|
Ashbrooke 2006
Chapter THREE
The vision was foggy. Something was moving in the darkness but what it was, wasn’t clear; like gnarled twisted hands
of bone grabbing and clawing in the darkness. The smell of blood and freshly mangled flesh was in the air. Screams and moans
with ear piercing intensity rang out through the foggy darkness. The white haired china man was wide awake yet his dream had
nothing to do with the reality around him that his blind eyes could not see. It was that sense again… that sixth sense
he had from birth. It meant something but he wasn’t sure what exactly the vision was trying to tell him but whatever
it was…. It wasn’t good.
********
Brian Keeping was a handsome twenty five year old man. He had been living in Ashbrooke all his life and really hadn’t
been anywhere else. This was part of the problem. He had a dream to get out into the world and make it big even though everyone
else thought he was a dreamer, he knew one day he would get his chance. Being a twenty five year old mechanic whose passion
in life was juggling was a bit strange, but he spent every waking moment he had tossing things into the air in a rhythmic
pattern that impressed anyone who was watching.
“Not much to do around here today, Brian, so I want you to go ahead and clean up the parts shelf. We’ve been selling
stuff off of that shelf all week and they sell better when they’re clean.” The parts shelf was where the Johnson
brothers kept all the re-built carburetors and fuel pumps and other parts that any traveling stranger with an unwanted breakdown
could always use.
“Dam spare parts…” Brian grumbled a bit under his breath. He felt like that shelf was mostly full of junk
and it would be a much better use of time to throw the stuff away than to keep it.
“Stop yer grumbling and just clean them up.” Pete Johnson came out of the office with a long cardboard box in
his hands. “But before you do, we’ve got something for you, son.” With a cheeky grin, Pete presented the
box to Brian. Bill stood next to him with a boyish look of anticipation on his face. The box was heavy and tattered up like
it had been through a very rough pony express delivery service. Brian smiled, completely not knowing what to expect and slowly
opened the box.
“We know you’ve been working so hard on that juggling stuff that we decided to do something special for ya.”
Pete smiled.
“Yeah,” Bill added, “After working so hard all summer to learn how to juggle them pins, we decided to help
you go to the next level.”
Upon opening the box Brian could not believe his eyes. Inside the tattered old box was a set of nice new shiny juggling knives.
He took one out of the box by its handle and flipped it in the air effortlessly. Perfectly weighted and read to be tossed
in the air, the knife was a symbol to Brian that he had moved to a whole new level as a juggler.
“Ok, ok, that’s enough,” Bill said as he took the knife from Brian and placed it back in the box. These
can wait till you’re done with work. Then you can do all the juggling you want.”
“Yep, them parts ain’t gonna clean themselves.” Pete smiled and winked at his brother Bill. Even thought
he was a salty old fart, giving Brian those pins made Pete feel a bit warm and fuzzy inside, even if the idea had been his
brothers.
“I’m gonna put these here knives in the desk drawer in the office. You can pick them up on your way home tonight.”
Bill had a bit of a soft spot for Brian and somehow he knew the kid was struggling with some important issues in life. Bill
was sixty two years old and was one of the owners of the Johnson Brother’s garage. He and his older brother Pete opened
the garage shortly after their father died and that was almost thirty years ago. Ashbrooke was small, with one diner, one
theater and one garage that serviced anyone who happened to break down in the little town. It was peaceful, but a little too
much for Brian’s liking as he craved excitement.
The most exciting things he had ever done were usually with his best friend Randy Corbin. Everyone called him Randy “Jazz”
cause he worked at the local hair salon and was a bit light in the loafers, as Pete liked to say, but he was by far Brian’s
best friend and the most exciting thing in Brian’s life. The reason Brian and Randy were probably so close is that when
they were young, Brian’s parents and Randy’s parents were the best of friends. They did everything together, including
getting killed in a horrible car accident while on a trip back from the big city. After this happened Brian’s grandmother
took him in as well as the orphaned Randy, so he and Brian were raised from the age of ten to practically be brothers.
