A/N: I own nothing of Twilight. I just allow them to talk to me and give me new scenarios.
I would love a Beta to this story if anyone is interested.
The sun had finally set and the lights had come up. The smell in the air was that of sweet and fat, food that by smell alone could bring back memories of good times. The laughter and the smiles on all the people that surround me let me know that tonight would be just like any other night. We broke camp tonight. The carnival would shut down at midnight and then we would break down. If luck was on our side we would be packed up by 2 am. Being our last night in town I could be more adventurous and take a bit more risk.
I was dressed in my usual attire, enough to get noticed but not so much as to stand out. The night was warm being that we were in Arizona and it was early summer. I had on my daisy duke shorts and a button down plaid shirt I had acquired over the years, simply tied up at the waist. Under my plaid shirt I had a white wife beater. My feet had simple sandals. On my toes were rings that held simple meanings to me. Renee, my mom, had given me an opal ring just before we headed out for this summer's circuit and my best friend Jasper had given me a birthstone as a reminder of all the fun we would have this summer that would end back home in Georgia on my birthday.
This was the first year that Renee was not traveling with us. She had decided that it was time that she moved into the other side of our life. I think it helped that she had met a guy finally. She wanted to stay at home with Phil. He did more of the traveling construction work than the carnival. Up until this year mom always ran the palm reading and psychic tent. She passed it down to me and while it was fun for the first bit I was tired of sitting in the tent all day listening to spoiled rich brats whine about how they just had to know when there boyfriend would love them, have sex with them, or leave them. It was always fun to pull it over on them. They thought they were so smart but you could get so much out of someone simply by paying attention to what they did. While Renee would stay in the tent till the carnival closed down I decided that I would close once the light came on and then I could wander a bit and do my original job of helping make wallets a little bit lighter. It always amazed me how irresponsible people were in such crowds.
I wandered around the carnival looking for a few prospective clients and had a few in mind, mostly younger teenagers that would usually carry way more cash than they needed and wouldn't have bills that needed to be paid. I very rarely took from adults. They usually paid better attention to what was going on around them and I always worried that I would put them in a hardship that would affect their child. Teenagers were just stupid. Always brought a lot of cash and they loved to show it off. I figured I had a few more hours before I had to hit and before they were ready. Plus I didn't want to hit too early or I risk them not spending enough at the carnival. I really just wanted to make sure to finish off the wallet. Get the money they would walk out the door with rather than spend. Being that I had time I decided to head over to see how Jaspers booth was going.
Jasper was a rotator. He would work many different booths. Sometimes it was a carnival game and sometimes it was one of the rides. Jasper was perfect at the booths, there was something about him that he knew just what to say to get the men to throw down their money and the girls to challenge the guys. I had known Jasper as long as I can remember. Renee and his dad grew up together in the same clan. Jasper's dad followed the traditional route and bought Jaspers mom when she was 12 at revelry. Revelry is a large party for all of us to get together and the girls to be presented as potential wives. Jasper's dad was in love at first site, so he made an offer to her parents and they were wed 2 years later. Jasper was born a year after that. They still live in at home in Georgia. His dad is a manager of one of the construction companies. Jasper hasn't yet found his wife. He tells me he is waiting for me but I couldn't imagine Jasper as more than the best friend and brother that he is.
I know at one point he presented an offer to my mom but she isn't the traditional type. Renee believes in love. The whole heart fluttering toes curling love. She swears that she experienced it once in her life and that she has it now with Phil, so she refuses to sell me at revelry. She asked if I wanted to marry Jasper but it really did feel wrong. I am just glad that he wasn't hurt by it and that we could still be friends. I have a feeling that this summer Jasper is hoping that we can become more since neither of us will have parents around. I found Jasper as he was running the basketball throw. It was fun to stand and watch all that was happening. He had some rich jock in a letterman's jacket lined up. The guy could only puff his chest out so much further. I wonder which line he used to get this one. It was then that I noticed the blond bimbo on his arm. She had visited me earlier in the tent and wanted to know if some school hottie would give her the time of day. By the looks of it I was right. They had hooked up. In reality, I had simply given her the confidence to approach him. Once he had thrown his fifth ball and still hadn't made it in. I had to laugh and Jasper must have heard because I saw his head lift and look in my direction. The smile on his face was for me. I never saw him give it to another. As soon as his customers left I skipped over and sat on the half wall that kept customer from getting to close and realizing the trick behind the booth.
