Cowboi

Gustavo Homsi

  From Brazil, passionate child for aero models attends Military High School, car mechanical engineering at FEI and civil engineering at FEB.

  He works building banks, houses, sugar mills and dams.

  Gustavo makes many trips to Europe, Scandinavia, USA, Canada and South Cone. He visits most of the museums, cathedrals, monuments and important cultural events in these countries.

  In Ilhabela, he designs and executes thirty works, dream houses and hotels, many published in the Architecture and Construction Magazine, Abril Editions. He falls in love with diving, boats, fishing and cooking.

  He moves to Miami, continues with the projects in Brazil and studies English at FIU.

  After inheriting a farm, he’s back to school, post-graduate, specialist in Ruminant Production at ESALQ-USP. He dedicates to genetic improvement of Quarter Horse, and Nelore cattle. He has a Japanese restaurant and writes a page, Loves & Flavors, about behavior and food, at a city newspaper.

  Currently, the author develops many projects in the arts and literature.

  CowBoi

  novel by GUSTAVO HOMSI

  Translated from the Portuguese

  by Gustavo Homsi & Tulana Oliveira

  © 2012 Gustavo Homsi

  to

  TULANA

  ...The Lady of Dreams...

 

  Freedom

  Field day

  Another day

  The kick

  Life must go on

  The Ball

  A day of freedom

  The Harvest

  Cowboi’s day

  The Holiday

  Freedom 

  – Eagle 4, please reply, this is Sao Paulo.

  – Go ahead, Sao Paulo, this is Eagle 4.

  – Routine check, can you tell me the mission code?

  – 358.

  – Ok, understood, thank you. How are you guys?

  – All quiet, soon we’ll have visual contact with the prison in Riolandia, our "passengers" are doing well, collaborative, I think we'll finish the mission on time.

  – Oh boy, here is so boring, I wish I was there.

  – Well, we can’t complain, weather is great, I’ve just flown over the city where I was born, I wish you had our view, it rained and the fields are green. We’re flying over the Freedom Ranch, looks like a garden. The woods, the river dams, the cattle, all white, what a beautiful thing to see!

  – Wow!

  – You know, I spent some time in Colorado USA, training. Of course it’s also nice, but not the same, the cattle stays in barns. The cows aren’t white, they are brown, they came from England. Not from India, like here. But the meat! Oh boy, there, beef is so tender and juicy.

  – Stop, I am drooling!

  – Look! A pickup leaves the farmhouse going to the village making dust rollers on the dirty road. What a crazy driving! So early in the morning... Something serious must have happened.

  Field day

  Juliano was half asleep on the horse’s back. Oh boy, this is boring. In the next months, at the beginning and the end of each day, raining, shining, holiday, holy day, he will be there, circulating among the cows. Doing what? Checking who is ready for insemination.

  It was not complicated, after years there, cowboys know each cow, they put nicknames on them. The hard part is finding someone responsible and disciplined to get the job donne.

  Juliano was born on the farm. His father was the earlier administrator, some college, agricultural technician, replaced his father since his death. Our days, he is the right-hand man for Juvencio, the owner.

  Slow morning today, few cows show estrus. One or two have already been inseminated, but are in heat again, this is bad, a sign that they don’t get pregnant in the first attempt. But okay, the beginnings are all the same, kind of slow.

  – Jurandir – shouts to his partner – Do you see? One teaser [term used to describe animals prepared to find the cows who are at fertile period without inseminate them] is over the cow, that one with the broken horn, go and get her number.

  The man spurs the horse and goes away galloping. Juliano hears the sound of an engine far away; it’s the school bus arriving at the farm. They have been waiting for them, one of the New Genova High School classes. Every year they come to visit the farm.

  – Jurandir, gather the cattle, time is over; and we don’t have anything else to do here today, let’s go.

  – Good morning, teacher Manuela, we talked by phone, isn’t it? Good morning, everyone! Welcome to the Freedom Ranch. My name is Mariana. I’m a specialist in ruminant production and responsible for the breeding area in this ranch. This class seems livelier than last year guys! Is it right?

