Chapter 13: Reconciliation
Sucker punched, I felt like I had just walked into an abomination. Literally. Like, the circus was having some kind of Halloween themed event right in the middle of Thanksgiving and Christmastime.
I felt flabbergasted, seeing the continued intermittent flashes of green and orange lights, with the same song that had nothing to do with Halloween, "I Like to Move It", playing on an eternal loop in all the tents. I watched the circus workers behind the scenes… all dressed like zombies, goblins, ghosts, you name it.
"Who keeps playing this song?" one of the zombies asked another, but when the other shrugged, everyone continued their business.
Dave, Classified, Penny, Kenny and I hesitated as we watched everyone walking about. This looked like it wasn't going to be as easy of a ride as Dave said it would be, as the circus had a ton of new performers and workers aiding them in whatever event they were planning.
"Hmm, I'm used to seeing animals and the typical acrobat and magician, but this is new," Dave mused. "We should check out the transportation convoy to see if we can slip in that way."
"Slip in, sure," I murmured sarcastically.
If it wasn't obvious already, putting my faith, and actual life, in Dave's hands (tentacles, whatever) was more than difficult at times (many times), but for whatever reason I always followed through with him. Maybe it was because I couldn't think of anything better or something else.
Dave walked into one of the large trailers first, and then after a few moments of observing his surroundings, Classified followed, along with Penny and Kenny. I hesitated, following in last, hunkering down cautiously as my eyes bounced back and forth between either side of the large transport. The music was loud in here too, so I wasn't sure if the entire circus had a connected sound system or not.
"Okay, everyone, get comfortable. Looks like we're sticking it out in here until the circus moves on," Dave said. "See, this was way easier than we thought, huh?"
"Dave, please," I sighed.
Penny and Kenny started scouting around the transport, looking into boxes filled with clothing, costumes, and makeup. When Penny stopped for a moment to coax Dave over, gobbling something important at him, Dave thought for a moment.
"Good idea, a new disguise would definitely help us to avoid suspicion right now," Dave acknowledged. "Go ahead and pick a few things out for me and I'll change."
"And pick something other than a mustache, please," I added, remembering how Dave's last disguise in a circus setting wasn't particularly all that great to begin with. I still had no idea how people couldn't tell it was Dr. Brine back during our first circus fiasco.
As the two continued to scavenge the boxes of clothes, I heard a series of voices conversing with one another, coming closer and closer to the door to the far left of the transport that must've connected it to another.
A series of waddling footsteps, and the creak of the metal floors beneath and around us, I heard, "All right boys, I think I've had enough of this party, how about we get into the snack department and ditch the scene?" and instantly my heart started racing from shock and panic.
"Do you hear that?" Classified asked. "That sounds like…"
"Oh, hell no," I said, attempting to keep my voice down, but it was too late.
The door opened with a loud agonizing creak. Standing there was the penguins. The ones that I helped kidnap the last time I was forced to go to a circus. But now I knew for sure, this wasn't a different circus at all. It was the same freaking circus as last time.
"Criminals never learn, I see!" Skipper said, his name, along with the others bouncing into my memory the moment he spoke up again.
"Dave, what are you doing here? Like this?" Kowalski said. "I would expect a calculated assault from you, but just showing up in your human disguise is pathetic. But your new henchmen are… rather terrifying and formidable, I see."
"BLARHGGGHHH!" Rico yelled. I wasn't sure what he said, but at that moment the three of them went into attack stances, except the one penguin who remained quiet: Private.
"Surrender now, Dave," Skipper warned, "before we kick all your rear ends back to where you came from!"
"Guys, I think something is wrong," Private added, fiddling his flippers together. "Is it just me or do those new monster henchmen look… familiar?"
"Of course not, Private! They're ugly losers working for the enemy!" Skipper answered, but a bit too soon, because Classified spoke up next.
"I see you've not changed much, Skipper," he started, breathing out a sigh. "To clarify, I am not working for the octopi, let alone David. Unfortunately, we had an incident where we were forced to team up to fix an issue. And again, unfortunately, that issue is what you're looking at right now."
