The Guild of Fallen Clowns (44 page)

“But I saw him. He called me Stinky. Why
would I want to remember that?” Lyle said.

“Look, Stinky.” Alan grinned. “You can’t
choose what to remember, but somewhere deep inside you embrace your
father’s nickname for you. You unconsciously reflected it through
Poppy. But it wasn’t really him, okay?”

“Okay, it wasn’t my father.” Lyle looked at
the figure in Alan’s hand. “Can I have it back?”

“No! These things aren’t meant to exist. We
needed its help, but now we have to destroy it.” Alan raised it
over the stone table.

“Wait!” Lyle cried out. “Are there more of
those Spankys out there?”

Alan lowered the figure. “Well, yes, there’s
one more I need to destroy.”

“Let me help. Let me and my dad, or my fake
dad, help take out the other one. You saw how tough my dad was. Let
us help again.”

“I don’t think so, Lyle. It’s too dangerous
and I already caused enough trouble for you. Besides, your Spanky
only had one leg. We might not be so lucky with the next one.”

“Listen, Booger!” Lyle said. He smiled and
continued, “I’m going to help and that’s that.”

Alan nodded with a smile. “Okay, if I let
you help, you have to agree to do it my way. Are you good with
that?”

Lyle jumped to his feet. “Whatever you say.
You’re the boss, dude. Let me go with you and I’ll even agree to be
your sidekick if that’s what you want.” Pumped full of adrenaline,
he stood in front of Alan and slapped both hands down on his
shoulders. “Now, let’s kick some clown ass, Boogeyman!”

Alan rolled his shoulders and winced from
Lyle’s overly eager contact. “Boogy!” he corrected. Then Alan
turned and rushed toward the door. “Meet me at my car in…three
minutes.” The door slammed behind him.

Lyle jumped up and pumped his fists. He
looked down at the shattered remains of Spanky scattered around the
room. The head from the figure remained intact in the center of the
room, facing him. Lyle grinned, placed his foot on top of the small
face, and ground it into the carpet as he would with the last bit
of fire from the butt of a discarded cigarette.

*****

Walking into the carnival in full cop attire
would draw unwanted attention to his covert mission to wait for his
brother outside the Labyrinth of Haunted Mirrors. Standing at the
open trunk of his police cruiser, Dale removed the gun from his
holster and tucked it in the back of his pants. Then he removed the
holster and placed it in the trunk. From inside a canvas bag he
removed a red windbreaker and covered the top half of his
uniform.

To complete the disguise, he removed his
black shoes and replaced them with a pair of sneakers. The black
satin stripes on his black pants were the only thing he wasn’t able
to hide, but it would have to do. He closed the trunk and zipped up
his jacket on the way to the entrance.

His cover-up appeared to be a success, as
nobody took a second look on his way to the Labyrinth. He stood
across the midway, tucked from view at the narrow opening between a
funnel cake concession stand and the ring toss booth.

After five minutes of waiting, he saw the
door to the Labyrinth open. Geno stepped out carrying a half-full
trash bag. He looked around and then leaned the bag against the
building to the side of the door before returning inside. The door
remained open.

It happened too fast for Dale to get close
enough to apprehend Geno. He needed to get closer in case Geno were
to step outside a second time. As he crossed the midway, he kept
looking at the familiar black trash bag. It resembled the bags
filled with body parts in the trunk of the cab a few hours
earlier.

He waited another five minutes to see if
Geno would shut the door or drop another potential body parts bag
out front in plain view of him and dozens of clueless carnival
guests. Then his curiosity got the best of him and he couldn’t wait
any longer. He needed to know what was in the bag. With few
bystanders mulling around, Dale slipped through a gap between the
iron gates. He approached the bag and stepped to the far side of it
from the door. Looking back at the self-involved guests passing by,
he leaned over and lifted the bag. It wasn’t as heavy as the
earlier discovered bags that were filled with body parts, an
obvious indication that it didn’t contain the severed head, torso,
or thigh of another unfortunate victim.

The opening of the bag was closed with a
loose knot. He had come this far, and with piqued curiosity, he
needed to investigate further to be sure it didn’t contain less
hefty human remains, or other evidence of Geno’s suspected
butchery. He knelt on one knee and untied the bag. Upon opening it,
he discovered common everyday garbage inside. There were mounds of
fast food containers, a few blown light bulbs, some broken glass,
and an empty wine bottle—nothing unusual or indicative of a crime
scene.

