Peggy Dulle - Liza Wilcox 01 - Death Is Clowning Around (9 page)

“She said that if they forget to do someone who was important to you, then seeing that person might bring back all of the memories they’d erased.”

“Like if I had a third grade teacher who changed my life, then if I saw her I’d remember my mom and dad and everything else?”

“Yeah, that’s what she said.”

“It’s just weird, isn’t it?”

“Yeah.”

Justin and I spent several more hours talking.
He told me about his latest videogame conquest and Sandra, his new girlfriend.
I told him about Tom.

“Wow, that’s great, Teach.
You going to get married?”

“It’s a little early in our relationship to start thinking about that.”

“Never too early to start planning.”

Justin was an amazing boy.
I gave him the key to my house and walked him to the door.

As he wheeled through the door, he turned his head back to me.
“Be wary of those clowns, Teach.”

“What?”

He gave me a knowing look.
“I found your reservation to the clown camp.”

“I’m just seeing what it’s all about.”
I replied nonchalantly, hiding my reaction to being caught lying.
Then added quickly, “I didn’t want you to worry.”

“You’re not a good liar, Teach.
Will you tell me all about it and the real reason you’re going when you get back?”

I put my arms out straight, moving them up and down like a robot.
“If I can, Justin.
If I can.”

He laughed at my attempt to look like I’d been programmed, then grew serious.
“Don’t eat their food.
I’d like to say don’t breath their air, but you won’t be able to avoid that.
Drink lots of water.
It will help remove whatever crap they get into you as quickly as possible.”

“Thanks, Justin.”

I watched as he motored himself across the street.
He was a very astute young man.

I went to bed early, but didn’t sleep well.
I suppose I was nervous about clown camp and what I might find.
Or what I wouldn’t.
I tossed and turned.
Around two in the morning I finally gave up and got out of bed.

I re
-heated a slice of the pizza I
had earlier, then sat down with my notes on Jessie’s kidnapping, the Uptown Clowns, the clown camp, and the information Justin had sent.
I really wanted to know what I was getting into.
Two hours later I didn’t know anything new, but I was exhausted.
I climbed into bed and fell asleep immediately.

In the morning, I packed a bag with my clothes, laptop, and gun.
I also packed a bag of food and a case of bottled water.
If there were any drugs at the camp, I wanted to avoid taking them.
It was really weird having a gun in my possession.
A gun for protection against clowns?
That’s even stranger.

I spent a few minutes in the backyard playing with Shelby.
I was going to miss that dog.
She’d wandered into my garage two years ago, scrawny and looking like she hadn’t eaten in days.
I expected her to snarl when I walked up to her, but instead she lay down and put her head on the concrete.
She didn’t have the strength to lift it or growl.
I took her to a vet who suggested I put her down.
He told me she was too far gone and that nothing would bring her back.
I couldn’t let her die.
I had the vet give her several IV’s of fluids and then I took her home.
I fed her with a baby bottle for two weeks and then soft canned dog food.
Eventually she could eat real dog food.
When I took her back to the vet, he couldn’t believe his eyes.
He told me he never thought I could do it.

I teach my kids in my classroom to never give up and that’s what I was doing for Jessie.
I’d see it through, no matter where it led me.
I didn’t know Jessie, but I still felt like I owed her that.
After all, my computer had sent me to find her.
How do you argue with a computer?

I said goodbye to Shelby and got into my car.
It would take me at least four hours to get to Santa Dominga.
I didn’t want to be late for clown camp, did I?

Chapter 11

I went directly to the Motel 6 in Santa Dominga and checked in.
I’m pretty sure the same lively girl I’d talked to on the phone a few days ago was still working the desk.
She had to be seventeen, without an ounce of fat on her.

“Hello and welcome to Motel 6.”
She smiled broadly and bobbed her head back and forth.

“I’m here for the clown camp.”

“Wow!”
Her eyes grew wider.
“That’s great.
You’re going to just love it.”

I gave her my name and she handed me the key to Room 10.
“Your roommate is already here.”

I drew my mouth in tight.
“I have a roommate?”

“Yeah, everyone at the camp is partnered with another member who’s been through the camp already.”

“So my roommate is already an Uptown Clown.”

“Yes.”

“Great.
Where do I check-in for the camp?”

She pointed out the front door.
“There’s a large building in the center of the park.
You’ll register there.”

