CIRCO

by Tara Ellis

It was like her body was this vessel waiting for a new spirit to take over. The honest truth is she or it couldn’t hold on to an identity. The body started off as Vanessa Medina, raised for sixteen years as that persona. She had grown in Detroit where she had a dysfunctional family life, no friends, and she perceived that existence revolved around a clock tower. Then the body became Selena Santana. Selena was a twenty-one year old college graduate from Notre Dame. She earned a bachelor’s in engineering and right after had gotten a job in that field. She also had undergone an attempted rape from her employer.

  Vanessa, maybe Selena, or whoever The Girl wanted to be didn’t matter, right then she was Mimi the Jester.

  Mimi was wearing a corset, that displayed the little cleavage she had, with a silver butterfly lapelled between her breasts. A tutu was attached to it and she finished it off with a pair of leggings. The outfit was themed black and silver, which was a far cry from all the colors around her. But it made her stand out even more among the crowd. What completed her outfit was a silver colored blank mask with a crooked smile to give the effect that it was smirking at you. Elegant and surreal, Mimi was like a princess ripped from the pages of a fairy tale and placed among the living. And she felt that way as well.

  Mimi was in a field that infused the elements of a carnival and a circus. Circling the big top, that held the major attractions, there were a dozen smaller tents spread apart from one another for side performances. Food booths were selling an abundance of goodies such as elephant ears, hotdogs, sodas, cotton candy, ice cream cones, and pretzels. There was a variety of activities like go carts, ring toss, face painting, darts, strongman, duck shooting, swing the mallet, bingo, fastball, and sac racing. Beyond those things Artemis had rented a ferris wheel, carousel, the drop tower, house of mirrors, pirate ship, top spin, UFO and much more.

  It was break time and the Jester was enveloped in savoring her hotdogs loaded with toppings. There joining her was the High Flyer eating a poppy seed bagel with cream cheese. They were under the wardrobe tent.

  “You are so funny when you eat Selena.”

  “Like how?” she asked.

  “After every bite you start with this shoulder dance.” She then imitated Mimi’s shoulder shuffle. “It’s like you found the greatest hotdog of your life.”

  “How would you know if I didn’t? Have you had one yet? Take a bite out of mine.”

  “No thanks, I don’t eat pork. Because it causes high blood pressure… which kills black people.”

  “Well thank god I’m not black.” They shared a giggle with each other. “You know, besides being delicious, they say pigs are actually one of the smartest animals on earth.”

  Joyce rolled her eyes then said “Oh so that’s why they roll in shit all day.”

  “Every animal is around its own excrement. Dolphins and whales are also smart and they swim in their own toilet.”

  “Okay but I think people are worse though, because we like to convolute our lives until it’s complete shit.”

  “True. I’m guilty of that. It would be easier to forgive a pig who doesn’t know any better than to forgive someone who knows better and still is a pig.”

  Joyce exhaled slowly and responded “And sometimes forgiveness can be overrated.” After her words followed a tumultuous voice, they could hear Scarlett in an uproar.

  “You are an idiot!” she shrieked and the rest was inaudible.

  Joyce shook her head as Mimi asked “Can you believe her?” Then the sound of a loud clang went throughout the tent. “Oh my god, what is her deal?” Mimi then got up to see what the problem was and Joyce followed. They walked out the tent watching Scarlett in full bitch mode giving it to the camera crew.

  “I want you off my fucking set you prick!” she shouted. Those words were aimed at a stoutly man who had a bundle of cables in his hand. He told her that he was sorry. “No, don’t be just sorry, think for one fucking second!” They were all off to the back were there weren’t any patrons to witness the belligerence of a young starlet. The majority of the crew stood silent as her tantrum was aimed at the man who was working on the set lights. “What the fuck are you doing!? Are you professional or not?!” The guy told her that he was. “Are you supposed to walk around and rip…” That’s when Celia tried to calm her down. “No shut the fuck up Celia.” But Celia stayed persistent to ease her friend’s anger. But it only made Scarlett worse. “No! No! Don’t shut me up.” She went back for the tech guy. “Am I going to rip your fucking lights down in the middle of a scene.” He shook his head. “Then why the fuck are you walking through like.” She blew up her cheeks and put her hands together and stuck them out to mock his beer gut. Then parodied the way he waddled when he walked. “What the fuck is it with you!? What don’t you fucking understand!? You wouldn’t think like, ‘hey that would be fucking distracting’ Why would you walk right behind me in the middle of a fucking scene!? Give me a fucking answer!”

