Chapter Eighteen #2
The stunts they do in that cage are terrifying, exhilarating and death defying.
A faulty bike could hurt not just one, but all three of them.
I’d never met people who trusted each other implicitly, they hurtle towards one another at frightening speeds and drive their bikes up the sides of the cage, crossing by each other so in sync, it’s impossible to get your brain around it at times.
They’re three brothers, the oldest must be in his late forties by now.
As they pull to a stop by the cage, I’m shocked to realize that he isn’t there.
A younger kid is with the middle and youngest brother.
Fuck, that is Logan. He was a gangly twelve-year-old kid when I left.
Now he’s as muscular and lean as his uncles, with tattoos and edgy shaved hair.
All the women loved the stunt riders when I was here, and they had no shortage of groupies coming and going from their trailer.
Logan looks like he’d break a few hearts, if he followed in their footsteps.
He was a good kid, helped me out sometimes when I was fixing the bikes.
I always had time for him and didn’t shoo him away like some of the other guys did when they were fixing stuff around the carnival.
It’s a stark reminder that I’ve been gone for a long time.
“Eli?” Cassie breaks me out of my memories of the past.
Before I can answer, the three men pull on their helmets and ride one by one into the cage.
“Jesus Christ, what are they going to do?” she takes a few steps ahead of me, watching as the men rev their engines, the noise is deafening. Even more so when music thunders out of the overhead speakers. Without that music they can’t stay in sync, it’s an important part of their routine.
I recognize it instantly, Voodoo People by The Prodigy. The years might have passed but not much has changed.
More people are gathering around to watch.
This is one of the highlights of this particular carnival.
There aren’t a lot of places where you can see anything like this.
Cassie’s shoulders tense as the show starts, the three of them riding around the base of the domed cage.
They start to go faster and faster and as they do, they ride up the edges of the cage, so they’re almost horizontal and going so fast they’re a blur.
“Holy shit,” she grabs my arm. “They’re going to crash.”
“They won’t.”
“But… Look,” she covers her mouth with her hand as they hit speeds that are beyond dangerous and they’d likely crash out and kill themselves if they were on the road.
When they begin to crisscross each other in figure of eights, barely getting by without clipping each other, she freaks so much she covers her eyes. I pull her under my arm and look around at all the people watching. Some start cheering but it’s hard to hear over the music.
“They’ve never crashed yet,” I lean down and murmur against her ear.
“They’re fucking insane,” she cries, looking over at them again.
“They’re family.”
“Like that explains this stupidity,” she scoffs making me chuckle.
If she’s noticed how she’s cuddled into my side, she isn’t letting on. I take the opportunity to inhale the scent of her hair and study her as she watches the riders, a mixture of fear and awe on her beautiful face. After a while I tug her away.
“We need to find Liz,” I shout.
She takes a few fumbling steps, still watching the bikes until I take hold of her hand. Then she notices what I’m doing and looks down. I don’t let go and am surprised she doesn’t try to pull away.
“Who is Liz?” Cassie asks when we’ve walked far enough away we can hear ourselves think.
“It’s not unlike the MC,” I explain. “The best way I can describe her is like Rosa.”
Cassie’s nose wrinkles at mention of her mom. I’m not sure they’ve seen one another since the morning they had that argument about her needing protection.
“Most carnies are people with nowhere else to go. They usually have no family or skills that mean they could work a regular job.”
“Does that mean criminals?”
“Not at all. That’s a stereotype perpetuated by people who look down on the lifestyle, but they still come around and spend their money. Here it’s more about family, taking in strays who need help.”
I stop talking and look away from her. The expected question doesn’t come, but I did reveal a little more than I’d like.
“It’s not the romantic lifestyle people imagine it to be either.
I’ve never worked as hard as I did when I was here.
When we were set up somewhere, it felt like we worked from sunup to sundown.
The only break we got was driving between fairgrounds.
We used to get kids showing up wanting to be a part of it.
They learned pretty quick it was not fun working a carnival and ran back to their rich parents. ”
Shit, I’m stepping into landmines left and right. One thing I never wanted to do was run back to my parents.
“Victor and Liz own the carnival, they’re brother and sister. They always looked after their crew. Equipment was old, but they made sure there were daily ride inspections and if something wasn’t safe, they wouldn’t let people on it. Or got me to fix them,” I add.
“That was your job here?”
“I did a mix of things, but yeah mostly.”
“You’ve always worked with your hands.”
“It’s what I’m good at,” I say in a low voice.
I give her hand a gentle squeeze then let go.
When I turn away, I see Teresa, Liz’s daughter.
She’s staring at me like she’s seen a ghost. Cassie notices my attention is focused elsewhere and follows my gaze.
Teresa glares at me, then sneers at Cassie and spins away.
She’ll no doubt be going to tell Liz who she just saw.
“Old friend?” Cassie smirks.
“Long story.”
“You can tell me later.”
“Not a chance, sweetheart.”
“You’re not getting off that easy, Eli. I’m starting to realize there is more to you.”
“Come on,” I put a hand on her lower back, guiding her away from the direction Teresa went. “She’ll be telling her mom I’m here and I need to speak to Victor before we see Liz.”
Cassie doesn’t ask any questions, just lets me guide her towards the biggest trailer on the lot.
Word spreads fast, and by the time we reach the door it opens and Victor steps out like he’s expecting us.
Cassie stays by my side, I never take my hand away from her back, reassuring her nothing will happen to her.
“Elias. Long time,” Victor says, stepping down from the trailer.
He’s put on some weight, his hair is white now instead of the bright red it had been. He’s still as imposing as he ever was. Once you have his trust, he isn’t as terrifying as he looks right now. Cassie isn’t scared, and that turns me the fuck on.
Wrong time to think that dickhead. This is serious.
“What are you doing here?”
“I need your help.”
“Not sure we can give it,” he looks at Cassie. “Who is this?”
“Cassie,” she says before I can answer for her.
“You look rich to me, darlin. Far too rich to be walking up in here like this.”
“She’s with me,” I say, giving Victor a hard glare.
He eyes me, the patch on my cut and Cassie again.
He folds his arms and we all stare at each other.
I really don’t have time for this pissing contest but I need Victor’s trust before I have anyone else’s.
I’m proud as shit that Cassie is holding her own, not intimidated or even taking her attention off Victor to watch the crowd growing around us.
It’s only as I stand here facing the man who gave me a chance and saved me from the streets, I realize how similar the carnival is to the MC. The only difference here, women aren’t looked down on.
Proof of that comes when Liz pushes her way through everyone and comes to stand beside her brother. No one speaks as she silently peruses me, she eyeballs Cassie too and it’s clear trusting her is going to take some work, but when she looks at me, her expression changes.
She elbows Victor in the stomach, making him bend over, then steps forward and pulls me into a hug. After a moment, I return it.
This woman might be a hard ass, but she helped me, she’s the only one here who knows my truth, and she never looked down on me for it. She saw past my walls and showed me there are people I can let in.
My eyes close and I let out a breath it feels like I’ve been holding for sixteen years.
Maybe this isn’t going to be as hard as I thought.