Ten Too Many

death to black coffee

The next morning started a bit later than the one before, but I was still tired as we loaded into the truck, this time with a trailer as today was the day for dropping off the animals so the vets could do a check at the fairgrounds.

Jake saw my face and laughed. "Do you want some coffee?"

I took the pro-offered thermos and took a sip.

"Splhuerghh!" I coughed and pulled a face while scrubbing my tongue with a napkin.

Jake cracked up. "You don't like black coffee?"

I glared at him. "Shut up."

The taste of bitter, disgusting, abominable, loathsome, putrid, nasty black coffee was still in my mouth as we got to the fairgrounds, and the taste of paper napkins hadn't made it any better.

As I got out, Charles called me over to the trailer.

"Jake, I need you to help Noah with his steer and Alex- I mean Lexi, would you mind helping Evan with his rabbit? He can't carry it by himself."

I nodded and walked into the trailer, where Evan was struggling with a rabbit to get it out of its cage. And I could see why; the thing was gigantic. I went over to help. "What do you want me to do?"

He shrugged. "Just grab one end."

We worked together and carried the rabbit to a building on the edge of the grounds. Several other kids were putting rabbits into cages that were stacked on top of each other, but, I noticed, none of them were as big as Evans'.

The door was slightly small, but we managed to get the rabbit inside.

Evan started filling her dishes, and I went back outside to the parking lot and to the trailer. There was a rattling noise and then; "Oof!" from inside.

I made a face and jumped up on the side to get a look through the slats. Jayden was bent double, clutching his crotch while Jordan laughed. Two sheep were in the corner bleating.

"We need some help in here!" Jordan shouted. "Wait, don't open the door!"

"Someone needs to slide through the slats." Jake appeared around the corner. His gaze landed on me.

"No."

Jake smiled placatingly. "You're the only one small enough."

"And you fed me black coffee."

Jake laughed, but I sighed and slid myself through the bars.

"Alright," I said once I'd got through. "What do you want me to do?"

They instructed me to herd the sheep over to them so they could put the halters on them. I did as I was told and we successfully secured them.

"Okay, all clear!" I yelled out. The door swung open and the twins led the sheep out.

"Ew." I wiped the sweat off my forehead. I spotted Leo and went over to him. "Hey."

He turned around. "Hey, gorgeous."

I laughed. "At the moment, Leo, I am feeling more like a dumpster fire inside of another dumpster fire, not gorgeous."

"Do you want something to drink?" He asked.

"Yes, please. I think I'm melting."

He laughed and I followed him to the Parkers' truck. "Lemonade or water?"

"Which is colder?" I actually felt like my skin was melting off me and making a puddle.

"Uh, I think the water is," he said, tossing me a bottle.

I twisted open the cap and started chugging it. I only got a swallow down before he pulled the bottle out of my hand.

"Hey!" I protested.

"You're gonna hurl if you chug it. Believe me, it's not fun."

I sighed. "Fine. I'll take small sips."

He grabbed a lemonade for himself and gulped most of it.

I raised an eyebrow. "Did you just chug lemonade?"

He grinned. "And?"

I shrugged and squeezed the remainder of my water into the air.

I watched the drops in the air until they came down all over him. I started laughing.

Leo was covered in water and holding his arms out stiffly. "Ew."

I laughed and collapsed on the front seat of the truck. The doors were open so the seats didn't bake to a crisp.

"Scoot over." He wedged himself on the seat with me and wiped some water off his face. "You have terrible aim."

"No, you were just in the way."

"No, I'm pretty sure you just have terrible aim."

He grinned and I shoved him harder than I intended and pushed him out the door. He stumbled and turned around.

"What the..."

I laughed and jumped out the door before he could yank me out. Charles came around the corner.

"There you are. We're done unloading, so we're heading out soon."

I gave Leo a hug and said bye, then ran back to the truck.

"Shotgun!" Jordan ran up behind me and shoved me out of the way.

"Jordan!" Charles gave him a look.

I shoved him back and laughed as I got to the truck before him.

When we got back to the house and parked in the front yard, Coke and Pepsi ran up to greet us.

The little kids were playing a game that involved a lot of screaming, running, tackling, biting, pouncing, and rocks getting thrown. I hopped out and watched in amazement and a little concern. The older twins came around the truck and grinned.

"Come on."

They started dragging me towards the chaos. "Hey, guys, time out! Alex is gonna play."

I am?

"So..." Jordan began explaining the rules to me. By the time he was finished, I'd made a mental list of all the possible injuries that could occur. It was quite long.

"So let me get this straight," I began. "You want me to..." I trailed off, not even remembering all that he'd said. "No thanks, goodbye."

He grabbed my arm. "No! You get to hide first and you only have to run and everything when we find you."

Suddenly the boys said; "When we get to fifty, we're coming to find you." They all flung themselves on the ground and started counting. "One...Two..."

I looked at them and, realizing that I had no choice, began to run in the direction of a long, dense cluster of trees that were surrounding the house.

"Twenty-six, twenty-seven..."

I reached the trees and dove inside, frantically searching for a good hiding space. I was running out of time when I saw the perfect hiding space. I'd climbed over a fence and crested a hill, and was looking backward when I tripped. I fell and rolled a few feet, then got up and brushed myself off.

As I did, I spotted an overhang that I could hide under. "Perfect."

At least I would go down fighting. Well, cowering under a rock, but you get the general idea.