The fans that had come to see the circus surely never expected this, did they?
They never figured the three-ring extravaganza appearing before their wondering eyes would include the spectacle of two young women, wearing only leotards, punching out each other in full view of everyone in the Big Top, did they? The fight had started on the platform 50 feet up in the air, continued on the trapeze suspended above the ground…..and finished on the floor in the center of the arena…..with Jonica and I exhausted and battered, still fighting for supremacy.
Were the fans horrified at the sight?
Hell, no! They loved it! In fact, they thought it was part of the act!
After all, that’s what the circus is all about, no? Even as Joni and I fought, I kept remembering how this whole thing started……….
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“Ah, Marie!” crowed Eduardo, hanging upside down on the trapeze, his legs entwined around the horizontal bar, swinging back and forth as he looked at me with that smile that never failed to melt my heart. I stood on the platform adjacent to the trapeze, watching him; his voice soothing and elating me, all at once.
The show had started and a crowd of over 2000 people were watching us, their heads craned upward at the spectacle taking place high above them.
Eduardo.
So strong, so graceful, so deliciously Latino. Before I met him a year ago, I was afraid to perform the aerial maneuvers necessary to be a trapeze artist. My background was in competitive gymnastics, but after he trained me…..after he entranced me…..I would “fly through the air with the greatest of ease” to please him. Preparing for months, learning the techniques, mastering the artistry…..doing it all to keep Eduardo happy.
Did he know I was doing it for him?
His slow smile and easy confidence told me he knew it quite well. We were together, off the trapeze as well as on. I had moved into his living quarters months ago and was as happy as a lark. The act was polished and professional; a prime attraction of the circus. It didn’t bother me that the act needed another girl for the trapeze; the problem was that the girl turned out to be Jonica.
Now, as I stood on the platform, posing until the trapeze could swing to me so I could grasp it and fly through the air, timing the routine to let go of the bar so that Eduardo could catch me in mid-flight, I took notice of Jonica standing next to me on the platform. Wearing her blue leotard, she looked cool and beautiful with her platinum hair and impeccable figure. I wore my usual gold outfit and postured as gracefully as I could. Joni, too, was posing, smiling at the audience and…..I noticed with dismay…..smiling at my Eduardo.
Jonica.
She wanted him, too……and wasn’t in the least worried that I was in her way. In her three weeks with the circus, she had made no secret of her desire for him and disdain toward me. With her athletic body, larger than mine, and her Valkyrie-like beauty, I knew a confrontation was coming…..but the viciously beautiful look in her eyes told me it was coming a lot sooner than I had expected. Worse, the set of her jaw and determined expression told me it was coming
now.
But, no! Not
now; surely not when we were in the middle of a performance, standing on a platform 50 feet above the ground!
“Marie, you must know I can take Eduardo from you anytime I want.” said Joni, softly.
I couldn’t believe she wanted to start up with me at this moment. It set my nerves on edge and caused me to say:
“You can’t have him, Joni.” I hissed.
“Even if I wasn’t with him, he wouldn’t want a slut like you.”I smiled at her, figuring I could say whatever I want since she couldn’t do much about it in our present position. I expected her to answer with another nasty remark. Instead, she released the vertical bar with one hand …..and slapped me across the face.
I couldn’t believe it. She wanted to do this
now? In full view of the paying crowd? Our boss and ringmaster, Vincent, would be watching and would surely have something to say to her after the performance.
Still, I was stung by Joni’s audacity and said to her:
“You must be out of your mind, Joni. You must be crazy. Do you really think…..”Before I could complete the sentence, she cracked me across the face again. Tears of pain sprung from my eyes as I let go of the vertical bar with one hand and returned the slap. Yes, I have no particular trouble balancing myself on the narrow platform without using my hands; my equilibrium having been honed by years of gymnastics. Still, the potential for overbalancing and tumbling from the platform was strong and I quickly grasped the bar with both hands again…..only to have Joni aim a kick at me, an awkward maneuver at this height.
The kick missed…..barely…..but my rage came storming alive when I saw her foot come so close. Circus people have disputes all the time, but the sheer unprofessionalism of her starting trouble
during a performance stunned me…..not to mention that the trouble was starting over her wanting to take my man.
”You bitch!” I cried.
”Is this the opportunity you’ve been waiting for? Are you freakin’ crazy? You want to do this now? We’ll both lose our jobs and you’ll have to go back to your old job as a prostitute, Joni.”It was the wrong thing to say……at least under these circumstances. Joni let go of the vertical bar with
both hands and sprung toward me. Afraid of being thrown from the platform, I met her charge and we wrapped our arms around each other, grappling for our lives. Our bare feet scrambled for purchase on the narrow platform as we tugged back and forth. I met her rage with my own as we attempted to throw each other from the dizzying height.
Then, a semblance of sanity struck us both at the same moment. What in hell were we doing? There was no net beneath us and the probable outcome of this lunacy was that
both of us would fall from the platform to the hard ground 50 feet below. Without a word, we backed to opposite sides of the platform and grasped the vertical bars, our hearts pounding with fear more than effort.
