Less Than Whole

Aloysius Quinn was nearly done vaccinating cattle. He, Pablo Rosales and Kylie from Ireland had herded their Black Angus cattle into a chute near the ranch that led into a winding corral. It ended in a squeeze machine of sorts that held the cattle while Aloysius or one of the others vaccinated the creatures. Aloysius liked cows and enjoyed petting their wet noses and patting their round flanks.

He wiped sweat from his eyes and looked over at Kylie. Kylie nodded: they were almost done. Aloysius and his mother and uncle owned the ranch, but Kylie and Pablo probably knew more than even he did about taking care of animals.

Aloysius was glad they were nearly done. He liked working on the ranch, even better than he liked learning things from his mother when she home-schooled him. But as much as he enjoyed his work, it was just damn hot in Pecas, Texas. He felt fat drops of sweat form along his hairline, dripping into his ears and down his neck, underneath his long white plait of hair. He had huge, round sweat-stains all over his shirt and felt like there was a swamp inside his boots. Swampfoot, he thought and chuckled. He was really pale, too, and the sun always seemed to burn him badly.

Pablo and Kylie were lucky: they both had dark skin. Kylie was as dark a black person as Aloysius had ever seen. He even wore a lot of black. He had yellow eyes, though. They were really unusual. He claimed his grandmother was a fairy, but Aloysius knew him well enough to think he was kidding. Aloysius had known him his whole life. Pablo he’d known for 10 years. He met him when he was nine and thought he was just about the coolest guy ever. Pablo taught him Spanish. His hair was black and long and his skin was the color of tanned leather.

He squinted into the sun and saw Kylie beckoning to him. “That’s enough. We can leave the cattle in the enclosure for the night.”

Pablo nodded and spat tobacco juice on the ground. “I’ll make sure they’ve got enough hay and water.”

“Good enough,” Kylie said. He smiled at Aloysius. “Make sure the corral is locked up tight. Use that hex I taught you with it. It’ll keep coyotes out.”

Aloysius would have thought hexes were stupid, except he’d seen them work for himself. He had also seen that he was better at drawing them than Kylie. Pablo thought the whole thing was a whole lot of un-Christian nonsense, but he mostly kept that opinion to himself. He knew Aloysius well enough to know that a person could love God and still believe in “un-Christian nonsense” from time to time. He said once that he couldn’t hold it against him, as long as Aloysius didn’t mind the tobacco. Smoking was un-Christian, too.

A shift in the temperature hinted at the night to come. As the sun set, the heat of the day faded quickly. He needed to finish while they still had light. So he locked the door using the padlock, and then he drew a series of hexes and charms with a Sharpie marker. All were designed to protect the cattle within in various ways from the different dangers that range cattle faced. He felt the tightening of magic around the corral as his work took hold. He was proud of it, and let himself look at it out of the corners of his eyes. In this way, he could see the magic and even the auras around Kylie, Pablo and the cattle.

Then he trotted over to his horse and climbed into the saddle. The three set off back to the main house. They knew Mae, Aloysius’s mother, and his Uncle Russ would have dinner ready with vegetables fresh from the garden.

* * *

After dinner, all three washed up and Pablo went off to bed. Kylie pulled on his driving gloves and took one of the cars and went off to town to see a movie. Aloysius came back downstairs where Uncle Russ and his mother were chatting and drinking decaf coffee.

“Hey son, have a seat,” she said.

Aloysius smiled at her. She was in her fifties, like Uncle Russ. Both of them had gray hair and were wiry, energetic people. He sat down in front of her and she pulled out a wide brush from a basket next to the couch. She patiently smoothed and brushed his long, almost white hair. It fell to his waist and was thick and heavy. She was good at it and it felt nice to have someone work on his hair. Kylie and Pablo refused to help him untangle his hair and Uncle Russ said he was no good at it.

“So, Ally, are you still going on that trip later this month?”

“Yes, Uncle Russ, if everything goes well here and it’s still OK with you two.”

Mae said, “I don’t see any problems. You’ve not been outside of Pecas too often. Pablo will be visiting his family in Juarez later this month anyway. You and Kylie have fun.”

“You and Uncle Russ will be OK, right?”

Mae laughed. “Son, your Uncle Russ and I managed just fine before you were born, and we can do it again. You’re a young man. I should have asked if you wanted to take a trip ages ago.”

Aloysius smiled, even though he knew she couldn’t see. “Thanks, Mom. You’re right. I need it. As long as everything is squared away by month’s end, we’ll go.”

“Good.” Then she said, “Turn around.”

Aloysius did and she stood up to hug him. She was a tiny woman, and Aloysius was pretty tall at five-ten, so her head rested on his chest. She pulled away and looked up at him. “I’m proud of you, son, you know that right?”

“Yeah, but I’m not leaving yet! And then we’ll only be gone the weekend.”

“I know. Well, Russ, Aloysius, I’m going to turn in. See you in the morning.”

They both wished her goodnight.

Aloysius sat in front of the TV with Uncle Russ for a while. They watched the pre-season baseball games that were starting up already.

When he went to bed, he thought about talking to his mom. Something wasn’t completely right. He wasn’t sure what it was, but it was there. He could have sworn that Uncle Russ seemed tense. He hoped it was his imagination. He didn’t want to miss his trip. Maybe that’s why she seemed a little weird and Uncle Russ, too. It was his first time so far from home, alone--well, without his mom at any rate.

That thought comforted him and he fell asleep, listening to loud crickets outside his open window.