Champion of the World by Chad Dundas Read Free Book Online

figures in a ledger. He couldn’t make the numbers talk to him the way Moira could. “I know what the contract says,” he said. “But I’m one sixty-one, so there we are.”
    â€œAnd as I previously iterated,” Markham replied, “you must be mistaken. Being in violation of your performance contract would not be good for you, Mr. Van Dean. It would not be good for Moira. Such a sad state of affairs would entitle your employer to seekrestitution in the form of garnished wages for any amount he felt such a violation would cost the reputation and overall well-being of the world’s largest motorized circus.”
    Pepper worked his jaw back and forth. “You really going to play hardball with me on this?” he said.
    â€œWhat other course of redress do I have?” Markham asked sadly. “If you have some bright idea you have yet to elucidate, by all means, please enlighten me.”
    â€œIt’s your call, boss,” he said. “If you want to scratch the hangman act for tonight, that’s all right.”
    In a burst of speed surprising for a man of his size, Markham threw his whiskey glass against the sidewall of the trailer. It shattered and the shards flew back at them, forcing Pepper to shield his eyes as glass whipped over his skin like raindrops.
    â€œI know whose call it is,” Markham shouted, “and it is
not
all right! It is not all right, you insipid little dwarf, for one of my most popular attractions to suddenly pull up lame like a goddamn show pony when I’ve got a packed house sitting out there, I’ve got two weeks of advance advertising on the books, I’ve got fliers nailed to every freestanding structure in this awful town. We marched a goddamn
parade
through the streets, for Christ’s sake, and now what? I’m supposed to go out there and tell them the master of the hangman’s drop is too fat to go on?”
    Pepper held up his hands, but a fire was burning in his gut. “Wait a minute, Boyd.”
    â€œWhat should I do about the people who want refunds?” Markham said. “I’ll have no choice but to take that out of your pay as well.”
    Pepper took a step forward. “Listen,” he said, but stopped when Markham crossed his legs to show the knife he had strapped over one boot.
    â€œPlease,” the carnival barker said, cool as could be again. “Iimplore you to see things from my perspective. You remember where you were when I found you? When I
discovered
you?”
    Pepper remembered.
    â€œGiven the circumstances,” Markham said, “you can’t blame me that I feel a certain pride of ownership over you, over your act.”
    Pepper nodded, something alive and crawling around in his neck and shoulders. He fidgeted, scratching at the side of his head. “I suppose I might,” he said.
    â€œThen hear me when I say this,” Markham said, his voice taking on its ringmaster boom, that bass tremolo that sounded so good when shouted into a microphone. “You are the most gifted goddamn showman I ever saw in my life and I swear on the lives of my children that I would never do anything to cross you up or put you in unnecessary danger. You understand what I’m saying? The lives of my children. Their very souls. But the simple fact is, we’ve got people out there who’ve paid to see a show.”
    â€œI hear you,” Pepper said.
    â€œPeople,” Markham repeated, “who paid to see a show.”
    â€œI said I heard you.”
    â€œWith that in mind,” Markham said. “It occurs to me that perhaps I misunderstood you. Why, I’m sure your weight is just fine. I’m sure you’re in the kind of tip-top shape we at the Markham & Markham Overland Carnival have come to depend on from the former world’s lightweight champion. If nothing else, perhaps we both merely misinterpreted the parameters of our previous discussion.