Riding Chance Read online

  Foster sent me a text: u ok? How was I supposed to answer that? We used to like all the same things. Said he didn’t like being around phony people. Yeah, but what about the horses? How could he not be down with them?

  I sat up in bed and rubbed my stiff neck. The street was quiet but I couldn’t stay still. I got out of bed and turned on the computer. Found some polo videos, videos with guys and horses running fast and free. I watched them until the sun came up.

  GRANDMOM DIDN’T WANT me to go outside the next day. Pops spent over an hour talking to her about it. You can’t live your life hiding in the house, just gotta know how to handle yourself in the street. Pops kept saying it wasn’t my fault but running around with a mallet wasn’t smart. You can’t give the cops a reason to get excited.

  It was Sunday and I wanted to get over to the stables. I thought Pops was cool, but he wouldn’t let me ride my bike over to the park. He and Uncle Ronnie drove me in the car. I wanted them to drop me off a half mile away but Pops wanted to talk to Winston.

  It figures Jerome was there when we pulled up. He was all helpful, directing Pops and Uncle Ronnie to Winston’s office. He could be two-faced like that. They went inside and left me standing under the big tree in the parking lot with him.

  “Where’s your boy?” he said. “Sleeping off last night’s buzz, no doubt.” His mouth was twisted real ugly. “Isn’t that how y’all do it ’round the way?”

  “I wouldn’t know,” I said.

  “Oh, I forgot. You’re past all that now. On the road to respectability.”

  “You must be talking about yourself.” I looked past him and saw some kids already busy with their horses.

  “I’m talking about you,” he said. “You with the bobos and the played-out jeans. Got yourself in trouble again?”

  “You spending a lot of time in my business, Jerome.” I looked him right in his face. “What’s up with that?”

  “I don’t know how you think you’re gonna play polo when you faint every time somebody touches you,” he said. “Just don’t go believing all that stuff Winston’s been telling you. There’s no way you’re going to play in exhibition.”

  “Can’t handle a little competition?” I said, walking past him.

  “Just watch yourself,” he called out after me. He didn’t need to tell me to watch myself. I wasn’t letting my guard down again.

  Some of the horses had already been turned out in the far field. They were standing in a clump, eating from a bale of hay. It didn’t look like anything was going on, but if you really looked, you could see there was. Some horses wouldn’t move from their spot, no matter what. They didn’t let any other horse get between them and the hay. Others didn’t seem to have a place. They kept trying to work their way in wherever they could. Horses weren’t so different from people.

  I was sitting on the top bar of the fence, still watching the horses, when Pops and Uncle Ronnie came back outside. They looked all around, trying to figure out where they were. That must have been how I looked when I first started coming here. It was easy to get turned around with all the doors and pathways. I waved my hands over my head so they could see me.

  “These are beautiful animals,” said Pops when they got to me. He put his hands on his hips and looked out over the whole place like he was dreaming. “I wish I could stay here with you.”

  “Hmm,” said Uncle Ronnie, scrolling through messages on his cell. “I got a brunch date.”

  That snapped Pops out of his dream. He put one hand on my shoulder again. “Winston understands none of this was your fault. And don’t worry about getting home. Winston’ll drive you.”

  Uncle Ronnie looked up from his cell. “Give me a quick tour of the place while I’m here. Ugh, it sure does smell.”

  Pops shook his head. Uncle Ronnie overdid the cologne. That was worse than the horse smell.

  “You gotta see Chance,” I said, leading them on the path that led to the other side of the barn. I wanted to be close to her.

  We saw Alisha with her horse in the cross ties. She was cleaning her horse’s face but she waved at me.

  “Hold up, hold up,” said Uncle Ronnie, stopping dead in his tracks. “I should’ve known there was a female involved.”

  “How’d you know Chance is female?” I said.

  Uncle Ronnie peered at me over his sunglasses. “Very funny. I just hope I don’t mess up my shoes in all this dirt.”

