And sure enough, in the center of it all was the trouble maker himself. Laying knocked out cold on his back, all four feet straight up in the air with his tongue hanging out his mouth, snoring. I frowned down at him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a bull snore before.
“Yasmin, will you please say something to this maniac!” Gabe yelled as he ducked another swing from the old woman’s broom. I exhaled. The confrontation between these two was beginning to become a regular thing.
“Ms. Willie Mae, what happened?” I asked, gaining her attention.
“That thug you married is what happened!” She took another swing at him. “He done knocked out poor William again. Everybody knows my gentle bull wouldn’t harm a fly.” This caused the fellas to erupt in another fit of laughter, joined by my mother-in-law and children. Luke laughed so hard he nearly fell back off the fence he had climbed up to sit on.
“You’re delusional lady!” Gabe yelled back. “That damn bull is crazy as hell. You need to have him put down!” This made Ms. Willie Mae angrier. She took another swing at him.
“How bout I just put you down!” She yelled.
I had to bite my lip to keep from laughing. “Ms. Willie Mae please put the broom down.” I begged reaching for it. She moved it out of my way.
“Not until he promises not to hit poor William again!”
“Poor William my foot!” Gabe sneered. “He a damn menace. Always trying to come over here and impregnate my cows with that ole’ crazy seed of his, trying to make me have a bunch of calves with mad cow’s disease.”
Of course that sent everybody into another fit of laughter.
Ms. Willie Mae fell to her knees as if she was grieving the loss of a child, trying to pick the bull’s big head up to rest in her lap.
“My William don’t cause no mad cow disease. How could you say something like that about him?” She wailed.
What made this situation real funny was the fact that Gabe was getting irritated with everybody’s laughter, because of course, he didn’t find it funny. He truly believed William was the reason one of our cows gave birth to a calf with the disease.
He folded his arms and glared down at the woman. “Ma’am I would like for you to remove yourself and your crazy bull off my property.” Her mouth dropped open.
“How am I pose to do that and you done knocked him out!” He shook his head.
“I don’t care how you do it, just get him off, and keep him away!” That made her so mad she got back to her feet and picked up her broom.
Gabe unfolded his arms and began to take a step back for every step she took toward him.
“What are you doing?” He asked, now running from the little kooky old lady.
“I’m gone knock you out like you did William!” She yelled. I lifted my hands to try and stop this madness, but thought better of it. These two were made for each other. Turning, I headed back toward the house. I had a big day tomorrow. We were opening our second ‘Purple Glaze Bakery’ in Dallas, not too far from Kenny and Stacy’s home.
The one here in Sweetwater was doing so well, Gabe said why not open another. I chuckled. Who knew a bakery with farm fresh organic fruit was going to take off like it had. A month after I began to take orders for the delicacies I created from the berries we grew here on the farm, Gabe like my grandfather had gotten fed up with me always being so busy. Our phone did not stop ringing.
So, what did he do?
He went into town and bought a building. Then he had it gutted and remodeled. When he’d come home and asked me to go for a drive with him, I had been right in the middle of working on an order for a wedding.
“Come on baby, go for drive with me. I have a surprise for you.” I shook my head without looking up from the berries I was carefully arranging on the cake.
“I can’t Gabe, I’m already behind.” He then came around my back and wrapped a blindfold over my eyes.
“I insist.”
Grudgingly, I went with him. When he took the blindfold off, the only thing I could do was stand there with my mouth hanging open in complete shock.
“It’s beautiful!” I cried, or at least I think I cried.
The whole place was the color of my eyes. How he’d managed it was beyond me. There was a beautiful sign above the door, with a pair of startling purple eyes that read, Purple Glaze Bakery.
“Now you can hire people to help you, so that I can see more of you.” He’d said, as I threw myself in his arm.
“Yas!” Gabe yelled, bringing me back to the present. “Get your crazy neighbor!” Ms. Willie Mae was now outright chasing him. Chuckling, I shook my head.
“I’m sure the two of you can work this out like adults” I called over my shoulder, knowing full well that was not going to happen.
This serves him right. I remember some years ago, he laughed at me till tears came out his eyes when I first told him about my neighbor’s bipolar bull. He even laughed at me when I’d suggest he become a farmer.
Now look at him. He was a farmer, and my neighbor’s bipolar bull was the bane of his existence. Although, Gabe was not the kind of farmer folks around here was use to. Shortly after he’d arrived, he had the barn rebuilt. On the outside it looked like a normal barn… big, but normal. On the
