Chapter 4

Sarah knew even before that first mouthful had started a gentle glow in her belly that taking a drink at all was a terrible mistake. Jamie had told her once when they were going to a party that she should be doubly careful since she wasn't used to drinking and, unlike the more experienced, could not tell when she had had enough until it was too late.

This stuff tasted good enough -- a "Cuba Libre" he called it, whatever that meant -- in fact, it was hard to taste anything other than the coke he made it with. She didn't know what else was in it, except for the slice of lemon she could see floating on top, because he had gone over to Gloria's trailer. "Don't have the mixin's here," he had explained.

"Well, how do you like it?" he asked, her, his head cocked sort of apprehensively.

"Okay... it's sort of like a Coca-Cola with something warm in it, but the Coke's all I can really taste."

"Well, just take your time with it. You'll get used to it soon enough. Not that I'm trying to turn you into some sort of lush or something, mind you. But you'll probably need a drink once in a while when we really get rolling. It's pretty hectic around this show sometimes."

Sarah nodded. She wanted to ask him once again just exactly what her duties would be, but she thought better of it. He did not seem to be disposed to tell her very much right now, and Sarah figured it best to just let things ride as they were. After all, she was getting paid good money for doing nothing, so far, so who was she to complain?

They talked for a while longer, Sarah mindful of the fact that her words were beginning to slur a bit around the edges and that some of her thoughts seemed to ramble a bit more than usual. But she wasn't drunk, she was certain of that. Maybe she was no experienced drinker, but she surely knew enough to know when to stop. Hawkins fixed her another and she reluctantly accepted it, and she thought for a moment it was a bit strange that he seemed to have everything he needed right here in the camper this time. But why worry? The night was cool and quiet, save for an occasional growl from one of the big cats or a roar from the show's big star, Jomo, the African gorilla, safely locked behind the double steel bars of his cage where she'd seen him -- just once -- before they left California.

Hawkins rambled on a bit, relating how he had picked up the traveling show for a song from a Mexican couple who needed the money. He conveniently left out the rest of the story -- how they were desperate for money for their son's much-needed operation and he loaned it to them, taking the show as collateral. Hawkins was in the used furniture business then, as he called it, though his real trade was in taking over delinquent furniture store accounts and foreclosing for the goods and reselling it to Chicanos in Los Angeles. It had been a quite lucrative business, sometimes bringing the same goods back two or three times before he mistakenly sold them to someone who could actually hope to make the payments.

That was a part of his life he didn't talk much about, particularly with new employees. People sometimes got the wrong idea. Just like when they called him heartless for taking the old couple's livelihood just because their only son died on the operating table, and they lacked the money to make their note payment on time. Hell, business is business, he always said, and if you can't take it, you shouldn't be in it. At least that was the way Henry Hawkins saw things -- he never believed in giving any quarter, just as he expected none if the chips happened to be on the opposite side.

But it wasn't good to dwell too much on thoughts like that now... there was something much more important at hand. Yes, this cute little thing was in for a real surprise. Just about another hour oughta' do it, he though. He nearly chuckled out loud as he thought of the look on Gloria's face as he dumped the powdery Spanish Fly into Sarah's syrupy rum and coke. There was always plenty of it in the veterinary cupboard for when they breeded the animals... and for other little surprises like this one. Gloria had been the first, and she was getting close to the end of her prime now, though God knows she certainly didn't need any drugs to help her out now. Christ, she could fuck the balls off a dozen men before she got her second wind. But this one... this one was sweet and still innocent. Marriage may have cost her her cherry, but she was just as pure as the day she turned sixteen, and that was just what the show needed. Oh yeah, little lady, you're in for a big surprise... you'll probably wet those sweet white panties when you find out what's really in store for you, but you'll come around, they all do. And I'm gonna' have some real fun with you while you're making up your mind. Yes sir, some real fun!