Tears stung the eyes of the red head as he sat in front of his trailer. He pushed the book closer to his face, trying to block out the world around him. His head was fuzzy. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't ignore what was going on around him. The laughter from inside the trailer echoed around him. The rest of the circus was asleep or drunk. It was probably almost two in the morning. His mother brought home yet another man. This one was from the circus though. Probably a clown.

Sometimes they are particularly painful. Every Time his mother bring home another man, Jerome can tell almost every time if they're a hitter. This man was. He could tell by the way the men held themselves and the way they made eye contact, he always hated the hitters. Sometimes some of the men his mother brought home were nice, but that was rare. Sometimes he swore his mother did it for money by the looks of the some of the men. He knew she didn't, but it made him feel better. It made him feel as though she was doing it for him and his well being. Of course that wasn't the case.

When the men would hit him, his mother would join in as well. She looked at him as though he was the biggest mistake she ever made. No, not a mistake, an accident. The result of a faulty condom no doubt. Whenever she looked at him, it was hardly ever kindness in her eyes. Sometimes Jerome could swear he saw some love in her eye, but then he would realise she was drunk. They hardly ever had conversation. Only demands and fights.

He would always prefer when she would leave to go to another man's house instead of them coming here. He could do whatever he wanted. Usually he just took advantage of the crappy TV in the trailer his mom used to watch cheesy soaps. He never liked those, he prefered action or horror. One of his favourite movies was Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. He would always look forward to October when he would find it on a channel. He loved the story with Norman and Norma. His favourite scene was the one with the shower. Jerome always loved the look of fear in her eyes. The actress did such a great job.

Crash! A loud noise came from inside the trailer breaking his train of thought. He wanted to go to bed, but knew he couldn't walk through the trailer. His tutor was coming tomorrow morning. He like her and didn't want to scare her off.

"You crazy bitch!" A booming voice said as the door swung wide open almost ripping it off of it's hinges. Jerome jumped back from where he was sitting next to the door.

"I'm not the crazy one!" Lila yelled from the door as the man ran off. "Hey I don't want any of your filth in my home!" Jerome's mom grabbed the man's pants and hurled it at him. As he vansished out of sight, Lila straightened herself and looked down at her cowering son. "Come in inside, Jerome. That swine isn't coming back."

Jerome slowly got up not sure what to make of that scene. Part of him knew it was probably not smart to ask, but his curiosity was killing him. "What happened?" He said closing the door behind him.

"That's man's a filthy piece of trash that doesn't deserve to be near us." Lila took a swig of rum. "That's what happened." Surprisingly she didn't seem that angry towards Jerome. She was funny like that sometimes. One minute she would be hitting him and the next she would act like a perfectly okay person. Well, as okay as she could get. Lila plopped on the couch and patted the seat next to her. "Come here, Jerome."

Jerome hesitated before making the way to the couch and sat next to his mother. She put her arm around him and hugged him. Jerome stiffened at the strange gesture of affection.

"Jerome," His mother began in a drunken slur. "You're going to have to learn that in life…" She swayed in her seat. Was she becoming green? "People are going to be bad. You can't become one of them." Jerome was sure there was something she was trying to tell him, but her words were slurred and she was drunk as a skunk. He pushed her off him.

"Yeah, of course mom. I'm going to go get some sleep."

"No no not yet Jerome." She said trying to grab hold of him.

"No I really should. Mrs. Jones is coming tomorrow." He said starting to sound frantic.

"No come here." Her voice was growing more stern.

"Mom you're drunk." Jerome said pulling away from her.

"No I'm not." She said struggling to get off the couch. She took another swig of rum. "I can hold my liquor."

" I just want to go to bed." He said

"Fine." Lila said sitting back on the couch. Jerome thanked whatever power there was that she didn't make him stay. That could have gotten ugly. She became unpredictable when she drank. The problem was with that is that she's always drinking. Jerome started to rush to the back of the trailer where he slept.

"Jerome." Crap. "I love you." Lila said chuckling.

"I know mom." He said emotionlessly before heading back to his bed.