Bullheaded

like all riders.
    It wasn’t in Cody to pick an easy bull to ride; his nature was to conquer over all odds. But with Heartbreak flatlining, there was no way Cody could put on his cape and leap over tall bulls in a single bound.
    It was up him, Johnny, the only bullfighter in the ring, to make it happen. Most riders were only on a level with the bull after the dismount, and usually they weren’t facing them when they took off for the fences with the animal hot on their heels. Most riders faced only four bulls every weekend, whereas each bullfighter took on every bull that stepped into the ring, sometimes over forty depending on circumstances.
    A bullfighter didn’t run for the fence, except in an emergency. His challenge was to stay in the ring and make things happen, not just save the rider after the dismount. One of the subtler things Johnny had learned how to do was almost imperceptible to anyone not in the know. A lot of riders never tumbled to it. The easy part of the job was getting a bull to leave the ring because it’s what it wanted to do anyway.
    The art of his job was in knowing how to rev up the bull and make it want to buck. How to suddenly appear in the bull’s peripheral vision and vanish at the right moment. How to make a bull turn the way you wanted it to. How to predict where to be for maximum effect and how to not still be there when the bull arrived on the spot with smoke pouring out of its nostrils.
    He started teasing the bull when it was still in the chute. Heartbreak Hotel had a new glint of red in its eyes before Cody even nodded the gate open. Deliberately, Johnny stood in the bull’s line of sight and silently started moving his hands to get it to pay attention to him instead of what was going on above it.
    The bull surged forward in the chute, tossing its head and picking up its feet. Johnny did a little jump in place, one guaranteed to get a bull’s attention, and then moved when the bull looked away to make it search to find him.
    When Travis opened the gate, Heartbreak Hotel blew out, annoyed with the rider on its back and determined to finish off the man taunting it in the ring. Once again, Johnny darted into the bull’s line of sight and vanished.
    Enraged with the two irritants and gunning to get rid of the rider, the bull leaped high in the air, practically bending its spine backward. And Johnny was right there on the other side from where the bull expected him, making Heartbreak even more nervous. He let the bull get close and slid away. Finally, a maddened Heartbreak settled into a spin so fast it became a blur. The fringe on Cody’s chaps flapped wildly and his free arm was whipping back and forth.
    Twisting and breaking on the bull’s back, Cody fought to keep his position, sliding too close to the well and pulling himself out. He was even forced to stop spurring, it turned into such a wild ride.
    Johnny smiled to himself. He might be invisible to most people, but he knew how to make a bull see him all right.
    Of course, Cody handled the storm he’d unloosed. It wasn’t just that he was technically a great rider; he made it look exciting. Sometimes other great riders made it look too easy, but Cody could create the illusion of imminent disaster that got people on the edge of their seats, rooting for him. It was that talent that earned him higher scores than a rider who made a bull ride look like plodding along on a placid horse.
    The boys were all cheering by the time RJ rang the buzzer and Cody bailed off the back, miraculously landing on his feet for once. He made riding a bull look natural. Johnny could imagine the boys all saying, “I could do that,” and then when they failed, “How did he do that?”
    Johnny almost felt embarrassed when Cody pumped both fists, his face twisted in a triumphant grimace. “Come on , baby! Game over !”
    For Johnny, the hard part was yet to come. Now that he’d gotten the bull properly riled, Heartbreak Hotel was looking for something to gore, to bash its head hard, to feel flesh and send it flying.
    Johnny ran in front of it, putting out a hand to ward the bull off. He stopped and made as if to turn back, waiting for the bull to commit its weight in one direction or the other.
    He heard Cody yelling.
    “Go left, go the other way, Johnny! Come on, fake him out, ba—boy! Get him spinning!”
    It fucking pissed him off. As if Cody needed to instruct him on fighting a bull! He took a couple deep breaths to calm himself,