  – Yeeeeee! – the teens answer.

  – Well, it's always a pleasure to welcome you here. Basically what we do here is using the principles of genetics to give a helping hand to Mother Nature, hurrying natural selection and twisting it a bit to our side. Let's start the visit by the lab.

  – Who is in this photo? – Mariana queries the teens.

  – Debbie! – a joker answers.

  – Joohhhnnn! – teacher Manuela warns – We'll talk.

  – A nice cow – Mirian, the cheerleader, answers.

  – Okay – Mariana agrees – this is our goal, to get cows like that, small neck, big and round butts! Who knows why? Except you, John! Nobody? Simple, the best meat is on the back. Tenderness! Someone here likes eating tough meat?

  – Nooooo!

  – We also don’t want a really big cow, they eat too much. There are many other features that we seek, such as earliness, femininity, maternal aptitude and the ability to transfer these qualities to future generations. So! When a cow is small, we use the sperm of a bull...? – Mariana asks, pointing to the biggest bull on a poster with several males.

  – ...a big bull!!!

  – Good, nice class. I think you got the spirit, any questions?

  – Mariana – John asks – this thing of natural selection, feminine.., also works with people?

  – Sure – Mariana responds without losing her attitude – this subject is exciting, I have a theory that ...

  – Mariaaaana – Juvencio arrives, interrupting his daughter. – Folks, it's a pleasure to have you all here at Freedom Ranch, I hope you enjoy the visit.

  – Mariana, my dear – the rancher continues – we are starting inseminations. If they want to come to the corral, it will be interesting and then we’ll have a coffee break.

  – Wowww!

  Students follow Juvencio which, proudly shows the property, explaining everything.

  Manuela discreetly pulls Mariana's arm and stays a bit behind the group.

  – Mariana, what theory didn’t your father let you explain?

  – Oh, bullshit, not a big deal, you know elder people.

  – Well, tell me, I'm a biology teacher, I think I can bear it.

  – I’ve been thinking, for example, do you feel horny when someone kisses your neck?

  – Wow, what a question! Sorry, I don’t know, I think.. everybody… isn’t it?

  – Yes… And if they also bite a little?

  – Jesus, Mariana! It gives me chills; yes, I guess! So, what is that?

  – Well, follow me to the time of caves; men were not exactly kind and neither our foremothers. Imagine the scene, a man trying to get her laid; the only way would be to throw her face down to the floor, his feet over her feet, his hands on her hands, right?

  – I don’t know, I'm getting worse.

  – Well, she might still give him some head-butts, then the only way is biting her neck tightly, penetrates her.

  – Oh dear Lord, Mariana, Mr. Juvencio was right!

  – So – Mariana continues, laughing – those women who could live with this, o
r even liked this, had more chances to procreate and become our great-great-great-grandmothers, we inherited it from them.

 

  – Okay, folks – Mariana shouts, coming forward, still smiling, leaving Manuela perplexed. – Let me introduce Juliano, the farm manager and my fiancé.

  The cow ready for insemination was completely contained in the equipment with the tail tied up.

  Juliano had everything ready, he slips his arm, gloved till the shoulder and lubricated, inside the cow’s anus to guide the pipe he is carefully introducing into the vagina with his other hand. Quickly, he deposits the semen into the womb, removes his hand from the cow and massages her vagina.

  Students were watching excited.

  The cows seem also attending the class.

  John, after a number of tricks, finished falling into the cow shit. General laughter, and end of the lesson. Juliano leads John to the locker room; the rest of the group goes to the house.

  The students stepped up a few stairs to the big porch where Mrs. Maria Pia was waiting for them, drying her hands on the apron.

  She is Juliano’s mother, widow of the old foreman. Maria Pia took care of Mariana after her mom died prematurely.

  – Guys, everybody washing hands – Maria Pia says. – Then come to eat. Tell me folks, Mariana talked to much? Mr. Juvencio reprimanded her?

  There was a huge buffet, Brazilian cheese bread – made with arrowroot –, corn cake, cheese, milk, coffee, juice, and fruits.

