"Where is he?" Dandy demanded. "Where's Jimmy?"
"He must be running late, dear." Gloria assured her son. "It's a long walk from the freak show to our house."
"You're lying! He wasn't here yesterday either!" He yelled, his face turning a vivid shade of pink. "What happened to him?"
"Boy you better keep your tone down, she's your mother." Dora intervened. "Besides, I wouldn't blame anyone for bailing out on you. Have you met yourself?"
Dandy quickly turned towards the maid, fury overriding his body. "Shut your filthy mouth, Dora! You don't know shit!"
"I know all that I need to, you're a pain in the ass and no one wants to hang out with you!" She swiftly added. "Don't take it out on your mother, you overgrown baby."
"Could both of you please stop!" Gloria yelled, albeit sounding desperate and helpless.
"You're lucky your mother's here, other wise I would have dragged your ass all the way to Orlando." The maid said before turning the other way.
"I hate you, Dora!" Dandy quickly yelled as the woman walked away but not before she flipped him off as she got out of the room. "I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"
"Dandy, please!" His mother pled. "You used to be such a nice boy."
"She disrespected me! Didn't you hear?" He replied. "She's the maid, if it wasn't for us she'd be on the slum neighborhood you probably found her in."
"Well she might be right!" Gloria quickly replied, she felt horrible for saying that to her son but she felt the need to finally say it. Dora had told her many times she needed to be harsher with Dandy but it wasn't until the freak she hired told her so that she began to question it.
Dandy looked at her with puppy eyes, which quickly turned into a tearful glare. "How can you say that? She's the maid, I'm your son!"
"I don't care!" The Mott matriarch responded. "You're getting out of hand, Dandy! I'm not letting any more of this attitude of yours go on, you understand?"
"I hate you, mother!" Dandy screamed. "You've just ruined my life since the moment you gave birth to me! What have I ever done to you?"
"Enough!" Gloria said, a quick slap landing on her son's face followed. Never had she laid a hand on her son for anything other than a pat or light stroke but she wasn't going to let him insult her like that again. Not after all she had done for him.
Dandy stood astonished. His cheek red and pulsing from pain while looked at her mother with disbelief, tears slowly cascading down his face. "W-why did you-?"
"Go to your room." Gloria interrupted, shame and distraught filled her voice. "Now!"
I-AHS-I
"You can't keep this up, Jimmy." Ethel insisted. "Drinking doesn't bring anything good with it."
The lobster boy looked at his mother with stupor. "Big words coming from an ex-drunk tanker."
"What I did were my mistakes, I don't want you to go the same path." The bearded lady added. "You have your whole life in-front of you, you don't need to waste it on this."
"A whole life, you say? Have you forgotten about these?" He asked angrily as he neared one of his hands towards her. "What better will my life get if I still have these things?"
"Don't do this to yourself, Jimmy." His mother pleaded, it was well known that Ethel Darling was a though cookie and seeing her so vulnerable was enough to strike a chord deep within the lobster boy's mostly drunken senses. "Do it for your mother."
The hug that followed was enough to break him. Although they weren't as close as Ethel would have wanted, she was all the family Jimmy had and he knew he'd rather die than let it be destroyed. "I'm sorry, mom. I'm really, really sorry." He sobbed onto his mother's shoulder. "I should have known. I shouldn't have risked Meep's life just to get rid of that asshole."
Meep's death had taken a toll on the boy. Never since he deemed himself the leader of the troupe had anyone suffered any form of unfair treatment, let alone death. Meep's death was more than just a regular death, it meant he wasn't doing what he swore to himself he'd do. He wasn't able to protect his own.
"It's not your fault, Jimmy. Don't take the blame for things you couldn't foresee." His mother reassured. "You're a good boy, you didn't mean for any of this to happen."
"But it did!" He cried. "I'm the reason Meep died!"
"You are not!" Ethel said firmly. "But if you stay on this trailer drinking yourself into drunken stupor every day like you've done for the past days something else might! You didn't even go to Meep's funeral for Christ's sake!"
"Why would I? I killed him, people don't invite the person's murderer to their funeral!" The lobster boy yelled.
A strong palm met Jimmy's face, which made the sobbing stop. Ethel was a strong woman and wasn't afraid to show it, even if it meant her son was the one on the receiving end.
"You listen to me and you listen to me well." She began. "You're gonna stop drinking this shit and get yourself out there once again. Meep's death was tragic but we need to move on, now get yourself together and get back out there. We've gotten new recruits."
I-AHS-I
"Fortune teller you say?"
Bette nodded. "And she's really pretty!"
