THE CARNY
Del was quiet in the corner, surrounded by the carny folk that had taken him in. He looked over the people who had worked the carny and tried to keep up with what they were saying but couldn't. He was hearing words he'd never heard before. Beans and Fireball and a girl said her gadget was broke and lugen and talker what the hell were they talking about?
One girl chewing gum turned to him and said, "Who is the gazoonie?" , and Del panicked. Was he being asked a question to answer? Was a gazoonie some name, or an object, or was she asking him about someone else?
Red said, " I think he's a Backyard Boy, unless he screws the carny".
The girl eyed Del and said, " You a gazoonie kid?" and Del was paralyzed. Am I? Could I be a gazoonie? Is that good or bad or-
"Hey Red tell us a jackpot", said the girl taking a swig from the bottle of wine and then handing it to Del who took a swig and decided the thing to do was pass the bottle on. Del had already been told not to ask anyone their names, or where they were from, or anything else for that matter. So he'd met Chuckles, Baby Doll, Red and Happy earlier. He was the only one, he realized, actually going by his real name.
Red had taken him under his wing, which was great because he could skip the hard work of setting up and breaking down the show. He was going to work as talent in the carny! Running away from home to join the carny was looking like a smart move. Red had been with the carny 20 years and seemed like a great guy. Red's hands were wrinkled, his hair had parted leaving a bald spot on top, but he still slicked down the sides, for the ladies.
Red puffed on his cigar and let the smoke escape from his mouth. " I saw her while I was working the A & S." he noticed Del looked surprised. "That's age and scale kid, you guess the marks age and weight. Always undercut the girls age and she'll still say you're right" he laughed as the carny folk laughed along.
"She wore a yellow dress".
The room suddenly went quiet. Herc, the strongman, visibly let his shoulders drop, and he stared ahead into some unknown void. The others waited, hanging on every word.
What the hell is the big deal about a yellow dress Del wondered.
" I guess she was a size 2. Every wallet on the grounds was staring at her, even the family men. Her dress clung to her body. Her skin was like cream and the dress length stopped at the knees so you could see her legs. She had it all. I saw the dress, I saw the color, but I couldn't take my eyes off her. Her red hair touched her shoulders and she wore a matching yellow hat. The yellow color was there, but I couldn't not talk to her.
" So I walked up to her, and offered to show her around". Red took a drag on the gar, and watched the smoke go into the air. No one said a word.
"Her voice was sexy, a raspy voice like Lauren Bacall and all of a sudden I hear a talker yell out to me so I yell back, With it and he stops and we walk on". Del thought, 'with it'- that must mean he's with the carny so don't waste your spiel. Your talk.
" It was the last night and I had no time to wine and dine, so I told her I'd like to kiss her and she said ok and I kissed her and as I did I felt a hand on my shoulder. I stopped and turned around and here was a big truck driver of a guy, all muscle looking me square in the eyes.
"He asked me what I was doing with his wife".
Red took a draw from his gar and looked around the spellbound room.
Chuckles, who never chuckled or laughed as far as Del could tell leaned in, "What you do Red?" he almost whispered.
" I had to think fast. I liked my teeth in my mouth, so I started talking the talk. I told him I was sorry, I didn't know and didn't notice her ring. His hand clamped down on my shoulder. It was starting to hurt. So I says, I think you two have a great act!" Red said with a smile.
"This big galoot of a guy released his grip. What act he asked? I told him we needed a Key Girl. He asked what that was.
"I said we needed a girl to tell guys she would sleep with them but they have to buy a key from me, and the last night we are here they can go to the local hotel and sleep with her. He grabs my shoulder again and asks me what kind of girl do I think she is and I quickly tell him she won't be there because we leave the town after the last show. These guys show up to an empty room. We give the hotel guy juice before we leave to humor all the guys when they show up to an empty room! The three of us split the dough.
"Now if the guy is a mark with a lotta dough and married we have the guy show up and the girl is there. But you come running in see, and threaten the guy. Unless he pays you some dough, you are calling the papers or his wife or whatever works. So this big galoot starts smiling at me. I can tell he likes the idea. So he looks up at me and says, Sounds ok. By the way, she's really my sister!" and Red starts laughing and everyone starts laughing except Chuckles who smiles for the first time and even Del starts laughing though he isn't sure why.
" He screwed the carny after two months and left with all our dough, so she and me we started doing the key girl routine ourselves. Tonight is the anniversary of when we met, stand up baby".
Everyone oooed and awed as she rose, more of a size 8 now than a 2 but her face was beet red from the story and she ran over and hugged Red.
Red just smiled with the gar in his hand. "I told you I'd always remember baby doll."
Happy held up the bottle of wine "That's the first yellow story I ever heard with a happy ending! Cheers!", and he took a swig and passed it on as everyone congratulated Red and Baby Doll. The bottle passed to Del and he started to pass it on but Red looked over to him and said, "Hey kid, take a swig. No work tonight, and tomorrow is your first day of school. So lets break out more bottles and drink up!" and Del took a sip and thought to himself, "I have found home".