  I DIDN’T REALLY feel like talking to nobody after they left, not Winston, not Alisha, nobody. I missed Foster, though. Still couldn’t believe he wouldn’t get with the horses. I cleaned the stalls and then spent a long time brushing Chance. I stayed with her ’cause I didn’t want to have to answer anybody’s questions. Funny, she kept nudging me with her head, like she had questions.

  Pops said the horses were beautiful. He was right about that. It wasn’t just the good-looking kind of beauty, either. It had more to do with the way they were, their soul or something. Winston called it grace. Whatever it was, it felt like Chance knew something was wrong with me.

  “You may want to be a little softer with her,” Winston said, walking over. He’d finished his riding class with two ladies, new students.

  “They’re so majestic,” I overheard one of the ladies say. “I forget all my problems when I’m here.”

  They walked down the aisle, looking at all the horses. You could tell they weren’t used to being in a barn; they jumped every time a horse snorted.

  “Feel like taking a ride?” Winston had his car keys in his hand. “I’ll take you home.”

  He waited for me to walk Chance back to her stall. I thought about what that lady had said. She forgot all her problems when she was here. She better be careful about that.

  “How are you feeling?” asked Winston.

  “Everything’s cool,” I said, sighing.

  Winston’s little sports car was parked right next to the barn. I walked around to the passenger side and got in. I’d been hoping to get a ride in his car, but that day, I didn’t really care. He started the engine and we drove behind the barn and onto the road.

  The fields near the stables were filled with kids playing softball and soccer. Some of them turned to check out the car when we drove past. I wasn’t even into that.

  “We’re lucky to live in a city with a park like this,” Winston said, looking all around.

  What was he saying? We lived in a city where I couldn’t even walk down the street. I didn’t say nothing.

  “Lived here all your life?”

  “Yup.”

  “Me too,” he said. “Born and raised in Philly.”

  Okay, so I was gonna get his life story. Maybe I could just snooze through it. Somebody wake me up when he gets to the part about horses.

  “You know you remind me of myself,” he said. Why I’m always reminding older dudes of themselves, I don’t know. Uncle Ronnie’s one; Winston makes two. Who’s gonna pop up next? Winston had on that fly watch of his, though. His hands were on the steering wheel and rays of late-afternoon sun reflected off of it. “Aren’t you going to ask why?” he said.

  I shrugged. “Okay, why?”

  “You’re cool, got your own style.” Winston was not shy. “Everybody’s always testing you”—he guided the steering wheel with the palm of his right hand—“because they want a piece of what you have. They’re afraid of you. That’s why they want to hold you down.” I wasn’t saying nothing. “You just have to know what you want and take advantage of every opportunity that comes your way.”

  He didn’t say nothing about the cops. He didn’t have to. I knew what he was talking about. “Like with you?” I said.

  He nodded. “Exactly. Your talent with the horses could be a path to wherever you want to go.”

  We’d left the park and were a block away from my house. Everybody, I mean everybody, was checking out Winston’s car and who was in it. He took it all in stride.

  “Why me?” I said. There were lots of other kids at the sta
bles. I wasn’t sure why he was so focused on me.

  “Because I know you want to do well.”

  “How you know that? You got a crystal ball in your saddlebag or something?”

  “Don’t play dumb with me, Troy.” Winston turned the corner onto my block and pulled up in front of the house. “You have to carry yourself like a thug just to get in and out of here.” He looked around the block not to put it down; he just looked like somebody who knew it. “You know what it takes to get along. My job is just to help you out however I can.”

  I couldn’t really argue with him, but I had to say something else. “Are you finished with your lecture?”

  “Just one more thing. Polo players don’t have saddlebags. You’re thinking of cowboys.”

  SCHOOL WAS FINALLY OUT. That was the good news. I had major plans for the summer. I was gonna get my riding real tight. And the other stuff, I don’t know, I kept it on lockdown. I didn’t see much of Foster; there was a curtain between us. That was the bad news.

