THE MYSTICAL HANSON BROTHERS
It was a hot, June Saturday in 1933. All of Tulsa, Oklahoma seemed to be in attendance of the annual fair at the fairgrounds that lay just outside of downtown. The light breeze barely gave relief from the sun that emblazoned the earth, but Zac Hanson couldn't care less. He was thrilled with the turnout and was grateful for the sun, no matter how much heat it provided. Looking amongst the crowd, all he saw were dollar signs. Lots of dollar signs. It was going to be a good day for The Mystical Hanson Brothers as they performed variations of the old vaudeville act that they used to take on the road. Money was something they needed, and it was something that these people seemed to be willing to spend today.
Zac smiled fondly at the memory of their vaudeville days as he often did when the memory occurred to him. He'd seen much of the United States with his brothers, performed for some of the most prominent people, and stayed in the most lavish of hotels. They were stars in vaudeville, headlining their own act. Money and women couldn't come at them fast enough. Life was good. Life was real good.
And then it came crashing down faster than they could have ever imagined. Between the stock market crash of 1929 and the imminent rise of talking pictures, who needed vaudeville anymore? Who needed to pay the prices for good, quality, live entertainment when they could go sit in a room and watch it on a screen for less? Just like that, vaudeville became an afterthought and The Mystical Hanson Brothers--who were then called The Incredible Hansons--became a forgotten memory to the people who'd loved them the most. Now they were destitute and living in the carnival trailer that took them from carnival to carnival just to make ends meet. Sure, living in the trailer, cramped and uncomfortable, meant they didn't have many bills to pay and that they were free to go wherever they pleased. But it still didn't beat turning on that light switch when you first walked into the sprawling suite of a fancy hotel who had you on their Very Important Persons list. A campfire didn't come close to comparing to central, electric heat.
But today was a good day. Zac could feel it. Maybe, if only for a moment, he'd feel like they were back on top in vaudeville again if at least half this crowd showed any interest in their act. Pondering this, he leaned his shoulder against a light pole at the edge of the fairgrounds, crossed his ankles, and made himself comfortable. Keeping his shoulder-length hair tucked up in his gray, wool cap, it kept the heat off of his neck and the sun out of his eyes and made it easier to view the brunette beauty that had caught his eye and caused him to forget his reminiscing.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the red apple that had been gifted to him by the bearded lady in the trailer that was parked next to theirs, undoubtedly in hopes of something good in return. The best he could do was kiss her cheek and that seemed to be enough, as she blushed and she giggled and Zac could smell the strong scent of the glue that held her beard in place. He'd shaken his head as he'd walked away to observe what kind of crowd they'd have to work with for the day, and now here he was.
Never taking his eyes off of the girl that now had his attention across the green grass, he bit into the apple and chewed slowly, savoring both the flavor of the apple, and the sight in front of him. She was dainty, wearing a white, floral day dress that fell below her knees--or maybe it was yellow. Zac wasn't sure, the sun was beginning to make itself known to his eyes. It didn't matter what color the dress was. She wore it well on her slender form and he enjoyed watching her soft, light brown curls blow lightly off of her shoulders as she reached up and adjusted the hair pins that held them back in response to the assault of the breeze. As he took another bite of his apple and watched her turn her head to address someone speaking to her, he noticed that her hair reached between her shoulder blades. She didn't wear it short with those dreaded finger curls that seemed to be popular with the women nowadays. No. This girl was different. She was graceful, she was simple, and she was classic. And her smile practically whispered to him like secrets through the breeze of how kind her heart and her soul must have been. They didn't make women like her anymore. He just knew it.
Halfway through his apple, he'd watched her laugh, watched her adjust her hair two more times, reach her arm up and wave at someone she knew in the crowd, and smile with her friends at a camera man who was making his rounds. He longed to hear her voice and see the color in her eyes and was subsequently caught off guard when she turned and caught his eye. She looked at him for a moment and his heart pounded in his chest. Keeping his cool, he
flashed a smile and held up a hand at her and, in that quick of a second, she jerked her head back away from him, along with the rest of her body. Zac smiled and took one last bite of his apple. He'd had her in that moment. And that was enough for him.
Dropping his core onto the ground and wiping his hands together, he was interrupted by the sound of his brother's voice. "Dreaming again?" Taylor asked as he stood beside him and shoved his hands in his pockets, observing the crowd for himself. Standing at just over six feet, with blue eyes and short, blonde hair that he couldn't seem to keep out of his eyes, twenty-eight-year-old Taylor was the ladies' man of the group. Each of the brothers had always had their fair share of women, but Taylor always got the most and he knew it and he was proud of it.
