Young and Hungry - For Life - 41. A Clown’s Big Break

James was first awake and showered before his mothers were awake. After dressing he put on the kettle, knocked on his mothers’ bedroom door and said “Up and at it, big day ahead”

“What’s with him this morning?” asked a barely awake Julia.

“He’ll have Francesco in his arms tonight if we get away early enough”

“Bugger, forgot about that. We’re on holidays”

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Hannah entered the kitchen and asked James “Want a big breakfast to set us up for the day?”

“No time for that, I’ve already made tea and the bread is toasting. That’s all you get. Gotta be on the road in thirty minutes”

“Yes Sir! Did you hear that?” Hannah asked Julia as she staggered into the kitchen, half asleep and wearing her robe.

“I heard but, doubt I’ll be ready in time”

“No excuses, we leave in thirty minutes, so be ready or be left behind”

“Yes, Mr Bossy”

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Amazingly, they did get away almost on time and drove to Lismore in one day, with minimal stops and swapping drivers every two hours. They arrived early evening and checked into a motel.

The women knew James would be anxious to get to the circus lot, so they freshened up quickly and then knocked on his room door.

“Come in”

As Hannah entered and found James on his knees, looking under the bed she asked “Lost something already?”

“Not something of mine, but I can’t find the coin slot”

“What coin slot, there’s a vending machine outside, if you want a drink”

“Not for that. I think we’ve been ripped off” James replied as he stood up and put a handful of coins back into his pocket.

“What on earth are you talking about?”

“In the movies, there’s always a bed vibrator in a motel room”

“I think you’ve answered your own question. Only in the movies”

“Really?”

“James, I’ve stayed in quite a few motels over the years when travelling around to defend clients in regional areas, and to date I’ve never been in a room with a bed vibrator. Always had to take my own”

“Too much information, Mum”

***

On the way to the circus they stopped for a quick meal at a local eatery.

“Why can’t we go to Macca’s?” asked James

“Because I want some real country style food. I fancy a big burger with local juicy meat, and salad including beetroot, not those kiddie size things, with a pre-digested meat patty they serve”

Hannah had the Richmond River Burger, Julia a Northern Rivers steak sandwich and on his mother’s recommendation, James ordered Bangers and Mash.

When he finished, James asked “How come we don’t have food like this at home. That was absolutely delicious”

“Probably because the sausages had real meat, not lots of filler. As far as why don’t we have it at home, I’ve got a suggestion. Why don’t you take a pic of the menu and we can try making new things at home”

“Great idea, I’ll make it a project Francesco and I can work on. I don’t think he knows how to cook anything, you know”

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As they followed the promotional circus posters, to the lot, James asked “Mum, does sensual mean the same as sexual?”

“Not in the original meaning of the word, but in modern usage sometimes it does, why?”

“The posters advertise the new act as sensual”

“Ah yes, I have seen a video of the new act, so I think Jack has taken some liberty with the use of that word. He probably wouldn’t get away with using sexual on a poster for a circus that is supposed to be family entertainment”

“Mmm, I wonder if Francesco feels upstaged by that”

“Professional jealousy maybe, but given that he so much wants to leave the circus, I don’t think he’ll care really”

“Hope so”

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The evening performance had just begun as they arrived, so they all went to Francesco’s van. James figured he didn’t need to knock, so he went straight into the van while his mothers waited outside.

They hugged and kissed as lovers, who have been separated, do when reunited.

“Oh I missed you so much” Francesco said

“Me too, but how come you’re putting on your makeup?”

“I’m doing a final, sort of farewell performance tonight”

“Did the new act arrive?”

“Yes, they’re on the bill tonight also, so it’s going to be a really great show”

“Can my mums come in?”

“Sure and they can watch you put on my glitter”

“Then I had better put in your protector before that”

“You don’t think they’ll want to watch that also?”

James pulled a funny face, positioned Francesco’s protector, gave it his customary pat and called his mothers.

“Welcome to my van” said Francesco “Or should I say Alex’s van. As from tonight it’s all his”

“So good to see you again” replied Hannah

“And from me too, Francesco” added Julia. “You’ve been a very brave man to do this, and now you get your reward. Your rescue team is here and ready for extraction”

“I like the sound of that. Now James, you had better hurry up with the glitter, I’m on soon”

The women watched as James applied, just a little too much glitter on Francesco’s body. When Francesco looked questioningly at James, he replied “I want you to really shine tonight as you say goodbye to your audience”

“I’ll probably blind them with this much glitter”

“Might as well use it up, you’ll have no more use for it after tonight”

“OK, you asked for it” replied Francesco as he smeared James’ face with the adhesive and then applied the glitter. James looked, with pride, at his mothers and gave them his Jolly James grin.

“So this is what happens behind the scenes, in a circus” commented Hannah

“You aint seen nothin’ yet” replied Francesco, in a very upbeat manner.

“Oh, what surprises are in store for us” asked Julia

“It wouldn’t be a surprise if I told you that”

“Fair enough” concluded Julia

“OK, Bendy Boy, off to do circus” ordered James.

Francesco waved a finger at James, but he knew it was just said jokingly.

