Tiger's Circus

Chapter 6: Lisa's Act

After the excitement of the circus, it was hard to believe that the day wasn't over. But for us circus folk the night went on. Bob, Bradley and I cleaned and locked up the products in the merch tent. As we cleaned up I tried to bring up the show, but they weren't interested. After a couple of attempts, Bob told me to shut up. I told him he was an arrogant little snot.

Then we headed back to the cafeteria in silence. I couldn't understand it. They had let me go see the show because they liked it, but they didn't want to hear me brag about their friends. Bob and Bradley were weird. I was actually glad to see Keith when we entered the cafeteria. He waved and actually got out of line to meet us.

"Hey," I said, "Nice performance."

"Eh, I mucked up a couple twists, but I'm glad you liked it," he replied with a shrug. Of course, the guy couldn't handle a compliment. "I'm surprised you saw it though," he said. "Weren't you supposed to be manning the merch tent tonight?" At this, I looked at Bob and Bradley, but they were no help.

"These two thought I should go," I gestured at the cousins before walking into line. Keith and the boys followed. "It's been such a long time. Everyone has improved so much. You and Cathleen were really something. Where is your sister anyway? I've been hoping to catch up."

Keith eyed me before replying, "Oh, she's still in the dressing room. She should come in with Matt later if I had to guess."

"Matt?"

"Lupin the animal trainer is just a stage name," Bradley said rather helpfully.

"A corny one," Bob added. Keith's shoulder hunched a bit with a laugh, but his face stayed neutral.

We grabbed our food. It was stir-fry tonight and everything was still steaming hot. There were several choices, but I got beef with teriyaki glaze and lots of sticky rice. Tomorrow I'd start worrying about vegetables, but for my first night, I was gonna enjoy my meat and potatoes or rice in this case.

When I left the line, I made to sit by myself, but Keith told me Cathleen would come to his table. I wasn't sure I believed him, but I followed him to find out. Daniel was already sitting there with Jeffrey alone at the table. They nodded at us as we all sat down.

"Rare for you to sit with us, Keith," Daniel said.

"Well it isn't every day the infamous Kelsey Hayes returns to the circus," Keith replied jauntily.

Everyone at the table was awkward for a moment until Keith laughed. Daniel laughed more nervously.

"So, Kelsey says she liked our show," Keith added.

"Yeah!" I jumped in. "It was spectacular." I waved my hands as I talked about the acrobatics, the dogs, the clown skit, and tiger bits. Jeffery and Daniel seemed to swell with pride as I talked about each act in detail excitedly. Even Keith seemed more cocky than usual.

When I talked about the tiger though, people changed. There Jeffery looked uncomfortable and Keith's playful eyes lost their sparkle. I didn't dwell on it. There were many things about that act I couldn't explain, too many things. I hoped that Matt would be able to answer some of them.

Midway through dinner, the conversation had shifted to day to day matters and I had finished my food. I was just about to leave when Cathleen showed up with Matt.

Seeing him up close, Matt looked very plain and oddly familiar. He was tall, but that was the manliest thing about him. He had a lame greased haircut that looked like it belonged to the fifties and his large brown eyes had an anxious look similar to Bradley's. It was hard to believe this guy could train any animal, let alone a tiger. He just looked too meek. He and Cathleen sat down.