"I think I'm in love," Zac muttered, never taking his eyes off of his prize.
"Which one?" Taylor asked.
Zac pointed to her across the grass. "That one. In the flowery dress. The only one over there that doesn't have that disastrous hair."
"That one?" Taylor asked, surprised. "Do you know who that is?"
Zac shook his head. "No, but I intend to find out."
"That's Judge Harlow's daughter."
Oh. Judge Harlow. Judge Harlow was responsible for putting Zac in jail not once, but twice, for stealing bread just after the stock market crash, and then a third time after he got in a fight with a guy he disagreed with. The arrests made headlines as The Incredible Hansons were just barely still a household name and Judge Harlow made no qualms about being proud of his achievement. Zac had hated that man ever since.
"You're kidding," Zac said.
"Yeah. Don't you remember, he paid us to sing at her birthday party just before the stock market crash?"
"No," Zac shook his head in disbelief. "That's her? It can't be. That kid was--well, she was just plain homely--"
"I wouldn't lie to you. That's her, one hundred percent."
"What's her name?"
Taylor shook his head. "To be honest, I don't remember. I try to steer clear of the Harlows, you know."
"Well. She, uh, she certainly grew up, didn't she?" Zac observed.
"Yeah," Taylor sighed. "Yeah, she did." Then he hooked his arm around Zac's neck and led him in the opposite direction toward their camp. "Forget about it. Girls like her don't go for guys like us."
Craning his neck to get one last glimpse of her before they were out of sight, Zac said to Taylor, "That one does. I can feel it. I'm gonna marry that one someday."
Taylor only shook his head.
__________________________________________________________________
Bessie Harlow assumed the position. She was used to this now, and she had her routine down pat. Getting her mother's permission for anything was always a piece of cake. Getting her father's permission, however, required special skill.
She had been quick to assume that once she turned eighteen years old, she would be free to come and go as she pleased without so much as a blink in her parents' direction. She fancied herself a woman now and had expected to have been treated as such. However, it seemed that her father had only shortened her proverbial leash and she was now having to resort to the same begging and pleading that she had to go through at seventeen and even at sixteen and fifteen before that. All she wanted was to go to the county fair with her dear, trusted cousin, Millie, whom she hadn't seen since she'd been away at the university.
"Please, Daddy!" Bessie begged, holding his hand in a vice grip between her own. "I haven't seen Millie in so long! She'll watch out for me, you know she will! Even though I'm eighteen now and I can look out for myself--but you just know she will! It's just Millie, Daddy!"
Bessie always assumed her father could read the deception that was written all over her face every time she spoke of Millie. After all, he was the honorable Judge Harlow and nobody dared lie to him, as legend had it, he could detect a lie in a dead body. Millie was her cousin, three years her senior, and while Bessie's father trusted Bessie in Millie's hands, as safe and trustworthy a person as Millie was perceived to be, the truth was, Millie just liked to have fun. Away from parents and older adults, Millie enjoyed boys, jazz, liquor, and cigarettes, and Bessie found her absolutely fascinating. With her Cousin Millie, there was never a dull moment and never a shortage of surprises.
"Bess, it's Saturday," her father frowned down at her. "Why not wait until Monday when it's not so crowded out there?"
"Because Millie asked me to go today!"
Saved by the front door, Bessie and the judge both watched it open and smiled as Millie Jennings and her raven waves and sharp features breezed through it. "Hello!" She smiled cheerfully. "I've come to whisk my favorite cousin away for candy apples and carnival rides that spin till you vomit!"
Bessie giggled and her father smiled through furrowed brows. "Hello, Millie. How's school?"
"I love school!" She said brightly. "But I'm glad for the summer off!"
Bessie squealed as she left her father to go and hug her cousin. "I've missed you so much!" She said.
"I've missed you, too!" Millie replied. Then she pulled away and examined her cousin, letting out a breath. "I have so much to tell you. I can't wait until we're at the university together next semester!"
The girls squealed again as Judge Harlow's voice broke through. "Candy apples and carnival rides, huh? I guess I can spare a little bit for this lovely reunion."
Bessie ran to her father and hugged his waist tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Then she looked up at him. "You think I could have a little extra for a soda pop, too?"
The judge chuckled and put the money in his daughter's hand. "You girls have fun. Millie, you drive safely and have her home no later than nine."
Bessie's eyes lit up. "Nine? Really?"
"Sure, why not? As long as you stay with Millie, I don't see where an extra hour will hurt."
