CUT RIGHT THROUGH ME
To My Bessie,
I hope that my letters will start getting to you in the next day or so. I sent my first one to you nearly four days ago while we were on the road. I want so desperately to talk to you. I would phone you if long distance calls weren't so damned expensive.
I'm so sorry I cursed at you in a letter. Please forgive me. It's just that it's been four days into this trip and I'm supposed to survive four more weeks of it. And it's already felt like four years. I hope you're happy. I hope you're smiling and laughing and spending time with your family and friends. And Scout. How is Scout doing? I know you'll probably be overrun with confusion or joy at the fact that I asked about him, but the truth is I miss that mangy mutt, too. I miss everything. I miss you. I miss the dog. I miss our tree. I miss Burt and the store. I miss Tulsa. I've never been homesick on one of these tours before. I guess I've never been lovesick, either. But this time I'm both and it's a feeling I couldn't match to any other. At the same time it's a physical pain in the chest that I wouldn't wish on anybody while my heart and my body is warmed at the notion that I have you there at home anxiously awaiting my return. There's nothing like homesickness and there's nothing like the love of a good woman and I'm finding it hard to find the happy medium.
Gee, all of that and we haven't even had our first show yet. Our first show begins this afternoon and the guys and I spent all day yesterday rehearsing and all morning this morning setting up. We ran into a bit of a surprise this morning, something we weren't expecting, something I suppose Ike should have caught when he was going over the paperwork with Barney Harper, the guy who runs the outfit. We were under the assumption that we would have our own stage and our own space. We hauled our entire trailer and all of our equipment. Turns out, we're just an act in a ten-in-one, which is a ridiculously large carnival tent that houses ten different attractions at the same time. We're still trying to figure out how we feel about it but we can't help feeling like we've been had. He put us all up in a fancy hotel last night to keep us comfortable, he says, but now we've moved back onto the fairgrounds in our respective trailers and wagons. Same old life, different town, and no Bessie. Anyway, instead of grossing all of our own money, we're only getting a cut of our ticket sales, plus tips. I'm not confident, Bess. We came into this believing we were headliners, that everyone was flocking and paying to see us. Now I'm wondering if we're even going to hold water in ticket sales to the four-legged woman or the half man half woman. We're no stranger at all to life in the carnival. We've done it for several years now. But this time feels different. I feel like we're being put on display more than we are actually being appreciated for our talents. I don't know. Like I said, we haven't even done our first show yet and for all I know all my fears could be hogwash. Here's hoping they are.
Last night we took some time to watch the fireworks display over the Boston Harbor. The fireworks were fantastical with all their colors and shapes and sizes. Tulsa does nothing like it, not even close. I wished and I prayed that I was having a nightmare about us being apart and that I would wake up and you would be there next to me watching the display in real life. But try as I might, I couldn't make it happen. I miss you. God, I miss you so much.
I need to wrap this letter up now. Ike just mentioned something to Tay about giving Barney Harper a piece of his mind and now I have to help Tay talk him down at least until the first half of this day is over. You think I'm hotheaded? You've never seen Ike in action when he thinks he's been bamboozled in a business deal.
I love you, sweet girl. I love you more than the moon loves the stars, I love you more than the plants love the water and sunlight. You are my everything, my entire life, my whole world. Everything I do is for you. I want to make you proud of me.
Yours Forever,
Zac
"Why, Miss Thelma Mae Little, is that you?"
The bearded lady, who certainly did not live up--or down, for that matter--to her name, blinked her eyelashes shyly and giggled as she waved her fingers at Zac.
"Well, now, I didn't recognize you without your beard on. Why on earth would you choose to hide such a beautiful face?"
This made Miss Thelma turn redder than red and she covered her mouth and giggled more as Zac made his way over to her trailer. He was thrilled to see a familiar face, as little as she spoke to him, and she wordlessly held her trailer door open for him with a smile, inviting him into her not-so-small world.
The following morning after Independence Day, the brothers had packed up their belongings and left the hotel after a hearty breakfast and made their way to the fairground. The taste of the good old days was bittersweet, but now it was time to get serious and get to work. They'd spent the morning going through their props and their costumes and finalizing their set list of acts they would be putting on during their small shows. While Taylor and Isaac were busy discussing the size of the tent that was being erected along the midway of the carnival, Zac had tuned them out and stepped outside to get some fresh air.
That was when he spied Miss Thelma and her trailer off to the left. For a large lady with a fake beard, she was a sight for sore eyes. Zac determined that she had a bit of a crush on him back at the Tulsa fair just before he met Bessie because she was always taking care of him; gifting him apples or pies or waving her giggly little waves and batting her eyelashes at him. Zac had never been attracted to the woman, who was at least ten years older than him, but she was a sweet lady and he couldn't help but be nothing but nice to her. He gathered she was probably lonely because he hardly ever saw anyone around her.
He ventured to guess that she weighed close to four hundred pounds and she had a head full of soft, blonde curls that she kept cut short. She liked to wear loose, floral dresses and her fake beard was made of some of the most fantastical fake hair Zac had ever seen. On a rare occasion that she spoke more than a few words, Zac had asked her why she chose to be the bearded lady. Her response was, "Because I'd rather be billed as the Bearded Lady than to be billed as the Fat Lady. Save that role for someone else." Zac's heart went out to her, but he never saw her doing anything to remedy her situation. He supposed she'd finally accepted things the way they were and chose to continue on being bearded and happy. At least he hoped she was happy, anyway.
The inside of Miss Thelma's trailer was as feminine as a travel trailer could get. Yellow, floral valances hung from the windows, photographs and sketches in fancy frames hung from the walls, and most of the cabinetry and table tops had been made from the darkest of cherry wood with intricate carvings around the edges. He only looked around the front living area, which was as far as he had ever gone, but he couldn't imagine the ways the trailer had to be customized to accommodate her. In actuality, to imagine the accommodations nearly made him envious. More room in the trailer he shared with his brothers would be glorious.
"Would you like some breakfast?" She offered him shyly.
"Oh, no, thank you," he smiled. "We had breakfast before we got here this morning."
"Oh. Well, of course. You can have a seat, if you like."
"Absolutely," he smiled at her. Taking a seat in a wooden chair that sat at a tiny table, she smiled and took her own seat in a customized chair across from him. "So where all have you ended up since Tulsa?" He asked her.
"You know it's summer, so we've been busy bees. A new carnival every week. Let's see, we've been to...Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Detroit...and...Louisville. You know, for our country to be in the shape that it's in right now, money comes from the most surprising of places. And when you're only charging people fifty and twenty-five cents a ticket, it seems they're twice as willing to pay it and it adds up. You boys should have come along with us, you're missing out on some good money here."
