Makin' a scene

“It weren’t my fault!!” I screamed at Ahanu, as we led our mounts down the trail that would take us back home.

“Sure, it weren’t. It weren’t your fault that we almost got our keesters kicked outta the horse dealer’s corral. It weren’t your fault that not only did we not get the dinero  that we was supposed to get, but now our reputation ain’t no good! You just couldn’t hobble your lip, could ya! We had the bulge over that dealer, with havin’ three good horses, and that we was repeat customers, we just needed to dicker a little. Now I got to find us a new buyer, cuz you just had to go be half seas over with whiskey and cause a shindy!” He said all this with such a sound in his voice that I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The panic was startin’ to spread through my chest. It really weren’t my fault…..I know it weren’t .

First off, I sure as shootin’ didn’t count on seein’ Danny McCoy and for my back to get all up about it. I was feelin’ like all them emotions that four-flusher made me feel all them years ago all came back to bite me in my keester. So, after helpin’ with the horses, I left Ahanu to scout out the fort and found me some whiskey. With bottle in hand I went back to where the horses were, findin’ them all by their lonesomes, and I proceeded to get soaked.

That’s where Ahanu found me the next mornin’, all roostered and stinkin’ to high heaven. He dragged my tail on out of the stable and dunked me into a barrel of water.

After I gasped, coldly, I glared at him and crawled out.

“Jesum Joseph! What ate your biscuit this mornin’?” I hollered while I stomped off to our room to get changed.

“Where you think you going, Miss Nina? We ain’t got time fer all that. We got to get on down to the seller before he finds some other feller to buy from. You’ll be dry as buzzard bones by the time we git to it. Now let’s git to it!” He grabbed the reins of the three palominos and started leadin’ them out.

By the time we got to the trader, I sure was in no mood to be nice and lady-like. Besides, I was tellin’ the truth to that swindlin’ seller when I told him we weren’t as stupid as he was, tryin’ to offer half of what them horses was worth! Well, I reckon he didn’t like that. Then what does this low-down, dirty blowhard do? He says,” Well, I guess we all got some stupid in all us, don’t we Miss Nina? I heard o’ you from your little friend, Danny McCoy.” He said all this with a smirk.

 I saw red and felt red. It was like a splash of crimson was thrown across my eyes and started to boil my insides, right on outta my ears. I walked right on up to him, and stood glaring up in his ugly as homemade sin face, and hocked a big ole loogie. It landed right on his cheek.

It was so quiet after that, I turned and saw a group of people just starin’ at me in shock. Ahanu was blood boilin’ mad. Before I could turn back to face the seller, I felt a blow land on the side of my face. It hit me so hard that I fell right on down to the ground.

“You git her on out of this town, you hear me?! You tell Chogan we ain’t got no more business. He best find himself another seller. You got til noon.” So we skedaddled on out of town as fast as we could.

Now, it’s been a few hours since we last hollered at each other. I looked at Ahanu, finally realizin’ the mess we was in and sighed. “What we gonna do now?” I said.

“We ain’t gonna do nothin’. I’m gonna go to take you on back to your uncle, let him deal with your good fer nothing ways, and then I’m gonna go to the next town and try to get some more business. Tryin’ to fix your mistakes, that’s what I’m gonna do.” We rode the rest of the day in silence, unpacked the camp in silence, and passed the rest of the night in silence. I got to fix this somehow, but where do I start? I know I done messed up this time, and I now reckon that it’s my fault.