Young and Hungry - For Life - 34. I've Always Wanted to Run Away with a Circus

“Alex” said Wanda, “I’ve got bad news for you, that is, for both of us. The circus will be moving on next week and we’ll no longer be able to see each other”

“Bugger, I was hoping that wouldn’t happen, but I suppose it was inevitable. That’s what circuses do”

“Yes, but can we still keep in contact?” asked Wanda

“Of course, I would like that very much”

“Good, because I will miss you Alex, it’s been a great summer spent here with you”

“So where will you be going?”

“Dad says, now that intrastate travel is allowed, we’ll start moving north and by the time we reach the Queensland border, he expects that will be opened, if the two Premiers, Gladys Berejiklian and Anastasia Palaszczuk, stop bitching with each other about border closures”

“Yeah they are a pair on antagonists. We call it the war of the unpronounceables at home”

“I like that”

“So where will you go first?”

“Dad’s already sent our booker ahead to check locations and confirm bookings. Our first is in Gosford, then we continue north”

“Hey, that’s not far. I can get the train up there. It’s only a day trip there and back”

“Great! But I’m not sure yet about days off, so you might have to visit on a performance day and entertain yourself while I’m working”

“No problem as long as I get a free pass”

“I’m sure that can be arranged. I think my parents like you”

“Really, it’s hard to tell sometimes”

“That’s just their rough manners. If they don’t complain about you, then you must be doing something right”

“OK, then let me know as you get more bookings confirmed and I’ll see about visiting and when it’s too far for a day trip maybe I could stay over sometimes”

“I’d like that, but you couldn’t stay in our van. Maybe you could stay in a motel”

“Or I could share with Francesco. He and James are so tight these days, he’s almost family”

“Brilliant”

***

On the day before the circus’ departure from Parramatta, Alex went out there to say goodbye to Wanda and get an update on the towns they would be visiting. When he arrived, Wanda was pacing up and down outside the family van.

“Hey, are you that anxious to see me. I’m not late am I?”

“No, it’s not that. I mean of course I’m glad to see you, but it’s too tense in there”

“Why are there two tents in your van?”

“What?”

“Two tense, two tents, get it, a circus joke?”

“Oh yes, very funny. It’s Mum and Dad they’re fighting about Davo, one of our roustabouts”

“No, your Mum hasn’t ....you know”

“No, nothing like that. Mum had a fight with Davo about feeding the animals or something like that. Anyway long story short, Davo quit and said he was only paid peanuts anyway so he’s happy to leave”

“That’s a monkey’s wages. You know if you pay peanuts you get...”

“Is that another of your circus jokes?”

“Yeah... not funny?”

I guess I’m not in the mood for jokes, I don’t like Mum and Dad fighting. Now Dad’s pissed off because we leave tomorrow and he hasn’t got time to find a replacement. Packing up occupies all his time on departure days”

“That’s a bummer, so what will you do about it?”

“We’ll all just have to muck in and help do Davo’s job till we find someone”

“What did he actually do?”

“Mostly feeding the animals, cleaning the cages and & other odd jobs around the lot”

“So does one need a lot of experience to do that?”

“Not really, it’s pretty basic stuff that can be learned on the job”

“How do you find staff when you are always on the move?”

“Sometimes we get a recommendation from current staff or Dad puts up a notice in the town. We really don’t have time to put ads in newspapers or anything like that”

“So if someone in the circus were to recommend a replacement for Davo, would that please your Dad?”

“Of course, it would save him the time of looking”

“Then I have an idea”

“Do you know someone who would be suitable and willing to travel?”

“Oh, he’s certainly willing to travel and I think he would be suitable. At the very least, he’s a quick learner”

“OK, give me his number and I’ll get Dad to give him a call”

“You’ve already got his number”

“I don’t understand”

“I want you to recommend me for the job”

“You?”

“Would I be that bad an applicant?”

“It’s not that, I’m just surprised that’s all. Maybe you could learn quickly, but are you sure you can travel. What will your mum say?”

“Well we had a deal when she agreed to let me have this gap year. If I worked and saved enough money then I could travel”

“And you’ll still get paid, while you travel”

“Peanuts?” said Alex as he did a monkey imitation with his arms.

“Yes, and that is funny” replied Wanda

“So are you going to talk to your Dad?”

“When things settle down inside”

“Sounds quiet now” suggested Alex, as Candy opened the door of the van. She greeted Alex then headed off to the animal tent.

“How about now?” asked Alex

“OK, let me talk to him first. You wait here”

It was now Alex’s turn to pace outside the van. Eventually Wanda called him in and the men sat down for a chat, while Wanda made tea.

“So young man, you think you can handle being a circus roustabout?”

“I’m confident I could give it a good try” replied Alex, then added “Under your guidance of course” as a sweetener.