"Well, um," Zac blushed. "I'm happy that you're making good money this summer. Real happy for you. But I, uh, I met a girl at the fair back home and...well, that's some of the reason we didn't continue on the carnival tour."
"But you're here now."
"Yes. Yes, we are. It's not every day you're offered a headlining spot that ends in New York City."
"You know," she said as she looked around and lowered her voice. "I shouldn't be saying anything. I'm happy to see you, but there are some here that don't seem to be too thrilled about it. I've heard some saying that they don't think it's fair that they work the whole circuit while you boys just swoop in at the last second and score big where the money is the most plentiful."
Zac scoffed and shook his head. "Well. First of all, we were invited, we weren't looking for it. And second of all, it's not like we've been making any money elsewhere. I mean Ike, he...well, he makes a little money here and there and I work in a feed store where I'm lucky to make out with ten dollars a week. So those people can complain all they want to, but at the end of the day, they're still sitting prettier than we are. Why, on the drive here, I slept on the side of the road. In the dirt. So, no. Nobody's better than anybody around here."
"Well don't go saying I said anything. I don't want the trouble. I just told you because I don't agree with them and I thought you should know what they're saying."
"I appreciate it, Miss Thelma." Zac sat back and released a breath. "So, how about you? I don't see you fighting off any gentleman callers this morning."
At this, she blushed under her blonde curls. "Oh, Zac, you know I don't have gentleman callers."
"That's baloney. I probably just missed him before I stepped out my door."
"It's the truth," she said, shaking her head. Then she sighed and her tone grew serious. "It's the truth. I don't have gentleman callers. Not ever. But that's okay, I don't mind. Whenever God decides it's meant to be for me, it'll be. I have faith in that."
"So...you're leaving your relationship status in the hands of God..."
"I have to," she said quietly. "There's no other way."
"Miss Thelma," he said all of a sudden. "Why don't you eat supper with me in the cook tent tonight? The whole time we were in Tulsa, I don't think you once stepped out of your trailer but to open your door for fresh air. Maybe you don't have any gentleman callers because you're not opening yourself up to the idea."
"Oh, no," she blushed, shaking her head. "I don't think that's the reason."
"Well, I do," he stated firmly. "You're a lovely woman with one of the kindest hearts I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. There are tons of gentlemen out there who would be lucky to have you. But they ain't gonna find you if you're hiding. Right?"
She didn't respond as she fidgeted with her fingers on the table in front of her.
"Right...?" Zac pressed her again.
"What are they having in the cook tent?" She asked nearly inaudibly.
Zac scoffed a laugh. "I don't know and I don't care. All's I know is that we don't have to pay for it and that's good enough for me. So. We'll meet tonight during a break and go eat together. Okay?"
"Zac?"
"Yes?"
"What's your sweetheart's name?"
"Bessie."
"That's a lovely name," she marveled shyly.
Zac smiled. "It is a lovely name. And she's a lovely young woman. And I know for a fact that she would love you."
Miss Thelma smiled up at Zac. "I don't have any female friends."
"I know," he said solemnly. "But we're gonna get you out of hiding once and for all and we're gonna change all that. You got it?"
"Okay," she nodded.
"Miss Thelma," he said, his voice softening. "Do you realize this is the most conversation we've ever had? And if you think you haven't got any friends, you're wrong. Because I'm your friend. Okay?"
"You want to be my friend?" She smiled meekly, her cheeks turning red once again.
He sat back in his chair again and rested his hand on the table. "Are you kidding? You have the best beard on this side of the United States, you think I'm not gonna stick around and find out all your secrets?"
At this, Miss Thelma laughed uproariously and her delight tickled Zac to the point where he was cracking up right along with her. It felt good to laugh. He needed this laugh. And, maybe, in a way, he needed Thelma Mae Little, too. Maybe just as much as she needed him.
"Well," he said, standing from the table. "I have to go see about my brothers and set about putting together the setup for our act. It was nice talking to you, Miss Thelma. I'll see you later."
Leaving her trailer and making his way back to his own, he found that Isaac and Taylor were nowhere to be found. He supposed he had that coming to him for having his extended visit next door without letting anyone know where he was going or how long he would be gone. So he took the opportunity to pull out his stationary and write to Bessie in the solitude that he found himself in.
The solitude was short-lived however, as his brothers made their way back into the trailer, Isaac's face red with either heat or anger or both. Zac guessed anger was the stressor as he muttered loudly to Taylor, "That is not what we signed up for, that is not what I was led to believe we were coming up here to do! We are not just some random carnival sideshow freak act, we are legitimate and we can more than stand on our own!"
"Except that we are a carnival sideshow freak act, Ike!" Taylor argued. "That's what it is now. Vaudeville is gone and what was it, anyway? Glorified carnival sideshow freak acts. Live on a big stage. That's it! We're still touring. We're still making money. We're still performing the same acts as we did before. Just...on a much smaller scale."
"But not like this. I've never been to a fair where we weren't featured on the main bill and people didn't come from all over just to see us. I was told we were headlining! I wasn't told that we were just gonna be thrown into some random ten-in-one where we have to compete with nine other acts for our tips! We don't even have our own fucking bally, Tay! I mean, what the fuck are we even doing here?"
Zac's ears perked up at this and he decided, begrudgingly, that it was time to wrap up his letter to Bessie. Things were getting heated in the trailer and Isaac was the one producing all the heat. It was looking like it was going to take both of his younger brothers to cool him off.
"Okay, back up," Zac interrupted them as he folded the letter and packed it into an envelope. "Start from the beginning. What's this about a ten-in-one?"
"That tent," Isaac pointed out the door toward the midway. "The giant one going up out there? Is a ten-in-one."
"I know what a ten-in-one is," Zac deadpanned.
"And we're in it."
Zac furrowed his brow and looked at each of his brothers, trying to take it all in. His brain went a mile a minute, trying to decide if this might be a good thing or a bad thing for them. It could potentially be good. After all, when they did carnivals on their own, they worked strictly on tips. If they were working in a ten-in-one, at least they got their tips and... "Well, we get a percentage of the ticket sales from working in a ten-in-one," Zac offered. "And we don't have to pay for food in the cook tent. And we're sleeping in our own trailer. And we're keeping every dime we make, we don't have to pay anybody else, except to maybe keep up with our costumes and our props. Working in a ten-in-one might not be so bad. I always wanted to see what it was like."
"What it's like?" Isaac said. "What it's like? What it's like is just being a random face in the crowd. That's what it's like. Who the hell's gonna pay to watch us flip card tricks when they can see people with multiple legs dancing the jig or half-naked contortionists turning their bodies in demonic positions?"
"Hey," Taylor interjected. "Even I'd pay to see the half-naked contortionists."
