Smiles and laughs

When it comes to fear, Sally Sasso's heard of the emotion many times, but hasn’t felt it once. If you asked her mother why, she’d say it’s her daughter’s fascination with the horror genre. If you asked her friends, they’d say it’s her unsettling contentment around life's terrors, and her drive to seek out monsters who participate in them. If you ask Sally, she’ll say it’s because she dresses like someone who should be undaunted. She believes that since her outfits always include biker boots, black motorcycle trousers, and a red shirt beneath a black blazer jacket, she must be as nonchalant as she appears. Some days it’s easy for her to maintain that image, growing up on Staten Island taught her the importance of remaining composed, and shown her more than one way to do so. On other days though, remaining calm is nearly impossible. Sometimes she faces occasions that bring out the Italian-American in her, and truly test her patience. Occasions such as when she must answer the same question repeatedly, get information from a clown who is constantly blowing bubbles in her face, or do both.

“Are you really, really sure you’re not here to blow bubbles?!”

Sally narrows her eyes at the red haired six-foot-tall annoyance in front of her, resisting the urge to grab the bubble wand he blows more bubbles with. “Listen you wishlist Pennywise, I’m only sayin this one more time! I’m here for Chuckles, not to blow bubbles!”

Other clowns in the carnival tent laugh like hysterical hyenas, then the blue faced clown flicks Sally’s blood red hair and cracks another joke. “That sucks, because bubbles has never had a red head before!”

Sally looks around as the tent erupts with more laughter. “Really? What’re you guys, the laugh track for your mom's failed dreams? That wasn’t even funny.”

They laugh even harder as if she told a closing joke at a comedy show, but she feels less like a comedian, and more like a joke being laughed at. She thinks about this clown’s last sentence, examining every word in every interpretation it has, then realizes this hasn’t been about actual bubbles. She steps closer to him until she’s inches away from his body, making it clear she no longer respects his personal space, and looks up at the man who’s five inches taller than her as if she could shorten him in an instant.

“Oh I get it, so you’re the funny guy huh? Lemme guess, judging from the fact you blow the damn things more than SpongeBob, you must be Bubbles right?”

The clown sticks his bubble wand back in the bottle and backs up, then he pulls it out with so much liquid it’s dripping, and blows an army of bubbles in a circle before bowing. “Yup, and Bubbles can be really fun!”

Sally places her hands on her hips, doing her best to react calmy to his insolence, then she approaches him with a smile. “Alright funny guy, you like jokes? I got one for ya, what do two bubbles and a knee got in common?”

Bubbles scrunches his face in confusion, then shrugs his shoulders after trying to think of an answer. “They’re fun to play with?”

Sally grabs him by his shoulders and thrust her knee into his groin with such force his feet leave the ground, and the other clowns laugh as he drops to the floor while wheezing from her strike. Sally crouches down as he lays onto his sides moaning in pain, then she laughs. “Nah man, they both pop! Come on, that was an easy one! Now listen, I don’t know if you’ve been fuckin with me because you don’t want me finding chuckles or because you just suck at makin good life choices, but I know you’re gonna feel worse if you don’t tell me where that punk is, so start talkin or stop walkin.”

Bubbles rolls onto his back writhing in pain, then speaks through a few strained breaths. “What…do you want with Chuckles?”

Sally leans closer and pokes his head like a child poking a dead bird. “It’s none of Bubble’s business what Sally wants with chuckles, all Bubbles gotta worry about is gettin popped again. So you got two options." Sally draws a black serrated bowie knife from within her blazer jacket, then places it against Bubble’s cheek. “You can tell me where Chuckles is, or you can be called Smiles from now on. So what’s it gonna be?”

Bubbles whimpers as the tip of the knife presses into the corner of his mouth, then he begins to cry. “Ok ok Bubbles talk, Bubbles talk!”

Sally lifts the blade off his face and smirks. “Great! Sally listen.”

“Ok, Bubbles doesn’t know where Chuckles is, but Gypsy Gnosi always does!”

“A gypsy huh? Well this'll be a fun night. Where's she at?”

“The tent of prophecy! After you leave our tent look for one with purple and black stripes. It’ll be the third one to the left, she’ll be in there, Bubbles swears to God!”

Sally places her blade back in her sheathe and stands up. “Good idea, you’ll need him if I find out you’re lying.”

Sally exits the clown tent and enters the main area where dozens of tents sit under a single ginormous one, each designed in theme with its attraction and the size of a Walgreens. The clown tent has a giant red wig on top of it, the entrance is in the shape of a smile, and wax figures of famous clowns greet guests outside. The next one to her left has grey and black stripes, a giant barbell on top, and wax figures of famous bodybuilders by its entrance. The tent after that however, looks boring compared to the previous ones. It has no special design on top, nothing outside of the entrance, and is the size of a gas station. As she enters it she sees glowing pink lanterns hanging from the ceiling, emitting smoke that fills the place with a floral aroma while soothing violin music plays, and nearly makes her fall asleep. What she doesn’t see though, is a single person in sight, so she yells in an attempt to get attention.