From the other platform, 150 feet away, we heard Eduardo yelling:
”Are you two crazy? Are you out of your minds? Forget this jealous garbage…..just do the act!”Jealous garbage? Did Eduardo know we were fighting over him? If he did, what did he think about it?
As Joni and I stood, eyeing each other with fascinated horror, we could hear the crowd of 2000 below. They were shouting with glee and we figured they were enjoying the three-ring circus before their eyes. It took only a brief look down at their faces to see they were yelling for Joni and me. Apparently, a fight between two scantily dressed girls was something that fascinated all of them, not just the guys. (
Ladies and gentlemen….and children of all ages!)
I was enough of a professional to know that the show must go on. Turning away from Joni, I posed grandly, sweeping my arms in graceful spirals to acknowledge Eduardo and the audience, trying to get past an altercation no one ever expected to see in a circus.
Ignoring Joni was a mistake. As I watched Eduardo swing the trapeze toward our platform, Joni lashed out at my turned head with a closed fist and landed a wallop to my temple that stung every fiber of my being. As I put my hand to my head, trying to keep my balance, Joni lashed out with a foot to my neck that had me hovering precariously on the platform. Was she looking to send me to my death? Did she want Eduardo so badly she was willing to kill me for him? There was no time to consider this now.
As I hung suspended in space for a moment before losing my balance, only my sense of survival allowed me to see the trapeze swinging toward me. I grabbed it in desperation and despite the fact that my fingers were still tingling from the shock of her punch…….I held on! Had the trapeze not arrived at that moment, I would have fallen 50 feet.
Afraid I wouldn’t be able to maintain the grip with my shaking hands, I looped my legs around the horizontal bar of the trapeze and allowed myself to hang upside down. Despite the fact the audience sees this as dangerous, it’s actually quite easy to do. Dangling with my head pointed at the ground below, I looked fearfully at Joni, who was still standing on the platform, staring balefully at me. I was afraid; not for what would happen next, but what awaited me after the show from her. For now, the trapeze swung back and forth with me on it and Joni’s face grew nearer, then farther away as its pendulum-like motion continued.
As I kept swinging, my head started to clear and I relaxed, knowing the danger from Joni had passed……at least until later.
Except that I was wrong…..again. When the arc of the trapeze flowed toward her, I saw her body tense and could tell she was preparing to join me on it!
No! Impossible! It was one thing to attack me while we were standing on a stationary platform…..but she didn’t intend to do it while we flew through the air on a trapeze, did she?
Did she?
I was terrified when I saw that was exactly what she intended. She must have hated me more than I ever believed possible. As she timed her leap and flew through the air toward me, I was incredulous at the idea that I had to fight her not only for the love of Eduardo…..but for my
life! Didn’t she realize there was no net beneath us?
As Joni grabbed the swinging bar with both hands and copied my maneuver of transferring her grasp on the bar to her legs, my own survival instinct kicked in with a bang. Before she could lock onto to the trapeze with her legs, I reached out with both arms and tried to throw her off. In my fear, I didn’t take the time to concern myself with sending Joni to injury 50 feet below…..for that’s the fate she surely intended for me.
I couldn’t grab hold of her in time and as we both swung upside down on the same bar, Joni smiled at me in contempt.
”You thought we were going to compete for Eduardo? Is that what you thought, Marie? ” cooed Joni, her voice icy and confident.
”Shit, you little bitch. You’re not going to be competition for me because I’m going to eliminate you right NOW!”I was terrified out of my mind as she reached for me with both arms, which were dangling free as we swung upside down. Thankfully, my fear didn’t include paralysis and I reached for her with my own arms. We punched, slapped and tore at each other’s hair. I could hear the audience below us screaming with excitement….and no longer deluded myself into thinking they were watching any of the other acts. Hell, the audience believed
this was part of the act!
What a sight it must be for them; two wildcats fighting while hanging upside-down…..clinging to the bar only with their legs. A detached part of my brain wanted to glance down at the arena to see if the other acts had halted to watch us, too. There was no time for that, though……I was fighting for my life. All I could think of was the girl trying to destroy me…..and the fact there was no net to save whichever one of us fell from the trapeze. Whoever remained on the bar would be the winner of the fight. The loser would be on the ground, seriously injured…..if she even lived.
We grappled. I was giving everything I had, but Joni was too strong for me. I was reeling from the punishment she delivered as she cracked me in the face with her fists repeatedly. As she pounded me on the forehead and face, I felt my resolve weakening. I couldn’t defeat Joni…..she was too much for me. My head began to swim from the repeated blows…….and as it did, I felt Joni reach for my left leg. To my horror, she was trying to pry it from the bar, leaving me hanging by only one leg.
