Bullheaded

going to be the one to make the whistle on Spinal Tap. I know it.”
    Cody brightened up. “That’d be something for people to remember me for.”
    “Probably make the bull’s career too,” Johnny cracked. “You’ll both make history.”
    Cody was silent for several long minutes. “I think I’m losing my grip.”
    After an answering silence, Johnny said quietly, “I know.”
    “You saw it?”
    “You’re riding differently. Staying more up on your rope. Did you injure it?”
    “I don’t know,” Cody said flatly, flexing his hand and staring at it, as if he could see the inner workings and figure out what the problem was. “It’s been kind of numb for a couple weeks.”
    “Not broken?” Johnny knew Cody would know if it was. After enough broken bones, you got so you could tell.
    “No. I must have strained it.”
    Choosing his words carefully, Johnny said, “I’ve heard it happens to riders—after a long career.”
    “Yeah,” Cody said.

    A FTER scoring big on Failure to Yield, Cody waited with Dub through the fifth round, watching the rest of the riders try to make their rides. Cody kept replaying the conversation with Johnny from the night before, even while he watched him dart around the ring. “Dancing with the beast,” he muttered.
    “What’s that?”
    “What they do.” Cody nodded at the bullfighters. “We sit on top but they look them in the eye. In some ways they’re beating that bull worse than we do. Look how mad Gunsmoke is.”
    “You been getting inside information on the bulls from Johnny?”
    It was the first time Dub had mentioned him by name since that day in the locker room, and Cody didn’t know whether he felt uncomfortable about it or not. He gave Dub a smug grin. “You bet.”
    “Let a friend in on it then,” Dub pleaded.
    “He said ride what the bull gives you,” Cody replied.
    “Sounds like smart advice. Is that why you’re so calm, even though you’re going up to pick Spinal Tap? I would be shaking in my boots.”
    “Sure you would. Big fluffy white chicken like you.”
    Dub chuckled. “Seriously. Never seen you this calm. Usually you’re thinking out a game plan—”
    “And falling off because I’m not paying attention.”
    “Yeah, that’s how you take the Leader of the Pack spot, falling off all the time. The sponsors admire a rider who never scores,” Dub said sarcastically. “It’s about time for you to make your choice. Top score, first pick.”
    “Yeah.” Cody grinned at him, but shifted nervously from side to side as he waited for the ring announcer to call his name.
    “You still got time to change your mind before the long walk.”
    Cody took a deep breath. “Yeah, it’s a long walk to a short ride.”
    When the stagehand waved at him, Cody strode out to the shark cage in the center of the ring, limping only slightly, and used the ramp instead of jumping as he usually did.
    “Ten great bulls standing ready for the Championship round. Cody Grainger, who’s it going to be?”
    Cody spoke firmly into the mic. “Spinal Tap.”
    “Spinal Tap! Cody Grainger has just volunteered, no, boldly chosen to test his fate on the back of the unridden Spinal Tap. That’s going to be a ride to remember no matter how it turns out. History in the making!” The ring announcer released his grip on Cody’s shoulder and let him walk down the ramp.
    Cody got down a bit gingerly and waved at the crowd as he limped out. He felt oddly at peace now the die was cast, but also alive and aware, his nerve endings tingling and a flutter in the pit of his belly.
    He heard Dub give his pick and then Juca Matos’s halting English as he made his choice.
    First to pick, last to ride. The way it had been so often for him the last few years. Realizing he had been taking it for granted there would always be another victory, Cody wanted to savor this moment in time. He didn’t want to retire, he was fighting it tooth and nail, but the clock was ticking. He might ride in other finals, but right now he had a sense of real power despite his injuries. Experience, practice, and native ability coming together in a penultimate challenge. He only hoped he’d be able to pull this off.

    “A S WE start the Championship round of the finals, a history-making event with the rankest bulls going up against the best riders, the stakes have gotten higher and higher until the ten best cowboys in the world have risen to the top to face the fiercest animal athletes in the