  The students were a little shy to begin eating, then John arrived, he hugged and kissed Maria Pia and attacked the cheese breads, the guys finally came to the table.

  Juliano joins to the young group, eating and talking animatedly.

  Manuela is standing against one of the poles of the porch. She holds a wedge of a colored and fragrant tangerine near her red mouth. Her other hand is holding her elbow. Her arm position enhances her perfectly rounded breasts behind the discreet neckline. Her smooth and tanned skin contrasts with the white blouse. The morning light illuminates the strands of her long hair.

  Juvencio, beside her, doesn’t know what to do to please her more; he talks big about himself, stories of old times.

  Mariana went to the kitchen with Maria Pia. When she is coming back, she listens to a kind of naughty laughter coming from the boys group with Juliano, who looks embarrassed.

  – Mariana! – calls one of the students. – Among the teasers, all males, of course, we saw a cow, Juliano began to explain, but he complicated the story.

  – Actually – answers Mariana, biting a cheese bread –, our cows, all the white ones, are Zebus, from India. They produce little milk, they are a kind of wild, and it’s hard to deal with them. We like them by the ability they have to produce meat also in wild conditions, we are in Brazil. The cow you saw came here very young to grow up and to produce milk for the farm spending. That one is Dutch, European cattle, you know.

  – Ok, but, what is she doing among the teasers, Mariana?

  Juvencio stopped telling stories to Manuela and got worried.

  – You know – Mariana recovers – when the time to start breeding arrived, nothing. No babies and, of course, no milk. Her destiny was to be steak. When she was about to be discarded, our vet, seeing my sadness, said:

  – “This cow is wealthy; she doesn’t get pregnant because she has too much testosterone. Have you ever noticed how big and angry she is? She attacks, scratching the ground, like a bull! We can give her a little bit more hormone, increase her natural masculinity and use her like a teaser”.

  – My God, Mariana, a dyke cow!

  – Jairrrrrr! – Manuela censures.

  – Almost it – Mariana continues – we prefer to call her Cowboi.

   

  Just another day

   

  Juvencio have never slept well, as early as three or four in the morning he starts looking at the clock. Oh God, it could be later!

  He heard that sleeping was more important than anything, diet, exercise, but there is nothing to do, he simply woke up, ready, and that’s it.

  When at home, he used to try to compensate with a nap after lunch.

  He doesn’t want to live forever, or is afraid of dying, but he likes living. He’s been thinking about death. He began to believe that his wife wouldn’t keep on waiting for him in paradise. Bullshit, Juvencio, there is nothing beyond.

  It’s nonsense to think about it, he gets out of bed and looks himself in the mirror. He slept a little, his face is not so bad, there were these bags under his eyes, and without them he would seem younger.

  He had thought he wouldn't get bald; his father wasn’t, the father of his mother either. Well, his forehead was growing, okay, it doesn’t matter.

  Tanned skin, white hair. He needed a shave.

  He was in a good mood; the belly in the mirror was manageable, just cut the carbs. He was tall, almost six feet and a half. Well, a little shorter by now, people get smaller with age. Not too bad for a sixty-year-old!

  Rich, honest, successful! Who knows? Would life bring him a good surprise?

  He got dressed, made some coffee. Maria Pia would make another one when she gets working, no one could understand how he liked that dirty water.

  He brought his big cup to the porch, sat down on a hammock. This porch had a low wall, a kind of bench, surrounding it, he put his feet on it, tasted the warm coffee, breathed the fresh morning air, a feeling of well-being spread through his long body.

   

  The sun rose behind the grove, the sky turned red, and then a yellow light began to shine through. It didn’t rain, but a pleasant moisture was everywhere. Nature begins to wake up, first birds, then the cattle. He thought maybe he should start painting.

  Juvencio grew up in a family with natural talents; his sisters have studied music, painting. Then the great depression came, they had a lot of culture and little money.

  Fortunately, Mariana's mother was enchanted by his charm and refined manners. He was a handsome man and she was rich. He didn’t marry her only for the money, that tall woman with strict principles gave meaning to his life, before full of promise and empty of possibilities.

