Chapter 29

10:00 September 2, 1983 Parker Farm

The day started just like every other day on the farm. Pap-pap and I met in the kitchen and drank our coffee while he ate his oats. We talked about the fact that I’d arranged to have some help with loading the Churchill order. I knew Pap-pap would be there as well. He informed me that the stable manager for the track was coming with the driver to meet us and to inspect and help load the hay.

That wasn’t really a surprise. If I’d been the guy in charge of all those expensive race horses I probably would want to oversee a new contract the first time too.

What had been a bit of a surprise was that Carl had called me from the school and asked if it was okay for a couple of the other players to come out too. He assured me that neither Craig or Deshawn would be there. Apparently Craig was telling everyone that I was psycho and had run him off by taking pot shots at him with a shotgun, when he’d come to pick my sister up for a date.

Most of the guys thought it was hilarious that two big guys like Craig and Deshawn were afraid of the little ninth grader. I told Carl that Craig was right. I had fired two shots at him. After I told him to get off our land or I would fill his ass full of buckshot. “I don’t think he thought I had the balls to do it. So I put a load into the ground at his feet and took out his driver side rear window with a second. Then I threatened to put a load into his dick if he didn’t leave.”

Carl started laughing. “Christ on a crutch Harrison. No wonder he is telling everyone you’re nuts.”

“Awww, the big footballer is scared of the little freshman with the twelve gage. He’s damn right I’m nuts but he wouldn’t have had any left if he’d stuck around. I had the barrel squared up with the beans and frank when he decided I was serious.”

Carl was laughing and so were the guys who’d come with him. They all told me they thought I was alright. Which, coming from the most popular guys in school, was a step up for me.

They asked why I was so adamant about him not dating Mary Jane.

“Are you guys serious? You know that he and Deshawn are as guilty as Kent, Todd and Aaron when it comes to forcing girls into sex right? I know several who they outright raped and the three I put in the hospital tried that shit on my girlfriend Amaryllis.”

A few of the guys nodded but a couple shook their heads. One guy said. “I thought that was just rumors.”

I shook my head. “It ain’t just rumors. I had three different parents tell the stories of what those five did to their daughters and three girls who are scared that they’ll come after them again. Not to mention what Kent, Todd and Aaron threatened to do to my girlfriend.”

One of the tight ends spoke up then. “Yeah about that, we all saw the news and what Amber Quint thinks of you but our boys are saying you sucker punched them from behind.”

Carl shook his head. “Listen, I know what the guys are saying. I’m telling you that Harrison is a good guy. He didn’t strike them without warning them. He told them, and Craig too, flat out what he was going to do to them if they didn’t leave well enough alone. We all know how those five get. They think their shit don’t stink and that they are the best of the best. They figured Harrison was just puny little Parker and he didn’t stand a chance. Instead he surprised them by doing exactly what he said he would do. This I know beyond a shadow of a doubt. Harrison keeps his word. If he makes a promise he’ll deliver on it. Every. Single. Time.”

Just then we heard the sound of the big rig as it shifted to make the turn into our drive. We all got close to the farm trailers ready to transfer the heavy hay bales from our equipment onto the trailer the big rig was hauling. I almost died laughing when the driver got out and was a blonde haired blue eyed woman. Here Pap-pap was worried about a strange man ogling our women and instead the driver was a woman. The cowboy in the other seat on the other hand was obviously the man in charge. He greeted Pap-pap and walked over and examined a couple of bales from each trailer at random. I knew he’d keep a close watch as we loaded the big trailer. Making sure that we didn’t try and slip in some inferior bales with the quality stuff he’d already inspected. Maybe we should have been offended. But this was Churchill. The big show in horse racing. It seemed logical to me that someone in the past had probably tried to cut corners and dump inferior feed on them. That however wasn’t the Parker way. With my new football friends we got the truck loaded and the stable manager was more than pleased with the quality of the merchandise he received.

He was so pleased he ordered another load for pick up in two weeks. He also told Pap-pap that he’d recommend us to some of the smaller tracks as the Two-lined Spittlebug infestation left all of them short of feed. Yep, it was going to be a very profitable year for the Parker Farm.