The cousins grinned at each other and Millie crossed the room to hug her uncle, appreciatively. "Thank you, Uncle Jim!"
"Don't let her eat too much junk," he warned with a wink.
Millie pulled away from her uncle and slapped his arm playfully. "Well then what would be the point in going?"
Excitedly, the girls ran upstairs to Bessie's bedroom to pick out a dress.
****************
An hour or two later, Bessie stood in the middle of the fairground, surrounded by Millie and Millie's best friend, Judith Carter, who was also three years her senior, the same age as Millie. Judith, with her newly platinum blonde finger curls, was Millie's best friend for a reason. After all, Millie needed someone to run around with to sneak around the
prohibition and stay out late with boys. Bessie loved to look at Judith. She looked like a moving picture star or one of those ladies who modeled clothes in catalogs. She was glamorous and all the boys stopped to talk to her. None of the boys stopped to talk to Bessie and Bessie wasn't sure how she felt about that.
Getting lost in conversation that she no longer had anything to contribute to, Bessie found herself starting to fidget. The large crowd of people around them made it difficult to see any of the sights and she was starting to feel the demanding presence of the hot, June sun. She was only distracted long enough for a man with a camera to come around and take her picture with Millie and Judith before the two were back to talking about college boys again.
Looking around out of boredom, something caught her eye and she turned around. Startled, and a little surprised, by the handsome man who looked at her from the light pole he was leaning against, she couldn't help but stare back at him for a moment. He smiled at her. And then he waved. That was something that had never happened to Bessie before and she didn't know what to do next.
Embarrassed and ashamed of herself for not knowing how to act, she turned away from him quickly as her heart beat so fast, she thought it might beat out of her chest. Thinking about it for a second, his broad chest and unbuttoned shirt collar now engrained in her memory, she smiled to herself and felt the blood in her cheeks start to rise. Finally deciding that she shouldn't be rude and that she should wave back, she turned around with a smile and then she frowned. He was gone, without a trace. Disappointed, she looked around to see where he'd gone, but he was nowhere in sight.
Shaking her out of her thoughts, Millie grabbed Bessie by the hand and smiled, an excited twinkle in her eye. "Come on, Bess. The show's about to start!"
Bessie looked confused. "What show?"
"The one we came here for, silly! The Mystical Hanson Brothers act!"
"Who?"
Millie rolled her eyes in frustration. "Come on!"
****************
Millie and Judith dragged Bessie through the crowd and toward the front, close to the stage, as they were determined to get a good view. Bessie was confused. She had never heard of this act and she didn't understand why Millie and Judith were so out of their minds over it. "I thought we were here for candy apples and rides?" Bessie asked.
Millie turned around and smirked at her. "Of course we'll have candy apples and ride a ride or two. But you're eighteen now and I wanted to bring you to see the absolute cutest boys in all of Tulsa."
Bessie's eyes widened. "You brought me to see boys?"
"Oh, don't be such a prude, Bessie," Judith said. "There ain't a thing wrong with looking."
"They put on an entertaining act," Millie reassured Bessie. "Even if you don't think they're cute, you'll still have fun."
As if on cue, three men came through the curtain, dressed alike in wool caps and three piece suits. As the crowd clapped for them appreciatively, they stood side-by-side onstage, the one in the middle opening his arms to greet the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly as the crowd grew quiet. "Boys and girls. You're in for a treat today. Today we will astound and mesmerize you, hypnotize you with our harmonies, shock you with our illusions, and boggle your minds with our riddles. Hang on to your hats, for I am Isaac, this is Taylor, and this is Zac and we are The Mystical Hanson Brothers!"
The crowd clapped again as the brothers started their act and Bessie was already taken in. That Isaac sure knew how to draw you in with his words and, in no time at all, Bessie indeed found herself astounded and mesmerized.
So much went on with their act, moving from one thing to another, that it was proving difficult to keep up, but Bessie was determined to follow along. During a hat trick, Millie managed to shake her out of her trance. "So?" Millie smiled. "What do you think?"
Bessie didn't answer for a moment as familiarity washed over her, going over their names in her head. "Wait a minute...I know who they are. Didn't they sing at my thirteenth birthday party? Weren't they under another name?"
Millie nodded. "Uh-huh."
"And--and that Zac...Millie, he's a jailbird! My daddy's put him in jail at least three times! You brought me to see a jailbird!"
"Oh, so what?" Judith interrupted them. "So he stole some bread and he hit a guy. Times are difficult right now. And maybe the guy deserved it."
Bessie's heart broke. She really wanted to like this act, but the fact that one of them was a jailbird turned her off of it. She was disappointed. And she was ready for a soda pop.