  My father-in-law! – Juvencio keeps on thinking. He lived in a good time. The cattle increased, they needed more land? Easy! Set fire to the forest, plant grass, fire on it again, and the new pasture was ready; some salt, water to drink at the river and it was all done.

  During the tropical winter, windy, hot and dry, the cattle could survive using its own reserves losing a little weight, in the summer they could come to revenge.

  Now, with a lot of cattle in a limited piece of land, we must produce food in summer time and store for the winter. Beef was turned into petroleum derived, diesel oil to transportation and farming, nitrogen to fertilization, God! Oh boy! – Juvencio thinks – What a trip!

  To be honest there was something running through his head: Manuela.

  He couldn’t even admit it, but she fascinated him. Of course she is the same age as his daughter, he wasn’t expecting something else, but anyway she was very relaxed. He had so much to offer and she was so pretty. Apparently the age gap meant nothing to her, if she felt something about it, she didn’t show. She just stood there with her unbelievable scent, her marvelous mouth and those breasts…

   

  – Good morning, cowboy, fell out of bed?

  It is Mariana, who appears in shorts and a t-shirt, sleepy and stretching. Behind Juvencio, she hugs his father by the neck and kisses him on the cheek.

  – Maria Pia arrived, she’s making a decent coffee for us. Are you coming?

  – I am hungry – Juvencio answers.

  – As always, isn’t it? I'll get dressed, I’ll be back in a minute.

   

  Mariana gets headfirst in the shower, washes her short hair with an unscented shampoo, she is allergic to bees, it would be better not smell like flowers in a farm.

  She wipes her ear, looking at the mirror. She t
urns, gets off behind the towel, and on tiptoes evaluates herself.

  She is tall and slim; her skin is white and smooth. She’s got an ass, it’s not that ass, but she has one, of course she has. She looks at her breasts, firm, not large, they are nicely pointy and the nipples are pink, not too bad at all.

  She raises the breast with the palm of one hand, thinks about silicone, yesterday the men were drooling by Manuela – I shouldn’t have told her that story, we had just met, poor girl, she got stunned – Oh yes, those are breasts. But no, silicone wouldn’t work for me.

  She shakes the thoughts away from her head. Cotton panties today, I’ll have to ride. A top bra firmly holding her breasts, polo shirt, with the Freedom brand, jeans, boots, no heels, leather belt with a silver buckle, souvenir from Texas. Choose a cap from her collection, one embroidered with a famous Quarter Horse stallion's name, chic, ... Dad insinuated this guy was flirting with me when he gave me this cap! Really? Well! This is a nice cap, it could be….

   

  Mariana had her breakfast, it was nice, some treats from the students' snack. Yesterday so much to eat and Manuela only had a wedge of tangerine, Jesus!

  She brings a coffee mug to the office and sits at the computer, opens a spreadsheet, cows control, this work has been her life lately. Only she understands this database. Sometimes she feels herself lost. She added links to other spreadsheets, photos, statistical controls, apparently a mess, but it works.

  She flats her hands over her face and runs her fingers over her eyebrows, it’s a tic, she repeats it before doing something difficult or complicated.

  Today, no big deal, just checking what cows were inseminated exactly twenty-one days ago; if one of them returns to estrus, obviously she failed. By the first time, the cow gets a new insemination; if failing again, she will only get another chance, if she has a good reason. Well, here they are, she picks up the radio and calls Juliano, he must be already among the cattle.

  – Hi, tiger! Good morning.

  – Good morning, princess, slept well?

  Before she begins telling him the cow’s numbers, Juliano tells her:

  – Bad news, remind the "4642", the “Holyfield”? She came back. Cowboi is on top of her, your father already warned us that was her last chance.

  – What a shame! I can see here, this cow gave birth late, a male calf, big guy, she is still breastfeeding, how is she?

  – Skinny.

  – I'll talk to Dad. Do you want the other’s numbers?

  – Go ahead.

