Clown'n Around

Part 1 of 1

( Edit: Writer's note; this story takes place seven years before the events of 'In Over Her Head'. Maggie is an eighteen year old junior reporter at MDT.)



Margaret "Maggie" Swift glanced out the window of her father's private jet he had chartered.
It was a large jet, roomy with four sleepers and two bathrooms.

Her father was sitting several seats ahead of her, talking on his sat phone. He still had one of those for his international travels. Dad's newspaper company he owned the majority of, "Manchester Daily Times" was prosperous these days. It was a fact that spurred eighteen year old Maggie to to become a junior reporter. She also loved gathering information and being a royal pain in the ass. Hey, it came with the territory. She couldn't be sweet and nice all the time like her friend, Madeline Morales. Speaking of which, that was where Maggie was heading, today as a matter of fact. Everything's bigger in Texas.

She was excited, but kept a cool face about it. No sense in acting all hyped.

The jet's engines revved up, as Maggie felt the familiar sensation of accelerating up to 160 miles per hour pushed her back in her seat momentarily. She popped a piece of gum in her mouth, then slipped on her noise cancelling headphones. Might as well jam out to the latest pop music.


**********************************


The plane landed a few hours later, and as Maggie gratefully stepped outside, she pulled her Oakley sunglasses down to shade her eyes. Heat waves rolled off the tarmac, and planes ascended and descended in the busy Houston airport. Maggie was dressed down, denim jeans and jacket, with a bright red tee shirt. Each item was over three hundred, or at least Maggie thought. She didn't care, to be honest. The shoes, though, white Common Projects sneakers, spoke of money, at a price tag of $500.

Anyone who can wear that kind of shoe for casual wear had money, Maggie smirked to herself.

Maggie and her dad passed through the busy airport, grabbing their luggage off the racks. Exiting once again into the warm Texas air, Maggie gave the parking lot a cool once over. Than a smile broke out on her face as a figure rushed up to her.

Madeline Morales had come to pick Maggie up, and, as usual, looked like a billion bucks. She wore a light summer green boat neck style shirt, that contrasted sharply against her deeply tanned skin. Italian roots and all that. Her hair was a beautiful shade of brown.
A light tan circle style skirt danced playfully at her knees, long bare legs that always caught a lot of looks. Tan high heeled sandals with golden clasps adorned her feet. A very small pink shoulder bag purse swung carelessly around her arm. Two golden bracelets dangled on her left wrist. Her makeup was immaculate, eyelashes and eyebrows done perfectly because.....

"You never know what cute guy you might come across." Maggie grinned at her friend.

"Maggie! How wonderfull to see you again!" Madeline embraced her old friend in a hug, "I do declare, it has been a long, long while!"

Maggie pulled back, "Maddy?"

Madeline laughed, "Fooled you! Didn't I?" She spoke in her normal, clipped accent.

Maggie looked relieved, "Glad to see you've still got a normal accent." She never did like country bumpkins.

"C'mon, Maggie, it's not that bad! We're in the Lone Star state! Nobody messes with Texas, just like nobody messes with Maggie Swift, new reporter at MDT! How do you like your job there?" Madeline looked really, really happy to see her.

Maggie was glad too. It had been a year since Madeline had left Manchester to move down to Texas. Her father had needed to go back where the main branch of his company was. The Morales Company was built mostly on oil money, and after the VP was caught where his hand shouldn't be, Madeline's dad had to take over until a replacement could be found. As of now it looked like the Morales family would be here for awhile.

"I love my new job, always something new going on in Manchester." Maggie answered.

"Awesome! I've been hanging out with some pretty cool southern girls, Ashley, Spencer, and Adrianne. We get into all kinds of trouble, there's this company called LlamTech that is involved in some nefarious activities. We've tried to stop them on several occasions, but so far they stay one step ahead of us." Madeline took a deep breath, excited.

"So you've been busy too, huh? I'm hungry." Maggie announced rudely.

"Houston has some really good restaurants, I'll get a cab." Madeline waved emphatically at one of the yellow cabs idling beside the sidewalk.

Maggie suppressed a smile. Her friend had a penchant for drama, and she had forgotten how much she missed it.


*********************************


"So, what do you think?" Madeline waved her hands theatrically.

They had eaten at a very fine restaurant, stuffing themselves until they were full. Now they had arrived at the Morales mansion, an old southern style one with marble pillars. It was very beautiful and Maggie was impressed, but tried not to show it.

"Really nice, Maddy." Maggie said evenly.

Madeline glanced sideways at her, "Just 'really nice'?