"Bessie, why the face?" Millie asked. "I thought you liked it?"
"Please," Bessie said, shaking her head. "All they know how to do is side-show carnival tricks and con people out of their hard-earned money."
"And make love," Millie added. She and Judith found this overly hilarious and fell into a fit of giggles.
Bessie's eyes widened in shock. "How would you know?"
"Because we know them," Millie said. "Sometimes we...you know, go out with Taylor and Isaac. And we figured, since Zac is the youngest and you are the youngest..."
"He looks like he's older than you," Bessie argued.
"That's not the point."
"Then why don't you two go out with him?"
Millie and Judith looked at each other. "Um, because Judith goes with Isaac and I go with Taylor. We don't switch. They look forward to seeing us."
"Yeah, I bet," Bessie muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.
How dare Millie put her in this position? She knew Bessie better than that. Bessie hadn't so much as held a boy's hand, much less gone anywhere with one. And she certainly wasn't about to do any of the things Millie and Judith did with them. Zac would be severely disappointed with her and she couldn't have cared less.
Having missed a good portion of the act in the midst of their conversation, Bessie looked back up at the stage just in time to watch Zac peel off his suit jacket. Her eyes widened and she blinked in shock as the realization washed over her. No. It couldn't be. Zac was the man who had waved at her from the light pole!
"My," Judith remarked, fanning herself with a fair program. "He certainly grew up, didn't he? What did he spend his time in jail doing, lifting weights?"
Now Bessie had no idea how to react. She fought what came naturally--the way she found him even more handsome up close than he was from far away. And he wasn't just handsome, he was--well, he was just downright dreamy. He was dreamy and her heart raced and he had waved at her awhile ago. Not at Judith or Millie or any of the other pretty girls around her. He had waved only at her.
And he was a jailbird.
"While we change props, Zac will be coming around with the hat," Isaac announced. "Please be generous, we do work only for tips. And if you like what you've seen, feel free to be even more generous. But keep your eyes peeled for his quick hand! We Hanson brothers are always mystical, all the time!"
Bessie grew nervous immediately. Zac would be coming into the crowd. He'd be passing his hat. Feverishly, she opened the small clutch that hung from her wrist and looked at her money. Her father had only given her enough for a snack and a soda pop after she paid for the rides. Well, it was hot that day, so she could use the soda. But she could definitely forego the snack.
It seemed to take forever for him to reach them and this made Bessie more and more nervous. Beside her, Millie and Judith murmured to each other, but Bessie couldn't make out what they were saying.
Before she knew it, it happened. Zac Hanson was standing in front of her. Wow, he was taller than she thought he was. Six feet maybe? Almost? With deep brown eyes and lashes to die for. His lips were luscious and she felt naughty for even thinking about them, and when he smiled she nearly melted into the grass right there. With him standing in front of her, she didn't know what to do, so she froze.
He looked her over, the moment feeling like an eternity. Then he smiled again, and didn't utter a word as he pulled a small, magic wand from his back pocket that was black with white tips on either end. He turned it upside down so that she could examine it and then he twirled it quickly around his fingers, causing the wand to vanish and for a small bouquet of pretty, fake flowers to appear.
Bessie gasped at the surprise, catching herself looking around the bouquet in his hand for the wand that was nowhere to be found. He continued to hold the bouquet out to her and, hesitantly, she took it from his hand as he winked at her, weakening her at the knees. Suddenly, she remembered the money and began to dig in her purse, but he turned on his heel in an instant and moved on to Millie and Judith, passing his hat by them briskly as they dropped their money into it.
As Zac walked back up onstage, Bessie still gripped her prize in wide wonder. She looked around to see if he had gifted anyone else anything and she was interrupted by Millie's and Judith's excited giggles as they bum-rushed her and clung to her arms. "Oh, Bessie, did you see that?" Millie said. "He likes you!"
Bessie looked around, still stunned. A boy had never paid any kind of attention to her before. "I--I'm sure it's just part of his act, it's no big deal..."
"I've seen this act a thousand times," Judith said. "Isaac even taught me a couple of the tricks. And I can tell you, Zac has never given away a set of trick flowers before." Then she grinned slyly at Bessie and Millie. "And I bet he never will again, either."
This sent Millie and Judith into another fit of giggles as Bessie continued to gaze up at the stage. She just couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of this man and apparently he her, because she seemed to catch his eye quite frequently. For the rest of the show, she even seemed to forget he was a jailbird.
Or was it that she no longer cared?