The penguins looked him up and down, then over at me, doing the same.
"By the looks of it, you have two issues," Kowalski observed.
"That's Kailey, isn't it?" Private spoke up then. "What on earth happened to you two?"
Classified sighed, putting a paw to his forehead. "It's a long, agonizing story. Believe me, you don't want to hear it."
"You're right, we don't," Skipper said. "Now get out of here before we have no choice but to—!"
Another voice loudly interrupted Skipper, coming from right behind them, saying, "I hear a fight ensuing Mort! Is someone trying to ruin the party?" And at that moment, in the doorway behind the penguins, was the familiar looking lemur I met a long time ago during my first exposure to the circus, and his little friend, Morty? Mort, yeah. What he had said.
"Gross, what is that!?" the lemur cried, pointing at Classified and I. The makeshift crown of ferns on his head reminded me that this was Julien.
"Don't be worried, they aren't here to hurt us," Private reassured. "That's the North Wind agent I told you all about, and the other one is Kailey, remember?"
"That is the princess from before!?" Julien gasped. "She is hideous! She most definitely would have not made a good sacrifice to the Sky Gods!"
I was getting flustered, finding my teeth gritting together again, my lips pulling into a snarl.
"Look, we don't have time for an explanation, but David here made a decision to use your base of operations as a hideout to take us back to New York," Classified explained.
At this time, Penny and Kenny had returned to Dave with a handful of costume props.
I had taken a moment at this time to observe Dave, who proceeded to scan over his new audience, a negative one at that, that seemed to continue getting worse, but managed to stay poised despite it. He took the opportunity to help the conversation by saying, "Yes, that is correct. We needed cover and transportation to get back to my lab. If I had known you'd be here I would have chosen to do otherwise." A scowl crossed over Dave's features, too, but he had no time to fester in his feelings as Penny had shoved a black, old-looking suit at him and a top hat, along with some other detailed costume props and knick-knacks. "Pardon me, I need to change," Dave said and slipped into the back with his henchmen, leaving Classified and I to continue speaking with the penguins and lemurs.
"We'd rather you not be here either!" Skipper yelled at Dave as he vanished to the back. "We can have you thrown to the curb, or better yet, call the humans on you for invading our private party!"
"Please don't," I begged softly. "Look, this is just a huge mess, and we're trying to find a way to fix it. Can we please get a break?"
"A huge mess is an understatement," Kowalski answered, but it didn't do much to answer my question, let alone help the situation.
As we stood there, all looking back and forth at each other awkwardly, defensively even, the "I Like to Move It" song ended, then promptly started over again. Just for a moment I could hear a series of exclamations somewhere in another transport, a voice screaming "AFRO CIRCUS!" along with the beat before I disassociated.
How could this get any worse!? Dave having the bright idea of coming to the circus to hide was a huge mistake! How were we even going to navigate this? As if the penguins would ever help Dave! But then again, it seemed like North Wind had some positive experiences with them… at least on good terms. Maybe Classified being here with us was a good thing.
Another thing that was worrying me, but I had no time to address at that specific moment in time, was Dave himself . How was he handling all of this so gracefully? Dave having grace? Was that even possible? As a matter-of-fact, Dave was acting way too casual since I was reunited with him.
Was he mad!? At me!? Why!? Maybe he just didn't care about this situation and wanted to get back to the lab. He probably wanted this to be over with and get back to his money mongering tactics and manipulating the humans…Maybe…
I felt like my eyes were big and I was staring off into the void as I thought, but I couldn't move. It was at this point I started becoming aware of everyone talking, but I remained standing there like a dunce for a moment until I finally made myself blink, actively forcing myself to get over myself.