The town of Ashbrooke had a sheriff and a deputy and they were all that kept the riff raff and biker gangs from staying too
long. Ashbrooke had a reputation for not being very opened armed when it came to strangers and Sheriff Bob Tucker liked to
keep it that way. He was a gruff old coot who was pretty much a racist, homophobic narrow minded asshole and he was proud
of it. His deputy Tarra Wood was an attractive young woman in her mid thirties and she was by far the most popular of the
duo. Some men were even known to speed through town in the hopes that she would be the one to pull them over and give them
a ticket. It was common knowledge that the somewhat flirtatious deputy was single and looking.
Ashbrooke’s secrets had been kept well. There was little talk of the tragic burning of the circus that happened some
sixty hears earlier. Nobody really even gave it a second though. After the disappearance of the circus sixty years prior,
the town got a reputation among the other traveling circus’s and it sort of became taboo to put down steaks there, so
the circus hadn’t come to town for at least sixty years. The only remnants of anything having to do with the tragic
burning of the circus was the fact that there was an old woman who lived somewhere on the outskirts of town. People called
her an old witch because she was quite peculiar. They referred to her as crazy old Dora and it was rumored that she was the
old fortune teller from the circus that had burned down in 1946. Nobody really knew her, although she was spotted in town,
because she kept to herself. She wore a tattered old dress. Red with lace trims on the sleeves and around the skirt. And she
always wore a black hat with a veil covering her face, so nobody knew what she looked like, but they knew it couldn’t
be too pretty as she had to be close to ninety years old.
The Ashbrooke Community church had moved closer to the heart of town. The old building had been abandon up on the hill not
far from Saunders’s field about 10 years back and it was about that time that the old pastor Harry Farwell up and disappeared.
The town’s folk never understood how he lived so long and how he managed to stay behind the pulpit for so many years
but one day shortly after the city council decided to build a new more modern church building, he just disappeared and nobody
had seen him since. A string of interim pastors came and went for several years but the town had recently gotten a young new
pastor by the name of Fredrick Douglas who was well liked by most of the parishioners. His style was different because he
was not so much into the hell-fire and brimstone approach to religion.
*****
“Dammit boy,” Pete Johnson said as he stood next to Brian while he was cleaning a carburetor. “I swear you
better snatch up that girl and marry her before someone else does.” Pete was looking out the window as Steffi Damascus
approached. She was another of Brian’s best friends. She, Randy and Brian were like the inseparable and much more intelligent
three stooges. They did almost everything together including getting into trouble, although that was more when they were teenagers.
The worse thing they had done when they were in high school was sneak into the movie theater while old man Dixon was preoccupied
and switch the midnight matinee movie with a 1950’s sex education film. It caused a lot of stir but that was only because
old man Dixon turned it on without checking and then fell asleep, so the audience had to watch about half of it before someone
got his attention and woke him up to change it. Brian, Randy and Steffi thought they had made history.
“Hey there you” Steffi said as she set down a plate with an enormous sandwich on it. “I brought you something
from the diner.” To anyone watching there really wasn’t any way to miss the fact that Steffi had a huge crush
on Brian. He didn’t really reciprocate the crush because he really found the whole thing confusing. He wasn’t
sure if it was because he had thought of her as a sister for so many years or if it was because he only wanted to be her friend,
either way he was doing a bit of experimenting but it wasn’t all turning out the way he wanted it to.
“Hey Brian, how’s work going?” Steffi smiled and moved in close in hopes of maybe getting a kiss. Brian
backed away and smiled nervously, holding a greasy rag between them whipping his greasy hands on it.
“Hey I’m good… thanks for that awesome sandwich. Pastrami and cheese with extra Tabasco, just the way I
like it. I’ll eat it later when I get cleaned up.”
Brian kissed her on the cheek awkwardly and stepped over to the parts shelf. The night before he and Steffi had been on a
‘date’ for the first time. It was a bit strange how the whole thing played out and it ended less than perfect.
“Brian you know about last night. I had a great time.” Steffi followed him over to the shelf full of dirty car
parts. “I know at the end there it was a bit… um…. you know whatever, but not to worry I am sure that happens
to every guy once in a while.”