It was a hot, June Saturday in 1933. All of Tulsa, Oklahoma seemed to be in attendance of the annual fair at the fairgrounds that lay just outside of downtown. The light breeze barely gave relief from the sun that emblazoned the earth, but Zac Hanson couldn't care less. He was thrilled with the turnout and was grateful for the sun, no matter how much heat it provided. Looking amongst the crowd, all he saw were dollar signs. Lots of dollar signs. It was going to be a good day for The Mystical Hanson Brothers as they performed variations of the old vaudeville act that they used to take on the road. Money was something they needed, and it was something that these people seemed to be willing to spend today.
Zac smiled fondly at the memory of their vaudeville days as he often did when the memory occurred to him. He'd seen much of the United States with his brothers, performed for some of the most prominent people, and stayed in the most lavish of hotels. They were stars in vaudeville, headlining their own act. Money and women couldn't come at them fast enough. Life was good. Life was real good.
And then it came crashing down faster than they could have ever imagined. Between the stock market crash of 1929 and the imminent rise of talking pictures, who needed vaudeville anymore? Who needed to pay the prices for good, quality, live entertainment when they could go sit in a room and watch it on a screen for less? Just like that, vaudeville became an afterthought and The Mystical Hanson Brothers--who were then called The Incredible Hansons--became a forgotten memory to the people who'd loved them the most. Now they were destitute and living in the carnival trailer that took them from carnival to carnival just to make ends meet. Sure, living in the trailer, cramped and uncomfortable, meant they didn't have many bills to pay and that they were free to go wherever they pleased. But it still didn't beat turning on that light switch when you first walked into the sprawling suite of a fancy hotel who had you on their Very Important Persons list. A campfire didn't come close to comparing to central, electric heat.
But today was a good day. Zac could feel it. Maybe, if only for a moment, he'd feel like they were back on top in vaudeville again if at least half this crowd showed any interest in their act. Pondering this, he leaned his shoulder against a light pole at the edge of the fairgrounds, crossed his ankles, and made himself comfortable. Keeping his shoulder-length hair tucked up in his gray, wool cap, it kept the heat off of his neck and the sun out of his eyes and made it easier to view the brunette beauty that had caught his eye and caused him to forget his reminiscing.
Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out the red apple that had been gifted to him by the bearded lady in the trailer that was parked next to theirs, undoubtedly in hopes of something good in return. The best he could do was kiss her cheek and that seemed to be enough, as she blushed and she giggled and Zac could smell the strong scent of the glue that held her beard in place. He'd shaken his head as he'd walked away to observe what kind of crowd they'd have to work with for the day, and now here he was.
Never taking his eyes off of the girl that now had his attention across the green grass, he bit into the apple and chewed slowly, savoring both the flavor of the apple, and the sight in front of him. She was dainty, wearing a white, floral day dress that fell below her knees--or maybe it was yellow. Zac wasn't sure, the sun was beginning to make itself known to his eyes. It didn't matter what color the dress was. She wore it well on her slender form and he enjoyed watching her soft, light brown curls blow lightly off of her shoulders as she reached up and adjusted the hair pins that held them back in response to the assault of the breeze. As he took another bite of his apple and watched her turn her head to address someone speaking to her, he noticed that her hair reached between her shoulder blades. She didn't wear it short with those dreaded finger curls that seemed to be popular with the women nowadays. No. This girl was different. She was graceful, she was simple, and she was classic. And her smile practically whispered to him like secrets through the breeze of how kind her heart and her soul must have been. They didn't make women like her anymore. He just knew it.
Halfway through his apple, he'd watched her laugh, watched her adjust her hair two more times, reach her arm up and wave at someone she knew in the crowd, and smile with her friends at a camera man who was making his rounds. He longed to hear her voice and see the color in her eyes and was subsequently caught off guard when she turned and caught his eye. She looked at him for a moment and his heart pounded in his chest. Keeping his cool, he
flashed a smile and held up a hand at her and, in that quick of a second, she jerked her head back away from him, along with the rest of her body. Zac smiled and took one last bite of his apple. He'd had her in that moment. And that was enough for him.
Dropping his core onto the ground and wiping his hands together, he was interrupted by the sound of his brother's voice. "Dreaming again?" Taylor asked as he stood beside him and shoved his hands in his pockets, observing the crowd for himself. Standing at just over six feet, with blue eyes and short, blonde hair that he couldn't seem to keep out of his eyes, twenty-eight-year-old Taylor was the ladies' man of the group. Each of the brothers had always had their fair share of women, but Taylor always got the most and he knew it and he was proud of it.