“And would this sudden urge to join the circus, have anything to do with my daughter?”

“Of course it has” he answered up front, to get that out of the way, and give Jack the answer he wanted. He then continued “I am on a gap year between school and university and part of that deal with my Mum was that I could travel in the second half of the year if I worked and saved in the first half. I’ve done that so now I’m ready to travel and travelling with the circus would mean I would be with friends and people who care about me. Plus getting paid would be a bonus, as well as learning new skills”

“Young man, I must warn you circus life is not easy. As well as being constantly on the road, you will be required to work long hours on some days and often for many days straight without a day off. Even when we don’t have a performance, the animals still need to be attended to and many other jobs around the lot still need to be done every day. Can you handle that?”

“Jack, I may not have a lot of formal work experience, but I have always been a hard worker doing my chores and have won employee of the month, twice while working at the chicken shop”

“OK, tell you what we’ll do. I’ll get Smidge to show you what the job entails and then we’ll have another chat at the end of the day. Does that seem fair?”

“Yes, and thank you very much for the opportunity”

“You may not thank me after you have cleaned out a few animal pens, but that will be up to you. Oh and one more thing. If I offer you the job, you’ll have to pack your things tonight and be ready to leave tomorrow. Is that doable for you?”

“Certainly, I’ll call my mum now and give her a bit of notice, just in case I’m successful”

“Good thinking, and in the meantime I’ll find another worker you could share with”

“That shouldn’t be necessary Jack. I’ll ask Francesco if I can share with him”

“But he’s a headliner. Performers and other staff don’t usually share vans”

“Oh, is there a class system”

“In a way there is an unofficial demarcation. It’s not something I encourage, but who am I to enforce these things. I just own the bloody circus”

“In that case, would I have your support if Francesco is willing? He is very close to my family, so we know each other well”

“Too bloody close, if you want my opinion. Is it your mother that’s been in his ear about all this money business?”

“James’s mother actually, but in our family, she’s my mum too”

“OK, we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it. Let’s get you into some overalls and set to work”

Jack asked Wanda to get Smudge while the two men had their tea.

<>

Alex returned to Jack’s van around five pm, looking a bit the worse for wear. His overalls were filthy, one leg was ripped and he was carrying a broken broom. Wanda looked at Alex’s face and laughed.

“What’s wrong?” he asked.

“Looks like smudge did a good job with you. I can see monkey shit on your face and a scratch on your head that I bet you got from Coco, she’s notorious for it”

“If Coco’s a monkey, then you are right”

“And what’s with the broken broom?”

“Smudge made me bring it to show Jack that I broke it. Said he’ll probably deduct the cost from my wages. How many peanuts does a broom cost?”

Wanda laughed loudly, then asked “And how did you break the broom?”

“I was cleaning the lions’ cage, by sweeping between the bars, like Smudge showed me. Then when one of the lions growled at me, I got such a fright I pulled back and got the broom caught between the bars and it broke off”

“Yeah, that’s Smudge’s newcomer’s trick. Dad knows about it. He’ll probably have a good laugh when you tell him”

“Am I going to fail this test?”

“I don’t think so. Dad and I have already talked about it. He’s going to give you the job, but don’t let on I’ve already told you. He still likes to think he runs things around here”

***

Before leaving the lot, Alex called his mother to confirm he would be travelling with the circus, then called James to check where Francesco was. “He’s with me. We’re on our way back to the lot. Why do you want him?”

“I’m travelling with the circus tomorrow and I need to ask him if I can share with him in his van”

“Wait, there’s something wrong with our connection, I thought you said you’re going with the circus?”

“I am, I got a job as a roustabout, because someone left suddenly and I had my test today and Jack likes me and I start tomorrow and I can travel with Wanda and....”

“Stop! Enough! Too much to absorb at once”

“OK, so will you ask Francesco for me?”

“Alright, I’ll ask him while we walk back. See you soon”

Thirty seconds later, Alex received a text ‘Does Mum know about this. You’re gunna be in deep shit’

Alex didn’t bother to answer.

<>

It was less than five minutes later, Francesco and James arrived back and found Alex waiting at Francesco’s van.

“Hi guys” greeted Alex, “I’ll bet this is all a surprise to you”

“Sure is Bro” replied James, who decided to take charge. “Now first things first, does Mum know?”

“Yes, of course. I wouldn’t make plans like this without letting her know first”

“Good, I wouldn’t want to go home without you and have to break the news to her. Now, Francesco, do you want to tell Alex, your news?”

“News?”

“Well, what you decided”

“Oh yes Alex you can use my van”

“Thank you, but don’t you mean share with you?”

“Um...yes, of course that’s what I mean”

“Excellent, what do you call flatmates in a caravan?” Alex asked

“Van..dals?” suggested James.

