Part 1: 11 - Tickets for Demo Day
1988, Barb has extra tickets to give away
Things That Can’t Be Broken is a novel presented as a live draft, one chapter every week.
Last week: 10 - Horses. Honor. Scholarship. An interview and a tough decision for Maeve and Todd, 1987
Part 1 | History is an Angel
11 - Tickets for Demo Day
Barb Ames
June 10, 1988
La Mesa, California
Almost every school day for the last four years, Barb stood at the curb waiting for her cousin to pick her up. This would be the last Friday afternoon she would go to Allen Haven Ranch as a student. It was hard to believe.
So much had changed, even from where she was standing. The landlord had sent a guy to knock down the weeds since the old rotting Datsun was gone from the front yard. When Mr. Allen told her that she could have it hauled away for free, she called the number he gave her. To her shock, they actually handed her a check for fifty bucks.
It felt good giving that check to Mom, so much better than the nothing she normally contributed. Barb glanced down at the toes of the her thoroughbred boots sticking out from under her jeans. She was pretty sure Mom had used the car money to buy her the boots from the consignment shop for her birthday. She shouldn’t have done that. They went to the shop looking for a couch after Dad officially moved out and took the one they had with him. Mom must have noticed her eyeing the boots that day at the shop.
The red boots made Barb’s feet look like they belonged to someone else—and she loved them. Every detail. From the red color, to the eyelet trim at the heel and toe, and the fine hooks and laces going halfway up her calves, which no one would ever see. Who would ever think that Barb Ames would own a pair of red thoroughbred boots? Every night she cleaned them to a rosy shine, even knowing they would get covered in dirt and dust the very next day.
Glancing again at her toes, a pair of red canvas shoes with white laces suddenly appeared. Barb looked up to find the girl wearing them, tipping side to side, long dark ponytail swaying like a pendulum. “Hi Dani,” said Barb, “I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“That’s a lot of carrots,” Dani said, pointing at Barb’s backpack. “Are they all for Fancy?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Barb said, “She’s getting the full spa treatment today. Tomorrow is my last day— it’s Demo Day.”
Dani’s tiny nose crinkled, “What’s Demo Day?”
“Demonstration Day, actually. It’s a kind of horse show, a picnic for students and their families. The graduating students do demonstrations to show a few things we’ve learned at the Allen Horsemanship Program. Fancy will be part of it. . .” Barb stopped for a moment. “Hey, you and your parents could come if you want to. I have three extra tickets.”
“Really?!” Dani’s eyes lit up like a pinball jackpot. She put her hands together and started hopping in place. Seriously, where did all that energy come from?
“Yeah. If you go, you’ll learn all about the horsemanship program. Plus, there will be hot dogs, lemonade, and brownies.” Barb unzipped the front pocket of her backpack, pulled out three red tickets, and put them in Dani’s hand.
“Wow! Thank you!” More hopping, and a spin.
“It’s tomorrow. I know it’s not much notice.” Barb pulled a wrinkled paper from the bottom of her backpack and smoothed it as best she could against her thigh. “Here’s a flyer so your folks know it’s legit. Never mind the essay contest on here. It’s already over. You’re too young, anyway. . . How old are you?”
“Almost 10.”
“Yeah. The address is on the flyer. It starts at 11 AM. Remember that part. They won’t let you in the gate until eleven,” said Barb.
Dani was studying the flyer. She gave Barb a serious look as she twirled the end of her ponytail between her fingers. “How can I win the contest?”
“Oh!” Barb didn’t want to discourage the girl, “Just write a really good essay about why horses are important to your future. You can’t apply until you’re in eighth grade, but you can always practice writing it until then.”
“I will! I’m going to win!” Dani jumped into an outstretched jumping-jack.
Barb laughed, “You have about four years. I’m sure it will be perfect by then.”
Dani was spinning pirouettes again, tickets and flyer held out in front of her like a mirror.
The familiar rattle of her cousin’s bug rounded the corner. “I hope I see you tomorrow,” Barb said, as she climbed in.
“I can’t wait!” Dani promised, waving energetically as they pulled away.
“The neighbor kid’s cute,” Ed said.
“She is,” Barb said, zipping her pack, “I gave her your tickets. I hope you don’t mind. You said you wouldn’t be able to go.”
“Yeah. I can’t get off work and my folks are doing something. I don’t know,” Ed said.
“That’s okay,” Barb said. “Mom and Charlie will be there.”
“I heard Charlie skipped school again,” said Ed.
“He’s bored,” Barb explained.
“And I heard he tried to steal a stop sign . . .” Ed added.
She sighed, irritated. Was he going to continue listing things? “That was a while ago. But yeah, I know. Charlie needs to get into something positive. He needs to be busy.”
“Maybe he’ll be into your horse stuff,” said Ed.
Barb sighed. “I hope so. I probably push it too much. But maybe after he sees the demonstrations he’ll get it, how much fun it is, and how good it feels to be around the horses.”
“Maybe,” said Ed, “I don’t think horses are for everyone.”
“You have a better idea? It’s free if he gets in. And Mr. and Mrs. Allen are awesome. They’ll help me keep him out of trouble.”
After a long pause, Ed said, “It’s kinda messed up that you’re raising your little brother.”
“I’m not raising him. He’s my brother. Besides, I love the little troublemaker. We have Mom, she just works a lot.” Barb said, thinking of how tired Mom looked lately, then she added, “It beats my dad raising him.”
“You hear much from your dad?”