  Mariana watches her desk, the paperwork is enormous, worksheets for the association, records, inscriptions in sales, exhibitions. Christ! Those were the days – she thinks, my grandfather’s… a lot of cows, some bulls all together, they kept on doing what were supposed to do, procreating, the calves growing, getting fat, finally they were going to the meat plant and the work was done. My grandmother was a lady! She tries to imagine herself with one of those dresses with laces and buttons, working on an embroidery hoop among other women, Mariana laughed alone, ok, ok, back to work.

   

  In the pasture, Juliano finishes his job and goes to the corral. The cattle comes after him; Jurandir, closing the line, drove a cow who tried to eat a sprout in the passage.

  On his horse, alone, Juliano reminds last night, he had Manuela in his dreams. My God – he thinks – if Mariana suspects, I'm a dead man.

  He doesn’t remind it well, it was something about Manuela, she was teaching, he was watching, whatever. He remembers those tight jeans she was wearing, the heeled boots and her ass, my God, what ass!

  I'm going crazy – he thought. Horny! He felt so horny on the horse.

  Do I really want to marry Mariana? Sometimes, he wonders. Once he risked a comment with his mother. He heard a lesson.

  – Juliano, my son, don’t play with this. Marriage is a serious matter! Mariana is a wonderful girl, honest, she loves you. Don’t mess everything; life won’t give you another chance like that.

  She might be right – he thinks, kids, everything we need to live, a quiet life. What else could I ask for?

  Well! Good was in Mariana's grandfather’s time, he was famous all around, if a young girl arrived at any cabaret, he would be the first to have her. The wife at home, taking care of the family, and there he was, always having a good time!

  Those stories go increasing with time, probably not everything had happened.

  I’d better not play with Mariana, she is tough!

  How would it be between me and Manuela? I couldn’t even think about another woman, I would stay on her day and night, oh my God, it would be heaven!

   Today Juvencio wanted to talk about the next year supplies program. Mariana begins with a spreadsheet. How many cows, heifers, calves, how much do they eat, how many tons of grass will they eat by themselves, how many tons will be processed and saved for the winter time, how much will it cost? Buy, produce in the farm, what are the alternatives and the market price? Corn, soya beans, sugar cane, sunflower, sugar cane bagasse, citrus pulp. It can blow someone’s mind!

  Juliano used to listen to it all, give some suggestions and he knew that at the end, it was never like the spreadsheet and he should improvise and take care of everything.

  This night, Juliano stayed to dinner with Mariana and Juvencio. A farm raised chicken, braised, served in a dark and spiced sauce, the meat sleeping off the bones. Rice, zucchini with eggs and crumbs of corn flour, the ‘brazilian farofa’.

  They spoke about the TV news, the subject turned, turned, until Juvencio says:

  – Very friendly, the new teacher.

  – Friendly! I know – Mariana joked.

  – Yes, friendly, she doesn’t have your eloquence… but she is polite – Juvencio replied.

  Juliano felt himself on a minefield, the smaller carelessness would be deadly.

  – And about you, Mr. Juliano! Don’t you think I didn’t see you looking at her ass, men are all the same, I can’t believe that – Mariana was really nervous.

  Juliano is a simple man, if he had to say something, he would tell her to shut up. He didn’t want to do this and to be honest, he felt a little guilty, he had taken a look! Everyone had looked! He wipes his mouth with his napkin, trying to get some time and looks to Juvencio expecting him to save the situation. Juvencio made an attempt, but only got it worse.

  – My daughter, you should give her a chance, Manuela just arrived, poor girl! She is away from family, came late in the year to assume the post of teacher, she needs our help before she gives up, like the other teacher did.

  Maria Pia hears the discussion, in fact she hated this Manuela from the very first moment, now she enters the dining room with the dessert, cocoa pudding, Mariana’s favorite treat.

  – Manuela! Manuela! – Mariana is possessed. – I can’t believe that! She just got here and you know her better than me, sorry Pia, I can’t eat dessert, I'm fat. Good night, Daddy; goodnight, Juliano, excuse me – Mariana throws her napkin on the table and leaves.