He retied the bag, stood, and looked at his
watch. “Come on, Alan,” he said under his breath. After a long
pause, he glanced over to the open door. His right hand moved
behind his back and he crept closer. When he reached the entrance,
he looked back for his brother, who still hadn’t arrived.

“I said I would wait for you, brother. But I
didn’t say for how long,” he mumbled. He turned back. With his hand
now gripping his pistol still wedged in the back of his pants, he
cautiously passed through the opening

Alan fought to hold back his laughter as
Lyle struggled in the passenger seat to suit up in the frilled
one-piece clown costume. He succeeded in pulling the mixed striped
and polka dot material to waist level. The humiliation continued as
he slipped his arms through the sleeves and held out his arms to
view the white ruffles around his wrists before wrapping the
matching frilly section around his neck.

“How does this thing stay on?” he said.

“Lean forward,” Alan said. Lyle complied and
Alan reached behind him and zipped it up.

Lyle leaned back in disgust. “Fuck, you just
zipped me up. I’m wearing a fucking dress and now I have to pick
out a wig.”

Lyle’s comment was too much for Alan. A
short burst of laughter escaped. His hand rushed to his mouth in an
attempt to hold the remaining display of humor inside.

Lyle glared at him. “You know, this wasn’t
what I had in mind when I said I’d be your sidekick. I’m starting
to think you’re making me do this as some sort of payback for what
I’ve done to you over the years.”

Alan lowered his hand, exposing a wide grin
that almost turned his sad clown face into that of a happy clown.
“You insisted I let you help. And you agreed to do it my way. We’re
going to a little boy’s party Lyle. I’m the entertainment. If you
weren’t dressed as a clown, it would look like I brought a friend
to tag along. As a clown, you’ll be part of the act.”

Lyle fished out a bright yellow wig from the
suitcase in the back seat and pulled it over his head. He flipped
down the visor and used the mirror to adjust its position.

“Part of the act?” he asked. “I don’t know
anything about being a clown. It’s bad enough I gotta put this shit
on, now you want me to act like a clown with tricks and shit?”

“Relax. If everything goes as planned, we
won’t be sticking around for the party.”

“Whew, that’s a relief,” Lyle said. “Wait,
if we aren’t staying for the party, why you making me dress up? You
don’t need me to look like this, do you? This
is
payback
isn’t it?” Lyle yanked off the wig.

“No! Put the wig back on and try to do
something with the makeup. We need to get into the party without
raising any attention—”

“By dressing as clowns?” Lyle
questioned.

“Yes, they expect me to be there. We need to
find Dave so he can tell us where his Spanky figure is.” Alan
glanced over at a confused Lyle seated next to him. “Look, if you
don’t want to help, fine. Wait for me in the car and I’ll drop you
home on my way to the carnival.”

Lyle returned the wig to his head. “No, I’m
going with you. I just wish you were a magician or a hypnotist
instead of a clown.”

“Just be glad you didn’t have to wear the
tights,” Alan said.

“Yeah, I saw those in the suitcase. What’s
up with that?”

“You really don’t want to know, and I don’t
want to explain it. The makeup is in the box inside the suitcase. I
wish I could help you with it, but we don’t have time to stop.”
Alan picked up his cell phone and dialed Dale’s number. The phone
rang once. “Come on Dale, pick up,” he mumbled. After three more
rings, it went to his voice mail. He hung up and dialed the number
again. Two rings. “Answer the phone, Dale,” he commanded. Again,
the phone went to Dale’s voice mail.

“Dale, it’s Alan. I’m running late. There
were a few things I needed to take care of first, but I should be
there in about a half hour…I wish you would answer your phone
because I need to talk to you. I want to be sure you were able to
take care of Cheryl’s thing. If so, I hope you didn’t decide to go
inside the Labyrinth before I get there. You don’t know what you’re
dealing with. You have to listen to me and trust me on this one.
It’s too dangerous to do on your own. You better not have gone in
without me already. Just…just wait for me. I won’t be much longer.
And if I don’t make it, call for help. Don’t go in alone.”

