Page 67

“Castrating,” I clarify.

He winces.

River smirks at him before she goes on.

“They have a horse breeding farm and a stable where they do horse riding lessons, work with special needs kids, stuff like that. Some of their horses and ponies are gelded as to be more tame and easier for beginner riders.”

She stops to take a sip of her coffee, and I grow impatient.

“So, I told Doctor Taylor I had this biology project and needed a couple of testicles for it and asked if I could tag along in the morning before I went to school.”

She looks at me.

“You know Doctor Taylor always had a soft spot for me.”

It's true. Doctor Taylor has three sons, and he always said River was the daughter he never had. He has high hopes one of his boys will catch River’s eye. I wouldn’t put my money on it.

“So, I got up way early that morning, met Doctor Taylor at the Andersons’, and twenty minutes later, I got me a fresh pair of horse testicles in a plastic bag. Got back home before you were up and hid the evidence in my backpack.”

Logan looks horrified and scoots his chair a little over and is facing her now. He looks ready to bolt.

“What the hell did you do, River?”

“Remember that old kitchen knife Mom likes to use to dig up weeds in the herb garden?”

“Yes, it’s a huge rusty knife—holy shit!”

I look at Logan, remembering the warning she gave him about hurting him with a rusty knife. River laughs. Logan scoots over a little more and crosses his legs.

“So, after we got to school, I told you I had to go to the bathroom, remember?”

“Yes.”

“I lied. I went back outside, into the parking lot. Blake always liked to hang out in his car listening to music and walk in just before the last bell. He liked to make an entrance.”

Yeah, I remember it well. I was one of many hanging in the halls to catch a glimpse of him doing just that. Stupid teenage hormones.

“Yeah, that’s true.”

I look at Logan and he’s hanging on her every word.

“I walked to his car and leaned my elbows on his open window. The asshole smirked at me and said that since he was done with you, I could have a ride on the Blake train next.”

I gasp. I didn’t know any of that.

“So, I very calmly told him he would keep his mouth shut and not say a word to anyone about you and that if anyone asked, he would say you broke up with him.”

“What did he say to that?”

“He laughed. He said he’d do whatever the fuck he wanted. I pulled Mom’s knife from my backpack and played with it. He stopped laughing then. I told him if he ever so much as looked at you again or opened his mouth to say anything about you or to you, I would cut his balls off. He didn’t believe me.

So I stabbed the car seat, right between his legs, missing his junk by a couple of inches. It surprised me how easily that old knife cut through leather. It may have been old and rusty, but Mom kept it really sharp. He was stunned. He didn’t even see when with my bare hands, I grabbed the colt’s testicles from the plastic bag and dropped them on his lap. He looked at it and went white as a ghost. I wiped my hand on his shirt, smacked his face twice, grabbed the knife back, and pointed it at him and repeated,Not a word.”

Logan looks a little sick.

“What did he do?”

I can’t believe River did this. She did this for me.