"That's because you're a freak," Zac grinned.
As the two brothers laughed, Isaac ran a hand through his hair. "This is bullshit. I'm going straight over to Barney Harper's trailer right now to give him a piece of my mind--"
"Hold on a minute," Zac said. "You're not going anywhere. You can't go pissing off our main money source before we've even made any. You want him to cut us out of the act now? We don't even have any more money to get back home. We gotta make that money back! Let's just see how we feel about the ten-in-one tonight and if it's not for us then we can discuss our options--before we go bite Barney Harper's head off. Got it?"
_______________________________________________________
If The Mystical Hanson Brothers were rusty, The Incredible Hansons were even rustier. After calming Isaac down, and dressing in their old costumes of black and white suits, they found themselves in front of the ten-in-one before the fair was to open up. The ten-in-one was a tent, larger than life, that sprawled out at one hundred and twenty feet by twenty feet with a banner line at one hundred and twenty feet. Multi-colored flags supported the colorful banner line, holding up a line of large pictorials depicting each act that would appear in the tent. The paintings were overly-dramatized, of course, showing the most violent and provocative versions of these mild acts that could be dreamt up. However, there they were, dead center, as promised, "The Incredible Hansons: Vaudeville's Most Famous Magic Act, Live And In Person!"
"See?" Zac smiled, placing a hand on Isaac's shoulder. "Lookie there. Looks like you got your shorts in a twist for nothing."
Isaac shot a glare at their younger brother and Taylor could only smile. Then he lifted the camera he carried with him and snapped a photograph.
Looking around, he got an idea and he wasn't sure when he would get another opportunity. Spotting a random carny, he dashed over to him and said, "Would you mind taking our photograph? I'll show you where to press the button."
The haggard-looking man looked at Taylor and then glanced behind him at his brothers, looked up at the banner line, and then grinned. "Of course! Just let me know when you're ready."
After posing for their photograph underneath the banner line, it was time to disappear into the tent to prepare for the day. It was already proving to be a hot one that day and he was instantly grateful that the acts were inside under the tent, away from the blazing hot sun. That was already one factor that was better than their last string of performances back home in Tulsa. There, they remained under the blazing sun. So far, he was beginning to enjoy ten-in-one life. Performing under the shade, three square meals for free, ticket percentages plus tips...Isaac was crazy for freaking out the way he did. Being a carnival sideshow freak was the bee's knees.
In the back of the tent, away from the general public, the brothers had been billed the last to perform in the string of ten acts. In a ten-in-one show, it was a revolving show every day, the ten acts running over and over in thirty-minute intervals. That meant that between the hours of noon and ten at night, they performed an average of three shows. At thirty minutes a pop, they had better make it count.
After spending all their time in preparations, they hadn't had any time to meet anyone else connected with the circuit, so they felt slightly awkward amongst the rest of the acts who were already familiar with each other. Soon, though, the fair opened up and they could hear the talker outside the tent with a sword swallower on the bally. "Step right up!" He bellowed. "Today you will see sights that will mystify you, fascinate you, terrorize you, and confound you. Today you will see people swallowing swords and eating fire, you will see a lady with the most impressive beard in the United States! You will see the human form twist its shape in impossible ways and you will see the freak of nature that is the half man half woman! I could stand here and tell you about all of these acts, but you will have to see them for yourselves to believe them! Everything you see pictured is something you will see inside this tent! For one price of fifty cents for adults and twenty-five cents for children, you will be treated to ten amazing acts that you won't see anywhere else, including the most famous and the most anticipated, INCREDIBLE HANSONS! Straight off the vaudeville stage, right here in person, Isaac, Taylor, and Zachary Hanson will astound and amaze you, mystify and confuse you and only leave you wanting more! You've seen them in your hometown, you've pinned their photographs to your walls, now see them live and in person! Fifty cents for adults, twenty-five cents for children will get you right inside for the show! The Incredible Hansons are no holds barred as they make objects disappear into thin air, transform innocent animals into inanimate objects and--oh, and here's the kicker--WATCH THEM SAW EACH OTHER IN HALF! That's right, folks! Fifty cents for adults and twenty-five cents for children gets you nine acts plus The Incredible Hansons for a limited time only! Step riiiiight up!"
Taylor's jaw dropped and he whipped his head around at his brothers. "Shit!" He hissed. "Shit! We don't have that stuff! We don't have any animals and we sure as hell don't have the equipment for a cutting trick! What the fuck is he saying? What the hell are we doing to do?"
"Zac, what time is it?" Isaac asked.
"Time for the show to start," Zac snapped.
Quickly, Isaac mouthed the math in his head. "Okay. We have roughly two hours, two and a half tops, to get ahold of a couple of small animals and a box and a platform. Surely someone around here can help us out, right?"
Taylor's heart pounded with fear. They thought they were prepared. They thought they had this down cold. Except now the talker outside was putting stunts into their act that they hadn't come prepared for. And if they wanted to make the money, they had to please the crowd. It was the last-minute changes like this that Taylor feared the most.
***************
The brothers ran all over the fair, trying their best to think quickly and efficiently on their feet. Taylor ended up having to sweet talk the flamboyant man that ran the petting zoo attraction into letting him have a baby chick and a small rabbit, and Isaac and Zac were busy quickly throwing a wooden box together the size of Taylor. Since Taylor was the thinnest one of the three, he was always the one who curled up into half of the box. He hated being in the box, but the crowd ate it up.
Their first show of the day went horribly, to say the least. Isaac ended up chasing the rabbit as it scampered across their small stage, Zac dropped his hand of cards right in the middle of the trick and the sawing trick almost didn't happen. They managed to fake it just enough to please the audience, but they all knew that they would have to polish it up by the next show.
When the next show rolled around, the brothers were a little lighter on their feet. They knew what they did wrong in the first one and were quickly able to recover. This show garnered a better response and more success than the last and the tips reflected it, as well. There was money to be made at the carnival, much more than any regular job, even during economic times such as this one, you just had to know how to make it, and the Hanson brothers weren't in the mood to pussyfoot around with it. This time their tricks were precise, their scripts were perfection, and the improvisations went over smooth as butter.
After their second show was over, it had grown dark outside the tent. Zac had run off quickly, siting that he had a date, and subsequently left Taylor and Isaac alone. Feeling confident about their final show for the day, the brothers decided to walk around and get a look at their "competition."
The ten-in-one tent wasn't the only destination for sideshow attractions at the carnival. There were plenty of standalone tents with their own talkers and ballys outside of them and the two brothers strolled along the midway to check out the sights. They passed tents with jugglers and mimes, tattooed artists and other types of "freaks of nature," which normally primarily consisted of people with physical abnormalities. But what they noticed, however, was that the tents that contained scantily-clad acts were the ones that had the biggest crowds outside of them.
