That Time I Joined the Circus by J. J. Howard Read Free Book Online Page A

Eli and my dad when we were younger.
    “I’d say you should come ride it tonight,” he told me, “but apparently you’re gonna be busy selling stuffed tigers and cotton candy in the novelties wagon.”
    “I guess that’s the plan,” I said. It definitely sounded better than being Costi’s assistant, so I wasn’t about to complain.
    Lina, Eliska, and Eddie soared through the air a few more times, doing some flips. Eddie could do a triple, Jamie informed me — flipping around three times in midair before catching the bar again. I heard a gasp and was surprised when it turned out it came from me.
    “Yeah. He’s really good,” Jamie said, not sounding too pleased about it.
    And then it was over, and I was blinking in the bright sunlight outside the tent. “Thanks for watching with me,” I said to Jamie, meaning it. “It was cool to listen to a circus expert.”
    “No problemo,” he said. “Hey, I gotta go check on some things over on the midway. You’ll be okay?”
    I had no idea where I was supposed to go, or what I was supposed to do, but I nodded, not wanting to keep him. I saw Louie heading out of the tent, and I figured I’d risk annoying him and ask. Better to ask for a job than to have him think I was lazy, right?
    I took a step back, squinting up at the outside of the tent. I saw the name Circus Europa in white script letters on the side. I realized I must not have been on the name side of the tent the night before.
    “Is it named after the woman from mythology, with Zeus and the white bull?” I turned to Jamie, but noticed that Louie was standing beside him, head cocked to one side.
    “In a roundabout way,” Louie answered. “My great-great-grandfather named it so. He broke away from his father’s show, which was called Jupiter —”
    “Oh, I get it! Europa’s one of Jupiter’s moons. They are all named for Zeus’s — Jupiter’s — lovers. Clever.”
    “Yes, I would say so.” Louie nodded, regarding me thoughtfully. “The story has been passed down through the family. Most people simply think the name refers to the style of the show — a one-ring show in the European style.”
    “Like Big Apple,” I said, remembering my conversation with Jamie. “I think I read in the New York Post that it was the same kind of show.”
    Louie nodded again, looking at me in what seemed to be an appraising way. “You read a lot, do you?”
    I nodded. “Yes.” I didn’t tell him that I often read stupid Regency novels.
    “You are finished with school?”
    “No, sir. I am — was — a senior. I’ve got a semester and a half to go. In high school,” I added, when he still looked confused.
    “I have another job for you,” he told me. “The teacher, she left before the last stop. I sent for another, but she won’t be here for a few days. You teach, yes?”
    “Teach what? I mean, who would I be teaching?”
    “We’ve got circus school,” Jamie told me. He’d been hovering.
    “I thought you said you didn’t go to school.”
    He shook his head, and I saw Louie shoot him some sortof look. “I didn’t grow up on this show,” Jamie said. “Louie woulda made me go to school. All the kids here go. There aren’t that many. Maybe six?”
    “Eight when they all show up,” Louie said. “Jamie will show you where. You can do this?”
    I felt myself nodding. “I can try. I mean, as long as you know I’m still technically a student myself.”
    “Better than nothing,” Louie said, and turned heel and walked away.
    “And with that stunning endorsement,” I said, then looked at Jamie. “What’s bothering you?” I asked him. He was looking up at the tent, and he looked confused.
    “Nothing.” He turned and motioned for me to follow him — presumably taking me to my new gig at circus school. He shook his head. “I just thought it was named after Europe,” I heard him say, and I stifled a giggle as I followed him down the midway.
     
    Circus school turned out to be in a nice