The Clown in the Tree

Something in the Air

When we got off the bus, we had about five blocks to go down the main road before we'd get to the community center. Our class was going to start in twenty minutes. I figured we'd get there with plenty of time, with the clown taking such big steps, Gino riding on his shoulders, and I jogging beside them while holding the clown's hand.

With just a couple of blocks left to go, the clown suddenly stopped. He let go of my hand and took Gino down from his shoulders. The gold tassel on his shiny purple hat hung forward as he dropped his head to his chest. His arms hung heavily at his sides.

I moved toward him to try to comfort him when he suddenly popped his head up. His eyes were bulging. I jumped out of the way just as he leapt forward, hitting at the air while darting from side to side, like he was trying to capture some invisible thing. Then he took off walking fast in the direction of the community center, his head raised high and his arms pumping. Gino and I ran after him, but before we could reach him, he veered off the sidewalk and down into a field of tall grass that ran alongside the road.

"No, please come back!" I shouted. "We can't be late for class!"

I thrust our bag of drawing supplies into Gino's arms and told him to wait for us right there on the sidewalk. Gino tried to push past me to follow the clown into the field, but I told him that there were water moccasins in there that slithered in from the nearby canal, and that if he got bitten, he could die and then Mom would go crazy.

The field sloped down into a clearing of dried mud. The clown stood in the middle of it, staring intensely into the air. Then he lunged and smacked at the air, before drawing back and starting over. I looked down and noticed I had burs on my socks. I squatted at the bottom of the hill, trying not to pierce my fingers as I pulled them off while keeping an eye on the clown.

I approached him just as he was preparing to lunge at the air again. I placed a hand on his back. He started, but then stood quiet and still. He closed his eyes and worked to catch his breath. Then I pulled him gently by the arm, and he let me lead him back up the hill and out to the sidewalk, where Gino was sitting on our bag of supplies, staring at the ground with his arms tightly folded.

"Don't be mad at me, Gino," I said, but he just looked into the distance and scowled.