"This is crazy," Isaac murmured as they stopped in front of a tent containing what was described as "Far Eastern Musical Entertainment." The painting on the banner outside the tent of the dark woman wearing next-to-nothing wasn't fooling anyone, though. "These girlie tents, these ones where they dance and peep and all that other madness--men flock to this shit. I mean, I get it, I understand why, but--but this is where all the sideshow money is going. We don't stand a chance as long as these tents are here. There should be some kind of...some kind of rule against this or something."
"Right," Taylor scoffed, his arms crossed over his chest. "Because the carnival owners are going to turn down a registration fee just so the naked women aren't taking all the regular freaks' money."
"Are they naked?" Isaac asked him, his eyes wide in wonder.
Taylor shrugged. "Probably." As he looked among the sea of suits and hats that waited outside of the belly dancer's tent in front of them, a thought crossed his mind. "You know what? You don't see any women out here."
"Of course you don't. Women aren't going to pay to watch other women dance. It ain't proper, they know that. This is apparently where their husbands come after work."
"But what if the wives had somewhere to go while the husbands are here?"
"They're all in the competition tent, rating each other's apple pies," Isaac murmured flatly.
"No," Taylor mused. "I mean...admit it, women used to pay to see us all the time. They threw themselves at us. I don't need to tell you that."
"True..." Isaac nodded in thought.
"And we're just as good-looking now as we were then. As a matter of fact, time's been damn good to us. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I know I'm handsome."
Isaac smirked and shook his head. "Everybody knows you know you're handsome, Tay. It's not a secret."
"But the point is, all three of us are!" Tay whispered excitedly. "We still got it, Ike! We do! Why, if we just, I dunno, maybe lose the hats and the jackets and the ties...maybe roll up our sleeves a little bit, unbutton the tops of our shirts...women would pay to see us!"
Isaac glared at his brother. "Women should want to pay to see us fully dressed."
Taylor nodded toward the crowd in front of them. "You think these guys are paying to see fully-dressed women?"
Isaac gazed over the crowd in thought as he rubbed his chin in silence. Finally, he side-glanced over at Taylor and raised an eyebrow. "I'm not taking off my pants."
"No way!" Taylor grinned. "But trust me. You want to make money, this is the way to go."
Hooking his arm around his older brother's neck, the two of them made their way back to the tent. Convincing Zac of this wouldn't be quite as easy.
***************
As the brothers walked back to the ten-in-one, they decided they wouldn't say anything to Zac at all. Neither one of them wanted to waste any practice time arguing with him, so they decided the best thing to do was to spring it on him in the middle of the show. There, they knew he couldn't argue and he would be forced to follow suit. They probably risked physical violence with this plan, but they came fifteen hundred miles to make money and, by god, they were going to make money.
Their routine was normal, only changing the order a time or two. They started with basic card tricks from Isaac, a teleporting silk trick from Taylor, and a match trick involving an audience volunteer from Zac. The acts progressed as Isaac pushed himself through a postcard, Zac conjured up a ghost, and Taylor managed to make the baby chick disappear from his hat and into the hands of a "volunteer" he'd found earlier in the day.
As the brothers prepared the stage for the final trick, the sawing of Taylor in half, Isaac and Taylor did as discussed and removed their hats, jackets, and ties. "You'd think that after the sun went down it might cool off in here," Isaac remarked to the audience. "Wouldn't you agree?'
Of course they agreed. They were fanning themselves with hats and hand fans and Taylor watched a few pairs of eyes widen as he made himself comfortable.
Glancing at Zac, he returned their glances with his own glare as he looked his brothers over. When he continued about his work, Isaac and Taylor improvised a little comedy act to get Zac to sway in their direction. By the end of it, Taylor had knocked off his cap and pulled the tie out of his hair and he could tell by Zac's expression that he was ready to wail on him. But Taylor knew he couldn't, so he decided to worry about it later rather than presently.
As the box, which had been much improved since the first show of the day, was wheeled onto the small stage, Taylor placed his hands on his hips and looked it over. "I tell you, ladies and gentleman. I've done this several times today already." Then he paused and rubbed his middle. "I'm not sure how much more of this my poor stomach can take!" After light laughter littered through the tent, he continued. "But I tell you what. Just for you guys, I'll do it one more time. We'll make it a good one. Oh, Zachary, dear brother!"
"What?" Zac snapped as he appeared to dramatically sharpen a blade.
"Why don't you get yourself out of that jacket and make yourself more comfortable? Maybe put a little elbow grease into that saw there. Give these people a real show."
"I can slice you open just as well with the way I'm dressed, thank you," Zac replied. "And not fast enough."
As the audience laughed at what they heard as a joke, Taylor rolled with it. "Bet you could get it done faster if you weren't restricted in that suit. Come on, get comfortable! We're all family here!"
Out of nowhere, Isaac appeared onstage to "help" Zac out of his jacket and tie. Zac tried to hide his bewildered eyes as he rolled with the punches and before he knew it, he was rolling up his own sleeves and shaking out his hair from off of his neck.
Taylor had to admit surprise as Zac continued to roll up his sleeves. His white shirt hugged his chest, his shirt sleeves nearly cut through his tan biceps and his brown hair fell onto his shoulders. Jesus. The feed store had really done something for his physique.
As a young woman was awakened with smelling salts just below the stage, Taylor and Isaac looked at each other, both of them undoubtedly thinking the same thing: all of a sudden, Zac was giving Taylor a run for his money as the group's ladies' man. Their money-maker was now their baby brother and his lumberjack arms.
"Taylor," Zac suddenly snapped. "Get in the box. I'm going to enjoy this."
As the crowd erupted into cheers, Taylor climbed inside the rigged contraption with a smile on his face. Zac would likely launch a full physical assault on both of this older brothers later on that night. But the sound of the cheering sounded exactly like the sound of money and the flashing of a bulb or two gave Taylor yet another idea to consider in order to make more money.
Times had changed since vaudeville. Acts like theirs were becoming a dime a dozen and they couldn't rely on just their names anymore to bring in the dough. They had to work harder. And smarter. And if showing a little arm and selling a souvenir or two was going to help keep an edge on the competition, then so be it. But they would return to Tulsa with this tour having been worth it.
**************
P.S.--After today, and after much thought, I've decided the ten-in-one is a good idea. There are more positives than negatives to the situation and right now I need all the positivity I can get. Sweet dreams, my sweet Bessie. The day is over and I'm headed to bed. I pray that I dream about you. By the way, did I tell you I started saying my prayers? You'd be so proud of me. I hope you're proud of me. I love you, forever and always.