“Hello?! Is this the right place to find Gypsy Gnosi?! Need to talk to her about somethin!”

Suddenly the entrance to the tent is blocked, the lanterns turn purple, then a gentle voice speaks from behind the wall to her right. “I prefer to be called Gnosi, Gypsy is offensive to my people.”

Sally holds her hands up like someone being arrested and looks around the room, trying to spot the woman talking. “My bad, that’s what I was told your name is. Didn’t mean any disrespect.”

“I appreciate the apology. Now tell me stranger, what knowledge do you yearn for? A glimpse into your future perhaps? Or is it something within yourself you wish to understand?”

“Actually I’m lookin for a worker named Chuckles. A clown named Bubbles said you’re the know it all in this joint, so do you know where I can find him?”

Gnoci remains silent for a few moments, then her voice comes from the wall to Sally’s left. “Why do you seek him? Has he done something…questionable?”

“Well judgin from your question it sounds like you already know that answer.”

“If he has, then he cannot be blamed for it. He’s experienced a trauma in his life that has negatively impacted his mind, and sometimes it causes him to do things he shouldn’t. It is his one flaw, but we don’t judge people for their flaws here, for we are who we are because we embrace our own.”

“Uh huh, right. Well his flaw was a real problem for some nice folks, so now I’m gonna be a problem for him.”

“I assure you whatever he did wasn’t intentional.”

“Well last time I checked, assaultin someone wasn’t the kinda thing that happens on accident.”

“Sometimes a cry for help looks like an act of violence.”

“Is that right? Ha! Sorry Jada, but an affair’s an affair, not an entanglement. Your pal hurt some people for kicks, that’s what he did, so I’ve been paid to hurt him back.”

“This sounds like a quest for vengeance, but vengeance is never the answer, and when pursuing it you should dig two graves. One for the person you seek, and one for…”

“The person who tried to keep them from me. So far I’m only diggin one grave, but I’m gettin real close to needin another.”

A woman in a purple floral robe bursts forth from the wall at the front of the room, her brown hair hangs past her waist in a ponytail, and drags behind her as she approaches Sally. “Ok look, chuckles is my little brother, and I know he can get a little physical but I swear he doesn’t mean to. See, he has some mental issues because of this bullet stuck in his head that changed him, so he has a hair trigger temper and acts out often. It’s not his fault, but I understand someone feels wronged by him, so I’m more than willing to pay you to just leave him alone.”

“Talkin like a normal person now huh? Always knew these places were a sham. Listen, as much as I’d love to just take a bribe and call it a night, I got morals and a reputation to keep.”

“Fine then I’ll pay whoever hired you! Tell them that all they need to do is name a number and it's done! I’ll even bring it to them in cash today, tell me where they’re at and I’ll get in the car right now!”

“Alright. Here’s where you’ll find em. 500 25th St, Brooklyn, NY, 11232.”

Gnoci pulls out her phone and searches for the address, then looks at Sally as though she was given a riddle she couldn’t possibly solve. “I don’t get it, is this where they work at?”

“Nope, that’s where they’re sleepin. All snuggled up in a nice little spot under some trees, so you might wanna take a medium when you go.”

Gnoci drops her phone and begins to breathe abnormally fast, backing away from it as if it had shown the death of everyone she cared for. “No, that’s…that’s not right. It can't be. My brother wouldn't kill anyone."

“Ha! Wanna bet? Here, check this out.” Sally pulls her phone from her pocket and shows Gnoci a video from a dark web page, the clip is five minutes long, but Gnoci only lasts for twenty seconds before backing away in screams of horror.

“No! No! Get that away from me! That’s not him, that’s not my brother!”

Sally puts the phone in her pocket and sighs. “Oh come on, don’t even pretend you didn’t see his face, the camera quality ain’t that bad. Now look, I get that you don’t wanna give him up. Trust me, I’m Italian, we’re all about family loyalty, but this ain’t the time to be ten toes down. Your brother mutilated and violated people in ways the devil himself would gag at, and that’s just what he did when they were still alive, you ain’t seen what he did after they died. He deserves what he’s got comin to him, so will you tell me where he is, so his victim’s families can have this small breath of solace? Or will you let em sink in the pain of loss until they drown?”

Gnoci cries uncontrollably, covering her face with her trembling hands as tears leak through her fingers, then a disturbing sound of roaring laughter comes from the front of the room. A large man appears from behind the wall, wheezing from how hard he was laughing, then he speaks with strained vocals. “It’s fine Gnoci, I give up.”