I struggled as hard as I could, but Joni was succeeding. I felt the grip of my left leg loosening…..and with a mighty thrust, Joni pried it from the bar. Now, I was dangling upside down, holding on to the bar with only my right leg. Even with both of us upside down, I saw the smile of pleasure on Joni’s face as she prepared to pry my other leg off the bar and send me plunging to the ground. She took a moment to gesture grandly to the crowd, letting them know the end of this particular source of their entertainment pleasure was at hand.
It was her big mistake. She misjudged the extent of my athleticism; after all my years of gymnastics, I was having no trouble holding onto the bar with one leg. As Joni preened for the crowd, I flexed my left leg…..the one that was dangling free……and aimed the hardest kick I could muster…..at her jaw.
The blow had the effect of a punch, jolting her head to the side….and back again. Her body sagged; she hung suspended with her arms dangling helplessly downward, as if embracing the crowd below. With Joni motionless, I aimed another kick, cracking my foot into her neck with enormous impact.
The muscles in Joni’s legs loosened and lost their grip on the bar. She let go and sailed bonelessly down…..and as I watched her descent, I had a moment to notice that the ground crew, ever vigilant, had set up the net used mainly by the high wire acts. They obviously sensed what was happening above and moved quickly to prevent damage from the fall that one…..or both of us...... would inevitably be taking.
That was good; I didn’t want her to die, after all…..in fact, I didn’t want
any of this to happen ….but it had been forced on me. I saw Joni land safely on the net. She was conscious; she looked okay. If anything, she appeared humiliated at her defeat at my hands…..and
highly pissed off.
I had won! It was a battle I hadn’t asked for, but I was victorious. I wondered what Eduardo thought of my efforts as I allowed myself to drop gracefully down to the net. I landed on my back, basking in the cheers of the crowd as I sat up…….and saw Joni crawling toward me, a look of hatred so intense on her face that I was instantly afraid again.
”Did you think it was over, Marie? Not a chance. I’m going to beat you to within an inch of your life.””No no, Joni!” I wailed.
”The fight is over……because I already won!””No, you haven’t,” Joni growled.
”You haven’t won shit! Not while I still have breath in my body.”I tried to run; I bounced off the net and headed toward Eduardo, who had already descended from the platform and stood watching me approach. But Joni was faster, she caught me from behind and, spinning me around, plunged both hands into my hair and dragged me to and fro, causing me enormous pain as I writhed helplessly in her grasp. The audience was shrieking with excitement; they still thought what they were seeing was pre-arranged entertainment. They had no idea how out of control matters had gotten.
When Joni tired of dragging me by the hair, she pulled me to my feet and started punching me in the head and body. She raked my face with her nails and kneed me in the chest and stomach. I tried my best to fight back, but she was too strong for me……too vicious…..too determined in her purpose. The audience yelled their joy for what they thought was a harmless circus act, even as I shrieked in agony.
Finally, Joni captured me from behind and applied a reverse choke-hold. I tried to pry her fingers loose from my throat but couldn’t break her grip. Despite my pain and anguish, I was eerily aware of what was happening around me. I saw Vincent, the ringmaster, watching with avid interest. Why wasn’t he stopping this?
I heard the crowd screaming their approval. Their arms were waving in the air and most were out of their seats, standing and yelling. They were loving the whole thing. Still positioned behind me, Joni forced me to my knees.
The lights in the Big Top were starting to go dim.
No, they weren’t; even in my pain and fear, I knew it was
my lights that were fading. Wasn’t anyone going to help me?
The crowd was roaring…….so loud…..it was so loud……so loud……. yet somehow growing dimmer…………………………….dimmer…………………….
.................................................................................................
I awoke in the tent we used as a medical office. It took a while for me to get my bearings, but I recognized Vincent, the ringmaster, sitting by my cot.
”Vincent.” I croaked, my voice raspy from the choking.
”Hey there, Marie.” said Vincent.
”Ya put on a great show. Yeah, ya sure did. Good thing Eduardo pulled Joni off ya.” ”Show?” I said, still confused.
”No, I have to get out there to do the high wire act.””You must still be groggy, Marie.” said Vincent, soothingly.
”The show’s been over for hours. You just been takin’ a little nap. In fact, I’m gonna have to dock your pay for missing part of a performance."My senses were returning and I thought he was serious, but he laughed gently and stroked my cheek, which told me he was joking. It was going to be okay. Even after everything I had been through, it was going to be all right.
Except it wasn’t.
I looked past Vincent and saw, to my horror and dismay, Eduardo standing against the far wall with Joni. Their arms were wrapped around each other and when she saw I was watching, she kissed him passionately on the lips. He returned the kiss.
I looked at Eduardo for an explanation, although I knew none was necessary. He smiled at me and tilted his head, the gesture plainly telling me:
What can I say? It is what it is.I glanced at Joni with growing despair…..she looked as content as a cat that just lapped up a bowl of milk. She even seemed to be purring….and it hurt my heart to see it.
What nerve she had. What colossal nerve.
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I wanted revenge, but it was a long time before Joni and I fought again.
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When the time came, the loser had to leave the circus forever.