To My Bessie,
I hope that my letters will start getting to you in the next day or so. I sent my first one to you nearly four days ago while we were on the road. I want so desperately to talk to you. I would phone you if long distance calls weren't so damned expensive.
I'm so sorry I cursed at you in a letter. Please forgive me. It's just that it's been four days into this trip and I'm supposed to survive four more weeks of it. And it's already felt like four years. I hope you're happy. I hope you're smiling and laughing and spending time with your family and friends. And Scout. How is Scout doing? I know you'll probably be overrun with confusion or joy at the fact that I asked about him, but the truth is I miss that mangy mutt, too. I miss everything. I miss you. I miss the dog. I miss our tree. I miss Burt and the store. I miss Tulsa. I've never been homesick on one of these tours before. I guess I've never been lovesick, either. But this time I'm both and it's a feeling I couldn't match to any other. At the same time it's a physical pain in the chest that I wouldn't wish on anybody while my heart and my body is warmed at the notion that I have you there at home anxiously awaiting my return. There's nothing like homesickness and there's nothing like the love of a good woman and I'm finding it hard to find the happy medium.
Gee, all of that and we haven't even had our first show yet. Our first show begins this afternoon and the guys and I spent all day yesterday rehearsing and all morning this morning setting up. We ran into a bit of a surprise this morning, something we weren't expecting, something I suppose Ike should have caught when he was going over the paperwork with Barney Harper, the guy who runs the outfit. We were under the assumption that we would have our own stage and our own space. We hauled our entire trailer and all of our equipment. Turns out, we're just an act in a ten-in-one, which is a ridiculously large carnival tent that houses ten different attractions at the same time. We're still trying to figure out how we feel about it but we can't help feeling like we've been had. He put us all up in a fancy hotel last night to keep us comfortable, he says, but now we've moved back onto the fairgrounds in our respective trailers and wagons. Same old life, different town, and no Bessie. Anyway, instead of grossing all of our own money, we're only getting a cut of our ticket sales, plus tips. I'm not confident, Bess. We came into this believing we were headliners, that everyone was flocking and paying to see us. Now I'm wondering if we're even going to hold water in ticket sales to the four-legged woman or the half man half woman. We're no stranger at all to life in the carnival. We've done it for several years now. But this time feels different. I feel like we're being put on display more than we are actually being appreciated for our talents. I don't know. Like I said, we haven't even done our first show yet and for all I know all my fears could be hogwash. Here's hoping they are.
Last night we took some time to watch the fireworks display over the Boston Harbor. The fireworks were fantastical with all their colors and shapes and sizes. Tulsa does nothing like it, not even close. I wished and I prayed that I was having a nightmare about us being apart and that I would wake up and you would be there next to me watching the display in real life. But try as I might, I couldn't make it happen. I miss you. God, I miss you so much.
I need to wrap this letter up now. Ike just mentioned something to Tay about giving Barney Harper a piece of his mind and now I have to help Tay talk him down at least until the first half of this day is over. You think I'm hotheaded? You've never seen Ike in action when he thinks he's been bamboozled in a business deal.
I love you, sweet girl. I love you more than the moon loves the stars, I love you more than the plants love the water and sunlight. You are my everything, my entire life, my whole world. Everything I do is for you. I want to make you proud of me.
Yours Forever,
Zac
"Why, Miss Thelma Mae Little, is that you?"
The bearded lady, who certainly did not live up--or down, for that matter--to her name, blinked her eyelashes shyly and giggled as she waved her fingers at Zac.
"Well, now, I didn't recognize you without your beard on. Why on earth would you choose to hide such a beautiful face?"
This made Miss Thelma turn redder than red and she covered her mouth and giggled more as Zac made his way over to her trailer. He was thrilled to see a familiar face, as little as she spoke to him, and she wordlessly held her trailer door open for him with a smile, inviting him into her not-so-small world.
The following morning after Independence Day, the brothers had packed up their belongings and left the hotel after a hearty breakfast and made their way to the fairground. The taste of the good old days was bittersweet, but now it was time to get serious and get to work. They'd spent the morning going through their props and their costumes and finalizing their set list of acts they would be putting on during their small shows. While Taylor and Isaac were busy discussing the size of the tent that was being erected along the midway of the carnival, Zac had tuned them out and stepped outside to get some fresh air.
That was when he spied Miss Thelma and her trailer off to the left. For a large lady with a fake beard, she was a sight for sore eyes. Zac determined that she had a bit of a crush on him back at the Tulsa fair just before he met Bessie because she was always taking care of him; gifting him apples or pies or waving her giggly little waves and batting her eyelashes at him. Zac had never been attracted to the woman, who was at least ten years older than him, but she was a sweet lady and he couldn't help but be nothing but nice to her. He gathered she was probably lonely because he hardly ever saw anyone around her.
He ventured to guess that she weighed close to four hundred pounds and she had a head full of soft, blonde curls that she kept cut short. She liked to wear loose, floral dresses and her fake beard was made of some of the most fantastical fake hair Zac had ever seen. On a rare occasion that she spoke more than a few words, Zac had asked her why she chose to be the bearded lady. Her response was, "Because I'd rather be billed as the Bearded Lady than to be billed as the Fat Lady. Save that role for someone else." Zac's heart went out to her, but he never saw her doing anything to remedy her situation. He supposed she'd finally accepted things the way they were and chose to continue on being bearded and happy. At least he hoped she was happy, anyway.
The inside of Miss Thelma's trailer was as feminine as a travel trailer could get. Yellow, floral valances hung from the windows, photographs and sketches in fancy frames hung from the walls, and most of the cabinetry and table tops had been made from the darkest of cherry wood with intricate carvings around the edges. He only looked around the front living area, which was as far as he had ever gone, but he couldn't imagine the ways the trailer had to be customized to accommodate her. In actuality, to imagine the accommodations nearly made him envious. More room in the trailer he shared with his brothers would be glorious.
"Would you like some breakfast?" She offered him shyly.
"Oh, no, thank you," he smiled. "We had breakfast before we got here this morning."
"Oh. Well, of course. You can have a seat, if you like."
"Absolutely," he smiled at her. Taking a seat in a wooden chair that sat at a tiny table, she smiled and took her own seat in a customized chair across from him. "So where all have you ended up since Tulsa?" He asked her.
"You know it's summer, so we've been busy bees. A new carnival every week. Let's see, we've been to...Cincinnati, Indianapolis, Detroit...and...Louisville. You know, for our country to be in the shape that it's in right now, money comes from the most surprising of places. And when you're only charging people fifty and twenty-five cents a ticket, it seems they're twice as willing to pay it and it adds up. You boys should have come along with us, you're missing out on some good money here."
