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The eleven year old Virgil sat next to his mother in the over packed wooden bleachers. People crowded in pushing one another and pressing against each other. Virgil tried to shrink into himself as to avoid being touched. He scooted as close as he could to his mother. She smiled at his attempts to remain away from others and wrapped an arm around him protectively. They sat waiting with the rest of the audience, all eyes trained on the center ring in the middle of the tent.
Finally the lights dimmed and a tall man walked out into the middle of the ring, a spotlight on him. He introduced the show and began the first act. Virgil watched with amazement as the acts went on and on. His eyes sparkled at the bizarre and dangerous stunts.
After several acts, the ringmaster stepped out once more, “And now I introduce The Spectacular Sanders with his assistants, Thrilling Talyn and Jaw Dropping Joan!” The ringmaster smiled widely and vanished as the spotlight moved over to the three in the center ring. Virgil leaned forward as they began their act. Thomas Sanders was by far his favorite act to watch whenever Vine come through town. The acrobat was amazing and seemed to bend, jump, and twirl effortlessly. Virgil always looked up to the elder and wanted to be as talented as he was one day.
Once the show was over, he looked up at his mother. She gave a bright smile, “You have always loved Vine haven’t you?”
Virgil nodded vigorously, “Can we come back next year?”
His mother laughed, “Of course dear. We can always come back if you want.” The eleven year old beamed at his mother’s words and hugged her tightly.
Virgil stood in front of the grave holding back tears. Dolos stood next to him and looked ahead with a blank stare. They stood there as everyone gave them useless apologies. Virgil wished they would all leave already. He wanted to be alone with his mother’s grave. He wanted to say his final farewells without eavesdropping ears.
Time passed slowly before they had all gone. Only Virgil and Dolos remained in the empty graveyard. Virgil sat down not caring if his suit got covered in dirt. He finally let the dam break and tears poured down his face. His older brother sunk down beside him and pulled him close with one arm. The two sat crying for what felt like hours. Virgil couldn’t find his voice to say anything he had planned on saying.
Once they had run out of tears to cry, Dolos pulled away and stood up. He held out a hand for Virgil. The younger took it and Dolos pulled him up. Wordlessly, they walked towards their car. Dolos drove silently back to their small apartment. Virgil silent thanked the fucked up system for allowing them to not be put into a foster home or orphanage. They claimed Dolos was only a few months away from being eighteen and it would be pointless to put him in when he’d only age out right afterwards. They allowed Virgil to stay with his brother even though he was fourteen nearly fifteen and would have stayed in the system for a few years. In truth, he believed they just didn’t feel like dealing with finding them a home or filing paperwork.
They arrived home late at night. Both skipped eating dinner and instead got ready for bed. They looked at each other knowingly and climbed into their mother’s bed. They clung to one another and fell into a restless sleep.
Virgil sat at the table looking down at the flyer in his hands. Dolos sat across from him, the sunlight streaming in through the window casting shadows across his dark brunette hair and peachy skin. His deep brown eyes held a sliver of hope. His mouth twitched in anticipation, waiting for Virgil to speak.
The younger looked up at his brother with a raised eyebrow, “I know you’re trying to help me feel better, but this ? I don’t know.” He slid the flyer back to Dolos.
Dolos frowned, “I understand your concerns Vir, but I think it might be good.” He picked up the flyer. The words Sanders Shows Circus in bold cursive print crossed the top and a collage of the main four acts was below it. He turned it around to face Virgil, “Vine disbanded, but I know Thomas Sanders was always your favorite act. Now he has his own circus! And they are coming to town!”
“Mom literally died a couple weeks ago and you think I want to go watch the circus?”
“Well… You and mother always went to go see it. I just thought that you’d like to keep that tradition up with me in memory of mother. I’m sorry to have upset you Vir. I’ll drop it.”
Virgil watched as Dolos put down the flyer and stood up. He looked rather dejected. It was odd. Normally the two did their own things and never really hung out. Virgil silently cursed himself for putting his brother down when he had only wanted to try and help. He heaved a sigh, “Wait. Wait. Wait. I suppose you are right. It was my tradition with mom and it would be nice to continue it in her memory. We can go together this weekend.”
The smile that lit up Dolos’ face brought a smile to Virgil’s as well, “Perfect! And if it becomes to saddening for you than we’ll leave right away.”
Virgil stood in front of the mirror adjusting his purple dyed hair. He wore a simple black hoodie and black skinny jeans. Dolos appeared next to him in a dark grey coat and black jeans. The two left their apartment and headed off to the part of town where the circus had set up.
Upon arriving, Virgil felt a pang in his chest. He swallowed his sadness and followed Dolos inside. They walked around the booths and played several games for a few hours. When it was time for the main event to start, the headed into the main tent to take their seats. The audience was as crowded and packed as the ones at Vine.
