I vividly remember that day as if it was yesterday and not three years ago. I was walking down the streets when a brightly colored poster caught my eye. It was uncommon for this stretch of sidewalk and cracked pavement to have multiple posters of job applications, makeshift wanted posters, and “help wanted” signs, but this one looked different. Its bright and vibrant color displayed what looked to be the poster of a movie. Upon closer examination, I could see it was for a circus.
“The Barratos Circus,” it read. “An experience you won’t forget!” Underneath the fairly low ticket prices, there were two words: “HELP WANTED” in gold leaf print.
Before that day I was always a sucker for the circus. The beautiful gymnasts, the hilarious clowns, and the varieties of animals that they never failed to entertain the crowd… I loved them and suddenly my job at the corner store seemed like a past life. I called the number on the poster and I was given a location to meet at.
The location was on the outskirts of the town, where it looked like the circus was setting up shop. They already had the tents pitched and roustabouts were putting up colored flags outside what looked to be the big top.
A tall man dressed in a suit, flanked by two roustabouts, came walking over to me as I got out of my car. “You must be Jimmy,” he said, holding out a slender hand. “I’m Edward Barratos. It’s a pleasure to meet you. It’s not often that people often volunteer to help-we’ve been self-sustained for quite some time but recently we’ve been suffering… shortages.”
I smiled. “Well I’m willing to help if you guys are willing to let me. I loved circuses when I was younger-it would be my dream to work at one.”
I expected Barratos to smile at my mentioning of working at a circus. Instead, he simply raised his eyebrow. “Jimmy, I hope you read our motto. When we mean ‘An unforgettable experience,’ we mean it. That is why we will give you a tour of our grounds and give you an option on whether you want to really join our organization.”
“Sounds good,” I said. “When do we start?”
“Follow me.” I walked with Barratos behind the big top, where a smaller collection of tents were set up, presumably for the many different acts and workers. The first tent we walked into was most likely the gymnasts’ tents. Inside, a troupe of young girls were stretching and by stretching, I mean there were girls who looked no older than ten using two or three of those split blocks. Our back, there was a miniature trapeze set, where even more gymnasts were practicing their routines and flips and such.
As I watched, one of the girls tried flying from one trapeze to another, only to miss the bar and fall. At the bottom was a series of mats for the gymnasts to land on, but the girl evidently landed wrong. I heard a loud and ugly snap, and she stumbled and fell off of the mat.
I rushed over with Barratos and a few other gymnasts. The girl was lying on the ground, clutching her leg. A bloodied white splinter protruded from her calf and she was tearing up, obviously in excruciating pain.
“Oh, dear, Ms. Spycer,” Barratos said. “Missed the landing, did we?”
One of the other gymnasts grimaced. “Sir, it’s bad. With something like this, she’ll be able to walk again, but not perform.”
Barratos shook his head. “A shame.” He reached into his pants pocket and, to my shock, drew a small revolver. The girl raised her hand and screamed, but it barely lasted long as Barratos pulled the trigger, silencing the horrible noise.
“You…” I muttered numbly. My ears were still ringing from the gunshot.
“Yes, yes… sorry about that, Jimmy.” Barratos put the revolver away and shook his head. “We have a zero tolerance policy for failure. Nothing will slow our potential down. Now come. There is much more to see.”
I found myself following the man. Every bone in my body wanted to leave right now, but this man had just executed another human being right in front of my eyes. I would most likely suffer the same fate.
We walked into the next tent, which housed The Bearded Lady, according to the sign outside. I could smell food from inside, and my stomach gurgled even though a meal was hardly on my shocked mind.
The most enormous woman I had ever seen was sitting at a table, and she was absolutely shoving her face full of food. Entire plates were gone in seconds, bowls emptied in the blink of an eye.
“Hello, Amara,” Barratos called. At the sound of his voice the woman jumped… or at least she tried. Then, she began heaving and vomiting all over the plates in front of her. Then, to my horror and disgust, she began shoveling the regurgitated food back into her mouth. It was as if she was in a trance… like she was frightened, almost.
We continued on the tour, and each sight I saw was sadder than the last. The worst was arguably the clowns’ tent. Underneath the layers of makeup they wore, they were bruised and beaten. In a corner of their tent was the “time-out corner” which consisted of little more than a bed with shackles and a wall full of sordid devices: ball gags, whips, handcuffs…
Finally, the tour ended, and Barratos led me into a trailer near the big top. We sat down at a mahogany desk, and he laced his fingers together. “So, Jimmy,” he said. “Any thoughts you’d like to share before you make your decision?”
“You can’t…” My lips wouldn’t work. “This isn’t… normal. It’s not… it’s not-“
“Right?” Barratos smiled thinly. “Jimmy, our organization has a standard. We demand the highest of work for those whom we have… gainfully employed. And it has paid off. It has lined out pockets, made us more successful than the most raunchy adult film industry. All of our performers are handpicked at a young age… it’s amazing to see what people will do for money. It might seem sordid to you, my fellow, but to us… it’s just good business.” He snapped his fingers, and one of his roustabouts reached under the desk, pulled out a duffel bag and placed it in front of me. Then, he unzipped it. Inside were rolls upon rolls of cash.
“Here is where you decide whether to join us or not,” Barratos said. I couldn’t take my eyes off the money as I mumbled “And if I don’t?”
Barratos gave me another thin smile. “Then this should be compensation enough for the sights you have witnessed.” Should you attempt to tell anyone… things would get… messy.” I could see one of his hands moving towards his pocket where he had placed his revolver. This was bribe money and I knew it. But I couldn’t stay and witness these horrors every day. I also couldn’t bear the people here being treated the way they were, but this… monster… he was going to gun me down if I talked.
Three years later, I had moved away from that accursed state and I had a job at a well-paying institution. I was walking to my favorite coffee shop when I noticed a familiar poster on the wall of a nearby recreation center. “The Barratos Circus,” it read. And underneath, in that very familiar print, I saw the words: “An experience you won’t forget!”
I never did. Now who could that be, knocking on my door?