Knowing

Three

Three:

My official first day of being a circus performer started that Tuesday and I was not prepared for what I'd signed up for.

Joe's alarm went off at a half past four in the morning. The fireflies and cicadas were still out and about putting on a full concert it was so early. I couldn't remember ever having woken up before the sun.

Seeing that I was in no condition to wake up before five Joe got dressed and made coffee. I didn't particularly like the taste of coffee, and I suppose I was not alone. I did, however, love the smell. When the scent engulfed me to the point where I might as well have been drowning there in my bed. I didn't need to drink the coffee to feel the caffeine excite my molecules.

Joe poked her head in to coax me awake but laughed when she saw me dressing. Looking away in respect she chuckled, "Glad to know you're up." She left me to finish and I could hear her sipping her drink patiently from the designated dining area.

I stepped out in a t-shirt and jeans, ready for my psychic lessons. I guess Joe had a feeling I was a fast learner for she threw a book load of techniques at me, literally.

"Here," She said as she hauled an actual textbook up onto the table before tossing it at me. I caught it gracefully of course, which surprised Joe. She was probably expecting me to drop it considering I looked like a clumsy girl, but Joe composed herself most likely remembering that I was a Habiwalkie.

Continuing as if she wasn't fazed Joe sat back and gestured to the book, "That is all you need to know about pretending to be a psychic." She sighed and pulled out a thin book. Throwing it at me and watching me catch it smoothly Joe said, "And that is all you need to know about being my apprentice." Joe sipped on the rest of her coffee as I looked over the smaller of the two books.

The title read "Making Money My Way" in Joe's handwriting. I started to laugh as I read over the pages. Mostly it was about what responsibilities I had as a person under her roof, what roles I played in the acts and what I wasn't allowed to do. I found rule number 48 the most entertaining. It read: If your name is Anouk or Mindy you are to not, under any circumstances, eat my ginger cake unless you are advised otherwise.

Needless to say I had read through both books by lunch when Joe returned from her chores with a sandwich flabbergasted that I'd finished. A perk to being a Habiwalkie is that we generally remember everything we hear, see, touch, taste and/or smell. So by the time I'd finished I was fully prepped in the psych department and dirt tired, but my day wasn't over.

My lunch consisted of Joe teaching me card tricks and running through scenarios with me. That lasted a few hours longer than necessary considering Joe wasn't confident in my people skills.

Around two I was dead on my feet but Joe needed to take me on an official tour. She dragged me outside where the loudness of people working, singing, using heavy machinery to sharpen various objects and even a hose roaring against the bottom of a cage assaulted my ears. I rubbed my temples as Joe sat me down on a golf cart and revved her engine.

She started with the animal tamers and their performers. "This," she said, "Is where every Wednesday and Saturday you will report for stall duty to help take care of the animals." Joe sighed as we passed a leopard pacing in its cage, "We take great pride in our animals' care, so just do what the tamers say and have some respect for the expensive wild creatures." Joe didn't want me to get eaten I assumed, so I nodded in understanding and she drove on.

Next was the Strongman and his large, acrobatic family of twelve. Svi was from Russia, and he'd met Madeline the aerial artist at a convention. Svi and Maddie have four children, Jude, Kyle, Michelle and Iris, all of which are nearing their late twenties. Iris was nice enough to talk to Joe and I while she took a break from practicing. She told me about all her family and how dedicated they were to their performance. Svi's twin brother Oli came to America a few years after him with his wife Deidi. They were already skilled in the circus arts as hand balancers and trapeze artist. They had two daughters, one of which left for college and the other who became a stay at home mother after she got married. Svi's cousin David came overseas to join the family and with him he brought his own. All in all the family of twelve was extremely talented. From Trapeze to tightrope walking, hand balancing to contortion the Kozlov Clan was fascinating.