Riding Chance Read online

  Chance stopped, so I stopped. The only thing moving was her swishing tail. Next thing I knew, she took one little step toward me. I didn’t want to crowd her, so I took one step back. Then we walked around each other again. I just stayed loose like I did the first day I rode her. We kept going like this until we were coming to each other, not stepping back. Felt like she could see right through me with those big eyes of hers. When Chance was close enough for me to reach, I rubbed her neck. She didn’t act out. I didn’t, either. I wished that everything could feel just like that all the time. I was petting her when Winston came over.

  “Good job,” he said, putting his arm across my shoulders. “You have just the right touch.”

  “Yeah, well, it took me long enough,” I said.

  “Don’t put yourself down,” he said. “There are other people to do that.”

  I let Chance go then. She didn’t run away, just took her time walking back over to the other horses.

  “She’ll let you ride her whenever you want,” he said. I shook my head yeah. “I’ve been meaning to talk to you.” I saw that he was starting to sweat. “It’s gotten really hot out here; let’s pull up some shade.”

  We walked over to the other side of the barn. The shadows made it cooler. Over in the far field, the polo team was going through their drills. “As I was saying, I think you’re talented,” said Winston. “I hope you’re planning to get serious about all of this.”

  “What?” I said. “About Chance?”

  He nodded. “Chance, riding, and polo. I want you to play in the exhibition match.”

  “What about my problems with Chance?”

  “Everybody goes through something like that at one point or another. The important thing is how you come out of it.”

  I should have told him that I still had a lot of other stuff to figure out, too.

  “I saw you with her just now. That was pure magic. So, think about it. I’d be happy to start coaching you for more extensive riding and for polo. Of course, you’ll need to get your dad’s permission. It’ll be a lot of work. He has to be on board.”

  This was coming at me out of the blue. “Okay,” I said.

  “Okay? Is that all you have to say?” He swatted his hand at me. I ducked and we both laughed. “We’re going to have one powerhouse team at exhibition,” he said, playing with his watch. “I was worried that after Marcus left we’d be in trouble.” He was talking to himself. “But we’ll be okay. We’ll be more than okay. It’s going to be a lot of work.” He’d said that before. “I was afraid you and Jerome couldn’t work together, but I saw how he helped you out with Chance. We’re going to be great.”

  “Me and Jerome?” I said.

  “Yes. You, Jerome, Willie, and Little Keith.”

  “So, you think everything’s cool between me and Jerome?”

  “Yes,” he repeated. “He helped you the day you took off, remember?”

  I sure remembered that day. It wasn’t the way Winston saw it. It was never like that. Jerome didn’t help me because he was my friend. He only stepped in to make himself look good.

  “I know he gave you a hard time when you first got here,” Winston said. “He’s like that with everybody. He’s just insecure, afraid of losing his place.”

  His place? Jerome’s bad news. What was Winston saying? Something about not wanting to share the limelight. Oh boy.

  “You’ll be at Alisha’s party, won’t you?” he said. “There’s a lot of people you need to meet.”

  “What kind of party is it gonna be?” He started telling me who all was going to be there and all like that. I had a feeling this wasn’t gonna be like the parties I usually went to. This was gonna be something else.

  THE REST OF THAT DAY was like a blur. Winston gave me books about polo and showed me all this equipment I was gonna have to get used to—goggles, a polo saddle, bandages to protect the horse’s legs, and special boots for their hooves. He wasn’t even waiting for me to go home and talk to Pops. He was all over it like everything was already cool. Felt like I was being drafted for the NBA or something. Don’t get me wrong. It was great that he wanted to coach me, but he was way off on the Jerome thing.

  I took a shortcut home ’cause I was so excited. Came around the corner and saw Grandmom’s friend, Miss Evelyn, helping her up the front steps. At first, I didn’t recognize them. Grandmom was wearing pink sweats. Her feet looked like they were about a size two in her Nikes. She would’ve looked cool, except she wasn’t walking right.

