It’s almost noon now. I slept all morning. I must have been exhausted. I usually wake up early. I like to go for a run before school, even though we are on summer break, I’ve kept my habits.
The past couple of weeks, I’ve been going to sleep late. When I’m not working, or out with the guys, I’m training Aphrodite, my horse. Maybe I should call her my ex-horse. Mom sold her to our super-rich new neighbors who are moving here from New York City. Dad knew them from medical school but lost contact right after they graduated. Now, they’ve bought twenty-five acres of land from my family. They built a huge house on it and a nice horse barn. Apparently, the barn’s a surprise for their daughter.
We breed horses and they’ve bought two from us—the last two horses we bred, actually. Since I have been training Aphrodite for a while now, I told Mr. Berwick, our new neighbor, that I would finish her training myself.
My grandpa taught me how to train horses. He was a professional and had his own training facility. He was one of the best in the West, and gained his reputation by training horses for the Kentucky Derby and other races. Unfortunately, Grandpa had a heart attack and passed away four years ago. In her grief and determination to uphold his legacy, Mom decided to keep his horses and breed them. Now, she is tired of it.
I’m leaving for college soon, and she doesn’t want to keep up the training without me. Dad is too busy at the hospital and he can’t help, nor would he want to. If there’s a part of me that doesn’t care about going to college, this is why.
After taking a brief shower, I stop by the kitchen before heading outside. As I step into the room, I see Dad searching the fridge, and I freeze.
What is he doing home?
In any case, he hasn’t noticed me, and I might still be able to sneak out before he sees me.
“Adam?” he calls.
I take a deep breath and turn to face him.
“Hey, Dad,” I give a flat smile. “I thought you were at work.”
“My afternoon surgery was canceled, so I thought it would be nice to surprise your mom by coming home for lunch, but I guess I should have called. There’s nothing to eat, and she’s not here.”
He says it half-joking, but is hoping I’ll sit down with him.
“She went to Seattle,” I say, edging toward the patio door.
“Where are you headed?”
“I gotta meet Alo at the barn. I’m running late.” I watch as Dad slightly shakes his head. I feel like rolling my eyes or lashing out in defense of my work, but that would get me in trouble. I just swallow the knot in my throat and keep quiet.
“Why don’t you volunteer at the hospital today?” he says. He just doesn’t know when to quit. “I’m sure they could use your help, you know—do something more productive for your future. The hours you put in volunteering at the hospital will help with your application to medical school.”
“I’ve been working there four days a week,” I press. “I do need a break sometimes.”
Dad nods. The doorknob burns in my hand, wanting me to turn it, but I know he isn’t done yet.
“You know, life won’t give you much free time once you get into school. You’ll need to learn how to use your time wisely.”
I use all my strength to return his smile. “Yeah, but right now, I’m not in school. So, if you don’t mind, I am heading out.”
He looks at me carefully for a moment and then nods again. “Enjoy your afternoon, son.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
I finally open the door and step outside. I breathe deep and count to ten until my fist loosens up. That’s the thing with Dad: nothing is ever in my favor around him.
He’s always complaining about how much time I dedicate to the horses, and he thinks I should be studying and preparing to get into college. I wonder how far away from him I should be when I get the nerve to tell him medical school is not for me.
I walk into the barn and find Alo saddling Sicilian. Alo is our professional horse trainer, and he is currently taking the time to teach me some tricks. I’ve known Alo for years. He used to work with my grandpa, and now he has his own training facility. Mom has been paying him to train our last few colts. I have been helping and learning at the same time when I work alongside him, and he pretty much lets me train Aphrodite on my own. I’ve grown so attached to her, after all; interacting with her comes to me so easily.
“Morning,” I greet him. “Sorry I didn’t come earlier. I slept in today and ran into Dad, and he wouldn’t stop blabbing.”
“I was about to call you,” says Alo. “We need to take the horses to your new neighbors today. I’m taking Sicilian. Can you bring Aphrodite? ”
I walk into her stall and pet her. “Yeah, sure. I’ll get her ready.”
Time goes by fast, too fast; I wasn’t looking forward to this day. I brush her, making sure I get her all cleaned up, then I take her saddle from the wall hanger.
After I get Aphrodite ready, we head out into the woods. My parents placed small trails all over our wooded land, which used to be 110 acres. Now that my dad sold almost a quarter of it, we’ll have to share the trails with our new neighbor. We’ll also have to share the small lake we have between our houses. The lake is where I like to spend most of my sunny afternoons, and I definitely don’t want to share that place with anyone, much less strangers. I hope the neighbors will stay away—the water is extremely cold, and once they’ve tried to swim in it, I doubt they’ll be hanging around there much.
As we ride toward the neighbors’ house, I notice that Aphrodite keeps ignoring my commands to halt. She just keeps going without slowing down—not good. I’ve been working on this for a while now, but she isn’t budging.
“This is going to be a problem,” Alo says, drawing up alongside me. “Don’t let the Berwick girl ride on her until you’re sure she will obey. If she gains speed and is uncontrolled, it will get ugly.”
“Don’t worry, I’ll work something out.”
Alo analyzes my position. “Try a half-halt. You might have better luck.”
It works. I get Aphrodite under control, and we reach the Berwick’s barn soon after. My mouth falls open at the sight of it. The barn is much nicer than I thought it would be. In fact, the thing doesn’t even look like a barn. It’s built out of large timbers and perfectly matches the main house. It looks like a guesthouse.
I dismount and walk Aphrodite into the barn, and even she seems to be impressed with her new digs.
“You’ll be fine here, girl,” I assure her. “I’ll be coming over often. We obviously still have some training to do.”
It’s hard to say goodbye. I sit on the floor and tilt my head back, leaning against the wall. I look at Aphrodite and I wonder if she knows that this is her new home, now. I sit here, talking to the mare, until Alo makes me leave.
* * *
As soon as I get home, I hop on my horse, Bader, and head to the lake. The sun is still bright and high above me. This is my favorite time of the year—not too much rain, and the perfect amount of heat. The sun sets around nine p.m., and it rises before four in the morning. This is our summer, which only lasts a couple of months, and then the rainy days come back.