“Yeah well I had a good time too. It’s always great to hang out with you. The restaurant was great… I’m
just sorry about desert.”
“Don’t worry I’m sure next time the desert will be much better. Who knows, maybe pound cake instead of jello.”
She laughed and Brian just snickered awkwardly and rolled his eyes. Brian watched Steffi walk out the door as she went back
to Devin’s Diner where she worked. He felt deep down inside that it was a mistake to try to become sexual with Steffi
on their date. But somehow he was confused that felt like he was trying to prove something to himself. He liked her but he
didn’t really think he loved her and even though he knew she had those sorts of feelings the last thing he wanted to
do was screw up their friendship.
*****
The new and improved Bizzaro Brother’s Circus came rolling into town, the first of its kind in sixty long years. Carson
Bailey the circus boss had chosen this town to add to their seasonal tour because of the fact no circus had been here for
so many years and he felt that it was ripe for the picking. The circus was a small one. They were nowhere near the size of
Ringling or even Carson and Barnes and the Cole Brothers circus even made them look small. They were truly one of, if not
the last one ring circus still traveling the Continental United States. The circus was nearly done with set up and Carson
was hovering around as usual barking orders to the roustabouts to get the canvas tightened and taut and the carnival games
set up. He wanted them to have a full blown rehearsal before nightfall so the show would be ready to shine by noon the next
day when the ticket booth opened. Carson was a fellow that not many of the circus folk liked. He was an abrasive asshole who
really didn’t give a crap about anyone but himself. He had gotten this job eight years ago because of a family connection
in the circus world and his uncle who pulled a few strings for him so he could have a fresh start right out of prison. During
Carson’s prison stint, his warm and friendly personality and sarcastic mouth had gotten him beaten half to death just
before he was released. His first few weeks as a free man were spent in a hospital in a comma as the result of a stroke brought
on by the horrible beating he had taken. When he finally came out and joined the ranks of the living again, he had a withered
gimpy left arm, a left leg with very little or not feeling and he had to walk with a cane for the rest of his life. He was
only 40 years old. Most of the circus folk chalked his less than chipper personality up to his condition and they cut him
as much slack as they possibly could.
The second guy in charge was also one of the headliner performers. He was a clown by the name of Smiley and he had been with
the Bizzaro Brother’s Circus for just over twenty years. He was really the backbone behind the circus as far as the
other performers were concerned and without him and his support the circus would have gone belly up many years before. It
was due to this fact that Carson was jealous of Smiley and did his best to make his life miserable.
“Ok, what’s six feet tall, walks with a limp and is the biggest asshole on the planet?” a chubby little
hand was holding back the curtain watching Carson come toward the trailer.
“I don’t know.” Smiley replied as he did a last bit of powdering to his clown make-up.
“I don’t know either, but it’s coming this way.”
Smiley pulled out a long cigar and stuck it in his mouth. “It’s too early for his shit ya know.” Smiley
patted his pockets searching. Just as he let out a sigh of frustration, Buggy pulled out his special lighter and shot a six
inch fame into the air, lighting the end of Smiley’s cigar. Smiley smiled a real smile and leaned back in his chair
just as the door opened.
“What are you slackers doing in here?” Not a ‘hello’, not a ‘hey how are ya’ not even
a ‘go to hell’. Carson didn’t see the point in pleasantries.
“Exit stage left.” Buggy the clown chuckled as he slid between Carson and the door frame to make as quick an exit
as he could.
“Hello to you too…what, your momma didn’t teach you how to knock?” Smiley was usually nice to everyone
but Carson didn’t merit civility as he was always asking for it just by the way he behaved.
“Well last time I checked this was my circus and that would make this my trailer, so why bother knocking.” Carson
said smugly.
“Yeah, well last time I checked you weren’t the one people paid good money to come see, so you better do an attitude
check before everyone in this place walks out on you, leaving you holding nothing but the end of Inga’s leash.”
The thought of that wasn’t a very pleasant one for Carson because Inga was the dancing Russian bear they had brought
on as a new act the year before and it was common knowledge that the bear hated Carson’s guts.