  “I’m glad you’re home,” Miss Evelyn said when I pulled up on Pops’s bike. She was dressed the same way. “Your nana’s going to need some help.”

  “What happened?” I carried the bike up to the porch, squeezing past them on the steps.

  “She’s overextended herself—”

  “Evelyn, you never could tell a good story,” Grandmom interrupted her with a sigh. “I won the Zumba dance-off. That’s what happened.”

  “You?” I said.

  “Yes, me.” Grandmom straightened herself up. “Now I’m feeling it.”

  She made it up to the porch and sat down, fanning herself. Miss Evelyn leaned up against the railing.

  “Troy, will you get her a glass of water?” she said.

  I got Grandmom’s favorite glass, the one from Hershey with the kisses all over it, and filled it with water. I went back out to the porch and handed it to her.

  “Our exercise class at the senior center got these new students,” Grandmom said. “Two women who moved down here from New York. They thought they were the only ones who could dance. Well, I showed them.”

  “I didn’t like their attitude from the beginning,” said Miss Evelyn, squinching up her face. “Taking the best spots in class, hogging our instructor’s time. We’ve been in the class all along. They’ve only been here a few weeks.”

  “Acting like they owned the place,” said Grandmom. “Even brought their own music, like ours wasn’t good enough.”

  “They were the ones who suggested the dance-off.” Miss Evelyn leaned forward, with her hands on her hips. “They thought they could win. Well, they thought wrong.”

  “I didn’t know you were so competitive,” I said.

  “I’m not,” said Grandmom, “but I had to rep-re-sent.” She drew it all out like she knew what she was talking about.

  “You should have seen her, Troy.” Miss Evelyn snapped her fingers three times. “She was a dancing machine.”

  That’s when Miss Evelyn really got me. She pushed off the railing and switched across the porch. Then she switched back and broke into this old-school, James Brown kinda thing. I lost it. For real.

  “That’s Zumba?” I said when I could stop laughing enough to get it out.

  “I was asking myself the same thing,” said Miss Evelyn, “but nobody could keep up with her.” She was chuckling and fanning herself, too. “How’s things with the horses, Troy?”

  “Great,” I said. “Winston wants to coach me for polo.”

  “I’m not surprised. You can do whatever you set your mind to.” She turned to Grandmom and cupped her hand over her mouth. “What’s polo, Louise?”

  “I’ll explain it to you if you help me get into a hot bath,” said Grandmom, stretching from side to side in her chair. “I can’t make dinner tonight, Troy. You and your dad are going to have to fend for yourselves.”

  I held the screen door for them and they went inside. They were going up the steps when I heard Grandmom explain that you had to be a really good rider and have good hand-eye coordination to bang a ball down a field while you were hanging off a horse. It was funny to hear her describe it like that, but she was right.

  I was finishing off the water in Grandmom’s glass when Pops pulled onto the block. He parked the car in a spot a few doors down and walked over to the house. He looked tired but the Hershey’s glass cheered him up.

  “I didn’t know we still had those,” he said. My mom was the one who bought the glasses when she chaperone
d my fourth-grade class on a school trip.

  “This is the last one. The others broke a long time ago.”

  “Wonder what we’re having for dinner tonight,” he said, reaching for the screen door.

  “That depends on you. Grandmom’s off duty.”

  He shook his head when I told him the story. “As long as she’s having fun,” he said. “I know how to make two things: oatmeal and grilled cheese sandwiches.”

  “It’s too late for oatmeal.”

  “Or we could get a pizza,” he said. “There’s that place that’s always sliding their menus under the door. Give me a minute to check on Grandmom.”

  “I’ll be in my room.”

  I followed him into the house, put the bike in the basement, and went upstairs. When I turned on the computer, there was an email from Alisha. An Evite with a picture of a horse. The party was at her house, someplace down in Society Hill. Someplace we never went. I didn’t even know people lived there.

