Chapter 67
I was in the process of explaining to Jaxon why his comment pissed Cody off so much when my phone buzzed in my pocket. Confused, I pulled it out to find a text waiting.
Jake:
Taking Cody home. Not coming back. Punch me for it later.
Dimming the screen, I put that back in my pocket, but a little amusement spilled out as a huff.
"Problem?" Kaleb asked, gesturing to my phone to show what he meant.
"Nope," I assured him. "But you, Jaxon, just got a little reprieve.
Cody's pissed and headed home. J.D. doesn't feel like celebrating, so he headed home.
Tanner had a fucking amazing day out there and doesn't get to celebrate because of.
.." I pointed at him and climbed to my feet.
"Hope you feel good about caring how someone else fucks. "
"It's different," he insisted.
"Yeah? And you think it's less gross when you fuck some girl up the ass?" I shook my head. "It's still shit, dumbass. You hypocritical prick."
And I turned, heading for the bar. Right about now, I needed a drink. Thankfully, my best friend was there, talking to his fellow Brazilians. When I leaned against the counter beside him, he gestured to the bartender.
"Something hard for my friend?"
"Whatcha want?" the woman asked.
"Whiskey," I decided, then turned to Renato. "So, sounds like I've been replaced."
"You got replaced a long time ago," he reminded me. "Tulsa with Tanner, St. Louis with J.D., and Cheyenne with peace and quiet."
He wasn't wrong. "Add Nashville with Jake to that," I told him. Then dropped my head and groaned. "The worst thing? I'm happy for him. I know he'll be good to her, and I'm not. I also know that shit today?" I gestured back to Jaxon to show what I meant. "It's not about to stop."
Renato turned on his stool to look at me. "So?" he asked.
"Huh?" I wasn't following.
"Well, if I remember right, in North Carolina, you started a strike because shit wasn't fair. This? It doesn't sound fair."
"Jake started that," I reminded him.
"Now Jake's fucking 'your' girl, and you're seeing the inequality. Maybe the roles have reversed?"
I stared, dumbfounded, at him until the bartender slid a whiskey over to me. That snapped me out of it, but now the wheels were churning. Renato had a point, but Jake had said something too. He'd mentioned he couldn't rally the riders the way I could. My bad reputation made me an icon to them.
And didn't ‘being a good man’ mean using that? This crap they'd been doing to Cody for weeks now, and had just begun doing to J.D.? It was bullshit. It was wrong for more than merely the discrimination.
So I tossed back the entire glass and decided I had nothing left to lose. "Listen up!" I bellowed, pushing to my feet.
It took a moment, but the chatter stopped. Since most everyone in here was tied to the Pbr somehow, I didn't feel bad about it either. Slowly, table by table, these men all turned in their chairs to find me in the crowd.
"All right!" I said. "Let's just get it out there. J.D. is bisexual. He's dating both Tanner and Cody. Yeah, she's got both of them in her bed, and pretty sure none of us have any room to talk, right?"
"Not gay?" that Australian rookie asked.
I pointed at him, dredging up his name. "Sonny, right?"
"Yep!"
"Not gay," I said for about the millionth time this month. "He also got a rider score of twenty-three today."
"What?!" Djalu hissed, shoving to his feet.
I nodded. "He's sitting in something like twenty-eighth."
"Twenty-ninth," Jackson corrected. "Only people who scored worse were the buck-offs."
"Fuck!" Kaleb groaned. "Because he's not straight?"
"And Cody's been getting that shit because she's not a man!
" I yelled, slicing my hand through the air.
"So what comes next, huh?" I gestured at Djalu.
"Not being scored fairly because you're not white?
" Then to Sonny. "Not being scored well because you're young?
" Then to the American Jaxon. "Not being scored well because you don't have the right sponsors? "
"That's bullshit!" said the Canadian Jackson. "C'mon. We all knew it was happening to Cody. She can outride most of us. I mean, maybe the top five have a chance, but still. And she's not even bitchy about it. She just accepts it because she's used to it!"
I found that new rookie from Guatemala, Rodrigo, at the back of the room and flicked a finger at him. "Gonna guess some of the riders in the Pbr are used to the same shit for different reasons, huh?"
"I got it often enough," Renato said. "Most of us from Brazil have too, unless we're real light-skinned."
"Which is why I'm doing ok," Gustavo said. "I also spoke English better than most of us when I got here."
"Which means," I went on, "it's all about bigots. The Pbr is turning into them, and we're sitting by silently, letting it happen. Slowly, bit by bit, they have pushed the limits of the rules this year to become something I can't respect, and I am not going to ignore it anymore!"
"So what are we doing?" Sonny asked. "More strikes?"
"But that'll fuck the bullfighters!" Jackson called out.
Fuck, he had a point. But another voice spoke up. It was Wes. "So what happens if we pick the winners?"
"How?" I asked.
"Same strike idea," he said. "But we make it clear we're not going to worry about popularity. Our decision will be made by the group, based on who the judges screw over."
"So, Cody and J.D.?" I asked, making sure I was keeping up. "Unless anyone has a problem with supporting a bisexual man? A woman?"
"Shit," Jackson said. "Most of us have supported Cody for a while now."
"So, J.D. being bi bothers you?" Wes pressed.
Jackson scoffed. "Not one bit."
"Me either," Gustavo said.
"Nor me," another guy called out.
Then the rest started adding in their agreement. I kept my eyes on Jaxon, waiting to see what he'd do, and he noticed. Subtly, he shook his head, but he didn't call out. But Wes had basically made the plan. All I had to do was put it into motion.
