Dirty Sweet Cowboy

Once the area is cleared, I look at my phone, and see it’s almost ten. “Shit! Dammit! Son of a …”

“Hawk, you watch your mouth, boy!” my father says as I pick my coat back up off the barn floor and run for the office. I throw the door open and slide inside, and the minute I see Parrish’s face, I know that I am in so much trouble .

“Parrish! I …”

She holds up her hand. “Don’t. It’s fine. It’s not your fault. I didn’t even ask you to be here. You offered. You weren’t obligated .”

Based on the way she is slamming files and plans and, finally, kicks the wall over and over until she is crying, I can tell that whether or not I was obligated, I should have told my father to screw and come here anyway. I rush over and pull her into my arms, only to stop her from hurting herself .

“Parrish, what happened? Tell me .”

She firmly, but gently, shoves me away. “Forget it, Hawk. Seriously. It’s fine .”

I sit on the edge of the desk. “It’s obviously not. Tell me what that creep did .”

Parrish sighs, and sits down in her chair, then crosses her arms over her chest protectively. “That… bastard. I knew he was a creep. I could feel it. He came in here to go over the plans. We talked for a while, and everything seemed fine. Then, he stood up, and spread the plans on my desk, and he reached over and…” she stops talking and looks down at her breasts. “Forget it, Hawk. It’s not a big deal. You know how old guys like him are .”

“No. Fuck that,” I growl as I stand up from the desk and stalk outside. I feel like all I’m doing around here lately is getting pissed off, but there is no way I’m just letting this go. I walk out the door, and see that Russell’s truck is still here, so I head in the direction of the barn. I can hear him talking to my father, and sure enough, they’re in there, chatting like old buddies. Dad even gives him a friendly punch on the shoulder .

I can do one better , I think as I walk up to them, rear my fist back, and sock Russell in the jaw so hard, he crumples to the ground like a sack of potatoes .

Dad looks at me like I’ve lost my mind. “What in the sweet damn hell, Hawk? What has come over you ?”

Russell makes a move to stand up, but I point at him, my hand shaking. “You stay down there, you piece of shit. Don’t make me hit you again .”

Russell looks up at me with pure white hot hatred in his eyes, but he doesn’t move .

“I thought you were going to talk to him?” I snarl at my father. He looks at me, confused .

“About what?” dad answers, shaking his head .

“The way this garbage fire of a human being treats women .”

Dad’s eyes narrow, then he looks from me, down to Russell. “What is he talking about, Russ ?”

Russell rubs his jaw. “Hell if I know .”

I feel rage wash over me, and I dive at him again. Dad reaches out and grabs my arms, holding me back, preventing me from straight up killing the man .

“You tell the truth, Russell! You tell the truth right now!” I scream. I’m suddenly aware of a presence behind me. I turn around, and Parrish isn’t the only one standing there. Anna and my mom are there too, along with a handful of the builders, the carpenter who arrived early, and Simone, watching from outside the doors. But I don’t care. I’m too angry to care. And I can see my father getting angrier by the minute too .

“You tell the truth, Russell. What did you do?” my father says under his breath, now also aware we have an audience .

Russell’s eyebrows sink into a glower, one that drives away his usual sense of false joviality. “I don’t know. I may have, accidentally, brushed a hand against Parrish while we were going over the blueprints .”

From behind us, I hear Parrish scoff, which only makes me angrier. I turn back to Russell. “If you, for one second, think I won’t beat your ass into the ground, you have another thing coming, Edwards .”

He scoots away from me, but doesn’t try to run. He knows he has nowhere to go. “All right, all right. It wasn’t an accident. I was just paying her a compliment is all. I don’t know what everyone is getting so worked up about .”

I see my mother rush over and put her arms around Parrish. Anna starts to make a move in our direction, and my mother grabs her hand to stop her. I know for a fact that Anna could destroy Russell just as easily as I could, so it’s for Anna’s benefit as much as Russell’s that my mother stops her .

My dad squats down next to Russell, and tilts his hat up. His face goes blank, and his voice becomes deathly calm. I’ve heard that tone before, and it’s no joke .

“Russell, consider yourself fired. Get your things, get your men, and get out of here. And if you know what’s good for, you will never come back here again. If you see me walking down the street, you will cross to the other side. If you see a member of my family in a restaurant in town, you will pay your check and you will leave. And if you ever disrespect another woman, if you so much as wink at a lady without her permission, you best assume that I’m going to hear about it, and it will be the last time you do anything with that eye. Are we understood ?”

Russell’s face has gone completely pale. He nods and slowly crawls to his feet without another word. Then he walks out of the barn without making eye contact with anyone, gets in his truck, and speeds out of the drive way. No one says anything for a few minutes, almost as if everyone is frozen in place. Then, of course, it’s Anna who breaks the silence .

“Gah! I always hated that piece of crap .”