Dave had come back, dressed in his new disguise as Penny and Kenny walked alongside him, stuffing his stupid red wig and lab coat into the backpack they had been hauling around this whole time. Dr. Octavius Brine was officially no more, and was now replaced with…
"Dave, seriously?" I asked, squinting, knowing good and well that he still looked like Dr. Octavius Brine, but just with a top hat instead of a wig, and a pair of fake dark brown sideburns on either side of his head with a matching full goatee. "You look… like, I don't know… a horrible Abraham Lincoln. You literally look like Mr. Conehead as Abraham Lincoln."
"Who is Mr. Conehead?" Dave asked, stroking one his new white gloved fingers over the rim of the hat to make sure it was sitting on right.
"It's a movie, David. You seriously like playing human but have no idea how to act like one, let alone understand their culture," Classified answered.
I was absolutely flabbergasted at this point. "Classified, you've watched the Coneheads!?"
"Are we having this conversation right now? Of course, I've seen a few of your human films, it's not that deep."
"Film?" Profound, I know, but I couldn't tell if I wanted to cry, laugh, or what.
Suddenly, the main door directly behind us parted open. This time, I couldn't believe it. It was a person… an actual human being.
Everyone stared blankly like a heard of deer caught in headlights. The poor goth-lady staring back at us. But the longer the stare went on, the more I was beginning to realize this lady wasn't even freaking out. She was deadpan, carrying a notepad in her arms, and when she spoke up and broke the agonizing silence, her response was something I couldn't have imagined.
"For seasonal employees, those are amazing costumes," she said to me and Classified. She looked over at Dave, her voice still monotone. "And you must be the replacement ring master. We thought you'd never show up. You're needed in the main tent!"
"Wait, what?" I slipped my tongue. Seriously, really!? What on earth was happening? First the penguins and now this? It didn't help that maintaining my grip on my surroundings was hard enough, but my heart was racing still since I was personally standing in front of this lady, looking like a green abomination , and she didn't even bat an eye. Better yet, she thought I was wearing a costume?
"We're starting in an hour for our midnight showing. The replacement ringmaster needs to be in the main tent to prep for the show soon. You two monster performers need to be ready in thirty minutes."
"Ummm… what are… we doing exactly?" I truly had no idea how to answer. I felt the best way to handle this was to play along, but this was coming off in the most awkward way possible.
The goth lady blinked slowly once, obviously tired, but went into business anyway. Sighing, she explained, "This is our Monster Mania Circus Ole special. Who hired you? Never mind, that's not important right now. The show is meant to celebrate all things different and ugly. Monsters are often a metaphor for society's "other"; the outcasts, the unforgiven. How we love, how we live—it's all done in a way that is compliant to society's expectations. Your job tonight is to be the real you. We are all monsters here, so express yourself. You are backdrops to our main cast, so as long as you do what you were hired to do, you'll be fine. Be creative."
Still confused, I decided to let it be. She backed out of the transport unit we were in and closed the doors behind her.
"Let's play along a bit," Dave suggested. "Maybe after the show the circus will get moving and we can get some rest. I wouldn't suggest walking in the cold any longer since we've covered enough ground as it is."
"David, I don't know how to tell you this, but playing along in this case is playing with fire. Kailey is a wanted specimen at this point, and if they see—"
Dave interrupted him by putting a hand to his face. His long, gloved hands at this point couldn't do much justice next to Classified's gargantuan muzzle. I was surprised he even did it.
"No need to fuss over the details," Dave reassured. "I hardly doubt the public will recognize us in the midst of all the other workers dressed like this right now. Take a moment to recalibrate and rest, and we'll move on when we're ready."
At the corner of my eyes, I could see the penguins whispering something amongst each other, King Julian extending an ear towards their conversation. Add Classified and Dave arguing with each other, and that was the cherry on top. I was surrounded by chaos and defiance, and now I was supposed to clown at a circus!?
Overwhelmed, I went out the door that the lady had come through, slipped out the back to the forest, and hid myself in the brush.
. . . . . . .
The music never ended. It continued to loop, and loop, and loop until my ears had become practically numb. My brain buzzed like the numbness I was feeling, growing realizations how despite there were snowflakes still gently and steadily falling around me I couldn't feel the cold. How I couldn't, for brief moments, even remember how it felt to be warm or chilled.