“Hell no.” Barb stared out the window at the brown hills and patches of eucalyptus as the car puttered with all its might onto the freeway. “We haven’t seen him since Mom got the legal separation and he took the couch. His support money goes directly into Mom’s account now.”
“I bet that’s a relief.”
“It is.” Barb said, without conviction. “He wasn’t around much anyway.”
“I remember him as kind of a jerk, especially to you.” Ed took a sip of his Big Gulp and replaced it on the seat between his legs.
Barb stared out the window, looking over the trees as they crossed the bridge over the dry riverbed. “I don’t hate him,” Barb said, trying to believe her own words, “But yeah, I’ve spent more time with Mr. Allen than I ever did with my dad. He’s certainly taught me a lot more.”
“Hot for teacher?” Ed teased, turning up the radio for a moment.
It wasn’t the song playing, but Barb still heard Van Halen in her mind, and she felt her face and ears flush red. Damned pink skin. “No, it’s not like that—he’s like, a better dad than anybody’s real dad.”
“Nah, I think I get it, Barb. I don’t know him, but he seems like a cool dude from what you always say.”
Ed turned onto Blue Haven Lane. The car bumped along slowly over the gravel road past the pepper tree and under the Allen Haven Ranch gate.
Tiny butterflies filled Barb’s belly as they always did when she got close to the horse barn. She said, “One thing he says is, you can’t carry around hate. It makes you weak. It gives your power to the one who hurt you.”
Ed held his pimpled chin for a moment and then imitated Yoda, “Hmm, Jedi you will be.” He pulled the parking brake and Barb climbed out, smiling.
“Thanks Ed! My mom’s picking me up.” Barb waved, and he drove away in a dust cloud.
Allen Haven Ranch
Barb pulled the faded blue halter and lead rope from the wall in the tack room and walked down the freshly raked breezeway to Fancy’s stall. Time was a funny thing at the ranch. It was both slow and fast. The quiet felt slow. Often the only sounds were the occasional nickers of horses and the coos of students talking to them. She could catch up to her own thoughts. At the same time, those three hours of the afternoon always went by in a blink, and now this was the last one. She would soak up every moment, memorize every detail to look back on later.
She rolled open the stall door and Fancy ducked her chiseled brown head into her halter. Those giant honest eyes warmed her heart every time. Where did all that time go? She had been here working with Fancy for four years now, since the mare was only four. After tomorrow, that would be over, at least for a while. Barb’s throat tightened. She planned to work all summer with Mom at the cafe; she was determined to earn enough money to buy her horse.
She led Fancy down the barn aisle to the wash rack and snapped her halter into the cross-ties. She wasn’t all that dirty, but soon she would be gleaming like a new penny from the tips of her curved little ears to the end of her fanning Arab tail. Fancy’s shoulders twitched and she shifted foot to foot as Barb sprayed her down with the hose. “Is that cold, sweet girl?”
She couldn’t be prouder of the little mare. Fancy was kicking butt. It had taken almost a year for Barb to convince her that the trailer was not a horse-eating monster with a ramp for a tongue. But anymore, she loaded onto the horse trailer like a big happy puppy dog, with no hesitation. And once she had Fancy’s trust with the trailer, Barb was able to do just about anything with her. Yesterday, she breezed through the trail and bomb-proofing obstacles, even walking under the noisy plastic tarp without a single balk. Barb couldn’t wait to show her off to Mom and Charlie.
She knew her dad wouldn’t be there, but she couldn’t help but fantasize. If he were there, would he be impressed with her demonstration of how to safely change a truck tire? Or her knowledge of drainage systems? Every time she tried to picture her dad sitting in the stands, he morphed into Mr. Allen clapping and beaming with pride. It was so much easier to imagine.
Barb was sponging foamy horse shampoo into Fancy’s coat when the real Mr. Allen walked up. He said, “She’ll be squeaking, lass!”
Barb smiled, “That’s the plan.”
“No doot.” said Mr. Allen. “I hear your mum and brother are coming tomorrow?”
“Yes, I can’t wait for you to meet Charlie!” Barb said.
“Aye. I look forward to meeting him, too. I heard a rumor about you heading to UC Davis in the Fall?” Mr. Allen’s left eyebrow lifted.
Barb wondered if he believed what he had heard. She pretended to concentrate on untangling a knot in Fancy’s mane. Davis was just a lie she was telling the other students. She had applied there. That part was true, but she never could imagine going there. How did he find out?
“Davis, yeah. I guess I’m waitlisted. I’ll start at Mesa College for sure if it doesn’t go through,” Barb mumbled, then she brightened, “I’ll be working at the cafe where my Mom works for the summer though. I need a car. And I want to buy Fancy.”
“Aye. Don’t give up on Davis, Barb. Mrs. Allen will write as many letters as you need. And Fancy will be here. You can stop by and visit.” Mr. Allen turned to walk away, but then stopped, “Actually, we’ll have to talk later. We might have some summer work here for a few weeks if you’re interested.”
“You bet! Thanks!” Barb said, her throat still tight from the lie about Davis. Mr. Allen waved and continued on his way to the barn.
There was no way she was going away to Davis, no matter how many letters Mrs. Allen wrote. Even if she had a full scholarship, Mom would still be working two jobs and who would look after Charlie? But she felt a glow of hope imagining a summer job at Allen Haven. That would be better than any scholarship to any university. That felt real, like it could actually happen. If she could work there every day forever, now that was her dream.
Next
Part 1 | History is an Angel
12 - Bow and Arrow
1988, Lisa pulls Dani back
Thank you for writing a beautiful story that lets me relive my very young dream of riding a horse :)