Sally tilts her head and squints at him. “Huh. You know, you look younger than I thought you’d be, kinda changes things now. Was gonna do you like Green Goblin was gonna do Maryjane in Spiderman, nice and slow, but I might cut you some slack if you’re not old enough for it. So, how old are you?”

“Nineteen.”

“It's your lucky night then.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-three.”

“Shame. You would’ve made a nice doll if you were thirteen like the others.”

Sally cracks her neck and draws her knife. “You know what? I change my mind. Green Goblin it is.”

“Funny. I’m pretty sure he got killed with his own blade too, right after Spidey dodged it. Sloppy attack if you ask me.”

“Yeah? Well I ain’t sloppy, and you ain’t Spiderman.”

Gnoci stands up and screams at her brother. “No, stop this! What’s happened to you?! Why did you hurt those people?!”

Chuckles laughs so hard he begins to choke, then speaks after regaining his composure. “Because I wanted to and I could. I don’t know why I wanted to, I didn’t know those people at all, but something inside me just needed to do it. It was like I was starving and finally found the one food to fill me up, the one food that tastes the best, and now I don’t want to eat anything else.”

“No, I don’t believe that! There must be a reason, something we can fix! It’s the accident, a mental complication from that gun trick you failed, it’s making you do things again but I can get you help! We can fix it like we did before!”

“Nothing was ever fixed Gnoci, I faked being better so you wouldn’t be afraid of me, but I can’t keep doing that now, it doesn’t work anymore. This feeling, this urge to do awful things has been eating at me like acid on skin for years, and it was only a matter of time until it got through to the bone. I don’t know what woke the monster in me, maybe it was the accident or maybe an alarm just went off, but I know one thing.” He breaks out into an even stronger burst of laughter, one so long his face forms a grimace as though he's being forced to do so, then he wheezes between his final words. “I can’t…put it back to sleep now.”

Sally flips her knife and grins. “Well lucky I’m here then, because dirt naps are my thing. So before you take yours, got any last words for your big sis?”

Gnoci stands between Sally and her brother, eyes red from crying and her face soaked with tears as she pleads with Sally. “Wait! Please just wait! I know he did something horrible, and I understand he should face justice, but this isn’t right! He should be given a chance in court, a chance to get the help he needs, not a death sentence!”

“I’m just doin what I’ve been paid to do Gnoci, it’s not personal. Ok I lied, it got a little personal a few seconds ago. Look, I respect your loyalty, I truly do, but it’s startin to piss me off. So am I still diggin one grave, or am I diggin two now?”

Gnoci looks back at her brother, sobbing more with each second she spends staring at him, then she faces Sally and slowly holds up her shaking fists. Sally takes a moment to admire her bravery, then she gently places her hand on Gnoci's shoulder. “The things we do for family huh?”

Sally quickly moves her hand from Gnoci’s shoulder to the back of her neck, pulling her body forward as she rams the handle of her knife into her solar plexus, then Gnoci falls down struggling to breathe. Sally walks around her to face Chuckles, expecting to see anger in his eyes after attacking his sister, but he’s showing no more emotion than when he appeared. Suddenly he has another burst of maniacal laughter, laughing so forcefully he begins to cry, and Sally becomes enraged by the sight. “Are you serious right now?! You got the best sister in history, she was gonna die for you, and you’re just gonna laugh after someone hurts her?! Wow, you’re a real piece of work you know that?! It’s too bad your mom didn’t abort you, because you don’t deserve Gnoci!”

Chuckles watches his sister roll on the ground in pain, then he sighs. “Trust me, I know that already. So let’s do this, I’m so tired, and I just want to rest now.”

“Fine by me, but I ain’t gonna make it quick just because you’re waitin for it.”

Chuckles drops to his knees and holds his arms out. “I don’t want you to.”

Sally tightens her grip on her knife and runs towards him with it aimed at his chest, she feels the blade crash through bone as it perforates his flesh, then Gnoci release a scream of anguish. “NO, DON’T!”

Sally feels Gnoci pulling on her shoulders, desperately trying to save her brother, but her effort isn’t enough to prevent Sally from being his inevitable death. She pushes the blade deeper until the metal disappears from sight, feeling the tip of it burst through his heart and into his spine, then she slowly pulls it back out and watches his body lay on the gory floor. She feels Gnoci release her grip on her in an instant, and turns around to see her on her knees. The emotion she had is now as dead as her sibling, replaced by a blank expression that doesn’t blink, then she whispers four words as tears form streams down her trembling face. “I…will kill you.”

Sally uses her jacket to wipe the blood from her blade before sticking it back in its sheathe, then pulls her phone out and takes a picture of Bubble’s body for her client. “I know.” She picks up Gnoci’s phone and enters her address, then places it beside her. “Stop by anytime.”