Dot just rolled her eyes as Jimmy continued listening to Bette's retelling of the past days. Being locked in his trailer for days had kept the lobster boy from keeping up to date with everything that happened outside and apparently a lot happened.
"Tell me more!" Jimmy demanded, the idea of a new girl on camp excited him and the way Bette told it she was one hot shot. "Where's her tent?"
"Seems like a phony to me." Dot quickly added. "Whoever believes in those kinds of things anyways? Magic ain't real, you know."
"Oh don't be such a downer, she seems nice!" Bette insisted. "She even offered us a free reading."
Dot rolled her eyes yet again. "I'm sure that's not the only thing she gives away for free."
"You can be so mean at times, maybe that's the reason anyone barely talks to us." Bette told her sister. "You should try to be nicer."
"Well at least I can sing, what do you even bring into the mix besides you obnoxious attitude?" Dot asked snidely, Bette just looked down in shame. "Yeah, that's what I thought."
"Whoa ladies, no need to get feisty." Jimmy intervened. "I'll just go welcome our new recruit and be right back, okay?"
Bette nodded while Dot just looked the other way. "Don't fall for her crap, Jimmy. That woman gives me bad vibes."
"Don't listen to her, she's probably just jealous you'll like her more than you like Dot." Bette said, smiling foolishly.
"Damn it, Bette, I swear to god!" Dot yelled.
"Okay, I've got a deal for ya girls. I'll go greet the fortune teller girl and if both of you haven't killed each other by the time I'm back I'll invite you both for breakfast tomorrow." The lobster boy negotiated. "Do we have a deal?"
Once again, Bette nodded gleefully while Dot didn't even bother to show emotions. "No promises."
"Come on Dot, I'm sure you'd love some scramble eggs and a good cup o' coffee for a change." Jimmy said, the colder sister couldn't help but attempt to hide a grin. "That's what I though, I'll be right back."
As soon as he got out of the twin's tent Jimmy couldn't believe his eyes. Blonde hair, fair-skin and vibrant red lips were just the start. Her petit frame and soft features just added to her charm. The girl had just exited Elsa's tent but as soon as she noticed the lobster boy shamelessly staring at her, she couldn't help but smile. Jimmy reciprocated.
"Hey."
"Hi." She answered back. "And you would be...?"
Jimmy blushed, he wasn't one to show vulnerability especially considering his side job, but this girl was something else. "Uh… um…"
"Oh sorry, can you talk? I haven't met any of the other fre… performers and Elsa told me some had a harder time communicating when compared to others. I didn't consider the fact that you might not be able to talk, sorry if I offend-"
"You talk too much." Jimmy said teasingly. "I'm Jimmy, Jimmy Darling."
"Esmeralda." The girl said before stretching her hand. "Nice meeting you."
"Like wise." Jimmy said before stretching his hand her way. Before they could shake hands, Esmeralda quickly jerked hers away. Jimmy looked at her in disbelief. "Problem?"
The alleged fortuneteller still stared at the lobster boy's flipper like hand in shock. "N-no, I j-just…."
"Wow… so you're working in a freak show and the freaks scare ya?" Jimmy asked, more annoyed now. "Now that's rich."
"No! Please, don't take it the wrong way. I'm just not used to working with people with this type of… talents." Esmeralda added. "I'm sorry if I offended you, I just need some time to adapt myself."
Jimmy just rolled his eyes. "Whatever."
"Come on, please don't give me a hard time. It's enough that one half of the two headed lady already hates me…" Esmeralda insisted, Jimmy turned his back on the fortuneteller.
"They're not one 'lady', they're two girls in one body." Jimmy said angrily as he walked towards the twin's tent back again. "And they have names, I'd invest less time on the make-up and more on trying to be friendly with the people here if I were you."
Esmeralda just saw the lobster boy enter one of the tents and disappear. She certainly hadn't signed up for this, the payoff Stanley promised her had better be worth her time. "Asshole..."
I-AHS-I
Jimmy waited outside the Mott manor patiently after ringing the doorbell twice. He knew that after ditching them for two days straight he would be more than lucky if he could still keep his job. Still, after having spent most of the money he earned last time on liquor and booze Jimmy figured it wouldn't hurt to at least try. After all he had promised the twins a breakfast plus he needed to save some money for his eventual retirement from Elsa's show.
A sudden opening form the doors startled him and on the other side, Gloria Mott looked at him, disdain filling her eyes. "Well, look who finally decided to show up!"
"I'm sorry Mrs. Mott, I didn't mean to-"
"It's too late for apologies." The socialite quickly interrupted. "You've done enough damage to this family already!"
