Cowgirl Up by Ali Spooner

dog,” Mary Leah teased.
    “Like she could get any more spoiled,” Melissa said.
    “Come on then,” she said to Callie. Coal followed them out the door.
    The sun had burned through the rest of the fog as they walked to her truck. “She’s not new, but she’s reliable,” she said, opening the door for Callie and Mary Leah.
    “That’s what counts,” Mary Leah said as she climbed into the truck.
    As they drove into town, they listened to country music on the radio. Coal noticed that Mary Leah had been suspiciously silent and turned to look at her to find her ashen white. “Are you okay?”
    “Can you pull over?”
    She quickly pulled the truck to the side of the road and put it in park as Mary Leah bailed out the door and walked to the end of the truck. She could hear the sound of retching, so she gave Mary Leah her privacy for a few minutes. Coal fished around in the backseat until she found an unopened bottle of water and then climbed from the truck. She walked around the end of the truck to find Mary Leah leaned against it. “Here, this may help some,” she said as she offered her the bottle of water. “Sorry it’s not cold, but at least it’s wet.”
    Mary Leah accepted the bottle, took a drink to rinse out her mouth, and spit the water into the grass. “Not a way to make a good first impression, I know.”
    “Don’t worry about it,” she said. “Are you feeling better?”
    “Yes, thank you, Coal. The nausea still hits me sometimes even though I’ve been done with chemo for a while.”
    “I can understand that,” Coal said as she shuffled her feet. “Your body has been through a lot.”
    “Yeah, it has,” Mary Leah said and took a drink from the bottle. “Thanks for the water.”
    “You’re most welcome. Are you ready to continue?”
    “Yes, I am,” she said, replacing the lid on the bottle.
    Coal walked around, opened the door for her, and got her safely inside the truck. She was relieved to see the color in Mary Leah’s face had returned.
    When Coal pulled into the lot at the pharmacy she groaned.
    “What’s wrong?”
    “That belongs to a real asshole,” Coal said, pointing at Billy Ray’s truck.
    “Do you want to wait until he leaves?”
    “Hell no,” Coal said with a grin. She lowered the windows for Callie and walked around to open the door for Mary Leah.
    Billy Ray emerged from the pharmacy just as they started across the parking lot. He stopped to glare at her and then turned his attention to Mary Leah. “Another of your freak friends?” he snarled.
    “Keep moving, Billy Ray,” Coal warned.
    “Or what?” he challenged.
    “Or, I will have to humiliate you again,” she said.
    “You got lucky the first time, dyke.”
    “Luck has nothing to do with it.”
    Coal took Mary Leah’s arm and started for the door. “That’s right, run away, bitch.”
    “Go on inside, and I will be there in a few minutes,” she said to Mary Leah.
    “Just ignore his ignorant ass,” Mary Leah said.
    “Ha, isn’t that funny coming from a hairless freak,” Billy Ray said.
    “Okay, Billy Ray, let’s do this. I have things to do today,” Coal said nonchalantly as she walked toward him. “Right here on the sidewalk or do you prefer to get your ass kicked in the parking lot for anyone passing by to see?”
    “We’ll see whose ass gets kicked.” He charged at her and she easily dodged his approach, using her booted foot to propel him out toward the parking lot.
    “Be careful, Coal,” Mary Leah said.
    “I always am,” Coal said as she shot her a smile.
    Billy Ray picked himself up from the ground, brushing off the gravel bits covering his front. “One last chance to get in your truck and go,” she told him as the pharmacist and several others gathered around.
    He took a swing at her. She blocked the blow as she released a kick to his rib cage and he flew into the grille of her truck and doubled over in pain. Pure rage filled his eyes as he straightened up and rushed her. She took