Excerpt: Working for Payday

The arrival of Snake and Garcia at the stables was greeted with applause from the adults, barking from Winter, and cries of “The pony! The pony!” among the younger children. The teenagers took advantage of the distraction to go back to the picnic tables for more food.

“Happy Birthday, Mr. Sumner!” Mary called out, as Snake emerged from the cab of the truck. He was wearing his white Stetson, jeans, a plaid shirt, hand-tooled rawhide boots, and a leather belt with a buckle shaped like the state of Texas. Around his neck was a red and white bandana. He looked every bit like a rodeo cowboy.

While the crowd moved to greet Snake, Garcia, a small man of Mexican descent, came straight over to the stalls to get a hose, which he attached to a spigot by the water trough. He then began spraying the dirt surface of the corral with a fine mist to keep the dust down.

“Let’s go see Snake’s surprise,” Catherine said to our shade-sharing companions.

“What surprise?” Bets asked.

“The one he mentioned at yesterday’s staff meeting,” Sylvie said.

“The pony?” Bets asked. “We had that last year.”

“The one TB wouldn’t let him talk about,” Catherine said.

“I swear, I must have been at a different meeting,” Bets said. “I don’t remember that.”

“We all zone out a lot in those meetings,” Missy said. “He didn’t go into any detail.”

We put our plates in the trash barrel at the end of the picnic area and walked over to the Morgan Built, where TB had joined Snake and was launching into a speech.

“Today is an extra special day in the history of Payday,” she said. “It’s our company picnic, of course, and my husband’s fiftieth birthday. But it’s also the day we can reveal the results of an investment that’s been nearly three years in the making. This is something we will all be able to take pride in during the years ahead. I’m only disappointed that we were not able to package it the way we wanted to, but I think you will all agree, it’s the best birthday present we could ever wish for Mr. Sumner.”

“A pony!” shouted Angie.

“No dear,” said TB. “This is something much better than a pony. Pierre, will you do the honors?”

“My pleasure,” said Snake. “If you’ll come with me to the back of the trailer.”

We all followed him and created a semicircle around the trailer’s rear doors. Garcia, who had finished watering down the corral, joined us and began opening the double doors of the Morgan Built.

“Payday People,” said Snake. “Allow me to introduce you to the newest member of our family, Snake’s Charmer!”

The trailer doors swung open to reveal not one, but two four-legged steeds.

“The pony! The pony!” Angie squealed. Winter, who was being held on a leash by Molly, shot forward, broke from her grip, and ran yelping toward the smaller of the two equine beasts, a black Shetland named Midnight. As the dog dashed ahead, the pony’s trailer mate let out with an ear-splitting whinny.

“Now that,” said Snake, “is the sound of a ….”

But even before he could say “thoroughbred,” Winter came to an abrupt halt, spun around and began sprinting back toward Molly. Trailing behind him, the flailing leash grazed Genesia’s leg. She lifted her foot, and as she did, the loop at the end of the leash caught her shoe. The leash went taut. Winter’s collar nearly choked the little dog as he came screeching to a stop. Then he quickly took off again in the opposite direction, but the leash kept him tethered to Genesia’s leg. He dashed around her in a circle… once, twice… wrapping her legs like a tourniquet round a tree trunk.

“Oh… OH!” Genesia gasped, as she began to lose her balance. Garcia saw that she was a bout to fall and lunged forward to steady her, but the big woman was too heavy for the small Hispanic to handle. The two of them came crashing down, stirring a cloud of dust and nearly crushing Winter, who narrowly escaped being trapped under a quarter ton of human flesh.

“The pony!” Angie cried.

“Pierre!” TB shouted, calling her husband’s attention away from the sideshow to the main event. When he leapt to help Genesia, Garcia had let go of Midnight’s reins and the little pony had bolted from the corral area. It was running up Stephanie toward Flamingo Road.

“Do something!” TB commanded.

“Help me!” Genesia moaned, her legs bound tightly and unable to move.

“¡Ayúdeme!” Garcia called from under the huge woman, his voice muffled by her ample bosom where his face was buried. It took both Uncle and the General to unravel the leash from her legs and help her up so that Garcia could breathe once again.

While they did, Snake had mounted his trail horse, Butch, and taken off down the road after Midnight. He caught up with the pony and led him safely back. By that time, Winter was again under Molly’s control, and Genesia was sitting in the shade, patting her chest and sobbing, “My heart. Oh, my heart.” Garcia had closed the doors to the Morgan Built so that Charmer would not be any more disturbed by all the picnic commotion.

“This is NOT what I wanted,” TB complained as Snake returned. “This is NOT what I wanted at all. Our wonderful debut is completely ruined.”

“C’mon now, Honey,” Snake answered. “It’s noboby’s fault. Sometimes things just happen.”

“Not at MY events,” TB hissed. “I want everyone out of here. Everyone. Now! And see if we can get our money back for that damn pony.”

So without any ceremony, we were all told the picnic was over. It was time to go. We never got a chance to find out what Jack intended to do with the raw spaghetti. We didn’t have an opportunity to sing “Happy Birthday” to Snake. Angie and the kids didn’t get their pony ride. But the worst part was yet to come.