Author Note:…..it's the end of the week and things are starting to come together….read on

Chapter 08 –A Carnival is Coming to Town

T7S

The new routine of taking care of Kitty Forman became easier as Jackie, Red and Eric all coordinated their efforts. Red usually got up first and made coffee while Jackie dressed and got ready for her caretaker shift. Meanwhile Eric put on his khaki uniform and ate oatmeal or French toast or whatever Jackie had learned to cook. He was first out the door.

Kitty was still in a lot of pain but the daily shots helped and the little bit of physical activity Jackie got her to do was helping. In return, the quality of dinner was improving and Red was smiling again.

Jackie loved her afternoon job as an ambulance dispatcher. At first she thought it was all calls about "Help! I'm having a baby" or "Grandma had a stroke!" but she found that each call was unique and made sure to take the pertinent information for the ambulance drivers. If someone called about a car accident, Jackie made sure she called the fire and police departments.

It was so simple. She liked to talk. She got paid well to talk.

Jackie liked life when it was simple.

T7S

Kelso was pacing the floor in Grooves and kept stopping in front of Hyde, opening his mouth and closing it. After the fourth time, Hyde took off his shades and groaned, "Out with it already."

Like a little kid with a big secret, Kelso whispered, "Dude…..there's a carnival out at Mount Hump. I need someone to go with me. Whatcha doing tonight?"

Hyde blinked. "Seriously. A carnival? How the hell old are you? Five? Carnivals are just a scam man, two headed dogs and waffle cakes to distract you from the evil little carnies that want to take your money."

Kelso crossed his arms over his chest. "Well….what if I don't bring any money?"

Hyde shook his head sadly, "Man….how are you going to buy a corn dog or ride the stupid roller coaster?"

Frowning, Kelso replied, "Huh….I didn't think about that. WAIT! I can have Fez hold my money."

Hyde was warming towards the idea of maybe picking up some random chick at the fair – no names - no regrets….but going with Kelso and Fez? Nothing good could come of that. Besides, who wanted to spend a Friday night with two dweebs?

"Hey man….I thought I heard voices out here. Wait! I did hear voices!" Leo emerged from a corner of the store where a slim selection of opera clashed with country western music. Absentmindedly, Leo stroked his scraggily beard and frowned. "Is it Tuesday yet?"

"What?" Hyde asked.

Kelso replied to Leo, "No dude, it's Friday night! There's a carnival in town and I want somebody to go with me."

Leo's eyes got big. "Hey man, do they have corn dogs? I love corn dogs."

Kelso stepped over and put an arm around Leo's shoulders, "Yeah, and cotton candy and popcorn and dwarves!"

Leo grinned, "I know some dwarves! Well, yeah, but they like to be called little people now."

Kelso chewed on that thought. "So….all those munchkins in Wizard of Oz were just little people?"

Leo laughed, "No….they were midgets – big difference!"

Hyde snorted. Did either man really know the difference between a dwarf and a midget? "Hey, since you both like the same thing why don't the two of you go together?"

Leo's face froze and then he smiled like he had an epiphany. "Why don't we ALL go? Yeah, get Loud Girl and African Elephant Man and the foreign kid. We can all go. Are you sure it's not Tuesday?"

Hyde laughed, "No Leo. It's Friday."

Leo frowned again, "I missed it again. Fatso Burger has a two-fer on Tuesdays."

Kelso grinned, "I'll get you two corn dogs and that'll make up for it."

"Cool." Leo nodded. "I'll meet you there."

Hyde and Kelso looked at each other. "You know were it is?"

The older man shrugged, "If it's anywhere, it would be Mount Hump." He scratched his head, 'Yeah, I think I saw a sign yesterday."

T7S

Jackie pulled off her sweater and set her handbag on the kitchen counter. Hey, Eric cleaned up nice! That was her first thought at seeing the clean sink and no pile of dirty dishes. She had to admit that the week started off rough – Jackie Burkhart being a nurse? That job description would have never crossed her radar! Yet, oddly enough, just making Mrs. Forman comfortable and being rewarded with a smile or a pat on the hand was enough.

Kitty Forman always took the time to talk with Jackie's about her new dispatch job and she knew a lot about some of the emergency calls. Mrs. Forman would say: "If it's a woman in labor make sure you talk to the husband and if he's in a panic just ask for the address and tell him help is on the way." Surprisingly, after two days on the job, Jackie got four labor calls which she handled like a professional!

Tending to Kitty's bathroom assistance responsibility had been worked out to just making sure Kitty didn't slip. Since bending was painful, Jackie always adjusted the temperature of the water. Red was eternally grateful for Jackie's help and Jackie was just as appreciative of having a decent place to live.

She lifted the lid on a pot that was simmering on the stove to find Eric was making spaghetti sauce. Jackie had to admit that his evening cooking skills had much improved from Campbell's Chicken Noodle soup to actual food. Yeah, this was going to work out really good.

Jackie smiled and hurried through the living room and up the stairs to change her clothes.

-o-

Hyde came out of the back office and looked at Leo and Kelso who were thumb-wrestling with Kelso losing (of course). Just for fun, Hyde waited until Kelso whined before collapsing to his knees, groaning to protect his thumb, "You win!" Leo grinned at winning.

