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CHAPTER X: Forbidden Fruit

We spent two years travelling with the small carnival. Every five to seven days, we'd set up in some town somewhere and then about as fast as we arrived, we pulled the tents and we were off to the next city. It was a hard two years for everyone, especially for me.

During these two years, my routine never wavered. Every morning, I was to wake up and go see a guy named Mark Flemming to help beef up my body. It was all facilitated by Cisco of course. He wanted me to perform. Hell, that's the only reason why he fathered me. I was to be a performer from birth and from my interest in birds, Cisco figured I would make a great aerial acrobat for his cirque. He wanted me out there, but I couldn't hold Warrick's weight yet so my routines with him were always very simplistic. He was only a year and a half older than me, but he was big for his age and I was still some noodle of a kid. It was Mark's job to see to it that I could handle catching Warrick safely.

During these past two years the expectations of my performances grew exceptionally. I was expected to do more school work, and spend more time training with either Travardy and Warrick or with Mark Flemming.

I'm not sure if you could call our school, much of an educational establishment. One of the mistresses that travelled with our cirque ran it. I want to believe she was an elementary teacher before joining our troupe, but no one knew for sure. She joined the cirque at the request of Sam Braun, to perform some needed service for him.

Like anyone else travelling with our cirque, they too had to perform some function for the group. Since Ms. Greenwood used to be a schoolteacher, it was her duty to educate all us younglings. It wasn't much of a class, though she gave us a lot of work to do, I doubted that we learned very much at all. Mostly, we learned how to write in appropriate grammar and do basic mathematics. We'd read some of the classics, though we had very little time for such frivolous activities on our average day. However, we did enjoy the few we were capable of reading. Mostly, our literature section should be considered a huge waste of time and effort. Ms. Greenwood would say otherwise, but that's her prerogative I suppose.

Then after class, I was to spend hours on end training with Travardy and Brown. Travardy's aerial training was even more intense now that I was performing nightly at the carnivals in the capacity of an aerialist and not as an acrobat.

I didn't start performing aerial stuff until I was six. Even then, it was simple stuff that I could handle. I knew Warrick could handle a lot more than I could, but I was still limited in upper body strength, and Mark Flemming hadn't yet been able to whip me in complete shape.

I don't think I've ever lived up to Mark's expectations of my physique. Not that I wasn't in good shape in my prime, just that Mark always thought I should be more.

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No one in our troupe liked the carnival. When we were travelling with the cirque on our own tour through the world, we'd set up in some field just to the outskirts of town where we had all the room to spread out and enjoy the luxuries of life. With the carnival, we had no such privilege. They crammed us into some city block where we barely fit. Our trailers were so bunched up we could hardly get out of them. In fact, Harvey the human giant with the sideshow had to change the orientation of his trailer so he could get out.

The noise on the city streets were almost intolerable with the motor vehicles driving around, honking their horns, people shouting across the way, and everything else that goes on in the cities.

Momma wouldn't let us stay out alone during the nights. Women came out of the woodwork, dressed in high-cut dresses exposing their thighs almost all the way to their butt. Their tops were low, exposing as much of their breasts as they could without falling out. They'd wear make-up thick and colourful. Not like the make-up Liam wears or mom, this was overdone and almost screamed to people to wash them. They'd bat their fake eyelashes anytime a man would walk by. Some would take them from the streets and from there I don't know. Momma didn't want us around these ladies. She'd usher me inside. She wasn't so insistent with Liam.

"He's of age to make his own decisions," she would say. "If he wants to stay out with those floozies, that's his business. You will take no part in it."

"He doesn't like them," I said absentmindedly. "He fancies Catherine Willows."

"Oh that Catherine is a looker for sure, but she's off limits to him. She's Braun's girl, and he knows the rules," momma stated and prepared dinner.

"He still likes her."

None of the adults seemed to acknowledge Liam's interest in her. Every day, he'd do things just for her. Sometimes, he'd even fall off his unicycle when she galloped by with her hair strawberry blonde hair floating in the wind. She sang her siren's tune, and he was answering her call.

Sometimes, when momma was out and he thought I was asleep, he'd grow a new limb and he'd touch it singing Catherine's tune in the lowest of whispers. His hips would come off the bed he liked it so much. I never mentioned this to him, or to anyone else in my troupe that I knew he tasted the forbidden apple.

Momma had complete faith in Liam's honour and fully believed that he'd leave Catherine Willows alone. She wouldn't listen to me. For Liam's sake, I was glad she didn't. He was a lot easier to live with when he was sneaking off with Catherine all the time.

They thought they were being very secretive, but they were so obvious about it. You might as well have decorated them with flashing lights that spelled it out. They loved each other. Only everyone was too busy with their own things to really notice.

Sam Braun was always busy haggling over the price of the new Big-top. They kept telling him supplies were low and it would cost him extra for the material. Cisco was busy with his own problems to see that his first born was falling head over heels in love. Momma was too worried about the floozies on the street corner, and that left me seeing the whole show between Romeo and Juliet.