“Yeah, yeah, whatever,” Carson shook his head and continued. “Smiley I need you to go into town and get
some supplies for us. We’re on gas generators now and we need a shit load of spark plugs.”
“What are you talking about? I’m already in full face for our dress rehearsal. I can’t go into town like
this.” Smiley held firm to the clown code of ethics that said you don’t go anywhere as a clown unless your completely
made up and always in character.
“I don’t give a shit.” Carson chewed on a toothpick. “So hand out flyers and entertain the kiddies.
Use the opportunity to drum up business for the circus. All I know is I can’t send Simon because he’s got the
newbie’s working on the big top and he can’t be spared. So get your ass into town, find an auto parts place and
get me a case of spark plugs.”
Carson spit his chewed toothpick on Smiley’s make-up table and made to leave.
“How about a few free tickets for the kiddies in town,” Smiley cocked his painted on eyebrow.
Carson suddenly stopped. “Cute or not, I’m not giving you any free tickets for the kiddies in this freaking town.
We can’t afford it, so let them pay like everyone else.” Carson turned and slammed the door behind him.
Smiley sat back and took a drag on his cigar. He smiled and got a twinkle in his eye and opened a drawer in his make-up table.
He pulled out a stack of tickets and shoved them in the pocket of his clown coat. “Sure Carson, no free tickets here….”
Smiley picked up the rubber nose that had been waiting to be placed and stuck it on his face, finishing off his make-up just
right. “Like hell.”
*****
Brian cleaned up and sat by the window with his sandwich when Randy popped up scaring the hell out of him.
“Jesus Christ Randy, don’t do that, you scared the b-jeezus out of me.” Brian felt like throwing the sandwich
at him but that would have been a waste of good food.
“Oh look at Mr. Grease Monkey.” Randy fluttered in through the door next to the window and ran his finger across
the work counter. “If you’re not careful Brian, someone is going to mistake you for a real man.” Brian flipped
Randy the bird and rolled his eyes. Randy was his best friend and probably the most talented hairdresser in town, but the
one thing that stuck out the most is that Randy “Jazz” Corbin was the gayest person the little town had ever seen
and he didn’t care who knew it.
“So what’s the plan for tonight? Are we going to go out and tear up the town?”
“I’d love to; god knows this sleepy little town needs some excitement.” Brian took a bite of his sandwich.
“Sleepy? This town’s in a fucking coma.” Randy sat down and rubbed his hands together and grimaced as if
he could feel the grease covering his body as he sat there. “And we’re just the girls to give it a caffeine enema.”
Brian almost choked on his sandwich, and then gobbled down the last bite. “Who’s a girl? Speak for your self Miss
THANG. Besides I have to go to church with Gran tonight.”
“Oh yeah… church… well just promise I can do the flower arrangement for your funeral when you DIE OF BORDOM!”
“Oh come on, it’s not that bad. Why don’t’ you go with me? Gran would love it if you did.”
“Me go into a church? I don’t’ think so. I am sure I’d be struck by lightning.” Randy made some
gay hand gesture that was supposed to symbolize his hair standing up on end from electrocution. “Talking about killer
split ends.”
Randy had lived with Brian and his Gran for years but he was still a very free spirit and pretty much did what he wanted.
Brian on the other hand had a very strong sense of obligation to look after his Gran and didn’t mind making a few sacrifices
now and again.
“Look, why don’t you ask Steffi if she wants to go with us and we’ll ditch early and then we can go out
and find something fun to do.”
Randy thought for a moment pursing his lips and looking up at nothing in particular. “You sure I won’t die from
boredom? I mean if I were singing hymns with Brittany that would be ok, but how exciting can old rugged cross be?”
“Look, Steffi is getting off work in a bit, go ask her if she’s up for it and I’ll meet you guys back here
and we’ll go together.”
“Ok, but I’m only going if she agrees to go… hmm will they let me in if I’m wearing a singlet? Oh
well guess I’ll find out.” Randy fluttered out the door leaving Brian shaking his head.
|
