The Tiny Ringmaster (9 page)

“Ruth! Ruth! Ruuuuttthhh? Are you with us?”

Ruth looked up to see her whole class staring at her. Mr. Lucus didn’t seem very happy. “Would you please pass your homework up?” Ruth’s mouth turned dry. Of course, he had to pick up homework today. She was going to get in trouble, but she passed up her sheet anyway.

Luckily, Mr. Lucus went right back to teaching. She tried her best to stay focused for the rest of the class because she didn’t want to get in trouble again. She sat and stared at the board while she watched the minutes tick by, and she was very grateful when the bell rang. She quickly packed her bags to head out of the class.

“Ruth? Can I speak to you for a moment?”

Ruth reluctantly walked to the front of the class as the rest of her classmates were leaving. Ruth stood nervously at Mr. Lucus’ desk while he started his lecture.

“Ruth, this is the second time in a week that you’ve rushed through your homework. I’m worried that this talent show is getting in the way of your grades. You’ve dropped an entire letter since you signed up. If you don’t start to pick back up, I’m going to have to talk to your parents.”

Ruth thought she might cry. This was the last thing that she needed today. “Mr. Lucus, please don’t, I promise I’ll do better.”

He nodded with annoyance. “Meet me after your last class in here. I’ll let you re-do your homework, and I won’t take any points off.”

Ruth began to protest. “But Mr. Lucus! I have practice!”

“Well, you’re just going to have to miss part of practice – unless it’s more important than your math grade.”

Ruth shook her head as she felt her eyes watering. “No sir. I’ll meet you in your classroom.”

“Very good. You can go to class now.”

Ruth let the teardrops fall as she walked slowly to the hallway.

Ruth finished her last problem and put her pencil down. It only took about 20 minutes, so she was still making good time. She looked over her problems again and walked up to Mr. Lucus’ desk. She handed him the paper. He glanced at it quickly.

“This looks much better. That didn’t take long, did it?”

Ruth shook her head.

“Next time you’ll do your homework at home so you don’t have to miss practice, yes?”

“Yes sir.”

“Ok, go on.”

Ruth grabbed her backpack and ran across school to the band room. She kept a careful eye out for any teachers that were on duty. Her band mates were already playing, and she couldn’t afford to miss another minute. She burst into the room and threw her back pack on the ground. Her band mates came to a halt as she tried to catch her breath.

Ruth’s mom picked her up from practice. Ruth saw their van and barely contained an eye roll. Practice was lousy, and she saw her mom’s huge smile through the windshield. She took a deep breath as she opened the door. 

“How was practice sweetie?” Ruth climbed in the back seat even though she normally stayed up front.

“Ok.”

“Did your day ever get better?”

“Not really.”

“Well, Mr. and Mrs. Alberto are coming over for dinner. You and Charlie are going to eat early and then finish your homework upstairs. Daddy and I are going to have a grown-up dinner.”

Ruth breathed a sigh of relief. “No problem.”

Ruth ate quickly. She had received a get-out-of-jail-free card, and she was going to use it. She ate so quickly that she couldn’t even taste whatever her mom had decided to cook that night. It looked a little like spaghetti, but it had been baked or something. Ruth didn’t ask. She swallowed it down, thanked her mom, and ran upstairs claiming she had a lot of homework to do.

Ruth rushed into her room and saw her drum sticks sitting on the bed. She didn’t want to practice anymore. She didn’t want to do anything but go to sleep and forget this day ever happened. She looked at her back pack and slumped onto her bed. The house was quiet. Charlie must have been playing video games in his room. She heard the doorbell ring and heard her mom rush to answer the door.

Ruth looked up at the clock. It was 6:50. It was still way too early to go to sleep, but she didn’t feel like doing anything else. She could hear the laughs already from downstairs. She needed to brush her teeth, but that meant possibly disrupting Charlie without having any parental backup. It would have to be a sly operation.

Ruth turned her door handle with the greatest of care. She knew that she needed an extremely gentle touch to avoid the dreaded door squeak. She breathed a sigh of relief once the door was opened wide enough to slip out. She walked across the hall deliberately. She could hear the video games coming from her brother’s room. She carefully brushed her teeth, changed into her pajamas, and crept back in her room. She quickly closed the door, turned off the lights, and slid underneath the covers. She stared at her glow-in-the-dark stars with distrust and angrily turned onto her side. She didn’t have any problem shutting her eyes and drifting off.

Ruth opened one eye. She peeked around the dark room. She rolled over to her other side to get more comfortable. Her bed felt a million times better, and she snuggled under the covers further. She thought she heard footsteps. It was probably her mom and dad finally going to bed. She felt someone smoothing her hair.

“I’m fine mom,” she mumbled. A light giggle caused her to open her eyes. Ginger stood over her. Ruth sat straight up in the bed. “But... I was just at home and sleeping in my bed! My mom and dad were downstairs having dinner, and… I thought… I thought this had all been a dream!”

Ginger smoothed her hair more. “Shhh... Ruth, it’s ok. You’ve had a difficult day and night. Everything will get better, I promise. Do you want to go back to sleep?”

Ruth lied back down as she nodded. She didn’t remember falling back to sleep.

Ruth opened her eyes. The room was still dark. She was afraid that she had only dreamed of Ginger. She didn’t want to be home in her room. She wanted to be in the tent with Eritol, Ginger, and Tryfod. She’d even take Lucin over Charlie. She heard a small knock at the door and held her breath. With trepidation, she mumbled. “Come in.” Ginger bustled in carrying clothes, obviously on a mission. Ruth beamed.

“Up and at 'em! We've got to get you to breakfast!” Ruth yawned and slipped on her outfit. “Don't worry Miss Ruth; you won't be so sleepy after breakfast!” Ruth nodded through another yawn. She was thrilled that she hadn’t imagined being back in the tent. She still wasn’t sure what was going on, but for now she was grateful and hungry.

Ginger scurried her out of the room and into another tent that was set up for breakfast. It was cozy and warm with the smell of orange juice, bagels, pancakes, and bacon. Large plush red seats were scattered throughout the room, but no one was sitting in them. Everyone ran around from table to table eating and drinking as fast as they could before leaving the tent again. It was chaos, and now Ruth understood why Ginger was so jittery. Maybe they all drank a lot of coffee.

Eritol ran by them in a flash. He headed straight for the coffee without stopping to say hello. When he realized his mistake, he called over his shoulder, “I'll talk to you gals soon! Got to grab some breakfast!” Ruth was surprised that the man could move that fast. Ginger looked down at Ruth. “Ruth, I'm going to let you fend for yourself. See that you get some breakfast, and don't mind this bustle. I've got to hurry off to practice. Eritol will come and get you when he's ready. Wander around in the meantime, and don't worry about getting lost.”

Before Ruth had time to nod, Ginger scurried over to the buffet, grabbed a bagel and ran out of the room. Ruth was a little intimated. What did Ginger mean? She was just supposed to wander around? Ruth didn’t appreciate the lack of direction.

A loud whistle rang. Ruth couldn't figure out where it came from. If it were possible, everyone started moving faster. The last few bites were swallowed, and everyone made mad dashes for the door. Ruth slowly strolled to the buffet and tried to not get run over in the process.

The buffet had every breakfast food imaginable. She grabbed some of her favorites - chocolate chip pancakes, cheesy grits, and scrambled eggs. She eyed the coffee pot. Her mom never let her have even a sip, and she debated pouring herself an entire cup. She sighed as she decided against it. She grabbed a glass of orange juice instead.