" Lucas asked, standing up.

"Oh Lucas, in your whole history, we know what has always been your biggest regret." Yeah...so did I.

"Oh, no. What'd you do?" I asked, stepping up beside him.

"Baaaahhh." Maya muttered.

"What was that, why would you do that?!"

"Baaaahhh! You used to be a champion sheep rider at the mutton bustin' rodeo, until you fell off of Judy the sheep. "

"And then, you gave up and never got over it." Riley finished.

"That is my deepest, darkest, secret. Nobody knows I fell off Judy the sheep except..." He looked at me.

"Don't look at me. I'm not the only one who knows." He turned around facing Zay, who met him with a smile.

"They made me Lucas. They made me."

"How did they make you?" Lucas crossed his arms.

"I said 'yall wanna hear a great Lucas story? They said, 'yes'."

"Ok, it doesn't matter. I don't think about that day at all."

"Bull crap." I muttered.

"I fell off that sheep so fast. No one likes me." Riley put a hand on his shoulder.

"Lucas, you can fix this. Get back on that sheep and be a sheep champion."

"We have made that possible." Maya told him.

"How? How'd you make that possible?"

"Show it to him." Maya handed him a certificate. "Ride , Lucas! Ride, boy!"

"We have entered you in..."

"The annual mutton Busting tournament!"

"In Austin Texas!"

"In front of everybody you know. "

"Yay!" They said together.

"I hate to burst your bubble guys, but Mutton Busters is for eight-year-olds." I told them.

"You were wrong, young Skipper. We entered him last week and your application has been accepted." Maya answered.

"Congratulations, Lucas Friar. You are an official entry in this year's 'Austin round-up Rodeo'. You will be riding Tombstone the sheep."

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"Tombstone?!" Zay asked. "Oh well that's the end of you." Lucas fell against the desk.

"Why is it the end of him?"

"Re-read the part about the sheep." I told them. Maya took the paper.

"Blah blah blah. Over the age and weight limit for mutton busters. Blah. We have placed you in the adult rodeo where you will, blah, ride Tombstone the sheep."

"Oh, you only got one word wrong!"

"Let's see if they find that one word!" Zay added.

"And by God it's a big one." I threw in.

"Blah Blah Blah, Blahdy Bla Blah Blah, Blahdy Blah Blah Blah Blah Blah, on Bull!" Zay snapped.

"Ah, she found it."

"You sighed me up to ride Tombstone THE BULL!"

"Are you excited?" Riley asked.

"What's the difference between riding a sheep and riding a bull?"

"Death! Death is the difference."

"Not only is riding a bull considerably more dangerous, Tombstone is the most dangerous." I told them. Mr. Matthews came in.

"Can we start class now?" We all took our seats. "The Railroad."

"I don't get it." Farkle said.

"Why don't you get it, Farkle?"

"How's the railroad tie into what's going on in our lives, Hambone?"

"You're just gonna let him call you, 'Hambone', Matthews?" Maya asked.

"He loves it." I explained.

"The Railroad allowed us to travel across great distances. The Railroad allowed us to see how other people live. When you see how other people live, it changes you. And I do love 'Hambone'. It's cool."  

"Riley, rip it up before he finds out." Lucas told her.

"Who?"

"He's gonna find out, and when he does, nothing will stop him."

"Who?"

"Oh, you'll know who." Zay replied. "You'll here his big booming voice, he'll say somethin'-somethin' like-"

"This country was built on Railroads. I myself, just arrived on the noon train from Austin, Texarkana, and Arkadelphia." I smiled at the man leaning against the doorframe. Pappy Joe. "Guess why I'm here."

"Anybody?" Mr. Matthews asked.

"I'm here because I could not be more proud of my grandboy, Lucas."

"Pappy Joe. That's your Pappy Joe. That's Pappy Joe. Yes! More stuff!" Maya said excitedly.

"That right there is the first Friar that ever had the courage to ride the most ferocious creature in all of creation."

"Are we talking about  Judy the Sheep Pappy Joe?" Riley asked, almost hopefully. He laughed.

"Judy the Sheep! Remember when you fell off of Judy the sheep for about two seconds, boy? Remember that? And we all said it was ok 'cause you were only five years old, so we said it was ok but it wasn't ok, because you were a disgrace to the community and you dragged your family name through the mud hole right up to this day. You put us in the mud hole, remember boy?"

"It's great to see you too, Pappy Joe." I said sarcastically.

"Well you know what, Lucas Friar? Forgiven. you get on that bull for more than three seconds and you will be the master of Tombstone the bull, and I'll tell you, 'I love you'. And that's somethin' I've never said to another human."

"Can we talk about this?" Mr. Matthews asked.

"Time for talkin's over. I got a permission slip. Babineaux, Skip, got one for the two of you, too. Come on, boys. Girl. Let's go ride." We stood up, and Zay screamed:

"Yeehaw!" We all turned, looking at him. "That slipped out." I kissed Farkle's cheek and followed them out. Lucas turned in the doorway.

"You did this!"

~~~

Merry early Christmas! Kind of. Christmas eve is tomorrow, but this is my present to you! You have all be waiting patiently for an update, and I am scincearly sorry you've had to wait so long. So here it is! Girl meets Texas!

-RED0823