Bully for you

"Closer."

Again, forward some more. Nothing.

"Go right at her."

Two meters away, perhaps, I gave the mulet another toque and her ears twitched. Whoa. She was ready.

I remember only parts of what happened next: the animal's head dipping low and charging directly at my lap (I stuck the cape out there at the last minute, and she plowed through the cloth, not me). Trying so hard not to move or run. Sticking that muleta out as far away from my waist as possible.

When at last I scampered away, there was some token applause. It might have been Gonzalez who yelled out, "Que bien! Que bien!" I blushed and grinned. The entire thing lasted a minute, maybe less.

It felt, strangely, fulfilling. So fulfilling that I probably don't ever need to do it again.

The day's finale came moments after. Finguerra's bull was cream-colored, weighed about 227kg and rocked the chute's steel doors with horns about 25cm long.

dead and done

Finguerra was dressed up in boots he had had made in Spain for this occasion and a freshly starched shirt. After only a few passes, spots on his shirt were caked in dirt and blood. The bull had taken over, stepping on the muleta and tearing it from Finguerra's hand. Without the cape to go for, the bull went for him, thumping him into the ground, stepping on top of him and digging at his body with his horns. Again and again, Finguerra dusted himself off. At last he dropped the wooden sword, and picked up the estoque. Soon the bull lay dead.

That night Finguerra cooked filets from his bull on Cooney's grill and said that eating the animal's tender meat and knowing he needed the experience erased any guilt he might have felt. If he wanted to be a torero, he would have to stick swords into more bulls, many more -- and at a price because, as a hobby, bull-fighting is not cheap. For this first killing, he had paid the rancher a fee of $US600.

He had no trouble justifying his purchase, considering all the other expensive hobbies he might have taken up. "I figure it costs about US$500 to play a round at Pebble Beach," he said.