  And, sometimes, everything would be getting on my nerves. I tried to just put it out of my mind, but I couldn’t. Used to be, if somebody bumped into me or something, I would just let it go. I couldn’t do that now. If somebody even looked at me wrong, I would get mad. And if somebody really did do something wrong, watch out. Like the day Lay-Lay came around trying to collect money for the block party.

  Every summer we have a big blowout on the block. We close off the street and everybody just hangs outside eating, playing cards, listening to music. Usually, there’s somebody running the whole thing. I don’t know why I’m saying usually; it’s always Mr. Glover. Anyway, he gets a couple of people to help. They go around and ask everybody to bring something and to chip in for sodas and ice cream.

  Well, this one day, I was sitting on the porch, waiting for Grandmom to say it was time to eat. Here comes Lay-Lay, knocking on everybody’s door, asking for donations. He had a little jar with a few dollars in it, so everybody would think their neighbors already gave. He must think we’re stupid.

  First thing I noticed was Lay-Lay waited until Mr. Glover went inside his house to start this mess. He knocked at the house next door to ours, but nobody answered. They probably saw who it was and didn’t want to be bothered. Lay-Lay saw me sitting right there, but he didn’t say nothing. He walked down the steps and over to our house. I stopped him as soon as he put his big foot on our bottom step.

  “Don’t even try it,” I said.

  “I’m collecting for the block party.” He said it with a straight face, but everybody knew he could lie like a mug. “Is your grandmom home?”

  “Don’t come up here,” I said. I picked up the red-and-white metal chair and held it in front of me.

  “Watcha gonna do about it?” he said. “Faint?”

  “Take one more step up here and you’ll find out.” I wasn’t playing. I was ready to throw that big old chair down on his head. He saw that I was strong enough to do it, too.

  “Aw, you ain’t even worth it.” He stepped backward, down to the sidewalk. “We don’t want you at the block party anyway.” He skipped Mr. Glover’s house and tried the people on the other side.

  I put the chair back down on the porch and texted Foster to warn him about Lay-Lay’s scam.

  Foster: he must think we’re stupid.

  Then: u coming to block party?

  Me: not sure. depends when i get done at stables.

  Foster: ask chance nice. maybe she’ll let u out.

  I let it go after that. It wasn’t like Foster to have so much attitude.

  I sat back down on the porch and thought about how it would feel to hurt somebody. I never thought about doing nothing like that before. It was scary. Scary ’cause there was a hard side of me that kept coming out. I couldn’t really control it. I knew that because of what happened between me and Percy.

  Percy was always around the stables. Looked like he calmed down the horses. Something about horses and goats, I don’t know.

  So this one day, nothing was going right even before the Percy thing. I had had a hard time with Chance that morning. She wasn’t doing what I wanted her to do. Winston said we weren’t on the same page. Said maybe we needed to take a break from each other. Anyway, Percy kept running around Chance’s stall, so I couldn’t do my work. I shooed Percy out a couple times, but soon as I turned around he’d be right back in there. Got on my nerves, for real.

  I want to say this right ’cause I didn’t really kick him that hard. I mean, you could say he fell up against my foot. I was trying to muck out Chance’s stall and Percy sorta got in the way when I backed up the wheelbarrow. He was running around all crazy, bleating. Making that doll-baby crying sound. That’s what caught Alisha’s attention. I didn’t even know she was in the barn, but she must’ve seen the whole thing. Or enough of it, anyway. She ran over to Percy like the barn was on fire. I didn’t know the girl could move that fast.

  “What’s wrong with you, Troy?” I never heard her so loud before.

  “What?”

  “What do you mean, what? You just kicked Percy.” She was down on one knee, rubbing his side. Her locs were covering most of her face, but even at that angle, she and Percy looked like Beauty and the Beast.

  “He’s not hurt,” I said, pushing the wheelbarrow over to the door.

  “You don’t know that.” She was using this baby voice, all snuggled up with Percy.

  “And you don’t know that he is,” I said. I took the wheelbarrow outside, hoping she’d be gone when I came back. She wasn’t.

  “Why are you acting like this? Like you’re mad at everybody?” she said.