"I think I'm in love," Zac muttered, never taking his eyes off of his prize.
"Which one?" Taylor asked.
Zac pointed to her across the grass. "That one. In the flowery dress. The only one over there that doesn't have that disastrous hair."
"That one?" Taylor asked, surprised. "Do you know who that is?"
Zac shook his head. "No, but I intend to find out."
"That's Judge Harlow's daughter."
Oh. Judge Harlow. Judge Harlow was responsible for putting Zac in jail not once, but twice, for stealing bread just after the stock market crash, and then a third time after he got in a fight with a guy he disagreed with. The arrests made headlines as The Incredible Hansons were just barely still a household name and Judge Harlow made no qualms about being proud of his achievement. Zac had hated that man ever since.
"You're kidding," Zac said.
"Yeah. Don't you remember, he paid us to sing at her birthday party just before the stock market crash?"
"No," Zac shook his head in disbelief. "That's her? It can't be. That kid was--well, she was just plain homely--"
"I wouldn't lie to you. That's her, one hundred percent."
"What's her name?"
Taylor shook his head. "To be honest, I don't remember. I try to steer clear of the Harlows, you know."
"Well. She, uh, she certainly grew up, didn't she?" Zac observed.
"Yeah," Taylor sighed. "Yeah, she did." Then he hooked his arm around Zac's neck and led him in the opposite direction toward their camp. "Forget about it. Girls like her don't go for guys like us."
Craning his neck to get one last glimpse of her before they were out of sight, Zac said to Taylor, "That one does. I can feel it. I'm gonna marry that one someday."
Taylor only shook his head.
__________________________________________________________________
Bessie Harlow assumed the position. She was used to this now, and she had her routine down pat. Getting her mother's permission for anything was always a piece of cake. Getting her father's permission, however, required special skill.
She had been quick to assume that once she turned eighteen years old, she would be free to come and go as she pleased without so much as a blink in her parents' direction. She fancied herself a woman now and had expected to have been treated as such. However, it seemed that her father had only shortened her proverbial leash and she was now having to resort to the same begging and pleading that she had to go through at seventeen and even at sixteen and fifteen before that. All she wanted was to go to the county fair with her dear, trusted cousin, Millie, whom she hadn't seen since she'd been away at the university.
"Please, Daddy!" Bessie begged, holding his hand in a vice grip between her own. "I haven't seen Millie in so long! She'll watch out for me, you know she will! Even though I'm eighteen now and I can look out for myself--but you just know she will! It's just Millie, Daddy!"
Bessie always assumed her father could read the deception that was written all over her face every time she spoke of Millie. After all, he was the honorable Judge Harlow and nobody dared lie to him, as legend had it, he could detect a lie in a dead body. Millie was her cousin, three years her senior, and while Bessie's father trusted Bessie in Millie's hands, as safe and trustworthy a person as Millie was perceived to be, the truth was, Millie just liked to have fun. Away from parents and older adults, Millie enjoyed boys, jazz, liquor, and cigarettes, and Bessie found her absolutely fascinating. With her Cousin Millie, there was never a dull moment and never a shortage of surprises.
"Bess, it's Saturday," her father frowned down at her. "Why not wait until Monday when it's not so crowded out there?"
"Because Millie asked me to go today!"
Saved by the front door, Bessie and the judge both watched it open and smiled as Millie Jennings and her raven waves and sharp features breezed through it. "Hello!" She smiled cheerfully. "I've come to whisk my favorite cousin away for candy apples and carnival rides that spin till you vomit!"
Bessie giggled and her father smiled through furrowed brows. "Hello, Millie. How's school?"
"I love school!" She said brightly. "But I'm glad for the summer off!"
Bessie squealed as she left her father to go and hug her cousin. "I've missed you so much!" She said.
"I've missed you, too!" Millie replied. Then she pulled away and examined her cousin, letting out a breath. "I have so much to tell you. I can't wait until we're at the university together next semester!"
The girls squealed again as Judge Harlow's voice broke through. "Candy apples and carnival rides, huh? I guess I can spare a little bit for this lovely reunion."
Bessie ran to her father and hugged his waist tightly. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!" Then she looked up at him. "You think I could have a little extra for a soda pop, too?"
The judge chuckled and put the money in his daughter's hand. "You girls have fun. Millie, you drive safely and have her home no later than nine."
Bessie's eyes lit up. "Nine? Really?"
"Sure, why not? As long as you stay with Millie, I don't see where an extra hour will hurt."
The cousins grinned at each other and Millie crossed the room to hug her uncle, appreciatively. "Thank you, Uncle Jim!"