"So," I said. "Tomorrow, no one rides except those two."
"Won't work," Jackson, the Canadian one, said. "Ty, she'll see us striking and join in as enthusiastically as she did last time."
"Wait," Kaleb begged. "What if we distract her?"
"How?" I asked.
He looked around the room as if hoping for some inspiration. "I dunno. Like tell her she needs to talk to a reporter or something?"
"If enough of us do it," Jackson said, "we can probably make it work. How do we keep J.D. from figuring it out?"
"I got that," Jaxon - the American one this time - said. And he looked over at me. "Trust me, Ty."
I nodded. "I do. You handle him, but just know Cody might be there with you."
"Might work out better," Kaleb said.
"True," Jaxon agreed. "And figure I have shit to say to her too."
"Good." Pulling in a breath, I looked around the room. "So, first off, does anyone have a problem with this?"
"Wait!" Wes said. "Where's Jake? He was handling the fund to make sure we could afford this."
"He had to give Cody a ride," I explained. "I'll explain everything to him later, but we all know he'll be all in again."
Beside me, Renato chuckled. He'd caught how smoothly I'd just covered for them. He was also making it clear he'd noticed, wanted me to know he knew, and all that. And since everyone was watching me, I couldn't even flip him off.
"But we're going to need ideas for Cody," I said.
Jackson tapped at the table. "What about her sponsor? I mean, we can see if she can get us a talk, right? I know that woman's here. Saw her in the stands earlier."
"Rhaven," I said, giving them the name of Cody's Deviant rep.
"You can also ask her about Max. He's now independently representing riders.
That means he'll handle all your contracts with an unbiased eye.
And yeah, Cody, Jake, and J.D. are all signed with him.
I'm trying to get in as well, so it's a good distraction. "
"Nice," Sonny said. "I'll jump in on that."
And the guys began to toss ideas back and forth. It was easy, getting them to agree to all of this. I hadn't even had to push too hard. Then again, I also hadn't checked to see who was opposed.
So when the conversation paused again, I asked, "Is there anyone who's going to ride anyway?" I asked. "No, I can't stop you, but at least let me know so I can brace for it?"
"Austin will," Kaleb said.
"Eli and Derek too," Jaxon added. "You know they will, because they don't think Cody should be here in the first place."
"Which means they're going to have a hate-on for J.D. now too," Kaleb told his friend. "J.D.'s been riding for nine fucking years, and now he's going to start getting trashed, after he's already proven himself?"
"But that's the thing," I told these men.
"To the judges and the powers that be, J.D.
just betrayed the trust. He lied to us. He hid who he was - never mind that this would've happened anyway.
But that's the line they're going to use.
J.D. knew we're all dumbasses with small minds.
He probably thought we'd beat the shit out of him.
I knew I expected that back when I found out. "
"Wait," Jaxon said. "You knew?"
"Found out," I corrected. "But yeah. And I might be the reason he kept hiding it.
I fucked up in Cheyenne. Most of y'all know something changed, because you're not blind.
Well, I'd like to think I made it clear to him that he can trust at least a few of us, because he finally did today.
He stopped hiding who he is, and now he's daring us to man up and accept that he's still better than us. "
Ok, so that wasn't exactly true, but it sounded good enough, and I wasn't above lying to help the guy out.
The truth was, I had fucked up. I'd made a mess of things back then, and just when J.D.
had decided to call me a real friend. Seeing how he'd reacted to Jaxon today?
That made me think I'd hurt him worse than I'd thought.
So I'd take the blame. I'd become J.D.'s excuse if it meant these guys would actually do something for once. Or maybe it was more true to say once again, even though last time they'd been mostly helping themselves. This time, I was asking them to risk it all for someone else.
"So who's not ok with it?" Sonny demanded. "Who's scared of the gay? Who's such a pussy he's gonna join Austin, Eli, and Derek's side on this?"
"Who," Renato asked, doubling down, "is going to fuck this up for all of us because they think they can dictate someone else's morals and beliefs?"
Yeah, and that was the angle I'd needed. I looked over, and he met my eye and nodded, knowing me just a little too well.
But no one spoke up. Then again, maybe they didn't want to get their ass beat, and that was a lot more possible here, where things could be disputed later. Still, the silence made me hope this might actually work out.
"Then tomorrow," I said, "we'll make a chain of people to distract them.
We're going to do this, people, because it's time for the Pbr to realize we are the ones in control.
We have our demands, and they will be fucking met!
Fair judging, our private lives stay private, and our sport ensures us the proper protection we need, including the bullfighters. "
"And I," Renato said, "will buy a round for everyone throwing their ride tomorrow. All you have to do is lift a hand."
Arms shot into the air all across the bar. I was pretty sure some weren't actually bull riders - because I saw a few girls waving their arms.
So I turned to Renato. "And those girls?"
"Sure," he said. "Maybe some of these guys will get lucky. I mean, it seems a woman can really make a man change. Worked for me. Looks like it's working for you still, even if you didn't get to keep her."
"Yeah, but I also know how easy it is to lie and say what they want to hear," I reminded him. "I did it with the girls."
"And you just did it with them," he added, making it clear he'd caught me twisting the truth a bit.
"But you did it for the right reason this time, so that means it's not a bad thing.
And hell, I can't say I'm any better, so this?
It's my own version of penance - and a little bribery, because I'm fucking sick of this shit too. "