  “Girl, please. You’re tripping.”

  “I’m tripping? You’re the one acting weird. You’ve been weird ever since …”

  “Ever since what?”

  She’d put Percy down by then. Like I’d said, he was all right.

  “You’re not the first person to be stopped by the police,” she said.

  “Like you would know.” I leaned the empty wheelbarrow up against the wall.

  “My friend Sloan got stopped up in North Philly last Friday night,” she said.

  “Preppy Sloan from your school?”

  “What does that have to do with it?”

  “Answer the question,” I said. “Is Sloan one of your rich friends?”

  “I don’t see what difference that makes.”

  “So, your little friend was stopped by the cops in a neighborhood where they didn’t expect to see him.” I rolled my eyes up to the ceiling. “Did they frisk him?”

  “No, they just asked him if he was all right.”

  I closed my eyes. “Alisha,” I said. “You have no idea what it’s like, do you?”

  “Why are you making such a big deal out of this?”

  “What was Sloan doing up in North Philly?”

  “I don’t know.” Her voice was real low. “I just know I wouldn’t make such a big deal out of it if it happened to me.”

  “Don’t worry,” I said, pulling my baseball cap out of my backpack and putting it on with the brim to the side. “I don’t think the cops are going to bother you out at Blanchard Pooloo Club.” I turned away from her and walked out.

  CHANCE MUST HAVE CAUGHT whatever it was Alisha had, ’cause after that, me and her were totally not cool. I couldn’t even catch her to tack up for our ride. She just walked off and went the other way when I tried to get close to her. So, I guess I started chasing her. That just made it worse. She was trying to get away from me. Then you’re not going to believe what happened.

  Jerome walked over to Chance, real calm like. He made sure he came up to her on one side so she could see him and started rubbing Chance’s shoulder and stepping back from her. He held up his hand for me to stay back. I mean, I don’t want to blow it up more than it was. He didn’t save my life or nothing, but he did chill things out.

  “Thanks, man,” I said. “She’s uptight today.”

  “Ain’t nothing
to it,” he said, shrugging like this was an everyday thing. He walked Chance a little bit farther away from where I was standing and let her go. She went back over to the other horses in the yard.

  I didn’t try to run after Chance anymore. I just let her stay with the other horses. Everybody else was going about their business, but I didn’t know what to do. So I just upped and left, something that definitely wasn’t cool. Everybody was supposed to check in and out with Winston. I don’t know, I just had to get out of there. Couldn’t stand the way Jerome was strutting around like he was in charge of me.

  Real fast, I jumped on my bike and started pedaling like a fool. I took that turn from the parking lot to the street so hard my bike skidded over to the curb. I didn’t fall off, though, just straightened it up and kept going.

  I shot past the soccer fields, went down past where they play softball and that big swimming pool. Almost ran over these little kids running around in their too-big T-shirts.

  I hooked a left at the third intersection instead of going right. Right would have been the way to double back to go home. But, I don’t know why, I went left. The road went a little ways before it ended. Pedaling real fast, I went straight up over the grass and into the woods.

  Blam! It was like going from day to night. There was hardly any sunlight and it was real quiet. It was different from my walks in the woods in the wintertime. Back then, there weren’t any leaves on the trees, so you could see the sky. Now the leaves made everything look dark. I couldn’t hear no kids, no traffic, nothing. I was in the middle of all these tall trees with nobody else around. I was in the middle of Philly, but it didn’t even smell like the city no more. Christmas trees, that’s what it smelled like.

  It was hard to control the bike ’cause I wasn’t on a trail or nothing. The bike was bumping over roots and leaves and stuff. My hoodie kept getting caught on bushes, but I didn’t let that stop me. I just kept going. Then I saw that the woods sloped downward, down to this creek. I tried to slow down but the bike was jumping all over the place. Next thing I knew, my bike was going one way and I was going the other. For a minute it felt like I was in a movie, in a freeze-frame, but then I slipped on some wet leaves and slid on my butt straight down into the creek. It was a miracle I didn’t jack myself up.