The lights dimmed and Thomas was lit up with a spot light. He smiled widely and bowed. “Welcome one and all to Sanders Shows! I am Master Sanders! I will guide you through the show and our acts tonight! We have several acts prepared for tonight and we wish you to enjoy them all!” He sang out in a simple little tune. Music began to play as Thomas continued to introduce the circus. His voice was just as beautiful as his acts had been. Virgil smiled, forgetting about his sorrows as he focused in on the show.
He looked Thomas up and down. Images of him from Vine flashed by in Virgil’s mind. The older had barely changed at all. His brunette hair was tinted purple and fell a bit more into his face then before. His caramel eyes shined as bright as ever and his smile stretched ear to ear. Thomas no longer wore acrobatic clothing as he now was the ringmaster. He instead wore a crimson red tailcoat embroider with golden swirls. His black top hat matched with the golden swirls. The outfit suited Thomas’ personality in Virgil’s opinion and if he was being honest, Thomas seemed happier than ever.
“First up we have our calculating Logan on the tightrope!” Thomas motioned upwards towards one of the side rings. The spotlight followed to where he was pointing towards. A tall man with chestnut hair slicked back and glasses that framed his navy blue eyes. His leotard was black at the shoulders before fading to dark blue at his chest then grey at the hips. He was barefoot and holding a pole. The man stepped onto a thin wire strung between two poles. Logan kept walking along the wire while he held the pole in front of him for balance. Once he reached the other side, he handed the pole to someone.
“Logan will now walk back across the wire,” Thomas’ voice brought Virgil’s eyes back to the ground, “But this time without the balance pole to assist.” The spotlight returned back to Logan. He once again began to walk across the wire. After several steps, he bent down and placed both hands on the wire. His lifted his legs up into the air. The man continued to move along for several more feet. With the briefest pause to stop, Logan brought his legs back down and stood up and turned to face the other way.
He lifted his arms up as well as his right leg. He bent down backwards, placing his hands on the wire while his right leg went up in the air and left leg remained planted. Logan lifted his left leg slowly and brought his right down towards his front slightly. He placed his right foot down carefully. His left leg followed shortly as he finished his back walkover. He repeated the process faster several times. Once he reached the end of the wire, Logan stepped off onto the platform.
The spotlight return back to Thomas, “And now I present to you, our fantastic Patton! Tonight he has prepared a tumbling act.” Virgil’s face lit up with a smile. He remembered Patton from Vine. He had only done acro dancing back then, but does tumbling as well now. Virgil didn’t quite know the difference between the two other then acro dancing was dancing with acrobatics and tumbling was acrobatics with some trampolining aspects.
Patton looked exactly as Virgil remembered him. He had the same dirty blonde curly hair, bright blue eyes, and radiant smile. It seemed like he had be allowed to design his own costume. The top was a long sleeved baby blue crop top littered with beige colored pawprints. The bottoms were spandex that went down to his ankles and were the same beige as the paw prints.
Excitedly, Patton gave a quick wave to the audience. He began his act with several simple gymnastic moves that went to the beat of the song playing. The more the song began to pick up, the faster and more complicated Patton’s movements became. Virgil wondered just how long it took him to practice the routine without hurting himself. With the amount of roundoffs, handsprings, and tucks he assumed it had to be at least a few weeks to a couple months. The music came to end and so did Patton’s act with a flourish.
Patton waved as he began to walk off. The spotlight lit Thomas up once more. Motion towards another ring, he sang out, “And now to our Prince Roman with his flag spinning.”
Roman looked young like a teen- maybe just a bit older than Virgil. He had wavy chocolate hair that faded into a copper. The lights reflected off his brown eyes making them appear red. His white full body leotard stood out strong against his tan skin. The red stash going across his chest and around his waist glimmered as well as the sheer golden cape that flowed behind him as he walked. He held two flags- one in each hand. The flags were metallic reds, oranges and yellows mingling together.
As Roman tossed the flags around and twirled them, the flags appeared to glow under the lights. The colors made it seem as though he was twirling fire around. The look of pure joy on Roman’s face made Virgil smile. He knew from one of his old friends how painful color guard was to learn. The pain of having blood vessels pop and the bruises caused by being hit was the exact reasons Virgil had stayed away from the sport. To see someone enjoying it after all their hard work and pain to learn made Virgil happy. He could also see pride and accomplishment cross the other’s face as his act came to an end. As the lights dimmed on Roman, he locked eyes with Virgil. The performer smiled widely and waved before darkness engulfed him.
Virgil blinked slowly and turned his attention back to Thomas. The ringmaster pointed upwards, “Eyes to the sky folks! Our mesmerizing couple Dr. Emile and Remy are ready to take flight.”
Take flight? Virgil asked himself as he looked up. There were two people standing on opposite platforms holding onto bars. One had golden brown hair and a light brown full body leotard with black spots. The other had dark brown hair that was nearly black and blonde highlights. His costume was similar to the first’s, but was dark brown with white spots.