"Don't let her eat too much junk," he warned with a wink.
Millie pulled away from her uncle and slapped his arm playfully. "Well then what would be the point in going?"
Excitedly, the girls ran upstairs to Bessie's bedroom to pick out a dress.
****************
An hour or two later, Bessie stood in the middle of the fairground, surrounded by Millie and Millie's best friend, Judith Carter, who was also three years her senior, the same age as Millie. Judith, with her newly platinum blonde finger curls, was Millie's best friend for a reason. After all, Millie needed someone to run around with to sneak around the
prohibition and stay out late with boys. Bessie loved to look at Judith. She looked like a moving picture star or one of those ladies who modeled clothes in catalogs. She was glamorous and all the boys stopped to talk to her. None of the boys stopped to talk to Bessie and Bessie wasn't sure how she felt about that.
Getting lost in conversation that she no longer had anything to contribute to, Bessie found herself starting to fidget. The large crowd of people around them made it difficult to see any of the sights and she was starting to feel the demanding presence of the hot, June sun. She was only distracted long enough for a man with a camera to come around and take her picture with Millie and Judith before the two were back to talking about college boys again.
Looking around out of boredom, something caught her eye and she turned around. Startled, and a little surprised, by the handsome man who looked at her from the light pole he was leaning against, she couldn't help but stare back at him for a moment. He smiled at her. And then he waved. That was something that had never happened to Bessie before and she didn't know what to do next.
Embarrassed and ashamed of herself for not knowing how to act, she turned away from him quickly as her heart beat so fast, she thought it might beat out of her chest. Thinking about it for a second, his broad chest and unbuttoned shirt collar now engrained in her memory, she smiled to herself and felt the blood in her cheeks start to rise. Finally deciding that she shouldn't be rude and that she should wave back, she turned around with a smile and then she frowned. He was gone, without a trace. Disappointed, she looked around to see where he'd gone, but he was nowhere in sight.
Shaking her out of her thoughts, Millie grabbed Bessie by the hand and smiled, an excited twinkle in her eye. "Come on, Bess. The show's about to start!"
Bessie looked confused. "What show?"
"The one we came here for, silly! The Mystical Hanson Brothers act!"
"Who?"
Millie rolled her eyes in frustration. "Come on!"
****************
Millie and Judith dragged Bessie through the crowd and toward the front, close to the stage, as they were determined to get a good view. Bessie was confused. She had never heard of this act and she didn't understand why Millie and Judith were so out of their minds over it. "I thought we were here for candy apples and rides?" Bessie asked.
Millie turned around and smirked at her. "Of course we'll have candy apples and ride a ride or two. But you're eighteen now and I wanted to bring you to see the absolute cutest boys in all of Tulsa."
Bessie's eyes widened. "You brought me to see boys?"
"Oh, don't be such a prude, Bessie," Judith said. "There ain't a thing wrong with looking."
"They put on an entertaining act," Millie reassured Bessie. "Even if you don't think they're cute, you'll still have fun."
As if on cue, three men came through the curtain, dressed alike in wool caps and three piece suits. As the crowd clapped for them appreciatively, they stood side-by-side onstage, the one in the middle opening his arms to greet the crowd. "Ladies and gentlemen," he said loudly as the crowd grew quiet. "Boys and girls. You're in for a treat today. Today we will astound and mesmerize you, hypnotize you with our harmonies, shock you with our illusions, and boggle your minds with our riddles. Hang on to your hats, for I am Isaac, this is Taylor, and this is Zac and we are The Mystical Hanson Brothers!"
The crowd clapped again as the brothers started their act and Bessie was already taken in. That Isaac sure knew how to draw you in with his words and, in no time at all, Bessie indeed found herself astounded and mesmerized.
So much went on with their act, moving from one thing to another, that it was proving difficult to keep up, but Bessie was determined to follow along. During a hat trick, Millie managed to shake her out of her trance. "So?" Millie smiled. "What do you think?"
Bessie didn't answer for a moment as familiarity washed over her, going over their names in her head. "Wait a minute...I know who they are. Didn't they sing at my thirteenth birthday party? Weren't they under another name?"
Millie nodded. "Uh-huh."
"And--and that Zac...Millie, he's a jailbird! My daddy's put him in jail at least three times! You brought me to see a jailbird!"
"Oh, so what?" Judith interrupted them. "So he stole some bread and he hit a guy. Times are difficult right now. And maybe the guy deserved it."
Bessie's heart broke. She really wanted to like this act, but the fact that one of them was a jailbird turned her off of it. She was disappointed. And she was ready for a soda pop.
