"Can we go rehearse now?" I asked. We were sitting in our little trailer finishing our lunch before our training.
"Only people who finish everything on their plate get to train." Mum laughed, eyeing up the vegetables on my plate. With a grimace I threw them into my mouth.
"Ok, lets go." Dad laughed when I smiled at him. With a cheer I slid under the table and spat the horrid vegetables out into the bin. Throwing the door open I ran to the big top, cheering all the way. On our way we met up with my uncle Richard, auntie Kayla and my cousin Johnny. I was named after Richard and my cousin was named after my dad. That's where my nickname came from, I was Dick and he was Rick. We all came from Romania so Rick, Kayla and Johnny didn't speak English. My mum was from Metropolis so she started to teach me English when I was 4, now, 5 years on, I spoke both fluent Romanian and English. My accent was starting to fade as I spent less time speaking Romanian and more time speaking English with mum.
"Mișcă-te!" Get a move on! Johnny shouted when he saw me. He was 5 years older than me but he was my best friend. We did everything together.
"Vine!" Coming! I shouted back.
"De ce iei întotdeauna atât de mult timp să mănânce?" Why do you always take so long to eat? He laughed.
"Nu toată lumea mănâncă ca un porc." Not everyone eats like a pig. Auntie Kayla ruffled his hair as she laughed. Rick scooped me up onto his shoulders while my dad went to talk to Haly, the ringleader.
"Ce mai faci, Dick?" How are you Dick?
"Foarte incantata! Eu nu pot să aștept!" Really excited! I can't wait! I replied, the words rolling off my tongue. Tonight was our first show in Gotham. My dad was telling me stories he knew about Batman. A superhero who only came out at night. Since our show was late at night, I hoped to get a glance.
"Putem merge practica acum?" Can we go practice now? Johnny wasn't known to be patient.
"Să mergem atunci." Let's go then. My dad said and we all made our way to the big top. Johnny and I ran forward first.
I ran straight into a man.
"Dick! Wait up!" I heard my mother shout.
"Johnny! Așteptați-ne!" Johnny! Wait for us! Auntie Kayla shouted. As they came through the door Johnny and I backed away from the man. "Come here." Mum continued. As slow as I could I walked backwards, the large man was staring at me. One eye blue and one brown just staring at me. Johnny stood slightly in front of me, trying to act brave as usual. What happened next will haunt me forever.
"Who are you?" Dad asked, guessing the man was from Gotham.
"Tony Zucco, and you are?" The man answered my dad, holding a hand out for him to shake.
"John Grayson." My dad replied, refusing the man's hand and folding his arms across his chest. I did the same. My mum wrapped her arms around me to try and protect me. Kayla, Rick and Johnny stood silently, they didn't understand properly as Rick was the only one who spoke a little bit of English.
"Nice family you've got here John. It'd be a shame if something were to happen to them." His toothpick rattled in his mouth, irritating me more than it should have.
"I'm not sure I follow." Dad said.
"All we're asking for is protection money. As in you pay us we protect you." Zucco smiled and I will never forget the look in his eyes.
"We don't need your protection." I said, shrugging out of my mother's arms and stepping towards the five huge men.
"Oh yeah?" Tony asked, his brothers cracking their knuckles ready for a fight.
"Yeah," I was sure of myself, "Because I phoned the police five minutes ago." His eyes widened.
"And guess who intercepted that call." A gruff voice said from the shadows.
"Dude! It's the Bat!" One of the five shouted. They all took a step forward to fight him. They wouldn't win. I mean, it's the Batman for goodness sake, who does win?! Johnny grabbed my arm.
"Asta e ce mi-ai spus despre!" That's who you were telling me about! He gasped. I just nodded.
"Woah." Was all I seemed to say before the police got here. In the time it took the police to get to the big top Batman had taken down three of the goons and Zucco had run off. We gave Commissioner Gordon a report of what had happened and Batman disappeared. We were only going to be in Gotham for 2 nights and Gordon said he was looking forward to the show. A billionaire called Bruce Wayne was paying for everything and we were told he would be there too. Soon we were training again and everything seemed perfect.
After training we were allowed time to ourselves and one or two citizens of Gotham were wandering around the circus, looking at the animals we had. Haly wasn't worried about anyone breaking in so we just let them.
"Excuse me?" A man asked my dad, tapping him on the shoulder while Johnny I pet a lion through the cage, Kayla watching us at all times but we weren't scared of it. "Are you the Graysons?"
"Yes." My dad answered, "Can I help you?" My mum and I joined my dad in talking to him. He was with a young boy, I guessed was his son, who couldn't be older than 7. We all gathered, still unsure what to think of Gotham after that Zucco man.
"My son and I are big fans, would you take a picture with us?" The little boy's eyes were full of excitement.
"Of course." My mum replied and I grinned back at the boy.
"Haide Rick, care doresc o imagine cu noi." Come on Rick, they want a picture with us. My dad told him and we all got ready. Johnny pulled me closer to him and knelt down beside me. I pulled the boy onto my knee and smiled at the camera. My mum's hand on my shoulder, Rick's on Johnny. Dad had his arm round mum and Kayla had hers on Rick's arm.
After the picture the man, whose named I had learnt was Jack Drake, and my mum and dad were talking and I was introducing Tim, the little boy, to all my circus friends with Johnny, who didn't understand a word being said, so I acted as a translator. When his dad told him he had to leave he looked upset, they didn't have enough money to see the actual show so I would probably never see them again. I walked them to the gates of the park we were in and waved as they drove off.
"Do I have to wear these?" I asked mum. We were getting ready for our big show and mum had made us all new costumes. Mine was a pair of green leggings, a red top with a high collar and three yellow stripes on the chest. It also had a black circle, just next to my left shoulder, with a yellow "R" in the middle. The two female costumes were identical with green leggings, red tops with the same yellow stripes I did, but theirs had a small skirt that fluttered around their hips. The male costumes were also identical to mine, but only I had the "R" on mine.
"Dick, your mother spent ages on these." Dad replied.
"Why does it have to be so colorful?" I whined.
"Because Richard," Mum started, "When I see you up there, you remind me of a little Robin." She smiled and her bright green eyes lit up.
"A Robin? Like the bird?!" I asked, grimacing, "Kids my age get made fun of for nicknames like that!" I moaned.
"You ready?" Mum asked as we heard the crowd gathered in the big top cheer. Johnny looked like he was going to burst.
"Always." I smiled.