With a brisk nod to one another, they jumped off their platforms holding onto their bars. Flying trapeze , Virgil finally understood what Thomas had meant. The two jumped from one bar to another before meeting together at one. They posed several times. Virgil could tell they were close. Our mesmerizing couple… How cute, Virgil thought.
Their act came to an end and the tent went dark for a complete minute. Virgil wondered what was going on. Suddenly, the lights came back on. Everyone from all the acts stood in the center of the middle ring. Thomas stood in the front in a different outfit then his previous costume. He now wore a full body leotard that was red with golden flakes sparkling in the lights.
The whole group started to do acrobatics. They were all synchronized from their cartwheels to their walkovers to their flips. Their teamwork impressed Virgil. The whole show ended as the group came together and posed. Thomas sang out a quick thank you before the others joined in with him. They all waved happily at the audience as they cheered.
People began to stand and file out of the tent while others approached the performers for an autograph. Virgil looked over at Dolos who was already headed outside. Quickily, he scurried after his older brother. It was dark outside as the Sun set slowly and the wind blew a chilly breeze along. Dolos decided to wait for the parking lot to clear before leaving so they wouldn’t have to fight their way out.
The two watched as people walked past laughing loudly. They kept to themselves waiting patiently. Someone tapping on Virgil’s shoulder caused him to twirl around. He was met with bright blue eyes framed by glasses and a smile that shone like the Sun. Virgil stumbled back a bit. He looked at the person again, “Uh-um… Hello… Patton?”
Patton nodded, “Hello! I couldn’t help but to notice you two waiting here. Are you waiting for your parents to pick you up? I’ll gladly wait with you if so. Don’t want anything to happen to our audiences now do we?”
His words brought tears to Virgil’s eyes. Overwhelming sadness hit him like a wave as he remembered why he was here in the first place. The crying startled Patton who profoundly apologized for upsetting the young teen. He looked over at Dolos wondering what he did to cause the distress.
“Our mother… She died recently. We’re here in memory of her,” Dolos stated simply as he wrapped an arm around his younger brother. He rubbed Virgil’s arm soothingly.
Patton stood in shock for a second before letting out a quiet, “Oh… What are your names? Who are you staying with then you poor children?”
“I’m Dolos Curran and this here is Virgil. We are living with ourselves. The system is too lazy to put us somewhere,” Dolos shrugged.
The elder frowned and his eyes flashed with anger for a split second, “Well that’s not right.” He paused for a second contemplating something. Making up his mind, Patton turned on his heels and starting walking off, “Follow me please!”
Virgil’s sobbing had subsided to sniffles. He glanced at Dolos curiously. Dolos shrugged again and followed after Patton. He dragged his brother along with him as he walked. Patton led them to one of the personal tents in the back that acted as rooms for the members of the circus.
“Thomas kiddo. May I come in?” Patton asked. Thomas gave permission so Patton went inside with the Curran brothers in tow. As they entered Thomas looked at them with a raised eyebrow. He opened his mouth to ask what was going on, but Patton cut him off, “This is Dolos and his younger brother Virgil. They attended our show tonight in memory of their recently deceased mother. And the system didn’t put them in any home, leaving them to fend for themselves. This is completely unjust! We need to do something about it!”
Thomas looked between the brothers and Patton. His expression was a mixture of gloom and confliction, “I’m sorry to hear that, but what do you expect us to do Patt?”
“We take them in!” Patton’s suggestion caused everyone to look at him in surprise and astonishment.
“We-we take them in?!” Thomas glanced at the two, “We can’t just take them in! First of all, did you ask if they wanna join? Secondly, no person in the system would let two kids join the circus.”
The two adults argued back and forth for several minutes. Each gave strong points to back up their arguments. Dolos and Virgil listened to them, but remained silent.
Finally after nearly ten minutes, Patton asked, “Why don’t we just ask what they want to do?! It’s their lives after all! And we clearly aren’t getting anywhere arguing.” Thomas’s shoulders deflated like a balloon. He agreed because they were truly getting nowhere. They both turned to look at the brothers.
Dolos straightened up, “I will do whatever Virgil wishes. I am fine with either way honestly. But I am not leaving him alone.”
All eyes fell on the youngest. Virgil looked at each person with wide doe eyes. Why does this have to fall on me? Fucking Dolos. He thought about how either choice would affect his life. Honestly with his mother gone, Virgil really had nothing back at home. Dolos already claimed he wouldn’t leave Virgil. The young teen didn’t have many friends and he wasn’t close with any of them. He truly had nothing to lose if he joined. Besides something about Patton’s presence gave him a sense of familiarity and home. And he could also befriend his childhood hero. The more he thought about it, the more pros Virgil came up with for joining Sanders Shows.
He looked at the three, a small smile tugging at his lips, “ I don’t see any reason to go home so let’s make this place my new one. ”