"Yeah, really nice."

"Wow, Maggie! You definitely need me around to sweeten you up! You've been watching way, way too much of Pretty Little Liars."

Maggie grinned, she couldn't help it.

"Have you made any friends since I've been gone?" Madeline queried.

"Nope. There's this thirteen year old kid with wild blue hair that always follows me around with a disposable camera. I tell her to shove off." Maggie knew what would come next.

"Maggie! How can you be so mean!? You really need to learn to be a little nicer. Strike that, a hell of a lot nicer."

"Oh? Swearing now, are we?" Maggie was surprised.

"I'm trying to get my point across with you." Madeline said passionately.

"Well, I still miss you, to be honest." Maggie surprised herself, revealing as much.

"I've missed you too." Madeline said.

They were both silent for a moment.

"So!" Madeline smiled again, "What say we make a trip to the county fair?"

"The county fair?"

"Yes! It'll be great, we'll have lots of fun! It's a traveling fair known as 'Texas Hold 'Em'. There's all kinds of things to do, such as the usual tropes but also other stuff."

"Geeee, I always wanted a country bumpkin experience." Maggie said, voice dripping with sarcasm.

"It'll be great, I hear the clowns are superb." Madeline's enthusiasm could not be deterred. She also knew that was Maggie's way of saying, 'Let's go.'

"Clowns? What, are we twelve years old again?" Maggie snorted.

"Yep," Madeline finally engaged in some sarcasm of her own, quite possibly fed up with her friend's comments. "Now change into some respectable attire."

Maggie smirked. She still knew how to push Madeline's buttons.


*********************************


"You look absolutely gorgeous, Maggie!"

"Hmmpp"

Standing in front of the huge mirror in Madeline's bedroom, she admired the outfit she had convinced Maggie to wear. It was a short denim mini skirt laced with glittery gold designs. A short tan cardigan sweater over a white tank top contrasted well against Maggie's jet black hair. Lacy white nylons and blue flat pumps showed off her toned legs.

People usually went to a fair dressed casually, but Madeline always believed in looking great wherever you went. Also, Maggie had never been to a fair before, so Madeline thought she'd convince her friend to dress up a little bit for once. Maggie hated dresses, and never wore them. It had taken all of Madeline's considerable persuasion skills to convince her to at least do a mini skirt. She wanted to be prepared in case she ever ran into a wayyyyy too cool guy. A strong sense of loyalty told her she should look out for her friends too.

Maybe a handsome Texan dude? Her heart skipped a beat at the thought. She has forever been more of the romantic sort. Her own outfit, consisted of a ridiculously short black mini skirt, black see through mesh leggings, and a black and grey striped silk shirt that clung nicely to her hourglass figure. The knee high chocolate brown suede boots had truly stupefying heels on them. It made her look a lot taller than her five feet six inch frame.

"So, we ready?" Madeline asked brightly. She checked herself in the mirror one last time. Her makeup was immaculate, with her long eyelashes, big brown eyes, and perfectly sized nose, Madeline usually drew glances wherever she went. Maggie wasn't quite as pretty, her features were more plain, an oversized mouth, medium sized nose. Her eyes were proportioned right, but were a deep, frosty blue.

"Are you sure people dress up like this to go to some hick town fair? How do I know you're not over exaggerating?" Maggie's eyes narrowed suspiciously.

Madeline did her best to suppress a smile. "Of course, Maggie. It's common southern tradition." She giggled then, using the fake southern accent to hide over her real joy at convincing her best friend into a mini skirt.

Maggie still looked suspicious, but said no more.

"C'mon, let's go to the fair." Madeline grabbed her friend's hand, and dragged her off the bed.


**********************************


They approached the entrance of the fair. It was huge, with a very large rollercoaster, two ferris wheels, a haunted house, a kiddie play park, petting zoo, clown arena, and three go-kart tracks.

"Welcome tooooooo; TEXAS HOLD 'EM!" The man announced at the ticket booth. "This'n here is the best place for y'all ter come and hav some family fun!"

Maggie wasn't so sure. For starters, nobody was dressed up like her and Madeline. Most people she saw had on cut off jeans, pants, tee shirts, sleeveless shirts and in general no sense of finery. Maggie wanted to choke Madeline. For her part, Madeline came skipping towards her with two bunches of cotton candy.

"Don't look so happy about it." Maggie said sourly

Madeline beamed, "About what, Maggie dear?"

"Enjoy it, ' cause you're never gonna get me in a mini skirt again."

"You're such a sour puss. Cotton candy?"