"Bessie, why the face?" Millie asked. "I thought you liked it?"
"Please," Bessie said, shaking her head. "All they know how to do is side-show carnival tricks and con people out of their hard-earned money."
"And make love," Millie added. She and Judith found this overly hilarious and fell into a fit of giggles.
Bessie's eyes widened in shock. "How would you know?"
"Because we know them," Millie said. "Sometimes we...you know, go out with Taylor and Isaac. And we figured, since Zac is the youngest and you are the youngest..."
"He looks like he's older than you," Bessie argued.
"That's not the point."
"Then why don't you two go out with him?"
Millie and Judith looked at each other. "Um, because Judith goes with Isaac and I go with Taylor. We don't switch. They look forward to seeing us."
"Yeah, I bet," Bessie muttered, crossing her arms over her chest.
How dare Millie put her in this position? She knew Bessie better than that. Bessie hadn't so much as held a boy's hand, much less gone anywhere with one. And she certainly wasn't about to do any of the things Millie and Judith did with them. Zac would be severely disappointed with her and she couldn't have cared less.
Having missed a good portion of the act in the midst of their conversation, Bessie looked back up at the stage just in time to watch Zac peel off his suit jacket. Her eyes widened and she blinked in shock as the realization washed over her. No. It couldn't be. Zac was the man who had waved at her from the light pole!
"My," Judith remarked, fanning herself with a fair program. "He certainly grew up, didn't he? What did he spend his time in jail doing, lifting weights?"
Now Bessie had no idea how to react. She fought what came naturally--the way she found him even more handsome up close than he was from far away. And he wasn't just handsome, he was--well, he was just downright dreamy. He was dreamy and her heart raced and he had waved at her awhile ago. Not at Judith or Millie or any of the other pretty girls around her. He had waved only at her.
And he was a jailbird.
"While we change props, Zac will be coming around with the hat," Isaac announced. "Please be generous, we do work only for tips. And if you like what you've seen, feel free to be even more generous. But keep your eyes peeled for his quick hand! We Hanson brothers are always mystical, all the time!"
Bessie grew nervous immediately. Zac would be coming into the crowd. He'd be passing his hat. Feverishly, she opened the small clutch that hung from her wrist and looked at her money. Her father had only given her enough for a snack and a soda pop after she paid for the rides. Well, it was hot that day, so she could use the soda. But she could definitely forego the snack.
It seemed to take forever for him to reach them and this made Bessie more and more nervous. Beside her, Millie and Judith murmured to each other, but Bessie couldn't make out what they were saying.
Before she knew it, it happened. Zac Hanson was standing in front of her. Wow, he was taller than she thought he was. Six feet maybe? Almost? With deep brown eyes and lashes to die for. His lips were luscious and she felt naughty for even thinking about them, and when he smiled she nearly melted into the grass right there. With him standing in front of her, she didn't know what to do, so she froze.
He looked her over, the moment feeling like an eternity. Then he smiled again, and didn't utter a word as he pulled a small, magic wand from his back pocket that was black with white tips on either end. He turned it upside down so that she could examine it and then he twirled it quickly around his fingers, causing the wand to vanish and for a small bouquet of pretty, fake flowers to appear.
Bessie gasped at the surprise, catching herself looking around the bouquet in his hand for the wand that was nowhere to be found. He continued to hold the bouquet out to her and, hesitantly, she took it from his hand as he winked at her, weakening her at the knees. Suddenly, she remembered the money and began to dig in her purse, but he turned on his heel in an instant and moved on to Millie and Judith, passing his hat by them briskly as they dropped their money into it.
As Zac walked back up onstage, Bessie still gripped her prize in wide wonder. She looked around to see if he had gifted anyone else anything and she was interrupted by Millie's and Judith's excited giggles as they bum-rushed her and clung to her arms. "Oh, Bessie, did you see that?" Millie said. "He likes you!"
Bessie looked around, still stunned. A boy had never paid any kind of attention to her before. "I--I'm sure it's just part of his act, it's no big deal..."
"I've seen this act a thousand times," Judith said. "Isaac even taught me a couple of the tricks. And I can tell you, Zac has never given away a set of trick flowers before." Then she grinned slyly at Bessie and Millie. "And I bet he never will again, either."
This sent Millie and Judith into another fit of giggles as Bessie continued to gaze up at the stage. She just couldn't seem to keep her eyes off of this man and apparently he her, because she seemed to catch his eye quite frequently. For the rest of the show, she even seemed to forget he was a jailbird.
Or was it that she no longer cared?