"Jazzy man, how goes it tonight? You ready to blow this popsicle stand tonight?"
Jasper leaned over and kissed my head. I loved how he made me feel. I just wish it was more. The way Renee explains love I just know there has to be more.
"Sure peachy, after we break down tonight I found some locos that invited us to a party. Might be just what we need before we head out of town."
"Really, you picking up girls again? Haven't you learned from before?" Jasper had picked up a loco two years ago for a one night and she stalked him across the country all summer.
"Yes, but this time I told them my girlfriend was coming with me. So hopefully a one night will be just that. No self respecting girl wants a cheating scum, right?"
"So is that the story for tonight. You play the doting boyfriend till I get pissed and then you go bang some chick and leave me to clean out the passed out locos." This was our after carnival game. It really amazed me how many young people would invite complete strangers to drink and do drugs with them and then they would get smashed and not care what happened to them or their belongings. It was like people had no sense of self preservation.
"That is fine but I am sticking to alcohol tonight. Leafing it last time left me with too much of a head ache." I leaned into him to let him know I didn't care what he did.
"Fine by me peachy, I won't do anything to harsh tonight. We have a long drive afterwards and I don't expect you to do all of it this time." Jasper and I were sharing a trailer on this trip. Usually in the past Jasper would travel with the guys Felix and Demetry, but Renee would not let me go without her unless Jasper agreed to chaperone. Not that any of the other guys in the group would let something happen to me. We had grown up together.
"Well, I have some jobs to do. We close down in 30 minutes and I would hate for them to go home with change. Meet you hear after I tear down the tent and get it settled in the trailer."
"You got it girl. I have to tear down this booth and the tilt a whirl. Shouldn't take me more than 45 minutes, especially since Felix lost that bet at the last stop and he has to help me break before he can do his own."
"When will he learn that there is no way he will ever be able to out scam you. That poor girl had no clue what happened. I think that is the first time she ever gave a twenty as change for a dollar. You may have been able to get a hundred out of her if you had kept going."
"Nah, the manager was getting suspicious. He was starting to make his way over. You know it is all about paying attention to what is going on around you. I would have lost if Felix had just realized that the idiot he tried it on was reading an accounting text book. Now go girl and get your game on. I want some Taco Bell on our way out of town and it is your turn to pay." He gave me a light shove. In years past I wouldn't of been ready and would have landed on my face. In fact I got so good at doing that I starting using it in my distraction. I might just have to do that some time tonight for old times' sake.
I strolled around the carnival for a few minutes before I found one of the guys I had originally pegged. He was simple in nature. He had been waving his $100 bill earlier when he bought some girl a caramel apple. I figured he probably had $50 to $60 left of it. He was going to be a simple bump and grab. When he had his wallet open earlier there wasn't anything of worth other than the money in it. Shoot the wallet itself was some knock off. That way I didn't feel guilty for taking some major important thing like insurance card or what not.
Waiting till he was distracted by the girl he was showing off to earlier, I turned my back to him and then stepped back into him. As we hit I reached down and removed his wallet from his back pants pocket. He was paying more attention to the pressure I made sure my elbow put in his back, that he didn't notice me slip his wallet from him. From his back pocket to inside the underside of my shirt I turned quickly to apologize for the bump and then bat my eyes at him and then get out of there before he is able to remember anything of importance of my appearance. Just what I need to get caught on our last night in town. I watch him as he thread his arm around the girl and then reach into his front pocket and grab out his keys. He was out of there. I could tell, they started towards the exit. He definitely was a good hit. He still had $75 in his wallet. I hit a few more up before the lights and music were cut letting the locos know it was time for them to head out.
I broke down my tent rather quickly. I didn't have much time if Jasper and I wanted to pull and after party scam. The carnival caravan pulls out at dawn. We were leaving Arizona and heading to the Pacific Northwest. We had some weekend carnival set up in Oregon this coming Thursday through Sunday and then a Fair that opened on Tuesday in some tiny county on the peninsula. Fairs usually last a full week and bring in the most money but we try to book every weekend that we can. Which meant that if we didn't get to the party before two neither of us would be sleeping tonight and then driving tomorrow. As fun as that is I don't want to do it on such a long drive.
