Inkling

5.3 The Sinister Influence of Ira Rose - The Circus

New York City 1883

Ira sold Max to the circus once. He was thirteen and Ira was getting odder by the day. He would stop mid sentence, staring off into the distance at something that was not there.

"Ira," Max would say gently.

"Shh," Ira would grunt sharply. Like he was listening intently. But there were no sounds, there was nothing to listen to besides the usual swish of skirts and din of voices. But Ira listened. He listened to everything but Max.
One day, when Ira's eyes were red - not bloodshot but actually completely red - Max lost it.

"What's going on with you?" He screamed without warning, without prompting. Ira turned to him slowly, the red in his eyes leaving his brown irises standing out ominously. For a second Max lost his nerve, the anger draining his body as a feeling of panic buzzed all the way down to his fingertips.

"Sorry?" Ira was not apologizing nor questioning. Max became aware that Ira was giving him a chance to change the topic and save his skin. Naturally, Max tossed this opportunity into the dirt.

"I said:" he said with extreme sass which was an unwise choice (he knew), given the recipient, "what the hell is going on with you?"

Before Max could move out of the way, before he could run, Ira had grabbed him by the head and had him in a choke hold.

"Sorry?" He grunted into Max's ear, taking a handful of Max's hair and wrenching his head upward. "Say that again?"

Max had a choice to make.

"I said: what the fuck is wrong with you?" He spit, tearing out of Ira's grasp and knocking him to the ground. There were some things Max didn't need magic for, some things he had learned himself. They stayed that way for several minutes, breathing in the sharp September heavily. Ira, on the ground and Max, standing above him. Ira started laughing, he hugged himself and fell over sideways, cackling into the dirt. Max watched in extreme anxiety. He wanted to run.

"Oh, my boy." Ira pushed to his feet. "You caught me on a bad day. The Fairy Dust was a bit ... strong today." He giggled a little.

"Oh." Was all Max said. Fairy Dust. Ira was doing magical drugs, which explained the red eyes, the faces. But still, even with a semi-reason, Max found himself retreating into himself. He took a step back, biting the inside of his cheek nervously. When Ira threw an arm around Max's neck he had to resist the urge to jerk away.

"Come now, I have a job for you." Ira lead him in the direction of the circus and for a moment Max thought maybe they were going to have fun. Until Ira made him wait by the entrance while he talked to someone at the ticket booth. Max watched money change hands. He saw Ira smack the man on the back in a lighthearted fashion that Max had never experienced firsthand. For a moment he let himself believe that Ira was just buying tickets. But the money had gone into Ira's pocket, not out of it.
When Ira walked back over Max was getting nervous.

"You're working in here today, watch out for the magic." Ira did not wait for a response. He also didn't slap Max on the back on his way by.