The Horsewoman(85)

“I finally had enough,” Daniel said.





ONE HUNDRED SIX



DANIEL WAS ARRESTED after Gorton called the police, charged with assault, taken to the county jail in West Palm Beach. There was no way for him to get a court appearance until Monday morning. It meant he would spend the weekend in jail.

If Daniel were an American citizen we could have gotten him released on his own recognizance over a bullshit charge like this, for a fight he didn’t start. But he wasn’t a citizen.

Early the next afternoon, Grandmother and Mom and Gus and I gathered in our living room to figure out our next move. Grandmother’s lawyer, Paul Gellis, had gone to see Daniel, first thing in the morning, but said he really couldn’t do anything until Daniel’s arraignment. He also relayed a message from Daniel that he didn’t want any of us to visit him at the jail.

Grandmother had put me on the phone with Mr. Gellis. I asked how much trouble Daniel might be in with the government now that he’d been arrested.

“He’s DACA,” Paul Gellis said. “So unless he’s got priors he’s not telling me about, this shouldn’t affect his status. He should be fine.”

“This whole thing is totally bogus,” I said.

“Steve Gorton doesn’t think so,” Gellis said. “And not gonna lie: his lawyers are bigger than your lawyer.”

We had already decided that Gus would train both Mom and me tomorrow at the Mercedes. None of us much wanted to talk about riding right now. But they weren’t going to cancel the event just because Mom’s trainer was locked up.

When I’d gotten home, I’d called the office of Mr. Connors, Daniel’s immigration lawyer, gotten his out-of-office. I left one message, then another, told him it was about Daniel Ortega, and it was important. Hadn’t heard back yet. But it was a Saturday.

“I’m starting to get that you should never break a rich guy’s nose on a weekend,” I said.

“Never break a rich guy’s nose ever,” Gus said. “Even though this guy has been begging for a good smack since you all went into business with him.”

“Or his whole life,” Mom said. She closed her eyes, shook her head. “Of all the owners in all the world…”

“Forget about the government,” Gus said. “Just wait. It’s Gorton who’s gonna try to make a federal case of this now that the picture of him holding that bloody handkerchief to his nose has gone viral.”

People had heard him screaming out curses and had come running down from the tent, snapping away with their cell phones when they saw Gorton’s face and shirt full of blood.

“Is he too thick to understand that by pressing charges and taking Daniel away from Maggie he’s only hurting himself in the end?” Grandmother said.

“Sure he does,” Gus said. “He just doesn’t care. He’s not gonna let somebody pop him and get away with it.”

“He’s the one always talking about doing anything to win,” Mom said.

“The only thing he cares about more is not looking bad,” Gus said. “Or getting laughed at.”

Gus looked at Mom.

“You ready to do a little work in the ring?” he said.

“No,” she said. Forced a smile. “But I will.”

“I’ll come back here after and watch you,” Gus said to me. “This situation sucks. But you both gotta find a way to turn the page tomorrow.”

He looked at Mom, then me, then back at Mom.

“The only thing you can do for Daniel right now, both of you, is ride your damn horses,” Gus said.

“Don’t say it’s what Daniel would want us to do,” I said.

“Wasn’t going to,” he said.

I felt my phone buzzing then. Pulled it out of my back pocket and felt myself smiling for the first time since Daniel had put Steve Gorton on the ground.

Heard the car pulling into the driveway then. Heard the knock on the front door. Said I’d get it.

I opened the door and my dad walked in.

“Heard somebody might need a lawyer,” he said.





ONE HUNDRED SEVEN



AFTER I’D LEFT the message for Mr. Connors, I’d called Dad, trying to explain everything that had happened, and what I was afraid might happen to Daniel. My words were flowing like a faucet I couldn’t turn off.

Dad had let me babble for about a minute.

“Tell me the rest when I get there,” he’d said.

“You’re coming?” I’d said.

“In the afternoon,” he’d said. “Just to even up the sides.”

Now he hugged Mom and did the same with Grandmother before she could pull back.

He walked across the room then and shook Gus’s hand.

“Heard a lot about you,” he said. Grinning, he continued, “Unfortunately, you’ve probably heard a lot more about me.”

Mom smiled.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Jack,” she said.

I made him a cup of coffee and then took him, step by step, through every detail.

When I finished, Dad said, “Let me guess: Nobody outside the tent saw anything.”

“It was down the hill and around the corner from where the golf carts are parked,” I said. “Daniel said that he didn’t see anybody else around.”