"Well, um," Zac blushed. "I'm happy that you're making good money this summer. Real happy for you. But I, uh, I met a girl at the fair back home and...well, that's some of the reason we didn't continue on the carnival tour."
"But you're here now."
"Yes. Yes, we are. It's not every day you're offered a headlining spot that ends in New York City."
"You know," she said as she looked around and lowered her voice. "I shouldn't be saying anything. I'm happy to see you, but there are some here that don't seem to be too thrilled about it. I've heard some saying that they don't think it's fair that they work the whole circuit while you boys just swoop in at the last second and score big where the money is the most plentiful."
Zac scoffed and shook his head. "Well. First of all, we were invited, we weren't looking for it. And second of all, it's not like we've been making any money elsewhere. I mean Ike, he...well, he makes a little money here and there and I work in a feed store where I'm lucky to make out with ten dollars a week. So those people can complain all they want to, but at the end of the day, they're still sitting prettier than we are. Why, on the drive here, I slept on the side of the road. In the dirt. So, no. Nobody's better than anybody around here."
"Well don't go saying I said anything. I don't want the trouble. I just told you because I don't agree with them and I thought you should know what they're saying."
"I appreciate it, Miss Thelma." Zac sat back and released a breath. "So, how about you? I don't see you fighting off any gentleman callers this morning."
At this, she blushed under her blonde curls. "Oh, Zac, you know I don't have gentleman callers."
"That's baloney. I probably just missed him before I stepped out my door."
"It's the truth," she said, shaking her head. Then she sighed and her tone grew serious. "It's the truth. I don't have gentleman callers. Not ever. But that's okay, I don't mind. Whenever God decides it's meant to be for me, it'll be. I have faith in that."
"So...you're leaving your relationship status in the hands of God..."
"I have to," she said quietly. "There's no other way."
"Miss Thelma," he said all of a sudden. "Why don't you eat supper with me in the cook tent tonight? The whole time we were in Tulsa, I don't think you once stepped out of your trailer but to open your door for fresh air. Maybe you don't have any gentleman callers because you're not opening yourself up to the idea."
"Oh, no," she blushed, shaking her head. "I don't think that's the reason."
"Well, I do," he stated firmly. "You're a lovely woman with one of the kindest hearts I've ever had the pleasure of meeting. There are tons of gentlemen out there who would be lucky to have you. But they ain't gonna find you if you're hiding. Right?"
She didn't respond as she fidgeted with her fingers on the table in front of her.
"Right...?" Zac pressed her again.
"What are they having in the cook tent?" She asked nearly inaudibly.
Zac scoffed a laugh. "I don't know and I don't care. All's I know is that we don't have to pay for it and that's good enough for me. So. We'll meet tonight during a break and go eat together. Okay?"
"Zac?"
"Yes?"
"What's your sweetheart's name?"
"Bessie."
"That's a lovely name," she marveled shyly.
Zac smiled. "It is a lovely name. And she's a lovely young woman. And I know for a fact that she would love you."
Miss Thelma smiled up at Zac. "I don't have any female friends."
"I know," he said solemnly. "But we're gonna get you out of hiding once and for all and we're gonna change all that. You got it?"
"Okay," she nodded.
"Miss Thelma," he said, his voice softening. "Do you realize this is the most conversation we've ever had? And if you think you haven't got any friends, you're wrong. Because I'm your friend. Okay?"
"You want to be my friend?" She smiled meekly, her cheeks turning red once again.
He sat back in his chair again and rested his hand on the table. "Are you kidding? You have the best beard on this side of the United States, you think I'm not gonna stick around and find out all your secrets?"
At this, Miss Thelma laughed uproariously and her delight tickled Zac to the point where he was cracking up right along with her. It felt good to laugh. He needed this laugh. And, maybe, in a way, he needed Thelma Mae Little, too. Maybe just as much as she needed him.
"Well," he said, standing from the table. "I have to go see about my brothers and set about putting together the setup for our act. It was nice talking to you, Miss Thelma. I'll see you later."
Leaving her trailer and making his way back to his own, he found that Isaac and Taylor were nowhere to be found. He supposed he had that coming to him for having his extended visit next door without letting anyone know where he was going or how long he would be gone. So he took the opportunity to pull out his stationary and write to Bessie in the solitude that he found himself in.
The solitude was short-lived however, as his brothers made their way back into the trailer, Isaac's face red with either heat or anger or both. Zac guessed anger was the stressor as he muttered loudly to Taylor, "That is not what we signed up for, that is not what I was led to believe we were coming up here to do! We are not just some random carnival sideshow freak act, we are legitimate and we can more than stand on our own!"
"Except that we are a carnival sideshow freak act, Ike!" Taylor argued. "That's what it is now. Vaudeville is gone and what was it, anyway? Glorified carnival sideshow freak acts. Live on a big stage. That's it! We're still touring. We're still making money. We're still performing the same acts as we did before. Just...on a much smaller scale."
"But not like this. I've never been to a fair where we weren't featured on the main bill and people didn't come from all over just to see us. I was told we were headlining! I wasn't told that we were just gonna be thrown into some random ten-in-one where we have to compete with nine other acts for our tips! We don't even have our own fucking bally, Tay! I mean, what the fuck are we even doing here?"
Zac's ears perked up at this and he decided, begrudgingly, that it was time to wrap up his letter to Bessie. Things were getting heated in the trailer and Isaac was the one producing all the heat. It was looking like it was going to take both of his younger brothers to cool him off.
"Okay, back up," Zac interrupted them as he folded the letter and packed it into an envelope. "Start from the beginning. What's this about a ten-in-one?"
"That tent," Isaac pointed out the door toward the midway. "The giant one going up out there? Is a ten-in-one."
"I know what a ten-in-one is," Zac deadpanned.
"And we're in it."
Zac furrowed his brow and looked at each of his brothers, trying to take it all in. His brain went a mile a minute, trying to decide if this might be a good thing or a bad thing for them. It could potentially be good. After all, when they did carnivals on their own, they worked strictly on tips. If they were working in a ten-in-one, at least they got their tips and... "Well, we get a percentage of the ticket sales from working in a ten-in-one," Zac offered. "And we don't have to pay for food in the cook tent. And we're sleeping in our own trailer. And we're keeping every dime we make, we don't have to pay anybody else, except to maybe keep up with our costumes and our props. Working in a ten-in-one might not be so bad. I always wanted to see what it was like."
"What it's like?" Isaac said. "What it's like? What it's like is just being a random face in the crowd. That's what it's like. Who the hell's gonna pay to watch us flip card tricks when they can see people with multiple legs dancing the jig or half-naked contortionists turning their bodies in demonic positions?"
"Hey," Taylor interjected. "Even I'd pay to see the half-naked contortionists."
