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The buckle girl tilted the microphone towards Ty so he could use it. But rather than just leaning in, he carefully lifted it from her hands and turned towards the cameraman. That put his face front and center on the big screens on either side of this massive indoor arena.
"Well, the string this weekend was tough," Ty said, smiling right on cue like the professional he was. "We had quite a few of the top contenders for the PBR's Unleash the Beast here, and they made all of us work for it. A few of us took hits hard enough to make sure we couldn't get back on."
"Yeah, you did," I told J.D.
He chuckled. "Still walking, though."
But Ty kept going. "As for my scores? Well, I'd like you all, both here and at home, to know this's what sexism looks like."
A gasp traveled along the crowd. Out there on the bullpen, I saw Cody's head whip over in surprise, and she wasn't the only one. That one little sentence had just made everyone stop ignoring Ty's victory speech and actually start paying attention.
"You see," he went on, "I like to think I'm a damned good bull rider. I've always believed I could be a contender, and I do a pretty good job of sticking at the top of the leaderboards. Thing is, I know when I've been outridden, and that happened three different times this weekend." He turned to look at Cody. "All three of them by this young woman here."
Cody's mouth moved, but the words weren't picked up by the mic. She also couldn't be seen on the big screens, but I was staring right at her. My heart was beating a little too fast, not sure if this was about to make everything harder for us or easier. Then again, that kinda depended on what Ty had to say.
"I would like everyone here in Des Moines to know Cody Jennings should be standing here," Ty declared. "She may be a rookie, but what most of you don't realize is she's been riding bulls longer than anyone else on the Tough Enough series right now. Me? I climbed on one as a teenager. I know most of these guys would say just about the same. Cody? She was riding back as a toddler, holding onto sheep because they were her size."
"I told him that," Dean bragged.
"And she never did stop," Ty went on. "Cody went from sheep to calves to steers to the junior bulls, and she refused to quit. It didn't matter that girls weren't supposed to be strong enough for this, but c'mon. You've all seen her, eh?" He gestured proudly to Cody.
"She gets on a bull and sticks there like she's meant to be riding them. Friday night..." He turned to look at the announcer's booth. "You got a video of her on Speed Bump?"
A moment later, it started playing. "Yep, that's it," Ty said. "That bull is the second-best bull in the PBR right now - and look at her! She's centered. She's in control. She's riding him like one of the best professional riders I've ever seen. And what did she get for a score that time?" He turned to Cody, angling the mic towards her.
"Eighty-two," she said.
Ty pulled the mic away before she could say more. "Yeah. Eighty-two point zero." He gestured to the announcer's booth again. "Now how about you play my winning ride tonight, eh?"
The screen changed, and there was Ty getting slung around by the same bull. "I could barely hold on. I was sure I was about to get dumped any second," he told the crowd, "and the judges awarded me a ninety-three and three-quarters forthat.Now, anyone here with half a brain can see who's the better rider, right?" He turned the microphone towards the crowd.
"Yes!" I yelled out - but so did quite a few people in the stands around me.
"And there's only one possible reason I can see for our scores," Ty said. "See, if you look at me, you might notice that I'm a cowboy. I got the hat, the boots, and even the swagger. I do my best to represent Wrangler and all the things they stand for. Some might even call me a 'real man.' Cody Jennings? She might have a boy's name, but there's nothing at all manly about her."
"'Cept her ability to show us up!" someone in the lower ranks yelled out.
Ty laughed. "Ok, Jackson, there's that!"
Which meant it had been Jackson Cloutier or Jaxon Cade. I couldn't tell and couldn't see, but the accent made me think Cloutier. It also didn't really matter. The man's words made it clear Ty wasn't the only one supporting Cody right now.
"But the PBR has been pushing Cody's scores lower and lower, and none of us can quite figure out why. Well, except sexism, I mean." He turned, looking all the way around the arena. "And while this may be the toughest sport on dirt, I'd like to think all of us down here working to prove we're truly tough enough have one thing in common."
Cody was standing there, staring at him in shock. Then again, I wasn't really that much better. Ty had just taken over this awards ceremony. He was also good at it. Fuck, I'd never heard him give a speech like this before, but the man was smiling at the right time, engaging the crowd, and just making his point in a way I'd never expected. Not from him - oranyone.
"We," Ty said, "are all cowboys. We have all been raised to say 'yes, ma'am' and 'yes, sir.' We bow our heads when it's time to pray. We know the difference between right and wrong. We're cowboys, you see, and one thing about us country folk? We are gentlemen, and we take care of our ladies. This woman beside me? Her name is Cody Jennings, and we've claimed her.
"Maybe I don't have a right to do that, but I'm still proud to say she's one of us," he went on. "I'mman enoughto admit when she beats me too. And this weekend, Cody beat the snot out of me. She rode ten times better than I ever could. She made it clear that those words on her shirt? They aren't a lie. Now you show them your arms, Cody."
Obediently, she flashed the first one that said, "Girls Do It," at the camera, then the other that read, "Better."
"And in the few weeks this young lady has been on the Tough Enough series with us," Ty said, "I've started to realize that maybe I need to up my game. So many times, I've said I need to 'cowboy up.' I've joked about being a 'real man.' I've made a lot of comments like that, because for the entire history of bull riding, this has been a men's sport - until now.
"Cody Jennings is changing that," he declared. "She is making it clear that what we all really need to do is learn how to ride like a girl. So if you want to know why I did so good this weekend, and why I'm the one sitting here in first place, getting the big check, and having too many points added to my world ranking? Well, so far as I can see, the only reason for that? It's sexism. Either Cody isn't being judged fairly, or I'm being given extra points for no reason - because that?" He stabbed his finger at the screen still playing his ride.
"That is not a ninety-three and three-quarters ride! But Cody's? It was! So I'm here to call out the judges for it. I'm here to say I don't want to be handed a prize I didn't earn. I'm tough enough to know when I got beat, and she beat me, fair and square." He looked over at Cody. "And until the PBR realizes this amazing woman isn't going away, I will be one of the loudest to stand up and say that I support Cody Jennings!"
He thrust his fist into the air even as he handed the microphone back to the buckle girl. Cody's lips fell open, but on her other side, Jake raised his fist only a moment later. In the back row, I saw Wes's arm shoot up, then another, then another.
