Chapter 2 #3
“If you two want,” Elvis said after a while. “Y’all could come with us to the gym sometime for rehearsal. I’m sure Lyza and Monty can teach you more about the unicycle.”
“You both know how to ride one?” Chicot turned to them. They both confirmed, Lyza grinning.
“Our parents were acrobats too.” Lyza leaned against Monty’s side. “We’ve been doing this stuff since we were kids. Monty here was almost in Cirque du Soleil, but she turned it down.”
Monty rolled her eyes. “That was a long time ago.”
“Yeah, but it’s still cool!” Lyza threw her hands up and rolled her eyes. “Anyway, I was in circus school when I met Elvis, and the two of us started working at faires shortly after that.”
“Why didn’t you do Cirque?” Elijah furrowed his brow. Monty leaned toward him, her eyes catching the low, reddish light above them. Chicot watched Monty’s lips shift to one side, her nose scrunching as she did it.
“I was dating a guy at the time, and I didn’t want to travel and be away from him that much,” Monty explained. “Plus, we had worked on this show, he was supposed to be in it, but we broke up before we debuted the act. Since then, it’s always been the three of us.”
“Yep.” Lyza’s chest jutted out as she proudly and she said, “Big, Middle, and Wee.”
She tapped Elvis, Monty, and then herself on the head as she said each stage name.
Chicot thought that was cute, watching Monty look fondly at her older sister.
It was private, small, and something that Chicot could admire.
It reminded her of how her sister, Juni, always looked at her.
Like Chicot had the coolest ideas and did the coolest things.
A thought which made her own smile fade slightly as it crossed her mind.
“What about the two of you?” Elvis had one elbow on the table, swishing the beer in his glass in circles. “How’d you get into this?”
“We ran off and joined the circus,” Elijah said wistfully, putting both of his hands under his chin, tilting his head to one side. “Well, the Renaissance faire.”
“We were also adults working at a gas station when your mom let us have the RV to start traveling. We didn’t really run away,” Chicot added.
Elijah snorted, agreeing with her quickly.
Chicot’s mother had wanted her to stay and continue paying rent for the room she’d shared with her little sister.
In a way, Chicot ran, but Elijah certainly didn’t.
“You’re self-taught!?” Lyza slapped her hands down on the edge of the table. It shook Chicot, clanging the silverware together, causing Lyza to grimace.
“Sort of,” Chicot piped up. “I’ve done competitive dance since I was little, and my teacher liked to give me acrobatics routines. I was a cheerleader in high school too.”
“And the juggling?” Lyza asked.
Chicot stuck her thumb in Elijah’s direction. “He taught me.”
Elvis looked at Elijah, his jaw slack. “And where’d you learn to play the lute?”
“My mom is a music teacher.” Elijah shrugged his shoulders, smiling. “She had all sorts of weird instruments. I know how to play the lute, the lyre, the marimba, the pan flute, the regular flute, and the guitar.”
“You two really are impressive.” Monty laughed, her lashes fluttering as her brows went up nearly to her hairline. Chicot watched her coral lips for a moment, entranced as Monty’s delighted laugh washed over her. Oh yeah, Chicot was in trouble.
“Thanks,” Elijah said. “It’s been nice getting to do something creative. There wasn’t much creativity working at a gas station.”
“The only one in town,” Chicot mumbled. Elijah nodded quickly.
“Yeah, I’m familiar with that life.” Lyza shook her head, her eyes wide. “Never easy, especially during a night shift.”
“Where do you two plan on practicing here?” Elvis stopped spinning the beer in his glass around.
“Behind our RV.” Chicot rubbed the back of her head. “We’ve removed most of the rocks and sticks already, so it’s pretty easy to work there.”
Lyza and Monty’s jaws dropped open, the two of them exchanging a look. Elvis brought his glass toward his lips, pausing halfway to glance at Chicot and Elijah.
“Well, we pay for a time slot at a local gymnastics gym. Would you be down to share?” Elvis asked. “The place is big enough for both our acts.”
“Oh, well, we wouldn’t want to—”
Elijah cut her off with a sharp noise. He leaned in front of Chicot, nodding with exaggerated bobs of his head.
“Yes! We would really appreciate that!” Elijah looked toward Elvis. “How much would that cost us?”
“We already have the slot, so you don’t have to pay us for now.” Elvis shrugged.
“It’s a gymnastics gym for children, though.” Monty pursed her lips.
“There are rarely kids there when we’re there.” Lyza waved off Monty’s comment. “It’s not like it’s open gym time or something. It’s private.”
Elvis scratched his beard, waiting for their response. He looked like he was trying to feign casualness that Chicot thought was maybe to keep from scaring her and Elijah off.
When she turned to Elijah, he had almost completely faced her in the booth, nodding his head as subtly as he could, which wasn’t all that subtle. Chicot snorted, rolling her eyes at him.
“Okay.” Chicot smiled at Elvis in particular. “We’d really appreciate the help since we’re still starting out. And we have some … things to take care of.”
“Things?” Monty looked at Chicot.
“She means expenses. You know, operating costs.” Elijah said quickly.
Monty looked between them, her eyes narrowed and her lips parting like she might speak. Lyza, unable to contain herself, shot across the table to grab their hands in a firm grip, nearly launching Chicot from the booth with her enthusiasm before Monty could react.
“It’s a deal then,” Lyza chirped, a grin growing on her face. Elvis encouraged them to raise their glasses in a toast to their agreement.
“To new friends!” Elvis shouted, catching some stares from other guests. Chicot barely noticed as she held her glass up to clink with everyone else’s, Lyza’s drink sloshing onto the table. Even Monty, who rolled her eyes, met their glasses and smiled.