User blog:SodaCat/Old Boots, New Dirt

the title literally comes from a jason aldean song

which also happens to be the album name

i love that album

"You got everythin' packed away in there, son?"

Jesse Tyler's gaze snapped up from Catolo, his horse, to look at his dad, Jasen. It was noontime, getting real dark, and Jesse was still out in the pasture tending to Catolo. He still couldn't believe he'd be going off to New Hampshire tomorrow to play football with those east coast prep school kids.

"Yessir, everythin' packed away except for my two best guys here," Jesse replied, patting Catolo gently on his neck and giving his usual lopsided grin to his dad. For a brief moment, he wondered if the dads in Bullworth wore ten-gallon hats and worn out boots stained with years of riding horses and tending to farm lands and playing real, mean football. Something told him it wasn't the same way up in New Hampshire.

Jasen chuckled, walking towards his sun. It was pretty dark out where Jesse stood with Catolo, a fair distance from the glow of the outdoor light of the house, but Jasen knew the land pretty well.

"Now you know son, you ain't gonna be none too cheery with me if you're still tired the next mornin' when I wake you up for the plane. Don't ya think you could spare your old man a fight with the devil?"

Jesse let out a small sigh, his grin faltering just a little as he turned to face Catolo, who was sniffing around looking for a spare carrot. He chuckled a little; Catolo was always searching him up and down, over and yonder for some loose food. He knew Jasen would feed him for him while he was at school, but Jesse was gonna miss feeding Catolo. He was a little worried that Catolo would prefer the old man's feeding to his.

"I ain't tired," Jesse mumbled, not believing himself for a second.

Jasen let out a laugh, a loud one that echoed around them. "Now son, you're about as good lyin' to me as a blind man leadin' a blind crowd down a busy road. Why don't you tell me what's really goin' on now, and win us both some time for a cold one?"

That was one of the things Jesse loved about Jasen. He saw no problem with letting Jesse join him in on the front porch, the night before a game or after he'd done lousy on a test, both of them sitting down with a Lone Star and just talking things out. Sure, he didn't get enough to do him unhealthy, but it was a nice tradition. Jesse was pretty sure Bullworth Academy wouldn't see having a cold one as a good tradition.

"I don't wanna go to no school up in the east coast. You ain't there, Catolo ain't there, and it sure ain't gonna be as good as Bandera. Hell, they don't even got no farms up there. Just parkin' lots and big ol' grocery stores." It came out as a jarbled mess, and he said it a lot angrier than he really felt it, but it felt good to get it off his chest. Even if it wasn't entirely true. Yeah, Jesse wanted to go play football for the school--the reputation he'd earn for it would be amazing--but he also didn't wanna leave Texas, Catolo, or, more importantly, Jasen.

Taking Catolo's reigns, Jasen nodded as he began to lead both the stallion and his son back towards the barn. "Now that sounds a bit more like the snot nosed kid I raised. You jokin' with me, kiddo? You really don't wanna go up and play football at Bullworth?"

Jesse bit his lip and let out a heavy sigh. He couldn't keep this up; Jasen sounded too disappointed for him to carry it on. He knew if he kept going, he'd be staying in Bandera for as long as he damn well pleased, but he couldn't forget the pride in Jasen's eyes when the school called and told them about the scholarship Jesse had won--all by himself.

"No, that ain't it. I just ain't ready to up and walk straight outta Texas for some rich place just yet. And I sure as hell ain't ready to leave you and Catolo behind here."

"Now Jess, when I asked you if you wanted to go, you seemed 'bout as happy as a gopher in soft dirt. What sparked this change of mind, son?"

He'd stopped walking at that point, instead staring at his son. Jesse usually reminded Jasen of a full grown man, with his work-stained jeans and wrinkled up flannel shirts, but at this moment he looked just like he did when he was four years old.

Jesse shrugged, looking down at his shoes and unconsciously but gently pushing away Catolo as the horse began licking his cheek. "What if I'm only good in Texas?"

"Good in Texas?" Jasen called out in surprise, startling his son. "What do you mean only good in Texas? Hell, if you're good in Texas, you're damn good enough for any place on this Earth, son!"

Jesse smiled a little at that, but he was still not completely convinced. "I mean, dad, it's okay that I'm dumb here, in Bandera, 'cause I got football on my side. But it ain't the same everywhere, innit? What if in Bullworth, football ain't that important but bein' smart's the big deal, huh?"

Jasen stared back, a little shocked, and deeply saddened. "Now you listen here, Jesse Arlen Tyler. You ain't dumb, and you know it. You're a damn smart kid. So what, you can't do a couple math problems. That ain't important. We ain't all destined to solve some silly numbers on a sheet of paper, some of us gotta do the labor, and that's where you come in. Anybody can be good at learnin' things out of a book, includin' yourself. That don't matter. You're already smart. You're human smart, son. You've mastered a human sport. I ain't ever seen nobody run as fast as you, throw as well as you, saddle up a horse as well as you. Don't you go tellin' me none of that matters just 'cause a couple skinny men in suits decided you ain't the first letter in the alphabet."

Jesse stared back at him a little surprised, this time completely oblivious to Catolo's nudging his face.

"If your ma could see you, son," Jasen continued, fully realizing he was on the verge of tears, "if your ma could see you, she'd be so damn proud of you. I sure know I am. They wouldn't have asked for you there if you weren't important to 'em; and you are. It's the same old boots, son. Just some new dirt."

He couldn't resist hugging his father, and Jasen's arms wrapped around Jesse tightly, a bit embarrassed with himself for breaking down. He laughed as he heard Jesse shaking with small sobs, but rejoiced when Jesse broke out into laughter as well. The two let go of each other, grinning and giving encouraging pats to Catolo absently, wiping at their eyes like the pansies they both knew they were.

"Alright, enough of this heart to heart. Let's get ourselves a couple Lone Stars. Maybe one for Catolo."

"I don't know dad," Jesse replied, grinning, "I think he likes carrots better."

"Carrots it is, then. Hell, for y'all, we can jump on 'im and ride down to the diner and get a couple burgers. Sound good?"

"Yeah dad," Jesse laughed, heading to the barn to get Catolo's saddle, "sounds real good."