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James escorted his mothers to the animal entrance of the tent to watch the performance. As Francesco made his entrance, a voice from behind them asked “What are you doing here. This area is for performers only. I’ll have to ask you to leave”

“But we are...” started James, then turned and continued “...you bugger Alex, asserting your authority already?”

Julia rushed to her boy and hugged him till Alex said “Mum, I need to breathe”

“Oh sorry, it’s just that I missed you so much” Then she pushed Alex back a little, looked him up and down in his candy stripped outfit, and added “Is this your uniform, I thought an animal keeper would wear overalls”

“This is my performance uniform”

“You perform?” asked James, with raised eyebrows.

“Yes, I work with the horse act”

“Are you the head or the arse end?”

“Don’t tease” ordered Julia “What do you do?”

“I hold the horses until Candy calls for their entrance and then as they leave the ring I return them to their enclosure”

“And do you get paid for this?” asked Julia

“As part of my weekly wage, I do whatever needs to be done”

“Well I’m proud of you son, trying new things, but I hope you’re careful when around animals”

“Yes Mum”

The group then watched the remainder of Francesco’s final performance and his standing ovation. As he backed out of the big top, James held open the curtain, then closed it with a flourish. The audience was still applauding when Jack announced “That was Bendy Boy’s final performance with this circus. Before he leaves us, do you want to see him one more time?” The applause grew louder, so Jack held out his arm pointing to the entrance curtain.

Francesco nodded at James, who understood what it meant and pulled open the curtain for Francesco to enter for his encore. As he stepped through the curtain, he grabbed James’ hand and said “Let’s encore with our act we did for your family”

Without even thinking about what he was doing, James went with Francesco and found himself in the centre ring surrounded by a packed house. When Francesco noticed James’ hand shaking he whispered in his ear, “Relax, you know what to do, so just enjoy it”

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Their performance was perfect and as they held hands to take their bow, James felt the applause wrap around him, like a warm blanket, and knew in that instant, how Francesco must feel every night. But as they walked towards the exit he also wondered how Francesco would cope without this nightly feeling of elation, had he done the right thing by encouraging him to leave the circus.

This time Alex held open the curtain for the performers’ exit. As he let it drop James kissed Francesco passionately, until Alex said “Get a room”

“Got one of those, but no vibrating bed”

The whole family laughed and walked back to the van with arms around each other.

***

“James, you were just amazing out there, performing in front of that huge audience” gushed his mother.

“He is a real trouper, isn’t he?” asked Francesco

“Who would have believed it?” asked Julia “Our sons, both in a circus”

“But only one of us gets paid” added Alex

“I do it for the applause” replied James, proudly. “You can’t put a price on that feeling”

“And you’re not finished yet” added Francesco “Since this is our last night in the circus, I think you should show your family your Jolly James performance for the finale”

“Can I, you sure Jack won’t mind?”

“Jack will take any free performance he can get” answered Francesco.

“Ouch!’ concluded Hannah.

Then Francesco lifted the bench seat and revealed the clown costume in storage.

***

During the finale grand parade, James had the audience laughing with his two pratfalls, so he thought he would milk it for all he could get and tried a third just towards the end. Francesco was not expecting this and was giving the audience his last wave at the time, so did not notice James’ fall and tripped over him. As they both lie on the ground laughing, the horse behind them tried to step aside, but misjudged and stepped on James’ arm. Suddenly the clown smile turned upside down into a frown and James let out a scream of pain.

Candy, who was used to dealing with circus accidents, went into damage mitigation mode by holding two of the horses in front of James and the gathering family, to obscure the audience’s view.

Wanda was the first aid officer for the night, so she attended to James while they waited for an ambulance to arrive. His mother fussed around and was generally making the situation worse until Candy passed the reigns of the horses to Alex and took Hannah aside. “I know this is a shock for you and you are rightly concerned for your son, but you need to remain calm so James does not become more agitated. Also you need to let Wanda and the others do their job till the ambos arrive. They are trained for this”

Hannah sat on a piece of unidentified circus equipment and allowed Julia to comfort her, while Candy went back to check on James’ condition and help Jack clear out the audience.

James was stabilised, splinted and wheeled to the ambulance. Hannah accompanied him and Julia drove to the hospital, closely followed by Candy.

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While they waited in A & E, Hannah was heard to say “That’s it, no more of this circus tom foolery” To which, James replied, through gritted teeth “This was my farewell performance Mum”

“And we need to get Alex out of there, before something happens to him” declared Julia.

“That’s not fair Mum. Why should I have to leave because bumble foot here has an accident?”

“Because it’s clearly not a safe environment”

“Mum, kids at school have broken their arms or worse, playing sport, but you didn’t stop me from going to school because of that, did you?”

“But...but...”

“He’s right Julia. This could have happened anywhere”

“Oh yes, tell me where else our son would have been walking around in ridiculously large shoes, deliberately falling down, get trodden on by a horse and possibly lose an arm”

“Don’t over react Julia. Wait and see what the doctor says”

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James’ injury turned out to be a clean break that was set and his arm plastered. When that cured he was allowed to leave the hospital, with a warning about bruising appearing and pain killers to be used, as required, for the next few days.

Candy drove Wanda and Alex back to the circus lot, and the others went to the motel. Before leaving, Candy issued an invitation to the women for both families to have lunch at the circus the following day.