  I looked to see who else was invited. Not many kids I knew. It figured that Jerome already said he’d be there. I checked for Foster’s name. Good, he was invited even though he wasn’t around the stables anymore.

  Pops came into my room and told me Grandmom was okay, just sore.

  “You feel like some pizza?” he asked, looking over my shoulder at the Evite.

  “Where’s Head House Square?” I said.

  “That’s down in Society Hill. You’ve been invited to a party down there?” He leaned over to get a closer look at the Evite. Their house was near the square, on one of those tiny little streets that only run one block.

  “Yeah. Winston and Alisha are having something.”

  “I’ll say. That’s a something address. Down in the Historic District.”

  “Maybe I’ll meet some polo players,” I said. I remembered how cool they looked out at Blanchard. “And guess what else happened today.”

  “The Phillies made it to the play-offs?” Pops shrugged.

  “Close,” I said. “Winston wants to give me private riding lessons and he wants to start me on polo, too.”

  “Wow!” That’s all Pops could say for a a few seconds. Then he said it again. “Wow!” He sat down on my bed, still looking like he didn’t know what to say. I filled him in.

  “It’s gonna be a lot of work, so I’m gonna need your approval. I’m gonna need leather boots, not just the rubber ones. And I’m gonna need gloves and knee pads, too.”

  “This is great,” he said, “but how much is all this going to cost?”

  “Winston’s not gonna charge us for the lessons. He thinks I can really be good.”

  “Did he say that?” he asked.

  I nodded. Pops broke out in a grin.

  “I don’t need a new bike. We can use the money for the polo stuff,” I said.

  Pops waved his hand. “We’ll get the money together.” He grinned at me again. “Sounds like he’s investing in you. Are you sure this is what you want?”

  That was Pops’s way of asking if I was ready to stop fooling around. Fooling around hadn’t been on my mind for a long time. Not since my first ride. Not since that feeling that got me close to my mom. I nodded even though the thing with the cops, that thing that made me mad sometimes, that thing was still there.

  “I’ll call Winston tomorrow,” he said. “Let’s go get something to eat.”

  The pizza place was four blocks from our house, next to the liquor store with all the bars on the windows. Most folks on our street were like Mr. Glover and kept their sidewalk clean. But once we got off the block, it was a different story. Trash, broken bottles, all that junk everywhere. We were crossing the vacant lot behind the storefront church when we saw a stray dog scratching at something in the dirt.

  “Watch out for the dog,” Pops said. “You never know if he’s mean.”

  “He’s probably wondering the same thing about us,” I said.

  ME AND CHANCE were right on it the next day, and the next day and the day after that. Seemed like she was happy. I guess ’cause I was happy. Winston didn’t waste any time letting everybody know his plans for me and the exhibition match. Everybody was buzzing about it, that and Alisha’s party. I couldn’t not show down in Society Hill, but I didn’t want to go all the way down there by myself. I really needed my boy.

  I texted Foster and asked him if I could drop by his house. He said yeah, even though I didn’t come to the best block party ever. He didn’t say anything about his private party.

  It was good to be back up in his room. I took my old spot, sprawled on his beanbag, and watched the fading sunlight shine through the bottom of his parachute. Strands of red, blue, yellow, and purple stretched across the room.

  “I’m not going to Alisha’s, so don’t even ask.” He was sitting on top of his desk with his feet on the chair. I could tell he liked having me come to him for help.

  “You know, it may not be that bad.”

  “What makes you think that?” he said. “At Winston’s house, how can it not be bad?”

  Foster likes to eat, so I tried to use that. “The grub will be good,” I said.

  He kept going like he didn’t hear me. “Did you see who’s invited? Jerome, people from Blanchard, kids from fancy schools.”