“Thanks.”
I picked up my bag and walked down to Room 10.
When I opened the door a young girl, not much older than the desk clerk, was listening to headphones and moving her head back and forth.
Great.
My roommate’s a teenager.
A teenage clown, no less.
How much fun was this going to be?

She looked up and pulled off her headphones.
“Hi, my name is Tina.”
Then she scowled.
“And aren’t you a little old to be a clown?”

I threw my bag on the other bed.
“My name’s Liza and they took my money, so I guess I’m not too old.”

“It’s pretty strenuous work.
Do you think you can keep up?”

She looked at me as if I were a hundred years old, with one foot on a banana peel and the other in my grave.
I was starting not to like little Tina, but I just smiled.
“If not, I’ll go home.
My life won’t come to an end if I drop out of clown camp.
I just thought it would be fun.”

She giggled.
“Well, it is that.
It’s like one big party every day.
Last time I was here, I was so wasted that I don’t even remember two of the four days.”

“How old are you?”
I asked.

“Nineteen.”

“That’s awfully young not to remember two days out of your life.”
I frowned.
I probably sounded more judgmental than I had intended.

She rolled her eyes and put her headphones back on.
With her memory losses, I wondered if she’d starred in one of the porn movies without knowing it.
I needed some more information.
I walked over and slid her headphones off.
“Are there any children at the clown camp?”

“Oh yeah.
They have a group of underprivileged kids who come to every camp session.
The Uptown Clowns are that way.
They like to give back to the community, especially the kids.
You know, kids with issues?”

I nodded.
“I’ve had a few of them in my class.”
Most of the time, the issues came from the parents.
The old saying, “the apple never falls far from the tree,” is true when it comes to kids and their parents.
Once during a parent conference I was all fired up to talk to little Barry’s parents.
He couldn’t sit still, let alone focus on anything I was saying or trying to teach.
I had all the test results ready in my hand.
That was until I met his parents.
Dad never made eye contact with me during the entire conference.
His eyes wandered around my classroom like a bee in search of a wildflower.
Mom was dressed in bright yellow Spandex.
She looked like an ex-Jerry Springer guest.
After spending a few minutes with them, I was starting to feel pretty good about little Barry and his abilities.
With those two as his parents, he was practically a brain surgeon candidate.
I smiled at Tina.
“Do the parents come with them?”

“Not usually.
The camp provides chaperones for the kids.
It gives the parents a few days of vacation and kids have a great time.”

I needed to call Tom and let him know that I’d made it safely.
I looked around the room.
No phones.
“Tina, where’s the phone?”

“No phones in the room.”

“Great.”
I opened my purse and pulled out my cell phone.

“That won’t work either.”

“No cell service either?”

“No.
We’re in some kind of canyon and they don’t work here.”

“I need to call someone and let them know that I made it here safely.
If I don’t call, they’re going to worry.”

“There’s a phone in the lobby.”
She shrugged.
“You can use that, I guess.”

“Thanks.”
I went back to the lobby.
There was one phone and five people in line to use it.
I didn’t have the patience to wait.
I’d call Tom later.

I figured I might as well go and register.
I walked across the park and into an oval-shaped building painted in bright colors like a big-top circus tent.
There were several clowns practicing a high wire act in the center.
Across the bottom of the wires were huge nets.
It was a good thing because while I waited in the line to register, I saw the clowns fall several times.

Finally I got to the registration table.
“Hi, my name is Liza Wilcox.”

The clown put out his hand.
“Hi.”
He flipped through a file and pulled out a three by five card.
“You’re the teacher, right?”

“Yes.”

“We love teachers who join in the camp.”

“Why?”

“You deal with children everyday.
The things we’ll teach you, you can teach them.
Everyone can be an Uptown Clown!”

“Great.
I can’t wait to get started.”

He handed me another form.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a consent
form
to be videotaped or photographed.”

“Who’s taking the pictures and why?”

“We use them in promotions and on the website,” he said matter-a-factly.

“I don’t like my picture taken.
What if I don’t sign this?”

His expression soured.
“Then you go home.
Everyone has to sign.”

Great, I didn’t have a choice.
I signed the paper and handed it back to him.

“Dinner is at five and morning meditation is at seven.”

“I’ll be there.”

