Chapter 21

Sage P.O.V.

It felt like a lifetime, but we were finally walking off the bus into the Texas sun. We decided Dallas, TX would be a good place to lay low, plus who doesn't want to stay in the city that your brother shares a name with?

It didn't take us long to find a cheap hotel and I gave the lady at the front counter enough cash to cover a week stay. We didn't know how long we needed to lay low for or how to even know when things had cleared up at home. Maybe I would give Dal a call later in the week to check in. I know him and Tim got pulled into the station for questioning based on how close of a relationship they seemed to have with the cops. Hopefully they can hold it together a little better than Angela and I are.

We had been sitting in the hotel room for an hour and I had almost smoked half a pack of cigarettes trying to calm my nerves. Angela was standing in front of the mirror and said, "We should change our hair."

I glanced over to her and asked why. "Well if the cops think it is us then they will have less of a chance in finding us if we don't match the description." It made sense but wouldn't changing our looks make us seem guilty?

"What happens if they still have no idea who did it and we get back to town lookin like two different people? Think that will raise any flags?" She thought it over some and eventually nodded her head. It had taken a while for me to grow out my blonde hair. I wasn't about to go chopping it off if I didn't have to. "If we catch wind that they have our names, then we will do something. But I don't want to make rash decisions and increase our chances of getting caught."

I had counted our cash and saw we had a little over a hundred dollars left that Tim had given us. If we were smart, we could make it last us a few weeks between food and a new hotel if we needed to stay longer than this week.

Angela's voice pulled my attention back to her. "We need to treat this as a vacation. When is the next time we are gonna be out of Tulsa? Until our pictures hit the paper, you and I are going to have fun."

I mentally rolled my eyes at her. We just stabbed two people to death, and she wants us to have a fun girl's trip like nothing happened. There are times where I see Angela as a well put together person who was simply dealt a losing hand in life. This is not one of those times. The girl looking back at me has zero feelings of guilt and is acting like we didn't just screw up our lives. I thought I was losing my mind the other night, but I am more concerned about her now. She is acting like a wildcard and I'm not sure how to play my hand if it goes the wrong way.

I let out a sigh and asked, "What do you have in mind?"

She gave me a sly grin. "I wanted to find me a cowboy and I think that's what we should do. I saw a flyer at the front desk about a rodeo in town. What do you say, Sage? Ready to show these boys how a girl from Tulsa does things?" I smirked and nodded my head. She might be crazy sometimes, but I think crazy is what I need.

It didn't take us long to find this rodeo. I think I smelt the animals before I even saw one. Angela was practically bouncing with joy as we watched cowboy after cowboy walk by us. Dally used to ride horses for Buck is what I was told, but I never had a strong love for these smelly animals. I couldn't help but feel a pull on my heart when I thought how much Ponyboy and Johnny would love it here. I shook the thoughts of them out of my head as I was half listening to Angela ramble on about how good these jeans looked on these guys.

It didn't take long for her to have her arms wrapped around this poor guy who had zero idea how much my friend liked to play with boys' hearts. It was almost like a game to her to see how close she could get them before she ripped their hearts out. I chuckled at the smile he gave her knowing it wouldn't last long.

"Now what's a pretty thing like you doing all by your lonesome?" I jumped at the stranger's voice next to me and saw a tall brunette wearing a dark flannel. He was cute but no one could pull of a flannel like Sodapop.

"Just watching this poor guy fall for my friends trap." He looked over to Angela and chuckled, "He deserves it." Turning his attention back to me he asked where I was from. I almost said Tulsa, but I didn't want people to be able to place me here if the feds get a hold of our names. "New York."

He let out a low whistle, "Long way from home. What brings you to Texas of all places?"

I smirked, "My friend wanted to snag a cowboy. What better place than here?"

That got him laughing. "Well you came to the right place that's for sure. Have you been to a rodeo before?"

I shook my head at him. I didn't know if it was the smell that turned me away or how large these animals were. Even the goats looked like they could do some damage. "Well we need to find what you are good at."

I turned my head to give him a confused look, "What?" He met my question with a smile, "You can't come to a rodeo and not do rodeo things. I'm a bull rider, but I wouldn't recommend you do that. We need to find you something a little smaller."

