They passed Tiny moving some junk to clear out the front yard. He dropped part of one of their victims' cars and waved happily at Otis and Travis, shaking with mirth. He knew Mama had forced the albino to take the boy out and it grated on his already-frayed nerves. "Can it, Stumpfucker," growled Otis. Tiny gave him his huge middle finger and continued chuckling.
They got in Vera-Ellen's pickup truck and took off. Travis failed to ingratiate himself to Otis by putting in his Black Crowes cassette tape and cranking the volume. The man only hoped he could make it through the day without murdering Baby's precious son.
"I'm selling you to the circus midgets," he tells Travis.
"You wouldn't," the boy retorts indigantly. "Mama wouldn't let you back in the house."
Otis snorts.
"Hey, didn't Uncle RJ wrestle some in Alabama or summin?"
"Yep, he did. He kicked a lotta ass and got a lotta ass!"
"Well joinin' the circus wouldn't be so bad. I could be an animal trainer. But I hate midgets," he shudders.
"What the hell's wrong with midgets," demands Otis. Shit, everyone loves midgets! Don't they?
"Lily," called Mama, clipping along in her spandex capri pants and crop top, hair crimped and sticking out in a mane all over her head. Vera-Ellen had accepted the inevitable loss of youth but hadn't given up her battle with age without a fight. With a shake of her hip she still had men tripping over themselves to gawk at her or open doors for her. "Lilith, where are yew?" The girl wasn't in her room and she wasn't downstairs playing and she wasn't watching tv. Did she go somewhere with Rufus and his wife? She would've told her like a good girl; she knew not to worry her mama.
She decided to ask Tiny if he'd seen her. Snickering, he scribbled on his notepad then showed it to her. "She's what? Stowed away with Otis an' Travis? That rotten buzzard egg girl o' mine," she stomped her foot. She'd explicitly told the disobedient girl to stay here!
Ah well, she was a girl after her own heart.
Otis had enough cotton candy to choke a mule that day, and spent his hard-stolen money letting Travis play games which he mostly lost at. Then he finally relented and let him ride the broken-down malnourished old elephant the place was displaying. Then the older man rolled his eyes at the Ghost Ride. Travis was positively adamant; he had to see it, had to had to had to! He reminded Otis acutely of Baby in one of her petulant moods complete with lower lip sticking out in a pout.
"It's gonna suck," he sourly told the youth.
"No it won't! Besides I've never ridden a ride like that."
"Let's go look at the sideshow freaks," Otis suggests. He'd love to see if Alligator Girl had scales all over..heh heh...
"We can do that after we go on the ride."
"Awright, fine," he threw up his hands. Maybe he could give the little terd some money to play some more games later and let Alligator Girl meet his trouser snake. A big grin spread across his craggy face at that thought.
They began making their way to the ride in question when out of the blue Otis' bionic hand shoots out and grasps a fistful of reddish-blonde hair. "Owww," went the girl attached to the hair.
"Lily," cried Travis in surprise. How the hell did she get here?
"Girl, you should know better 'n that--I could sense ya." Since the chemicals and experiments he'd done to himself he found he was now blessed with certain gifts, such as limited precognition and telepathy. He was also tougher than old leather despite all the abuse (self-inflicted and otherwise) he'd suffered over the years. His hair and eyes were more faded than ever but he was quick and alert as he always was. "Baby will never let me hear the end of it," he groused, shaking Lily another good time or two before letting her loose.
"I wanted to see the freakshow," she sulked. Otis took her by the arm and dragged her along as he and Travis continued their way to the Ghost Ride.
Two freakin' brats...god damn, two freakin' brats to keep up with until he got home, Otis kept thinking furiously to himself. It was a mantra he kept repeating as the so-called ride began to bore him. It was boring Lily as well, he could see--she was truly a creature with his own interests. To an eleven year old though, the cheesey show was very amusing. Travis began throwing his popcorn at the "monsters" and "ghouls", some of whom were real people and didn't take too kindly to being pelted with snack food.
Hmm, the boy might be onto something there, Otis said to himself. "Look kid," griped an asshole in a Frankenstein costume, out of character and out of sorts as well. "I still got 3 more hours left in my shift and you're not making it any easier for me. So cool it."
"You backsassin' my nephew there, Sonny," asked Otis grimly, stepping out of the little ride car they were seated in. Lilith and Travis followed suit, surrounding the unsuspecting faux-Frankenstein and grinning maniacally.
The trio exited the Ghost Ride smiling smugly with splotches of red on their persons which they mostly wiped off. That ride wasn't so bad after they spiced it up a bit.
"Hey," called an attendant. "What's all this mess in here? Damn, it's all dark but it looks like food and stuff all over! Did you guys do that? Come back here!"
"Uh oh," said Travis, blue eyes going big.
"Time to skidaddle," Lily pulled her brother after her, striding to catch up with Otis .