"He kicked Buck back into the lope and they rode hard for 20 minutes. When they slowed to a walk, Zach took off his hat, held it up to shade his eyes,...and looked at the sun's position. He rode into a grove of Palo Verde trees next to another butte and stopped. He threw his leg over the front of his saddle and slid to the ground. Turning he helped Kathleen to dismount."Why are we stopping?" She asked. "Shouldn't we keep going?" Got to rest Buck." He looked around and stepped over to a spot. OK dad what up? I was stunted for the moment trying to work things and voices out, but told her about mum's birthday and what to do and asked about her at uni but she told me nothing but mum was coming to visit the next weekend and would talk to her and let me know. I sat there after playing the phone call over the loud music couldn't really work it out and the deep voice of ok babe, every time i though about it the same answer came out my daughter was with a black guy, not that I'm a racist or. The pay was great, the hours long and hard. The worst part was being away from my women sometimes for a week at a time. Caroline changed. I had changed. I guess the real truth was I’d grown up, seeing the shit I’d experienced in ‘Nam. C got ‘clingy’ and started in with this ridiculous baby talk whenever we were together. I think the whole town assumed we’d get married but the childish way she had around me was like fingernails on a blackboard. We’d had several major fights over it and she. I try to bend over to cover myself better, hide my burning embarrassment. "Just leave me alone." "Shit, I'm sorry honey. But you can't be watching that," my mom says. Grabbing a tissue off my desk, she hands it to me. I take it and try to turn away in my chair. "You're not supposed see me like that." "Just go, ok?" She turns the chair back, so that she's standing over me. I cower, not wanting to look her in the eye or ogle the breasts in front of my face. Instead, I stare at her red painted.