Hyde cleared his throat. "Sorry guys, count me out of tonight's party fiesta. I'm keeping the store open until nine and them I'm going over to visit Forman."

Kelso looked bummed but he pursed his lips and made a suggestion. "So…..why don't we go tomorrow and we can take Eric and Jackie AND Fez can hold my money."

Leo nodded, "Maybe we can get the tall red…blonde…pretty girl to come too!" Kelso lifted his eyebrows, "You mean Donna?"

"Yeah. Donna…the smart one. I think it's important that she comes with us."

Hyde frowned, "Why do you say that Leo?"

He shrugged in his army jacked, "Don't know. I had this picture of the sun in my head you know? And the sun is red and sometimes when you look at it…its white – blonde – whatever man, she just needs to go with us."

-o-

Jack the Lad was wearing a silk top hat and matching vest, winking saucily at the chubby girls while smiling at the giggling gaggle of pretties. He loved the women that came to the carnival – all shapes and sizes of them. He touched the brim of his hat and took a bow, "Roll on up and see the main attraction – me…and of course the Rocking Rollercoaster!" His oily hair and menacing dark eyes enticed the lovelies to veer towards the entrance of the nearly dangerous ride. The mechanical monster grinded gears and sparked dangerously but Jack figured that was part of the allure. The faded leather seats of the coaster and the dented lap bar seemed to beckon jeopardy.

As he pushed the safety bar in place, Jack got a nice view of ample teenage cleavage and he smiled. "Keep yer arms in and let's take a ride! Jack smiled at the next pair of passengers and flirted outlandishly, "Have fun ladies and hold on tight….I'll be waiting for you when your ride is over." His wink held a promise and his smile made the ladies giggle. His job was done.

The line for Serena's Bearded Lady Tent was halfway down the fairway and business was looking good. The scent of cotton candy was wafting down the aisles as children pulled their parents hands towards the sticky sweet goodness. Silly men throwing dimes onto a greased plate to win a goldfish for his gal was a big draw this evening.

Yeah, Jack loved the carnival life. The nights were bright and garish and the gypsy caravan family made sure all the visitors had a good time. His main concern this evening was to make sure cousin Eli kept his hands in his own pockets! Eli's greedy fingers drew the sheriff at the last carnival and though Eli sweated through his bandana covered forehead, he was nearly banished from the group. Luckily for Eli, the king liked him and that was the only thing that saved his ass.

Still, Mick Daniels and his family of dwarves ran security to keep local area faux-carnies from ripping off the carnival patrons. The gypsies didn't need Eli to get arrested (again) for stealing when he didn't (but he usually did!).

The young lad made the mistake of looking out at the Fortune Teller's tent and happened to make eye contact with Tatiana and quickly looked away – she was in a mood tonight! The king had yet to show up and all kinds of little jinx's and gremlins ran through the camp. No one wanted to be on the wrong side of Tatiana tonight, especially Jack!

HE walked up and down the fairway with his hand in his front pocket jingling change and smiling at the kiddies holding colored balloon bouquets while they spent all their parents' money. This was a good venue in Point Place. In just one week they nearly tripled the money they made in Springfield.

The grating noise of Oscar's Hurdy Gurdy music hurt HIS ears. Just how many times did Oscar have to play Camp Town Ladies' on that old crank grinder? Jeez, and his freaky little Cebus spider monkey was either holding a tin cup for money or slinging monkey shit at passersby.

HE personally thought Oscar should take his act and hit the road – the only drawback would be the carnival would lose it's ten percent. So HE smiled politely and moved on to the Tilt-a-Whirl to see how many kids upchucked after the ride.

Sometimes the most inane things were the most entertaining.

T7S

Eric had just sat down on the old yellow couch to watch the Friday night movie of the week. Shoveling carcasses was hard work and once he got used to the stench, the job wasn't as horrible as he thought it was going to be. Minimum wage sucked though.

The highlight of the week was when a big Ford truck hit a deer. The office radioed the call and when Eric got arrived, the driver was hauling the dead deer into to the bed of his truck with the comment, "Road kill is good eatin'!"

Still, when he got home, he did need a good shower before changing shifts with Jackie who surprisingly turned out to be a good caretaker. His mom seemed happier since her accident and on Eric's shifts he could almost envision she was polka dancing. Had it really only been a week since he left Africa?

One half hour of alone time later and Eric was ready to start dinner. He rummaged through the cupboards and realized that someone was going to have to adventure to the grocery store – there was slim pickings to choose from. Using his meager skills, Eric opened several cans of tomato paste and following the directions on the teeny label, added water and a splash of Tabasco with the accompanying dash of salt and pepper.

At least it looked and smelled like spaghetti sauce. Opening the refrigerator door he spied some leftover chicken from when Red tried to barbeque under the garage door. It looked cooked…maybe if he scraped off the burnt parts…..yep, chicken pasta for dinner!

He chuckled remembering Donna's attempt at Chicken Pinciotti….was she thinking about him? Was she doing well in school? Why did it seem like such a long time ago? He flew half way around the world just to see her and she was still following through with her plans on going to Madison.

No. Their plans. They were supposed to go together – but then that was another lifetime ago.

T7S

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