I went back to the lobby.
There were now ten people waiting to use the phone.
It was only one o’clock, so I stood in line.
An hour later, I dialed Tom’s cell number.

“Tom Owens.”

“Hello, Tom.”

“Hey, Liza.
How’s clown camp?”
His tone was light.

“Okay so far.
I might not be able to call you as much as I said.”

I could tell by his tone he was frowning.
“Why not?”

“I have no phone in my room and my cell phone doesn’t work because the camp is in some kind of canyon.
The only phone is the one in the lobby of the motel, with a long line.
I’ll call when I can, okay?”

“I don’t like that.”

“I don’t either, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
I glared at the phone in my hand.
I didn’t like having to report in to anyone, anyway.

“Okay.
But please be careful.”

“I will.”

I hung up the phone and went back to my room.
Tina was still rocking to the music in her headphones.
She looked up when I came in and slid off the headphones.
“Did you get to use the phone?”

“Yes.”

“Calling your mother?”
Her tone was teasing.

“No, my mom’s dead.
I have a new boyfriend and this is the first time we’ve been apart.”

“Oh, that’s a bummer,” she said, with a twinge of regret.
“New relationships need to be kindled not ignored.”

“It’s okay, we’ll survive.”
That was quite a philosophical statement for a teenager.
I lay down on my bed and closed my eyes.
I hadn’t slept well last night, so I fell asleep immediately.

Tina shouting in my ear shook me awake.
“We’re going to be late for dinner, Liza.
Let’s go.”

I got up, splashed some water on my face, and Tina and I walked to the auditorium.

It was a circus.
There were clowns on bikes, in little cars, making balloon animals, magicians and kids running and yelling everywhere.
Oh my God!
I wished I’d brought my whistle.
Tina shrieked as we came through the door and ran off with other excited teenagers.

I wandered around until I found the table with my nameplate.
Plates of fruit, vegetables, chicken,
beef
, ham and seafood, filled the table, not to mention a variety of desserts.
I was starting to like this place.
How did they know the way to a teacher’s heart is through her stomach?
If you ever want teachers to come to a meeting and be on time, provide food.

The lights went down in the room and everyone took their places at the tables.
I was the only woman my age at my table.
Come to think of it, I was the only woman my age in the building.
I felt old, and wasn’t sure I was going to last all four days.
I noticed that all of the kids were at a long table in the front of the auditorium.
A laser beamed down from the center of the building, and dangling on a rope came a clown.

“Hello, everybody.
My name is Carl.
What’s yours?”

Everyone in the place screamed their names.
It was deafening.
Carl continued, “Are you all here to become Uptown Clowns?”
More screaming.
“Eat up and enjoy the food, and I’ll see you all tomorrow morning at meditation.
Welcome to your new family.
A clown family!”

People started devouring the food on the table.
Suddenly, my head was spinning.
Maybe it was from all the noise or the lights, but either way I wasn’t going to eat the food in front of me.
I took a few pieces and pretended to chew it, but instead dropped them on the floor.
Four days of this and I might lose those twenty pounds.

In the corner of the room was a table set up with bottled water.
I took a bottle and checked the seal to make sure it wasn’t broken, hoping it was safe.
I remembered what Justin told me about flushing my system as much as possible.
Two bottles and one trip to the bathroom later, I felt a little better.
I wandered around and people watched.
It was like a mad free for all.
Some of the new participants were trying to ride the unicycles, more falling off than actually riding.
The only difference between the members and the participants were the costumes.
But none of them looked out of control.
Their eyes were clear and focused.

I spotted Tina a few times.
She and her friends were flying, literally.
Suspended on wires, they were soaring all over the auditorium.
I caught a glimpse of Tina’s eyes as she flew by.
They were fully dilated and she was giggling.
I wondered if she was going to remember tonight.

Two hours later, people started leaving the auditorium.
I saw Tina’s crowd leaving with a group of costumed clowns.
A few of the clowns were trying to round up the kids, who looked to be five to twelve years old.
The clowns weren’t having very good luck.
Every time they’d get a few in line, some would run away from them.
The clowns were shouting and the kids were whining about having to leave.

Children and chaos make me crazy.
I walked over to the clowns that were shouting at the kids.
“Would you like some help?”

A man looked at me, his face tight with frustration.
I’d seen that look on the Lunchroom Supervisors.
“Sure, I’ll take all the help I can get.”