As soon as I was done I headed over to the Basketball booth and it was already down and trailered. Which meant Jasper was running ahead of schedule. I soon found him and he was trailering the last of the tilt a whirl. Felix was going on and on about how Jasper should lend him a hand now on his chores since he helped him but that would negate the bet and I knew that Jasper was looking forward to some stress relief tonight. In the past, Jasper use to hide his sexcapades from me. But I think he realized that I wasn't bothered by them. He had every right to go out and find companionship.
It isn't the same for the guys as it is for the girls. They can sleep around if they want to. Girl though are no longer worth anything if they aren't virgins. In fact, girls have been known to be shunned and kicked out of the clan for giving it up. Renee was lucky. He dad was the patriarch of the clan and therefore when she got pregnant out of marriage they just simply took her out of the running. She has always told me that she loved my dad. He just didn't understand our ways.
It wasn't until recently that Renee was finally eligible to find a spouse. As long as her parents were alive she couldn't marry, she wasn't worth anything and while Renee wasn't traditional her parents, Nona and Gramps were. Since she wasn't worth anything they allowed her to stay and work for them. They were such a huge part of my growing up.
Two years ago they passed away. Gramps suffered a heart attack and Nona just couldn't go on without him. After they passed mom became available to whoever was willing to marry her and since she had no parents she was free. Phil snagged her up. Phil had already bought one wife. She died during child birth. We lost both her and the baby that night. Phil didn't want another young girl and since he feared losing another wife during child birth he opted for Renee so that it wasn't something he had to worry about. Renee was past the child bearing age.
"You ready to head out, peachy? Those chicks over by the fence are our invites tonight. The blond says that the party started about 2 hours ago so they should be close to ready."
"Let's go pull out is at 7 tomorrow and I want to get some sleep tonight. If we leave at 4 does that give you time enough or do you want me to find a ride home?" I hated to rush Jasper. He never really got a chance to just be a guy. He was always looking out for me.
"No four is great. I will have her tucked in by then and ready to bring you home." He threw his arm over me. We waved good bye to Felix and Demetry and then headed out. The easy girls had us follow them to some house that was out of the way. You could hear the music blaring as we pulled up. Several cars were parked out front, some even on the lawn. Jasper led me inside and he immediately headed over to the kitchen to get a drink. I knew that I would need to stay as sober as possible, yet look rather pissed, so that Jasper could get his game on.
Jasper returned short time later with two cups. He handed me one and I immediately saw that it was only half full. He finished his off and I slowly sipped mine. About 30 minutes into our night I started acting pissed and half out of it. Jasper let me pretend to sleep and then he made his move on the girl that had been hanging on him all night.
I heard Jasper ask her if they could go somewhere quieter. She of course played the chicks before dick card that girls often played just before they stabbed a chick in the back.
"I wouldn't want to do anything that would hurt your relationship. She seems like a nice gal." The blond bimbo said in a sultry voice. Yeah right, she was looking out for me.
Jasper played his part well, "She is out of it. She has never been able to hold her liquid. I would be surprised if she remembered her name in the morning. Plus you are by far prettier than her." I heard the girly giggle and then felt jasper get up to move into a private area.
As soon as they left I played the waking up girlfriend roll nicely. Most people by now were so far along they had no clue who was moving and who wasn't. I slowly made my way around and empty wallets of those that were totally out of it. I was also able to get a few packets of leaves and a couple of rocks. Jasper and I would smoke up the leaves but we would sell Felix and Demetry the rocks. We never hit the hard stuff. I have seen too many members lose everything over the rocks.
30 minutes later Jasper comes out zipping up his pants. He spots me across the room and quickly makes his way over.
"Did you have a good time?" It was his subtle way of asking if I had accomplished enough or if he needed to make a trip around the room.
"It was enjoyable enough." With my confirmation he threw his arm over my shoulder and we made our way out the door. It was just after 3:30 in the morning. We were ahead of schedule. I would definitely get some good sleep tonight. As soon as we pulled back up to the carnival area, Jasper trailered our vehicle and hocked it on the back or our RV. That would give us a few more minutes of sleep tomorrow morning.
I hated drive days. We always pulled out of town so early. But it did mean that we were on to a new adventure. Something told me this summer would be one to remember.
A/N: What is your favorite carnival memory? I will share mine in the story if you share yours.