"Sure." Maggie took one. In her private thoughts, Maggie knew she was lucky to have a friend like Madeline. Not many people could handle her, but Madeline always did with a boundless enthusiasm that surprised her again and again.

"Ok, I say we do the go karts, then the clowns."

Maggie arched an eyebrow, "You're not kidding about the clowns, are you?"

"No, I hear they're like, really really good." Madeline clapped her hands together.

"I guess...." Maggie's voice trailed off.

"Let's go!" Madeline enthused.


**********************************


Several tents over from the go kart tracks.

"Bubby, if ya don't shut that damn teleevision orf rite now I'm a swing ma hammerr thru it."

"Yes'm." Bubby called back. He was the smallest and the youngest out of the Rink-a-Dink clowns. There were five of them total, Rink and Dink were married, husband and wife, respectively. They were the muscle ones, and weighed four hundred pounds apiece. The undisputed leaders of the bunch, Rink and Dink didn't take crap from no one, least of all each other. Dink was the one who had threatened Bubby to shut off the tele. He couldn't help it he liked to watch old reruns of "Bob the Builder." Bob was a true hero and Bubby's idol. Plus it helped him feel great about life in general.

Reluctantly shutting it off, he got up off the crate he was sitting on, which had stamped on the side, LlamTech, Where Innovation Meets Creation.

Pouting, Bubby went to find Kina and Clay. Bubby's mental stability has been in question for quite awhile, but no denied that out of his insanity came forth a brilliance on occasion. But that didn't bother him, no sir. He knew his place in life and accepted it. Some people did the heavy lifting, others rode on the coattails of the heavy lifters. Bubby did whatever Rink or Dink said, no questions asked. So when they had asked him six months ago if he would be willing to try some "experimental elements of some new theories at LlamTech" he had said yes, of course.
In truth he had no idea what that meant, but it made Rink and Dink happy enough. His brain has been a little fuzzy since. To be honest, and he's always honest with himself, Rink has been deferring to him more often than he used to. Bubby believes it's the LlamTech chemicals he so willingly ingests.

Flipping open the tent flap, he came across the other two members of the family of five.
Kina was as small as he was, but smart as a whip, while Clay was big enough, and spoke with a deep, slow southern accent.

"Whaz up?" Bubby does not have a southern accent. Jersey. Hoboken. He's come a long way from his childhood.

"Uhh, the sun?" Clay was, like the Mexicans like to say, a few tacos short of a fiesta.

Kina laughed, "You're such a moron, Clay." Her wandering left eye always creeped Bubby out just a little.

"That's not very nice." Clay said, after a minute of deep thought. "You're a, a, a more off."

"Listen, kids, Rink and Dink want to see us, I think it's about time to perform." Bubby clapped his hands together. He wore his ponytail long, and dyed a lovely shade of purple. His bright green eyes had a maniacal gleam to them, at least that's what he was told.

Kina and Clay both stared at him.

Bubby picked his nose. He wondered briefly if he could reach behind his eye by pushing his finger in all the way to his knuckles. Rink and Dink entered the tent. The other three jumped.

"Wut the hell is takin' y'all so long?" Rink did not appear to be in a good mood. He had a huge hammer slung across his shoulder as he shifted his massive weight. A bright furry clown nose covered the fact that his real nose would probably win the Guinness book of world records for absolute ugliness.

Dink, her flame red hair and penchant for wearing Irish green gave away her roots, before she even says anything usually. "I thought so, what'er ye ole sumgumbos is up ta, put off any mischief and get ready ta put on a show."

Bubby felt concern, "Are you sure they won't laugh at us mean? Last time the crowd laughed."

"Bubby, thas wut we wont, fer der crowd t' laugh at us." Clay said slowly.

Bubby frowned. When he did, he wondered if he could get his nose to touch his forehead. He concentrated hard, but couldn't. "Phooy."

"You both are idiots." Kina's eye wandered, and Bubby thought maybe she was talking to Rink and Dink.

"Git ready." Rink snarled, the man had no sense of humor. They all scampered off to do so. Bubby wondered how much longer they would be able to keep this up. The five of them barely passed for normal even by fair and circus standards. Last time they performed they were nearly laughed out of the stadium. It wasn't a kind laughing either, mixed with booing and shit being thrown at them. Rink had almost killed the manager afterwards, but LlamTech had smoothed everything over with a few bucks. Apparently the Rink-a-Dink clowns were valuable for research.

Back at his room, Bubby stood in front of his full length mirror. He adjusted his red bowtie.
"Thank you, ladies and gentlemen, I'll be here all week." He imagined the crowd cheering and happy about something he had said. Giving a low bow, he straightened up.