  “You sound like you expect George Washington to show,” I said. That shut him up but he wasn’t really paying attention to me. His cell was pinging like crazy from all the texts he was getting. He didn’t tell me who it was. Probably his new basketball friends.

  “You know Miss T’s bugging me about it,” he finally said, sliding off the desk. Good old Miss T. She was always on the case. “She’s not making me go,” he added. “She knows I’d rather be around here.”

  “Hanging at the block party?”

  “Exactly, man. Just feels more real.”

  “And the basketball league?”

  “Yup.” He hesitated. “Everybody’s asking about you,” he said. “Everybody’s wondering if we’re still tight.”

  “Are we?” I hadn’t planned on bringing this up, but there it was. The sun had gone down and, except for the computer screen, Foster’s room was dark. That made it easier to talk.

  “I’m not down with the whole polo thing, you know that, but we’re still homies.” We nodded at each other in the computer’s glow. “Just don’t go getting all high and mighty on me.” There was that old Foster grin. He slid into his Winston impersonation. Cracked me up.

  “There may be some honeys at Alisha’s party,” I said, trying another tack. “Look at Alisha. She must have some fine friends.” That perked him up. “We don’t have to stay for the whole thing, either,” I said. “We can just check it out.”

  “We can’t just up and leave when we want to. Somebody’s gonna have to pick us up.”

  “It’s near Head House Square, near South Street,” I said. “If we don’t like the party, we can go hang over there.”

  Foster thought about it for a few seconds. “All right, I’m in,” he said, checking his messages again. “Oh, I heard about you and the coaching.”

  “Yeah,” I said. “It’s gonna be cool. How’d you hear about it?”

  “Your pops told Miss T,” he said. “I’ll bet Jerome’s not too happy about it. Watch out for him, man.” By the tone of Foster’s voice, I could tell he wasn’t too happy about it, either.

  I WAS REALLY busy that next week. Winston made sure I rode Chance every day. Said the best practice for polo was to ride, ride, ride and talk to your horse. Said he wanted me and Chance to be as tight as could be. Shoot, she knew more about me than anybody else, ’cause when I was with her, I’d be talking straight up. And she’d talk back in her own way. You know, she’d neigh and toss her head.

  Winston’d been all over the world playing polo. He told me that on one of our long rides. Said if you were really good, you could make a lot of money and a name for yourself. Said he’d gotten his start by working as a stable hand when he was a kid. He never said why he quit the circu
it, but it was real important to him to win. He talked a lot about going back out to Blanchard with a killer team. Yeah, he liked to show off. And maybe I did a little showing off, too, especially after Pops got me a pair of leather riding boots. Made me feel like I was the real deal.

  So, then it felt like other kids were looking at me different. Like they knew I was gonna play in the match and be the next star. That’s all I was thinking about until the day before Alisha’s party. I was doing my usual thing, stretching after my ride so I wouldn’t be sore, when Jerome came sliding out the barn.

  “Somebody get Dre,” he said. “Something’s wrong with Percy. He can’t walk.”

  One of the kids went for Dre, and me and Winston followed Jerome back into the barn. Percy was all curled up behind the hay, way in the back. He couldn’t stand up. He kept trying, but his legs wouldn’t hold him. He looked real bad, too. His eyes were all glassy like people on drugs.

  Winston cleared some of the hay away so there was more room around Percy. He picked up his head. “Get some water,” he said, rubbing Percy’s neck.

  By then just about everybody, Alisha and all the other kids, were in the barn. Dre came in the side door and almost tripped over Winston.

  “I called the vet.” Dre was down on his knees, looking in Percy’s eyes. “He’ll be here in a few minutes.” Then he looked in Percy’s mouth. He also pulled out one of those things you use to listen to somebody’s heart and put it on Percy’s chest. You could tell he knew what to do. “Try to get him to take some water,” he said.

  “I hope nobody tried to poison him.” Jerome said that. He handed Winston a bucket of water and stood there looking down at Percy.