I thought about my family and Thanksgiving dinner, and how that might've been the last time I'd really ever see them again. I couldn't even bring myself to imagine how I could ever hope to be with them this Christmas… to be me… to be human.
"A horrible, ugly, beast," I muttered, partly in anger, partly in sadness.
"Kailey?" Dave's voice was sudden as I had not been expecting anyone to follow me outside. He had been so caught up in his plans that I had forgotten he was even my partner in all this. My heart ached for a moment at the very idea of thinking this way. I wasn't sure about anything anymore.
"What do you want?" I asked, bitterly, unable to manage my tone.
"I was worried about you…" he began, coming over to sit beside me. I jolted ever so slightly when I saw him at the corner of my eye, not recognizing him in his new disguise. "We will get home. You know that, right?"
I exhaled, pursing my lips in an exaggerated puff. I didn't bother to answer him either. Was I actually going to get home? Maybe. Maybe not. I had trusted him for so long, followed him here even, but I couldn't help but have my moment of doubt.
"Everything…" I said, my voice a whisper. "…Is so weird now."
"Is it because of the penguins? I didn't realize they were here, sorry."
"No, not that," I responded, raising a brow in confusion. "I mean, yeah that's bad they are here, but I mean… ugh! Jesus, Dave, look at me!"
My soft voice erupting into a shout caught him off guard, but I saw how he picked at the collar of his shirt and looked away from me. "Oh, that… Yeah, we can fix that, too."
"How, Dave? We're lost out here. Who knows if we'll get back to the lab."
"We'll find a way, I promise," Dave acknowledged looking back up at me. "Have I ever failed you before?"
I paused, grimacing, but attempted to hide it under my arms as I propped my knees up and hugged my legs. My new, bird-ish feet felt strange in the position, and looking back down at my legs, seeing actual green feathers growing out of me made me shiver.
I knew what I wanted to say. Dave had failed me. Yet I couldn't understand how this had all messed up so horribly. Maybe I hadn't been looking at my life hard enough, ignoring all the emergency signs. Maybe ignoring was the safer route in the short term, but in the long term, all the bad had finally caught up to me.
But the thing was, it wasn't just Dave… blaming him for everything would be foolish, in all honesty. I was complacent, and acted out, too .
I remembered the last time I saw snow—it was the distant mountains in Alaska, when we had washed up on the beach after our fight with North Wind. It had been far away at the time, but in the present, snowflakes were falling on me.
Unable to control my emotions, tears started to build up in my eyes, and once I squinted, they fell to the ground too, melting the snow around them.
"I'm sorry," I said through a sob.
"Sorry for what, dearest?" Dave said, his head perking up and his posture becoming straight as he continued to look at me, worried.
"I'm sorry I hurt you. I'm sorry I kicked you in between the tentacles. I'm sorry for punching you in the face."
Dave chuckled, "Oh, dearest, that was forever ago!" I felt his eyes on me, and when I didn't react to his light hearted comment, he quieted down for a moment before smiling again, saying, "Look at it this way, I did kidnap you after all. Ha! Maybe it was warranted at the time." He mumbled something under his breath, the only words I being able to register, "rightly so," before he continued his main line of thought. "But… we're beyond that now. We're a team!"
Before I could contemplate anymore, he put his hand on my shoulder, "We're always moving forward, learning… that's the goal, right?"
I turned my head, finally looking over at him fully. His kind smile and positive demeanor was a welcome sight during all I was feeling.
"And… I'm sorry too, Kailey… for what I've done to you. For the pain I've put you through… what I'm putting you through now. I swear, I will fix this."
For the first time since I was reunited with him, the casual poise, the professionalism melted away, and I saw persistence, honesty, worry, even. Through his positive pep talk, and his smiley personality, I could finally see just how much he was holding in. Looking at him in that moment was like looking into a mirror.
I just hoped that this was the beginning of being on the same page with Dave. Maybe things would turn around for us after all…