He began dancing a soft-shoe out of his room. "Llamatech rumors, spreading like flame, showing me how, to get back in the game, The game, the glorious gaaamme, of vill-ainnnny.
Bom doo bop."

There was silence.

"Lousy Russian judge." He clicked his heels as he went to find the rest of the gang. Getting ready to perform always put a smile on his face and a spring in his step. Tonight would be a great performance, he could feel it in his bones, but especially his knee caps.


**********************************


Vrrrrrooooooooommmmmm

Madeline whizzed past the checkered flag for the third time. She was having the time of her life. These go-karts were some of the fastest she'd been on. She may be a rich girl, but Madeline Morales was very down to earth when it came to the simple joys of life. The simple thrill of navigating a go-kart, for instance. She could smell gasoline and rubber, saw the happy looks on people's faces as they drove.

Maggie, on the other hand. Madeline grinned as her friend tried to pass her. Maggie has always been extremely competitive as long as Madeline knew her. On the high school v-ball team they kicked ass together, and nobody would mess with them. Madeline was a good spiker, but with Maggie's five feet eight inch frame she could absolutely kill it. So Madeline would set the ball a lot for her. She gave some awesome sets.
Madeline jerked back to the present. She couldn't let Maggie pass her! Glancing back, Madeline saw that determined look Maggie got.

She floored it.

They were neck to neck now, but they were coming up to the finish line and it was the last round. The cute guy who was an overseer of sorts blew his whistle, indicating they needed to stop. Madeline slowed down, but Maggie kept on going.

"Maggie!" Madeline yelled, the noise was way too loud.

The guy, who looked cuter every time Madeline glanced at him, frowned and tried to stop Maggie.

When her black haired friend kept going, he looked her way. Madeline flashed him a dazzling smile. Putting her pearly whites to good use. He grinned back, and Madeline felt herself totally flip over how cute this guy really was.


**********************************


Maggie wanted one more run around the track. She probably should have stopped, but hell, she was Maggie Swift, no one told her what to do. As she pulled up to the end she spotted Madeline, out of her kart and very close to the guy who was supposed to be directing her into the idling area. She crawled out of the kart, engine still idling.

Madeline spotted her, then turned back to the guy. They looked to be exchanging numbers. Maggie sighed. Madeline was such a hopeless romantic. Herself? Well, she was bisexual. Tried both sexes but could never settle on a steady date life. Most people got on her nerves.

Madeline came running up to her, "Let's go, Maggie! We'll miss the clowns if we don't hurry."

"You still want to see some stupid clowns?" Maggie stared at her friend.

Madeline let out an exaggerated sigh, placing a hand on her hip as she surveyed her friend, "I was going to wait to tell you, but if you insist."

"What are you talking about?" Maggie's curiosity was piqued.

"Those girls I was telling you about?"

Maggie nodded.

"Well, we recently heard a rumor that the clowns at 'Texas Hold 'Em' are working together with LlamTech, testing new materials."

"LlamTech, as in the company that tests robots and shit? They have a seedy CEO from what I hear."

"Julianna O'Mara? Yeah she's bad news. Anyhow, these other girls, Ashley and her band of snoops, have sort of befriended me after that kidnapping fiasco with Venturi Holdings."

"I remember." Maggie interrupted, "The cops saved you just in time, didn't they?"

"Yup." Madeline paused for a moment, collecting herself.

Maggie didn't put her arm around her, wasn't her style, but she gave her friend a moment. It had taken Madeline a while to get over that ordeal. Yet here she was, lively as ever....... and proposing to do something reckless, Maggie's intuition told her.

"Anyway, Ashley has a real hankering for justice, so all four of us have started an impromptu investigation into LlamTech. I think there's some truth to the rumor, and who better than to help me investigate this angle than journalist Maggie Swift!" Madeline was excited again.

Maggie felt a grin stretch across her face, something really cool to do tonight after all. They probably wouldn't find anything though. "Why aren't your other friends helping?" Maggie felt a twinge of jealousy at the idea of her Maddy chilling and having fun with other peeps.

"Theyyyyyy might not know we're here." Madeline smiled. "I wanted to spend time doing something you like, 'cause you're still my best friend."

Maggie glanced away.

"Sooooo, you ready for a good snoop?"

"Let's go." Maggie nodded.


**********************************


The Rink-a-Dink five stood in the practice area of one of their large tents. Rink had a fistful of Slim-Jims, and was chowing away.

