Chapter 3

When I turned back to the kid, he’s shaking his head, rubbing his face. I realized he’s pretty groggy.

And bloody.

Oh, shit, I didn’t hit him that hard, did I?

Maybe I did.

I flipped on the overhead light and squatted down in front of the door. And waited.

He opened his eyes and elbowed up, leaning on one side. He wiped one hand over his scalp and it came away red and wet. He looked puzzled.

“Who the hell are you and what are you doing with my horses?” I asked.

“I just wanted someplace warm to sleep, dude.” His voice sounded threadbare, worn as his jeans.

“Did you do anything to them?”

“What??”

“The horses! Did you touch them? Give them something?”

“No, man, I don’t know shit about horses. Honest.” He raised his palms to me. “I just needed to….” He swallowed and looked away from me. His left eye was a little swollen and his bottom lip was cut and bleeding.

“Needed to what?”

“Get away from that guy. He was looking for rough trade and that’s not my deal.”