Spin the Sky by Katy Stauber Page B

more matted than he realized. Lupe brings out some scissors and does the best she can to hack his hair and beard into a more presentable shape.
    But she refuses to touch a single hair until he parts ways with his filthy undershirt so she can give it a good scrub. Cesar doesn’t want to get practically naked in anybody’s front yard, especially this one.
    He is careful to keep Lupe from seeing the large scar on his thigh. He’d gotten it as a youngster, the day he learned that cows may look stupid, but they bite pretty hard when you poke them with a stick. Lupe had been the one to stitch it up.
    He remembers the lectures she gave him and all the soup she made him drink after that. If she sees the scar, she’ll recognize him for sure.
    Lupe grunts, “Cleaned up you don’t look half-bad, mister. Especially now that you got a little color back in your cheeks. Thought you was a ghost that first day, staggering around half-dead like you were.”
    Caesar laughs his thanks. He is getting dressed when four women round the corner of the main house. They are all wearing the traditional roughneck uniform of boots, jeans and bandannas. They stop to stare when they see him. Three or four burst out laughing.
    “ Abuela , there’s a naked old man in the yard,” a freckle-faced girl drawls.
    Even though he’s got on underpants and an undershirt, Cesar curls up in a very embarrassed ball, quickly yanking on pants and a shirt.
    “Not that old,” a blond with pigtails giggles as she eyes the wiry body he scrambles to cover up.
    “You girls are wicked,” Lupe says, threatening to hose them down if they come any closer. “A good shower will clean out your dirty minds.”
    “You are so right, Mama Lupe. I’ll take one right now if this nice man will wash my back,” the dark-skinned blond winks at him as they all saunter inside, giggling and swishing their hips. He throws on the rest of his clothes quickly, but Lupe just laughs.
    “Like they can see anything through all that hair,” she clucks. But when Lupe surveys her handiwork with respect to his hair and beard, she is satisfied.
    “Where did they come from anyway?” Cesar asks, retreating into the bunkhouse.
    “Just now, they come from the Ag level, tending the herd. We’ve got a private elevator,” Lupe can’t help bragging.
    Looking after the women, she snorts, “They call themselves cowgirls, if you can believe such a thing. They eat like cows, that’s for sure.”
    Lupe starts towards the main house, her mind on cooking. Cesar knows this because she tells him so. He wonders if the woman has been talking nonstop these last fifteen years.
    “No other cowboys here on the ranch?” asks Cesar, pausing in the doorway of his little room.
    Lupe shakes her head. “No. The lady won’t have them. Except for Argos. Those are his old clothes I’m giving you. All of these girls showed up like driftwood with nasty stories from other orbitals. She takes ’em in, puts them to work until they are strong enough to do for themselves. They keep her gentlemen callers on their toes too. She likes to take in strays, that one.” Lupe plainly does not approve.
    “Lucky for you,” she adds. Then she turns and fixes him with a piercing gaze. “Mister, I need to start calling you by a name, don’t you think?”
    “Ulixes. Call me Jonas Ulixes,” he lies smoothly. He’s used the name before but never on this side of the stars. He runs a hand through his cropped hair, testing the feel of it.
    Lupe snorts, but Cesar isn’t sure what that means. “Well, Mr. Ulixes. You sure look like you been run over by a tractor and then maybe someone backed up to finish the job. Where’d you get all those scars?”
    “That’s a lot of stories. A lot of long stories. Mostly from the War. Some after.” He closes his eyes remembering.
    She turns back to the big house. “So tuck your shirt in and you can tell me one while you help me with lunch,” Lupe calls over her shoulder.
     

CHAPTER