"That's because you're a freak," Zac grinned.
As the two brothers laughed, Isaac ran a hand through his hair. "This is bullshit. I'm going straight over to Barney Harper's trailer right now to give him a piece of my mind--"
"Hold on a minute," Zac said. "You're not going anywhere. You can't go pissing off our main money source before we've even made any. You want him to cut us out of the act now? We don't even have any more money to get back home. We gotta make that money back! Let's just see how we feel about the ten-in-one tonight and if it's not for us then we can discuss our options--before we go bite Barney Harper's head off. Got it?"
_______________________________________________________
If The Mystical Hanson Brothers were rusty, The Incredible Hansons were even rustier. After calming Isaac down, and dressing in their old costumes of black and white suits, they found themselves in front of the ten-in-one before the fair was to open up. The ten-in-one was a tent, larger than life, that sprawled out at one hundred and twenty feet by twenty feet with a banner line at one hundred and twenty feet. Multi-colored flags supported the colorful banner line, holding up a line of large pictorials depicting each act that would appear in the tent. The paintings were overly-dramatized, of course, showing the most violent and provocative versions of these mild acts that could be dreamt up. However, there they were, dead center, as promised, "The Incredible Hansons: Vaudeville's Most Famous Magic Act, Live And In Person!"
"See?" Zac smiled, placing a hand on Isaac's shoulder. "Lookie there. Looks like you got your shorts in a twist for nothing."
Isaac shot a glare at their younger brother and Taylor could only smile. Then he lifted the camera he carried with him and snapped a photograph.
Looking around, he got an idea and he wasn't sure when he would get another opportunity. Spotting a random carny, he dashed over to him and said, "Would you mind taking our photograph? I'll show you where to press the button."
The haggard-looking man looked at Taylor and then glanced behind him at his brothers, looked up at the banner line, and then grinned. "Of course! Just let me know when you're ready."
After posing for their photograph underneath the banner line, it was time to disappear into the tent to prepare for the day. It was already proving to be a hot one that day and he was instantly grateful that the acts were inside under the tent, away from the blazing hot sun. That was already one factor that was better than their last string of performances back home in Tulsa. There, they remained under the blazing sun. So far, he was beginning to enjoy ten-in-one life. Performing under the shade, three square meals for free, ticket percentages plus tips...Isaac was crazy for freaking out the way he did. Being a carnival sideshow freak was the bee's knees.
In the back of the tent, away from the general public, the brothers had been billed the last to perform in the string of ten acts. In a ten-in-one show, it was a revolving show every day, the ten acts running over and over in thirty-minute intervals. That meant that between the hours of noon and ten at night, they performed an average of three shows. At thirty minutes a pop, they had better make it count.
After spending all their time in preparations, they hadn't had any time to meet anyone else connected with the circuit, so they felt slightly awkward amongst the rest of the acts who were already familiar with each other. Soon, though, the fair opened up and they could hear the talker outside the tent with a sword swallower on the bally. "Step right up!" He bellowed. "Today you will see sights that will mystify you, fascinate you, terrorize you, and confound you. Today you will see people swallowing swords and eating fire, you will see a lady with the most impressive beard in the United States! You will see the human form twist its shape in impossible ways and you will see the freak of nature that is the half man half woman! I could stand here and tell you about all of these acts, but you will have to see them for yourselves to believe them! Everything you see pictured is something you will see inside this tent! For one price of fifty cents for adults and twenty-five cents for children, you will be treated to ten amazing acts that you won't see anywhere else, including the most famous and the most anticipated, INCREDIBLE HANSONS! Straight off the vaudeville stage, right here in person, Isaac, Taylor, and Zachary Hanson will astound and amaze you, mystify and confuse you and only leave you wanting more! You've seen them in your hometown, you've pinned their photographs to your walls, now see them live and in person! Fifty cents for adults, twenty-five cents for children will get you right inside for the show! The Incredible Hansons are no holds barred as they make objects disappear into thin air, transform innocent animals into inanimate objects and--oh, and here's the kicker--WATCH THEM SAW EACH OTHER IN HALF! That's right, folks! Fifty cents for adults and twenty-five cents for children gets you nine acts plus The Incredible Hansons for a limited time only! Step riiiiight up!"
Taylor's jaw dropped and he whipped his head around at his brothers. "Shit!" He hissed. "Shit! We don't have that stuff! We don't have any animals and we sure as hell don't have the equipment for a cutting trick! What the fuck is he saying? What the hell are we doing to do?"
"Zac, what time is it?" Isaac asked.
"Time for the show to start," Zac snapped.
Quickly, Isaac mouthed the math in his head. "Okay. We have roughly two hours, two and a half tops, to get ahold of a couple of small animals and a box and a platform. Surely someone around here can help us out, right?"
Taylor's heart pounded with fear. They thought they were prepared. They thought they had this down cold. Except now the talker outside was putting stunts into their act that they hadn't come prepared for. And if they wanted to make the money, they had to please the crowd. It was the last-minute changes like this that Taylor feared the most.
***************
The brothers ran all over the fair, trying their best to think quickly and efficiently on their feet. Taylor ended up having to sweet talk the flamboyant man that ran the petting zoo attraction into letting him have a baby chick and a small rabbit, and Isaac and Zac were busy quickly throwing a wooden box together the size of Taylor. Since Taylor was the thinnest one of the three, he was always the one who curled up into half of the box. He hated being in the box, but the crowd ate it up.
Their first show of the day went horribly, to say the least. Isaac ended up chasing the rabbit as it scampered across their small stage, Zac dropped his hand of cards right in the middle of the trick and the sawing trick almost didn't happen. They managed to fake it just enough to please the audience, but they all knew that they would have to polish it up by the next show.
When the next show rolled around, the brothers were a little lighter on their feet. They knew what they did wrong in the first one and were quickly able to recover. This show garnered a better response and more success than the last and the tips reflected it, as well. There was money to be made at the carnival, much more than any regular job, even during economic times such as this one, you just had to know how to make it, and the Hanson brothers weren't in the mood to pussyfoot around with it. This time their tricks were precise, their scripts were perfection, and the improvisations went over smooth as butter.
After their second show was over, it had grown dark outside the tent. Zac had run off quickly, siting that he had a date, and subsequently left Taylor and Isaac alone. Feeling confident about their final show for the day, the brothers decided to walk around and get a look at their "competition."
The ten-in-one tent wasn't the only destination for sideshow attractions at the carnival. There were plenty of standalone tents with their own talkers and ballys outside of them and the two brothers strolled along the midway to check out the sights. They passed tents with jugglers and mimes, tattooed artists and other types of "freaks of nature," which normally primarily consisted of people with physical abnormalities. But what they noticed, however, was that the tents that contained scantily-clad acts were the ones that had the biggest crowds outside of them.