He ended the call and looked at Lyle, who
was blindly applying colored makeup to his face. Lyle turned to
face him. He had thick streaks of blue above his eyes, into his
eyebrows, and bright red an inch out from his lips.

“What did you mean when you said
if you
don’t make it
? I thought you had a plan.”

“Yes, I have a plan, but I don’t know if it
will work. This is all new to me, Lyle. I really don’t know what
I’m doing. I’m winging it…sort of like you with that makeup.”

Lyle looked back in the mirror. “What? Tell
me what I should be doing.”

“First of all, think of a clown. You’re not
trying to look like a sixty-year-old hooker. You don’t want to
scare the kids.”

Lyle’s impatience flared. “Well, I’m sorry!
But I’ve never done this before and you aren’t being very
helpful.”

“Okay, calm down,” Alan said. He studied the
botched job for a few seconds. “Honestly, Lyle, I don’t think
there’s any way to fix it in the time we have. Why don’t you smear
the white on your hands and just wipe it over your whole face. It
won’t be pretty, but hopefully you won’t look so scary.”

Lyle did as requested, rubbing the white
over his entire face. Blues and reds smeared into the white and his
face ended up looking like a tie-dyed American flag.

Alan parked the car in front of Dave and
Paula’s house and examined Lyle one more time.

“Looks a little better,” he said
unconvincingly. Then his phone rang. “Dale,” Alan cried as he
reached for the phone. Before answering he told Lyle to switch to
the blue wig.

“Dale!” Alan yelled into the phone.

“Sorry, Alan, it’s me, Joe.”

“Oh, Joe, I can’t stay on the line because
I’m waiting for a call from Dale.”

“Whoa, is everything okay? You sound
bothered by something.”

“Yeah, uh, no. I mean, I don’t know. I think
Dale might be in trouble. I’m not sure, but I left him a message to
call me and I don’t want to miss his call.”

“Okay, calm down, buddy. You have call
waiting so you won’t miss his call. I called to see if you could
come to work tonight, but forget about that. What’s going on with
Dale?”

“Uh, it’s complicated, Joe. I don’t want to
be rude, but I have to do something right now so I can get to the
carnival before Dale goes into the Labyrinth. He could be in a lot
of trouble and I don’t have time to explain it now. I’ll call you
later.”

Alan hung up and looked at Lyle with the
blue wig. He reached to the back seat and handed him a small red
hat with an elastic chin string and told him to put it on. Then he
pulled a second Poppy figure from a bag and waited for Lyle to
fluff the wig around the string.

Lyle looked at the figure in Alan’s hand.
“You have one too?” he asked.

“No, well, not yet. I don’t know how these
things work, but this isn’t doing anything for me. I think it’s
because they don’t work if you give them to yourself. I think
someone else has to designate who it goes to in order for it to
work.”

“You think? So when you gave mine to me, you
didn’t know it would work?” Lyle asked.

“Lyle, I didn’t even know these things came
to life until I saw your Spanky. I told you, I’m winging it.”

“So you want me to give it to you? Is there
anything else I should be aware of?”

“Yes, here, I’ll put it on the floor in
front of you. You pick it up and give it to me. It’s a complete
shot in the dark, but it’s all we have,” Alan said. “Oh, and to
answer your other question, there is one other thing.”

“Go on,” Lyle said.

“The thing is, even if mine does work and we
have two against one, I don’t know if they can do anything to
Spanky.”

“What?” Lyle asked. “Are you serious?”

“Your Poppy helped you against your Spanky.
I don’t know if
our
Poppys can help to destroy Dave’s
Spanky.”

“Then why don’t you give yours to Dave
instead of having me give it to you?”

“Because Spanky is on to us. He wouldn’t let
it get anywhere near Dave. And when he sees us, we won’t get close
either.”

“Are you sure about this?” Lyle said.

“Absolutely…not. I’m not sure of anything.
It’s all a gut feeling, but it feels right.”

Lyle sighed and picked the Poppy figure off
the floor. With both hands, he held it over Alan’s head and said,
“I hereby knight thee.” Alan reached up and grabbed the figure from
him. Lyle smiled and secured the final touch of his clown costume,
the round red ball nose. With both hands open he slapped the
dashboard. “Let’s do this, Boogy,” he ordered.