  Mimi was disgusted by Scarlett’s behavior. Besides the tech guy getting the brunt of it Joyce was visibly upset.

  “What don’t you get about it!?”

  The tech guy said “I was looking at the light.”

  “Oh! Good for you! I hope it works because I’m about to make it worthless!” She knocked the set light over breaking the bulb and scattering broken glass. She pointed at him and said “God! You’re a fucking amateur!”

  Scarlett had turned her anger over towards Mimi and Joyce who were watching the tirade. “And who the hell are you two staring at!?”

  Without skipping a beat Mimi replied “I’m looking at a loud mouthed ginger bitch,” causing mouths to drop. Maybe it was from the shock of having a person disrespect her, or from thinking of a comeback, but Scarlett paused for a good second, and she would pause for no one.

  “Excuse me?” said Scarlett.

  “Oh you didn’t hear me?” replied Mimi.

  “I am going to have you fired!”

  “Then fire me.”

  “Don’t you know who I am!?”

  Mimi smirked. “Of course I do.”

  Scarlett stepped her way over to Mimi. “Do you know what you’re fucking with?!” she asked.

  “Do you?” asked Mimi. These two girls came right in each other’s faces. And Mimi responded in a calm and cold voice “I beat the hell out of my own mother, I won’t feel bad for putting you in a stretcher, So please… if you are as tough as you believe, then try me.”

  “That’s a threat?!” Scarlett laughed in her face. “You’re going to be out of here really fucking soon.” The human torch walked away and her giant friend walked behind her.

  Mimi’s face was stern. Scarlett had aroused her emotions, the blood was practically screaming inside her.

  Mimi looked at Joyce noticing the little droplets of sweat forming around her eyebrows.

  Then both the Jester and the High Flyer walked back into the tent to enjoy the rest of their lunch break. Mimi resumed eating like she never stepped away to confront Scarlett; chewing and dancing in her seat. As Joyce held that bagel up to her lips she looked at her friend. A new friend that she was still learning of, before she took a bite she said “you are really freaking scary.” The Jester smiled, it seemed genuine to Joyce so she smiled back. “I’ve been waiting for somebody to tell her off, and I’m happier that it was you.” Joyce took a bite out of her bagel slice and said with a full mouth “But if you keep that up with the boss’s daughter you will not last long here.”

  Mimi wiped away bit of chili from the corner of her mouth and replied in a muffled voice “I was already fired once by the boss and I’m still here.” She swallowed what was in her mouth and sipped on a can of orange Faygo. “I believe I’m still here for a reason. If it wasn’t for fate then I wouldn’t be talking to you right now.”

  “Oh so you believe that you have a destiny?”


  “Not necessarily that I believe in destiny. But I feel like I can write my own future.”

  “What are you applying yourself towards?”

  “To be able to support myself. To have the basics of life, you know food, shelter, water, clothes. But after that, I don’t care for anything more.”

  “What do you mean you don’t care for anything more?”

  “I just want a small life. Some place in the country, with two kids. A few close friends and I’m good… I’m introverted, not because the world scares me… but because the world disappoints me.”

  There was a pause between them. But it wasn’t uncomfortable. They knew each other well enough to avoid that.

  “Selena. What did you mean when you said that you beat the hell out of your mother?”

  So she responded “Just that. I kicked my mother’s ass… she deserved it.”

  Joyce giggled nervously and Mimi chuckled along with her. It was one of the laughs people do to break an awkward tension, and it worked for them.

  “We all want something out of the world. What do you want from it?” asked Mimi.

  “Just that… I want the world. All of it,” said Joyce. “If you haven’t noticed Selena I’m special so you should love me before they all love me.”

  “I do love you Joyce.”

  “And I love you too.”

  “We should be lesbians then.” They shared a laugh, Mimi was just kidding but Joyce wasn’t sure how far her friend would take those words.

  “I don’t know about that, you girlfriend Scarlett might get jealous.”

  “Scarlett is just a hoe. You’re a lady. Hoes want attention. Ladies want respect.”

  “So Scarlett is your hoe?”

  “She is not my hoe, she is just a hoe in general.”

  “I’m curious…” said Joyce.

  “Bi-curious or just curious?”

  Joyce laughed at that. “Just curious. If she is a hoe, and you’re a pimp, then why is she disrespecting you?”

  “You’re right. I got to keep these bitches in order.”

  “And how are you going to do that Madam Selena.”

  She picked up her mask, holding it to her face and said “I’m gonna start this night off with a little blood.”

 

  Extinguished