Read Online That Time I Joined the Circus by J. J. Howard - Free Book Online
Authors: J. J. Howard
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until I have to worry about cholesterol.”
Bailey reached out her free hand, the one Eli didn’t have, and pulled me closer to them. “Cheer up, X. They’ll have plenty of cholesterol at the Pike place, I promise. So, anyway, I got tickets …”
My ears perked up. Tickets? Bailey’s dad did something bank-related — I guess that’s why they lived downtown when the family seemed kind of uptown to me. But somehow music was involved.
“Iron & Wine?” she said. “I think I’ve heard you talk about them.”
“Him. And yeah, I have. Ticket for me? Pretty please?”
“Ticket for you.” Bailey laughed and turned to Eli. “Shereally gets crazy about music. Such a chip off the old Gavin block.”
Eli nodded and raised an eyebrow. “You have no idea. We almost got arrested once for trying to sneak backstage to see the Trashcan Sinatras.”
“The Trashcan Whos?” Bailey asked.
“Obscure early nineties Irish band. Pretty decent live. Xandra over here just had to get an autograph. Those boys just wanted to get out of there and back on the road. They were pretty rude, actually.”
I nodded sadly. “I can’t listen to their music the same anymore. It’s like a tragedy.”
“So we are on for next weekend?” Bailey asked.
“Sure!”
I had cause to regret my enthusiasm a couple of minutes later when we got to the diner. Turns out the tickets were just to soften the blow. Bailey announced at breakfast that she was going to the Hamptons for all of June and most of July to stay at her parents’ house there. And Eli was going with her.
And the waffles at the diner on Pike tasted like butt.
Winter Springs, Florida — Sunday, October 17
I was sitting in one of the plastic chairs that someone had set up outside the crew trailer, reading and thinking that it was weird that it was still hot in the middle of October. We had moved sites, and I’d helped again with the setup, already feeling more like I knew the drill. The little circus city sprang up from nothing but empty field once again, right before my eyes.
A shadow fell over The Desperate Viscount , and I looked up to see Louie’s daughters standing over me.
“You wanna come to town with us?” Lina asked.
Her almost-black hair was down for a change, and it hung to her waist. She was wearing a one-shoulder black top and skinny jeans. Even without makeup, she looked exotically pretty. Her sister, Eliska, stood just behind her. She didn’t wear makeup, either, that I could see, but her hair wasin a messy bun and she wore a T-shirt and pink cardigan sweater paired with nondescript jeans.
I was so surprised, I almost waited too long to answer, because I saw an expression of annoyance just start to cross Lina’s face. But I regained my composure and answered, “Sure!” with probably too much enthusiasm. Lina turned and started walking toward the parking lot, and Eliska followed her. I raced inside the trailer, grabbed my wallet and cell phone, and caught up to them.
“There’s a mall about fifteen minutes from here,” Lina told me as I came up beside her. “It has a Barnes & Noble, so we thought you’d like to go.”
“Thanks for thinking of me,” I said, still surprised. “I didn’t … I mean, just thanks. It will be nice to have a change of scenery for a bit.”
Lina rolled her eyes. “Imagine being stuck here all your life. We have to get out sometimes or we’d go crazy.”
Lina had led the way to an old gray Honda Civic. It was very clean, especially on the inside. Lina got behind the wheel, and Eliska surprised me by getting in the back. She had an iPhone with her and seemed to be reading a book on it.
“Don’t worry about Liska,” Lina told me as she put the key in the engine. “She doesn’t talk that much.”
As we drove down a moderately busy two-lane highway, Lina asked me questions about why I’d come to the circus, where I was from, what New York was like. I skirted aroundthe details, but I did tell her that my father
Bailey reached out her free hand, the one Eli didn’t have, and pulled me closer to them. “Cheer up, X. They’ll have plenty of cholesterol at the Pike place, I promise. So, anyway, I got tickets …”
My ears perked up. Tickets? Bailey’s dad did something bank-related — I guess that’s why they lived downtown when the family seemed kind of uptown to me. But somehow music was involved.
“Iron & Wine?” she said. “I think I’ve heard you talk about them.”
“Him. And yeah, I have. Ticket for me? Pretty please?”
“Ticket for you.” Bailey laughed and turned to Eli. “Shereally gets crazy about music. Such a chip off the old Gavin block.”
Eli nodded and raised an eyebrow. “You have no idea. We almost got arrested once for trying to sneak backstage to see the Trashcan Sinatras.”
“The Trashcan Whos?” Bailey asked.
“Obscure early nineties Irish band. Pretty decent live. Xandra over here just had to get an autograph. Those boys just wanted to get out of there and back on the road. They were pretty rude, actually.”
I nodded sadly. “I can’t listen to their music the same anymore. It’s like a tragedy.”
“So we are on for next weekend?” Bailey asked.
“Sure!”
I had cause to regret my enthusiasm a couple of minutes later when we got to the diner. Turns out the tickets were just to soften the blow. Bailey announced at breakfast that she was going to the Hamptons for all of June and most of July to stay at her parents’ house there. And Eli was going with her.
And the waffles at the diner on Pike tasted like butt.
Winter Springs, Florida — Sunday, October 17
I was sitting in one of the plastic chairs that someone had set up outside the crew trailer, reading and thinking that it was weird that it was still hot in the middle of October. We had moved sites, and I’d helped again with the setup, already feeling more like I knew the drill. The little circus city sprang up from nothing but empty field once again, right before my eyes.
A shadow fell over The Desperate Viscount , and I looked up to see Louie’s daughters standing over me.
“You wanna come to town with us?” Lina asked.
Her almost-black hair was down for a change, and it hung to her waist. She was wearing a one-shoulder black top and skinny jeans. Even without makeup, she looked exotically pretty. Her sister, Eliska, stood just behind her. She didn’t wear makeup, either, that I could see, but her hair wasin a messy bun and she wore a T-shirt and pink cardigan sweater paired with nondescript jeans.
I was so surprised, I almost waited too long to answer, because I saw an expression of annoyance just start to cross Lina’s face. But I regained my composure and answered, “Sure!” with probably too much enthusiasm. Lina turned and started walking toward the parking lot, and Eliska followed her. I raced inside the trailer, grabbed my wallet and cell phone, and caught up to them.
“There’s a mall about fifteen minutes from here,” Lina told me as I came up beside her. “It has a Barnes & Noble, so we thought you’d like to go.”
“Thanks for thinking of me,” I said, still surprised. “I didn’t … I mean, just thanks. It will be nice to have a change of scenery for a bit.”
Lina rolled her eyes. “Imagine being stuck here all your life. We have to get out sometimes or we’d go crazy.”
Lina had led the way to an old gray Honda Civic. It was very clean, especially on the inside. Lina got behind the wheel, and Eliska surprised me by getting in the back. She had an iPhone with her and seemed to be reading a book on it.
“Don’t worry about Liska,” Lina told me as she put the key in the engine. “She doesn’t talk that much.”
As we drove down a moderately busy two-lane highway, Lina asked me questions about why I’d come to the circus, where I was from, what New York was like. I skirted aroundthe details, but I did tell her that my father
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