The Freak| Jimmy Darling

Chapter Twenty Seven

I did as Elsa said and left Maggie and Jimmy alone. I walked to the Ferris Wheel and saw a man walking through the main tent's entrance. Curious, I followed him inside. He was carrying two small briefcases.

When Elsa saw him, she gasped and hugged him. Confused, I decided to leave them alone.

"Psst! Melanie!" I heard someone whisper.

I looked over and saw Ima. I walked over to her.

"I just wanted to tell you that we're all meeting in Ethel's old caravan to look through some of her old things. We'd like you to come," She said.

"Oh. Of course," I said with a smile.

I followed her to Ethel's caravan. Inside, Paul, Penny, Eve and Suzi were sitting around a table. They had some pictures of all the performers in their hands.

"Hi honey. We're trying to find your favorite picture of Ethel right now," Eve said to me, without looking up.

"Oh that's okay. You don't need to look for it," I said and took a seat.

"No, no. We want you to have it," Penny said, examining the pictures.

"Ah! Here it is," Paul said, handing me a picture.

I've seen it so many times, but I looked at it like it was the first. She looked so pretty up there. So happy. She lost that happiness in her face over the years, but she never lost her beauty. I smiled and wiped some tears from my face.

"We want you to keep that picture. And this one," Eve said, handing me another picture.

It was everyone. It was the last picture we took when we were all together. Before things went to shit.

Elsa, Ethel, Meep, Ma Petite, Paul, Eve, Suzi, Bette, Dot, Pepper, Salty, Jimmy and I.

Then she handed me another picture. It was a little more updated. No Meep. No Ma Petite. No Ethel. But it did add Penny, Ima, and Desiree.

I smiled at the three pictures. "Thanks you guys," I sniffled.

They all nodded and I put the pictures in my pocket.

"We wanted you to come in here because we wanted to ask you something," Ima said.

I looked at her. "What?" I asked.

"Do you remember what Stanley said before we attacked him?" Eve asked.

I thought for a second. Then I remembered.

"When he said that Elsa killed Ethel?" I asked.

"Yeah. What do you think about that?" Paul asked.

I thought again. "It makes sense," I responded.

"We think it's fishy, but we don't know what to do," Suzi said.

"Me either," I responded.

"You know who was a better mother figure than Elsa? Ethel. She stood up for us and treated us like we were no better or worse than anyone else," Suzi said.

"I agree," I responded. The others nodded in agreement.

"It's getting late. We should all sleep on whether or not to confront Elsa. But I say we take a shot. For Ethel," Paul said.

"I'm down," I said.

The others agreed and Eve poured everyone a shot of Ethel's favorite whisky. We downed it quickly and then I said my goodbyes.

I walked out of the caravan and froze when I saw him. Dandy. To be honest, I kind of forgot about what happened. And know that I'm seeing him again, all the memories came flooding back. So I did nothing when he started walking towards me. I started shaking when I heard him talk.