Dink glared at her husband in disgust, "Can't ye do that latrr, love?"

Rink stared straight ahead, chewing noisily.

Bubby decided to intervene, "Last time you had that many, you were on the toilet for the next twenty-four hours. You blew IT out of the sewers, if I recall."

Kina snickered, both her eyes focused on Bubby.

Rink and Dink glanced his way, irritated, and Clay just appeared confused. Too bad the guy was a stump, Bubby reflected.

Dink cleared her throat, "The reason I called ye all here was to tell ye that we hafta keep a lid on things when we perform, people aren't gonna keep a payin' when we forget our lines. That includes you, Clay."

"Huh?" Clay lifted his eyes from the floor.

What was he looking at? Bubby wondered, dust particles?

"As I was saying." Dink went on to detail the outline of their play, making sure everyone remembered their cues. Bubby got annoyed with her high pitched Irish accent, and tuned her out. He imagined the crowd cheering him, Bubby, the one and only specialty performer. Bubby liked to think of himself as a performer, a talk host, a comedian, a sportscaster. Jerry Seinfeld, Bob Hope, Jay Leno. Not Bubby the Quip Clown.

Suddenly the assistant manager for their show poked his head in, "Showtime, baby!"

They all marched to the exit. Rink, his large bulk wobbled, tufts of green hair bobbing with each step. He wore a huge off red leotard that no one dared to make fun of. Dink, leprechaun green jumper with poofy flame red hair, had purposeful steps that matched in proportion to her considerable girth. Next came Kina, who cartwheeled all over the place, silent and excited. Her orange hair mixed with shades of blue did not match her pink pajama style clothes. Then Bubby, who felt ten feet tall and bulletproof. An old black tophat with a yellow coattails suit looked vaguely reminiscent of a honeybee. Lastly, Clay shuffled behind everyone else, his ragged corn yellow hair with simple blue overalls giving him the decidedly simplistic look he deserved.
Bubby was curious if Clay wore anything underneath the bib overalls. Kina had once informed he didn't, and Bubby was tempted to turn around and try to yank 'em down to find out. He considered it briefly, but chose wisely not to. Rink and Dink would kick the shit out of him if they got in a fight before the show.

"The show must go on!" Bubby sang out.


**********************************


It was the worst clown act Margaret Swift had ever seen. These bozos were supposed to be funny? Maggie could not believe these idiots had jobs. She booed and gave them the finger every chance she got. They forgot their lines, told jokes that were not funny, and just managed to look stupid most of the time. The only one that even remotely impressed Maggie was Kina, the mime clown who was the most athletic of the retard bunch. Madeline had tried to stop her at first, explaining that it wasn't kind and they were doing the best they could. Besides, shouldn't they try to interview them afterwards? How could they if Maggie gave them the bird every chance she got?
To all of this Maggie had snickered and kept right on. She wanted a reaction out of these clowns, and for her the best way was to insult them. For the most part they didn't notice her, unfortunately. They were too busy performing and the idiot who looked like a bee tended to ad lib, much to the consternation of his team.

The silent one, who did a lot of miming, Maggie wasn't so sure about her. For one thing she had a wandering eye, so the black haired youth was fairly certain she saw her inconsiderate gestures.
The pajama clad mime clown was a tad freaky, but Maggie shoved the feeling down. For her part, Madeline tried to politely laugh at the correct time, but even she didn't think they were funny.

The show ended soon enough, and Maggie stood up and shouted, "You hillbillies suck! Why, if I wer-mmff!" Madeline clapped a hand over her mouth.

"Maggie," She whispered desperately, "Do you want to get hurt? Most of the people in this room are country folk. You're asking for trouble."

Maggie jerked away, "I can take care of myself. I-"

Madeline grabbed her arm, "Look Maggie!"

They both looked.

Three of the clowns were staring right at them. None of them were smiling.

Maggie felt a twinge of unease, then pushed it away. She flipped them the bird.

"Maggie!" Madeline gasped.

She smirked.

The clowns exited single file, and the two girls stood to leave.


*********************************


Madeline stood very close to Maggie, as her right eyebrow twitched spasmodically.

She was nerved up. The show was over and they had snuck over to the cluster of tents where the Rink-a-Dink Five resided. They were in one of the larger ones, crouched behind some crates, they watched the mostly quiet one practice her yoga and exercises, or whatever the hell it was. Kina did a backflip, and Madeline couldn't see how it was possible. She herself was flexible as a slinky, but the effortless and gravity defying moves Kina performed blew her away. The small woman flopped to the ground, then leapt up again using only her legs.