Purple Prey: The Case of the Filthy Baboon

Chapter 17: The Wall and the Flower

We sauntered over to a well-built man with an eccentrically trimmed goatee dressed in a tailcoat by the entrance to the alley. He smiled and welcomed the circus-goers warmly until his eyes landed on us. He threw his arms up in jubilation to greet us.

"Junioor!!" He beamed, scooping the gangly creature up with both arms. "Have you been out making some friends?" He turned his attention on us. His smile was so kind and genuine, I've never known this warmth from someone's expression. The expression on the freak did not change from its wide-eyed look.

"I DON'T KNOW!!" I yelled in a sudden rage, "I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING, OKAY??? FUCK OFF!!!" The man stared at me blankly.

"Just calm down, sir, it'll be okay.Just tell me your name. My name is Robbing Wang." He said reassuringly.

"I DON'T CARE WHAT YOUR NAME IS, SUCCA! I'm Obsidian Leviathan." I finished calmly. His little tactic worked. But when I looked over at him, it seemed that he was now the rage-filled one. Did my wrath transfer to him?

"Do not call me 'Succa', Mr. Leviathan. I prefer Robbing." So that's what he was so mad about. How ridiculous. It's like being called Christophorous and being upset when someone calls you Calvin. It's just the assumed nickname. I brushed by Robbing and went to check out the other freaks in his show.

Venus was the first one there. It made sense for him to be here. Not only was he freakishly gorgeous but he was, in fact, a merman. I decided to check out the other exhibits. The next forty cages were all filled with beings identical to Succa Junior. I haven't seen a freak show in a long time. I missed this.

After seeing the same face over and over again, I was relieved to see a new face. It was Someone from a by-gone time, still young and beautiful. I walked by and over to the final cage. I was aghast at the familiarity of the person contained there within. I wanted to run back towards where Venus was, desperate to forget the sight of Moorish Zealous sitting there pathetically.

He noticed my presence and his head shot up, dazzling me with his luminous eyes from the dark since the circus seemingly wasn't bothered wasting electricity on this end of the alley. foot traffic was so low here. There was a beat of silence between us before he huffed and turned his head away.

"Not YOU again," he snarked

"Nuh-uh!" I raised a finger "not YOU again!! Not not ME again, you cockalorum!!"

"AAH!" He gasped so loud it sounded more like a scream "WHO TOLD YOU THAT!?"

"No one..." I scuffed my shoe on the floor. More silence passed between us. I could feel in the air he was waiting for me to ask how he could've possibly survived being ripped to shreds my a leather maiden, but I wasn't gonna! I didn't care, and besides, the reasoning was obvious. I started to walk away as he suddenly shot his silk-garbed arm through the bars and grabbed ahold of me.

"Look, I know we've had our differences on account of me being better than you and your resulting jealousy of me, but we shouldn't dwell on that now. You must get me out of here!" He squealed.

"Why should I? I think I'd rather leave you here, where you belong" I huffed.

"I can't be imprisoned here any longer. She is right next door to me, I can feel it. This is my chance to meet her face-to-face." I scoffed at him and turned on my heel. I sprinted over to Venus' cage and this time, nothing could stop me. I arrived back at the front of the alley where everyone was gathered before Venus' exhibit. Robbing was giving a talk.

"You must be wondering, if freakshows were outlawed in 1956, why are we doing the unthinkable and running one in this day and age!"He began.

"I wasn't wondering," I stepped forward, interrupting confidently. "I don't care at all. Ethics aren't something I ever consider when it comes to freaks" With everyone's eyes on me, I made my way to the centre of the ring of people that had organised themselves around the spectacle.