‘It really wasn’t.’ I peer at him from under the brim of my hat, and I’m instantly glad he’s got the same look of nervousness on his face that I have. This shit isn’t easy. Sometimes, I just need someone to sit in the trenches with me, and that’s my Papa.

‘But May, listen,’ he hums unhappily. ‘You can’t let that indicate where you go this season. Junior year was …’

‘Papa.’

‘… not a great time …’

‘Go on.’

‘But it doesn’t mean you deserve to beat yourself up over it. Even though I think it wouldn’t have been half as bad if the refs hadn’t been playing for the other team every game you guys had last year.’ He has this little moment of fuming, which looks even funnier since he’s sitting on his horse swaying back and forth. He does the same thing I do, puckers his lips in upset thought. ‘But aside from that. You know it was hard. Lots of athletes have those hard seasons. Lots of the best athletes have those seasons.’

‘Did you ever?’ I ask him.

Papa, an ex-bull-rider, just throws his head back and laughs. ‘Mayday, I’d be lyin’ if I said I didn’t.’

‘God. What, were you just gettin’ thrashed around and stomped on for a year?’

‘Basically.’ He grins, the wrinkles at the corners of his eyes from all his sassy smiling creasing. ‘Does a number on a guy.’

‘Yeesh.’ We cross a small bridge that goes up and over a tiny creek running through our crop, the horses’ hooves creating a dull clopping sound on the wood. ‘How’d you get out?’

‘Told myself no distractions for the next season. No flings, no booze, no parties. Just the sport.’

‘Got it. No flings, no booze, no parties.’

Where my mom would cluck her tongue and shake her head at me, my dad cracks up. ‘You got it, mija. Especially with …’

‘Money on the line,’ I finish for him. It’s been my biggest dread: scholarship. It’s not the most, but it’s been putting me through school all these years. Without the Riders, I don’t have my scholarship. And if I want my degree, I need every cent of it.

‘You don’t need to concern yourself with that, Mayday,’ Papa reassures me. Always trying to bring my worries upon himself. ‘We’ll take care of you, no matter what happens. You just play your best. Promise me that?’

‘Hmm.’ A moment of sheer silence passes between us, nothing to hear but the sound of the creek. ‘Mumma thinks it’s gonna be some kind of magical comeback, you know. A big second chance.’