"Please Mrs. Mott, just give me another chance!" Jimmy begged, the rich woman remained firm and just shook her head.
"I said no! Now leave before I call the cops." Gloria said coldly.
"Alright, but before I leave…" Jimmy began. "How's Dandy doing?"
Hearing the freak show performer ask about her son just infuriated her. "Why would you care? He was so delighted about you and you left him heartbroken by abandoning him just after the first day!"
"Well I can fix that!" The performer added. "I'm really sorry about missing my appointment but a close friend of mine passed away recently and I was in no position to come and offer your son a mediocre time."
Jimmy's sweet-talk seemed to work as the older woman's stern expression began to soften. "Well, he's still pretty upset. He also grounded so I'm not sure if this would be the best idea."
Grounded, a grown man was grounded. Jimmy still couldn't believe how much this woman babied her son. "C'mon Mrs. Mott, just give me an hour. I'll do my best to brighten his day and I promise results."
I-AHS-I
Jimmy couldn't believe his luck. A bit of sweet-talk was enough to earn him the job back. As soon as he finally found Dandy's room he knocked on it's door a couple of times.
It took a bit of waiting but the door opened after a while. On the other side Jimmy's eyes met with Dandy's. The socialite's son's eyes appeared to be quite swollen and slightly pinkish, just like those of someone who had cried a lot. Still, what got Jimmy the most was Dandy's sudden joy. Never had anyone greeted him with such eyes nor such joy. The smile on Dandy's face was priceless.
"Jimmy!" He said loudly. "It's really you!"
Before being able to answer, Dandy suddenly wrapped him around in a tight hug. Although the squeezing was hard, it was hard not to enjoy it. Dandy's child like joy, although worrying at times, was quite precious to the lobster boy.
"Yup, it the flesh." The performer said. "Sorry about missing out the previous days."
"Oh no, don't be sorry!" Dandy said as he continued hugging him. "I'm just glad you came."
"Okay, you can let me go whenever you want. I'm not going anywhere." Jimmy insisted once the hug got too long for his liking. The rich boy obliged. "So, what do you want to do?"
"Oh there's so much!" Dandy said excitedly. "We could play with my puppets again. Or maybe some croquette!"
"Sure, anything's fine with me." Jimmy said. "Do you have anything to eat, though? I'm kinda starving. The walk from my place to your home ain't a short one."
"That's it!" Dandy exclaimed. "We can have a tea party!"
"A what?" Jimmy asked in disbelief.
"You know, a tea party." Dandy reassured. "Like the ones in the 'Alice in Wonderland' book!"
"Ah… sure, why not."
I-AHS-I
Dandy had made Jimmy wear some stupid hare ears for their 'tea party' while Dandy himself wore a ridiculously big top hat. Apparently he took the Alice in Wonderland thing pretty seriously but considering he got himself some free snacks, the lobster boy didn't complain.
"How are you enjoying your tea, Mr. Hare?" Dandy asked. "Want more sugar cubes?"
"Sure, Mr.-?" Jimmy began, he still couldn't remember who Dandy's character was.
"Hatter." He added before passing some sugar cubes to the lobster boy.
As both of them continued sipping tea, Jimmy couldn't help but wonder why Dandy's eyes looked the way they did, red and swollen. Considering his privileged life he couldn't imagine what could make him cry his eyes out.
"Could I ask you something?" Jimmy question.
"Yes Mr. Hare? Dandy asked as he took a sip of his cup.
"Were you crying before I got here?" Jimmy quickly noticed Dandy flinching.
"Why would you think that?"
"Well, your eyes for once. They're swollen." Jimmy then took a sip out of his own cup. "Anything happened, champ?"
Dandy placed his cup on the table, Jimmy could easily tell Dandy wasn't comfortable. "I don't really want to talk about it…"
"You know you can tell me anything, right?" Jimmy asked. "You said it yourself, we can be friends."
Dandy sighed. "It's my mother. We had a fight earlier, all because of our stupid maid and the crap she said."
Jimmy nodded; off course a fight with his mother would leave such an effect on him. From what Jimmy knew, those two were really close. "What did she say?"
"She said nobody liked me…" Dandy answered gloomily. "You like me… right?"
"Sure." Jimmy replied before taking a bite from one of the cookies on the table.
Dandy looked at him with sad eyes. "You don't really mean it…"
"Sure I do." The lobster boy reassured.
"Prove it."
I-AHS-I
Really sorry for the delay, I basically had another version of this chapter done but it got erased and it took me forever to rewrite this version. I'll try to post the next chapter soon enough and till will start to get steamier. Thanks for the reviews and please keep on with the love, I really appreciate it!