"This is crazy," Isaac murmured as they stopped in front of a tent containing what was described as "Far Eastern Musical Entertainment." The painting on the banner outside the tent of the dark woman wearing next-to-nothing wasn't fooling anyone, though. "These girlie tents, these ones where they dance and peep and all that other madness--men flock to this shit. I mean, I get it, I understand why, but--but this is where all the sideshow money is going. We don't stand a chance as long as these tents are here. There should be some kind of...some kind of rule against this or something."
"Right," Taylor scoffed, his arms crossed over his chest. "Because the carnival owners are going to turn down a registration fee just so the naked women aren't taking all the regular freaks' money."
"Are they naked?" Isaac asked him, his eyes wide in wonder.
Taylor shrugged. "Probably." As he looked among the sea of suits and hats that waited outside of the belly dancer's tent in front of them, a thought crossed his mind. "You know what? You don't see any women out here."
"Of course you don't. Women aren't going to pay to watch other women dance. It ain't proper, they know that. This is apparently where their husbands come after work."
"But what if the wives had somewhere to go while the husbands are here?"
"They're all in the competition tent, rating each other's apple pies," Isaac murmured flatly.
"No," Taylor mused. "I mean...admit it, women used to pay to see us all the time. They threw themselves at us. I don't need to tell you that."
"True..." Isaac nodded in thought.
"And we're just as good-looking now as we were then. As a matter of fact, time's been damn good to us. I'm not ashamed to admit it. I know I'm handsome."
Isaac smirked and shook his head. "Everybody knows you know you're handsome, Tay. It's not a secret."
"But the point is, all three of us are!" Tay whispered excitedly. "We still got it, Ike! We do! Why, if we just, I dunno, maybe lose the hats and the jackets and the ties...maybe roll up our sleeves a little bit, unbutton the tops of our shirts...women would pay to see us!"
Isaac glared at his brother. "Women should want to pay to see us fully dressed."
Taylor nodded toward the crowd in front of them. "You think these guys are paying to see fully-dressed women?"
Isaac gazed over the crowd in thought as he rubbed his chin in silence. Finally, he side-glanced over at Taylor and raised an eyebrow. "I'm not taking off my pants."
"No way!" Taylor grinned. "But trust me. You want to make money, this is the way to go."
Hooking his arm around his older brother's neck, the two of them made their way back to the tent. Convincing Zac of this wouldn't be quite as easy.
***************
As the brothers walked back to the ten-in-one, they decided they wouldn't say anything to Zac at all. Neither one of them wanted to waste any practice time arguing with him, so they decided the best thing to do was to spring it on him in the middle of the show. There, they knew he couldn't argue and he would be forced to follow suit. They probably risked physical violence with this plan, but they came fifteen hundred miles to make money and, by god, they were going to make money.
Their routine was normal, only changing the order a time or two. They started with basic card tricks from Isaac, a teleporting silk trick from Taylor, and a match trick involving an audience volunteer from Zac. The acts progressed as Isaac pushed himself through a postcard, Zac conjured up a ghost, and Taylor managed to make the baby chick disappear from his hat and into the hands of a "volunteer" he'd found earlier in the day.
As the brothers prepared the stage for the final trick, the sawing of Taylor in half, Isaac and Taylor did as discussed and removed their hats, jackets, and ties. "You'd think that after the sun went down it might cool off in here," Isaac remarked to the audience. "Wouldn't you agree?'
Of course they agreed. They were fanning themselves with hats and hand fans and Taylor watched a few pairs of eyes widen as he made himself comfortable.
Glancing at Zac, he returned their glances with his own glare as he looked his brothers over. When he continued about his work, Isaac and Taylor improvised a little comedy act to get Zac to sway in their direction. By the end of it, Taylor had knocked off his cap and pulled the tie out of his hair and he could tell by Zac's expression that he was ready to wail on him. But Taylor knew he couldn't, so he decided to worry about it later rather than presently.
As the box, which had been much improved since the first show of the day, was wheeled onto the small stage, Taylor placed his hands on his hips and looked it over. "I tell you, ladies and gentleman. I've done this several times today already." Then he paused and rubbed his middle. "I'm not sure how much more of this my poor stomach can take!" After light laughter littered through the tent, he continued. "But I tell you what. Just for you guys, I'll do it one more time. We'll make it a good one. Oh, Zachary, dear brother!"
"What?" Zac snapped as he appeared to dramatically sharpen a blade.
"Why don't you get yourself out of that jacket and make yourself more comfortable? Maybe put a little elbow grease into that saw there. Give these people a real show."
"I can slice you open just as well with the way I'm dressed, thank you," Zac replied. "And not fast enough."
As the audience laughed at what they heard as a joke, Taylor rolled with it. "Bet you could get it done faster if you weren't restricted in that suit. Come on, get comfortable! We're all family here!"
Out of nowhere, Isaac appeared onstage to "help" Zac out of his jacket and tie. Zac tried to hide his bewildered eyes as he rolled with the punches and before he knew it, he was rolling up his own sleeves and shaking out his hair from off of his neck.
Taylor had to admit surprise as Zac continued to roll up his sleeves. His white shirt hugged his chest, his shirt sleeves nearly cut through his tan biceps and his brown hair fell onto his shoulders. Jesus. The feed store had really done something for his physique.
As a young woman was awakened with smelling salts just below the stage, Taylor and Isaac looked at each other, both of them undoubtedly thinking the same thing: all of a sudden, Zac was giving Taylor a run for his money as the group's ladies' man. Their money-maker was now their baby brother and his lumberjack arms.
"Taylor," Zac suddenly snapped. "Get in the box. I'm going to enjoy this."
As the crowd erupted into cheers, Taylor climbed inside the rigged contraption with a smile on his face. Zac would likely launch a full physical assault on both of this older brothers later on that night. But the sound of the cheering sounded exactly like the sound of money and the flashing of a bulb or two gave Taylor yet another idea to consider in order to make more money.
Times had changed since vaudeville. Acts like theirs were becoming a dime a dozen and they couldn't rely on just their names anymore to bring in the dough. They had to work harder. And smarter. And if showing a little arm and selling a souvenir or two was going to help keep an edge on the competition, then so be it. But they would return to Tulsa with this tour having been worth it.
**************
P.S.--After today, and after much thought, I've decided the ten-in-one is a good idea. There are more positives than negatives to the situation and right now I need all the positivity I can get. Sweet dreams, my sweet Bessie. The day is over and I'm headed to bed. I pray that I dream about you. By the way, did I tell you I started saying my prayers? You'd be so proud of me. I hope you're proud of me. I love you, forever and always.