A Tale of Two Carnies

24 - Happy Birthday

I did hear again from Shelly. She texted me when my fan belt came in. I drove to the auto parts store the following Saturday expecting to see her behind the counter and was disappointed to find out she had left early.

I paid for the belt. The counter person also handed me the zip up sweatshirt I had loaned Shelly, after her clothes got rain soaked during our date. It was laundered and neatly folded.

The ensuing weeks passed in a blur. I managed to save up another thousand from my job at Perrypen Farm and added it to my poke.

Every Saturday I visited Cozbi. She seemed to hold her own, having adapted to her situation. Holding her own didn't mean she was happy. She shed tears during every one of my visits. It tore me up seeing her that way, but I felt helpless to do more for her.

Cozbi was always on my mind, but she wasn't the only one.

I couldn't stop thinking about Shelly. The two women were the same age yet completely opposite each other. Cozbi was closed off and an apex level introvert who expressed herself through her artwork. Shelly was open, engaging, and vibrant.

A few days after Labor Day, after returning from work, I heard a knock at my room door. Trevor greeted me and asked if he could enter.

"Sure, of course."

After he did so, he said, "Remember back when we made the deal for your room, I told you the discounted rate would end after the slow summer season."

I knew what was coming. "I suppose that time is now."

"I hate to do this to you, but we're filling up, and I can get a lot more for your room. I'm going to need you to pony up more." He told me how much more.

"Cozbi's trial starts next month, in four weeks." I said it more to myself than to Trevor. I was calculating how much the new rate would eat into my savings. "Alvin Armstrong tells me the trial might run a week." Which meant my stay could last five more weeks from now. It was also around the end of October that harvest season would end and I'd be out of a job.

I rubbed the back of my neck stalling while I considered how to approach the situation. "It would be damn inconvenient for me to find another place to stay and more expensive too. How about if I paid you the next five weeks up front, right now, in cash, if you can give me a reduced rate?"

The innkeeper leaned back considering. "The best I can do is knock off ten percent."

It was a lot more than I was paying now, but less than it would cost me to stay at a chain motel. "Okay, it's a deal."

After settling, Trevor kept standing there.

"Is there anything else?" I asked, puzzled because he was acting weird.

"Can you come downstairs with me? Jill and I are impressed with your handyman talent, and we need your advice about a leaking water line. If it's something you feel comfortable fixing, we'll pay you."

Extra cash was always welcome, so I followed him. He led me behind the bar and into the inner sanctum of the kitchen area, where no customers dared to tread. Standing around a food prep table were Jill and Raya. On the table, a chocolate layer cake and a frosted mug of beer.

Trevor laid a hand on my shoulder. "Happy birthday, Jace!"

Today I turned twenty-one, but I never expected a party. Genuinely surprised, I said, "This is for me? Thank you! It's so unexpected."

"I helped bake your cake," Raya exclaimed. "I hope you'll like it."

"Chocolate cake and beer," I said, wondering how my stomach would handle that combination.