As scary as bull riding sounded, I didn't like being told I couldn't do something. "What makes you think I couldn't ride a bull?" His eyebrows shot up at that question. "It's dangerous. You could get hurt."

I scoffed at him. "Buddy I spent the last four years living on the streets of New York. If I could handle that, I can stay on that bull for all of 8 seconds."

A smile of disbelief spread on his face as he shook his head. "Darlin, if you want to ride a bull then we will find you a bull. But don't blame me if you get stomped on." I nodded my head and told Angela that I would meet her in a bit. She asked where I was going and I said, "To ride a bull."

She looked shocked and the guy next to her told me, "Little lady you are going to get hurt. Gals don't ride bulls." My new brunette friend put his hands up, "I told her that, but she insisted."

Angela shook her head, "That was your first mistake. This girl can't say no to a challenge." It was true. Dally would be proud of me for upholding our name once again.

He led me over to a small arena off to the side and told me that this was where the locals rode for cash. I learned that there was a main event for the traveling circuit of cowboys inside. This out here was for the no named people, but there was still money to be won.

I walked over and signed up to be in the bull riding competition and continued to get disapproving looks. At first, I did this to prove one person wrong, but it was turning into a whole mob of people. I had a few people ahead of me and took this time to watch what they did. Most of them fell off within the first 5 seconds, but the ones that stayed on made it look easy. I needed to move with the bull and not against him in order to stay on.

As my time was getting closer, I was getting more nervous by the minute. The guy right in front of me had been stomped on in the leg and had to be carried off the arena on a stretcher. "You're up darlin." My cowboy friend helped me climb over the railing and sit right on top of the bull.

We were caged in to allow me to get situated before the gate opened to the dirt stage. I knew these animals were large, but the amount of anger in this guy was starting to worry me. It was like his only mission in life was to buck off and hurt as many humans as possible.

I was handed a rope by the guy running the show and was told to wrap it around my dominant hand to help keep me in the saddle. "When you fall off, roll to the side and run to the fence." I wasn't planning on falling off, but I nodded my head anyway. "You ready?" I let out a deep breath and nodded my head. The bull underneath me had been trying to slam me against the side of the gate this whole time and I was starting to get more concerned about what he would do to me once he had free range.

"Go!" A voice yelled out and the gate was thrown open. The bull wasted no time in getting out there and had been jumping around like a mad man. I could hear people surrounding the small arena cheering for me as I held on for dear life. He bucked up and down and jumped higher than I ever thought an animal of his size could. The seconds ticked down slower than I've ever seen time go as I felt my body being lifted and slammed back down into the saddle repetitively. I felt my grip becoming lose and looked up to see I had 2 seconds left before the horn rang out.

I felt the rope slide through my hands as the welcoming ring of the horn signaled the 8 seconds were up. I went air born and landed with a solid thud on the dirt ground. My body seemed to take over as I rolled and ran to the fence like that guy had told me. A few pair of arms pulled me over the fence, away from the pissed off bull. Hands clapped my back and cheers rang out among the crowd as a girl just showed up a bunch of guys.

I was breathing hard as the adrenaline wore off and I felt a burning pain on my hand. I looked down to see a solid rope burn from where the rope came loose in my hand. "That was amazing, New York!" I saw my brunette friend run up to me with a huge smile plastered on his face. "Gosh dang! I will never question another gal again!"

I couldn't help but laugh at his enthusiasm. "As fun as it was proving you all wrong, I think I'll hang up my hat when it comes to bull riding."

He laughed and Angela walked up. "Glory do we have a story to tell when we get back home." Dally wouldn't believe me if I told him. Or if he did, he would call me stupid for even getting on the bull.

"Let's go wrap your hand up." I didn't know who said it, but I followed Angela and Mr. plaid shirt over to a first aide tent. I allowed myself to forget everything that was waiting for us at home and enjoyed today. To everyone's surprise, I got second place in the competition, earning me a small belt buckle with a bull on it and some prize money.

This morning I thought Angela was crazy for wanting to let loose, but I think we both needed a break from our sad story of a life. Tomorrow I was going to call my brother and check in, but for now I was going to have a few beers and enjoy the company of a Texas cowboy.