“Very funny, now I don’t want to cause you any problem, Francesco, because Jack said headliners and other staff don’t usually share accommodation. That’s not going to be problem for you, is it?”

“Er...no” Francesco answered distractedly.

“Good, now that’s all sorted” said James, we had better get home so you can pack, and I can move into the bigger room”

“No you can’t. I’m not leaving for good, probably only till the end of the year”

“Bummer, I thought you’d probably marry Wanda and stay with the circus forever”

“Yeah sure, as much as I like Wanda, I wasn’t planning on shovelling shit for the rest of my life”

“OK, guess I’ll have to live with that, for now. So why this sudden decision?”

“A vacancy came up and as I’d planned to travel anyway this seemed like a good opportunity”

“To be with your woman?”

“That too”

“So that means I lose Francesco, but you get to stay with your lover”

“You can visit him on holidays. I’m sure Mum would be OK with that and now I’ll be there to keep an eye on you, when you visit”

“Maybe, but I’ll miss him”

“I know that, but hey, you did get involved with a circus act, you must have known this would happen one day”

“Fuck you Alex”

“What have I done now?”

“Francesco’s not a circus act, as you put it, he’s my boyfriend and I love him. Please show some respect for our relationship”

“Sorry mate”

“Are you going to miss me, Francesco?” James looked around but Francesco was not there.

“He wandered off a few minutes ago” advised Alex “Probably embarrassed by your arguing”

“Me? Anyway I better go find him and say goodbye, then you can take me home”

<>

James found Francesco in his usual place, behind the hay bales. He was not actually crying but very close to it, so James asked “Are you OK?”

“No, I’m not. I don’t want to leave you. I love you James. I’ve never loved anyone before, well not since my parents died. I didn’t know I could feel so good as I do when I’m with you”

“There’s not much I can do about that now. You have your job and I have school, but I promise I will come visit you on my holidays, wherever you are. Does that make you feel better?”

“I suppose so...no it doesn’t, I’ll miss you and besides, who’s going to suck my dick every day?”

James laughed and said “Is that what you’ll really miss?” then hugged Francesco.

“Well, you are very good at it, so I will miss that almost as much as I will miss you holding me, kissing me, talking to me and all the wonderful things we did together. I’ll even miss you making me laugh, whether it’s accidently when you fall over in a yoga pose or on purpose when you do your clown pratfall. It’s just not fair, that I lose you and that bitch Wanda gets to keep her man”

“I’m sorry Francesco. I feel the same way but I can’t go with you. Please try to be strong and I’ll make sure you have plenty of prepaid credit so you can call me anytime and we’ll have long conversations. I might even send you some dick pics”

<>

After Alex had completed his arrangements with Jack, he went looking for James. He finally dragged him away from Francesco and the brothers drove home.

***

The evening was spent having hurried conversation, packing and promises to keep in touch.

By the time the whole household was bedded down for the night there was exhaustion and still unanswered questions aplenty.

Hannah got into bed first, and when she had enough of Julia fussing around, she said “Will you stop all that, relax and come to bed”

Julia did as requested, but only lie still for thirty seconds, before she was up again. “What now?” asked Hannah.

“I forgot to ask Alex if he needs new underwear to take away”

“I don’t think he’ll be lying awake wondering the same thing. Just leave it. He’s packed what he thinks he needs and plenty of what you think he needs”

“But my boy’s going away and I’ve had less than a day’s notice to prepare. What if he needs something I forgot to pack for him?”

“In the unlikely event of that happening I’m sure there will be shops in whatever town they travel to”

“But what if he needs me?”

“Seriously? You think a seventeen year old boy is going to admit that. Besides, he’ll never be any further away than a phone call. And he’ll be travelling all the time with his girl and her family. They’ll take good care of him. He’ll be treated like family”

“You think so?”

“Of course, they say a circus is just one big family”

“What if he gets injured, a circus can be a dangerous place with wild animals and big trucks and god knows what else they cart around the countryside”

“Will you settle, you’re just working yourself into a state of anxiety. Give the boy a chance to show he’s growing into a self-sufficient man. Anyway, it was you who agreed with him that if he worked to save then he could travel. Did you not think he would do that? At least this way, you know who he is with. Not travelling with strangers”

“Oh my god, you’re right. They are strangers, I haven’t even met them”

“You’ll meet them tomorrow, when you drop Alex off”

“What if they don’t like me, or I don’t like them? What then?”

“That’s unlikely, you’ve met Wanda, and her family wouldn’t offer Alex the job if they didn’t like him”

“Yes, of course, I’m just worrying needlessly”

“Oh finally the penny drops”

“But....”

“No more buts, take some deep breaths, concentrate on your breathing, put all other thoughts out of your mind and let me go to sleep”

*****