Guzbo: Chapter 2 - By BloodyBoots
Guzbo awoke from his morning nap, thirsty and hot. Jozo’s trailer was sweltering in the summer heat, and Guzbo’s fluffy fur coat wasn’t doing him any favors. He smacked his dry lips together as he went over to his water bowl. It was empty.
He looked up at the bed at the back of the trailer and saw Jozo passed out, drunk, snoring loudly. He had drank the remaining gulps from the bottle of whiskey next to his bed before going back to sleep the morning away. Guzbo trotted over to the bed and peeked over the edge at his owner. He booped his foot in an effort to wake him up.
“Daddeh.” Guzbo said in a gruff voice. “Guzbo need wawa.”
Jozo stirred a bit and turned over on his side before continuing to snore. He was sound asleep, despite the heat. An old plastic fan rattled against the only open window in the trailer, blowing just enough fresh air onto Jozo to keep him alive.
Guzbo stared at him for a bit, his eyes glistened with sadness for a moment. He booped Jozo’s foot lovingly before heading towards the trailer door. There was a small hatch at the bottom where he could slip in and out of the trailer whenever he pleased. He squeezed through the door and squinted as the bright sun pierced his eyes which were accustomed to the darkness of the trailer.
The fluffy attempted to fix his hat after it bumped the door coming out. It ended up slightly tilted to the left. He huffed in frustration as he shook his head again in an attempt to fix it once more. The hat now hung below his chin.
“Stupid hatsies!” Guzbo said aloud as he shook his head again.
“Benjie hewp?” Said an approaching voice. It was Rudy’s fluffy, Benjie. He was Guzbo’s best friend, or at least he used to be - before the incident. Guzbo hadn’t been around much lately and spent most of his time sleeping in Jozo’s trailer.
Guzbo just sat with a grumpy stare as Benjie grabbed the hat with his teeth and placed it squarely on top of Guzbo’s head. Guzbo looked at his friend who sat happily, wagging his fluffy tail. He wasn’t the brightest of fluffs, but he was loyal to a fault.
“Guzbo wan pway baw?” Benjie asked excitedly. Playing with their red rubber ball had once been their favorite game.
Guzbo simply walked away towards Benjie’s trailer. He found his water dish and gulped the remaining water in a hurry. He finally felt a little better. That’s when his tummy began to growl. He hadn’t eaten in two days except for some dry kibble on the floor of the trailer. He licked his chops as his mouth began to water; what he wouldn’t do for a can of spaghetti from the circus snack store. Jozo used to buy him one as a treat every week on payday.
Benjie sat wagging his tail, waiting to see what Guzbo did next.
“Guzbo…” His stomach growled again. “Guzbo wan nummies.”
“Kibbwe aw gonsies.” Benjie said, as they both looked into his empty kibble bowl. “Sowwy.”
Guzbo huffed and sat down in the shade, a cool breeze blowing through his matted fur. He enjoyed it for a moment as he decided what to do next. Benjie sat next to him, wagging his tail with a thump against the ground.
Then Guzbo remembered that Rudy often had leftover food in the trash at the snack stand. His mouth watered at the thought of discarded circus food; soft pretzels, fries, funnel cake. It was a scavenger’s dream!
Guzbo took off quickly as Benjie followed closely behind. They snuck along the side the tents, hoping to avoid the crowds of carefree humans strolling about. Finally they came to a stop, just behind the corner of the last tent. Guzbo peeked around cautiously to see Rudy handing out snacks to eager patrons.
The trashcan behind him was foolishly unguarded, and didn’t have its usual protection against tipping; the dreaded bungie cord of doom that strapped the can to a tent pole. This had been implemented to prevent Guzbo from tipping it over. He had a bad reputation for knocking over trashcans for food.
But he needed a distraction. He looked over at his loyal friend Benjie who looked back with happy eyes and a tongue hanging out the side of his mouth as he panted in the heat.
“Ou go distwact Wudy.” Guzbo commanded. “Gwab his shoesies (sandal) and wun away so he come after ou. Den wun away fwum Guzbo. Undewstand?”
“Buh, Benjie nu wan get in twoubwe.” The golden fluffy complained.
“Guzbo wiw shawe nummies wif ou…” He said slyly, knowing full well he would only have a brief moment to eat quickly after knocking over trash cans. Luckily for him, Benjie wasn’t known for his intelligence.
“Otay!” Benjie said excitedly before running off towards his owner, Rudy. He clamped his teeth down on the front of Rudy’s sandal and tugged quickly to pull it off of his foot.
“What the hell?” Rudy said, surprised. “Hey, Benjie! Get back here!” he shook his fist at the fluffy as it ran off with his sandal in its mouth. He immediately chased after it, failing to notice Guzbo as he snuck up behind the trashcan.
With a mighty push Guzbo managed to tip the can over, immediately running around to the other side. He quickly gobbled up some leftover cheese fries, the sticky remains of a slushy, a few bits of funnel cake, and he even managed to grab a hot pretzel chunk that was stuck to a paper plate before a dashing off.
Rudy made his way back, hopping on one foot as he put his sandal back on. He looked up as he came back to the snack stand, only to see that the trash barrel had been tipped over, leaving a huge disaster for him to clean up. Napkins and other light paper objects began to blow away in the wind as he ran towards the mess. He saw a blue poofy tail vanish around the nearby tent corner as he propped the trashcan back up.
“Guzbo.” Rudy growled to himself in frustration as he grabbed the bungee cord and used it to secure the bin. “That little devil.”
Guzbo sat in the shade under Rudy’s trailer, doing his best to clean the sticky remains from his fur. He peeked out to see Benjie returning from his mission. He looked sad.
Benjie stood in front of Guzbo with a huff. “Benjie get spankies with shoe because of ou.” He said with his cheeks puffed in frustration.
Guzbo shoved the pretzel chunk in his friend’s mouth to placate him. “Towd ou I shawe.”
Benjie ate his food with a happier face.
That was when Guzbo heard the voice of a man coming from behind the trailer. He was a tall, well dressed man with a fancy fluffy in his hands. He set her down gently and looked around slyly.
Guzbo ducked under the trailer and pulled Benjie in after him before they were noticed. Silently they watched and listened.
“Just hurry.” Jacob hissed, trying to keep his voice down. “Do your business before anyone sees us.”
The fancy fluffy with silver fur and black mane relieved herself on the grass and sighed with relief. “Dis am bettew. No one see. Poopies outside wike animaw…” Silver muttered to herself, humiliated.
Guzbo had never seen these two before, but they didn’t look, or smell like circus folk. They didn’t seem like the average guest either. Something was suspicious.
Jacob pulled an envelope from his inner jacket pocket and walked as quietly as a cat from trailer to trailer, before he finally stopped at the last one. He secured the envelope to Jozo’s trailer door with some tape. He then spun on his heel away from the door with a smile of completion on his face, only to be startled by Candy herself. She had somehow snuck up behind him without being noticed. Her short stature only came up to his chest even with her top hat on. She looked up at him, unafraid.
“This spot is off limits to visitors, sir.” Candy said bluntly.
“Now Candy, is that anyway to treat a business associate?” Jacob replied coyly. Silver sat close behind his legs, her tail curled around him.
“We’re hardly associated, you just wana buy me out.” Candy said, shaking her finger.
“Actually I’m not here for you.” Jacob said with a smirk. “I’m here for Mr. Zokowski.”
“What’chu want with Jozo?” Candy snapped.
Jacob straightened his collar nervously as he took a step back. “It seems that Barker Enterprises now owns a debt for Mr. Zokowski. He has failed to make his loan payments and thus, is indebted to us henceforth.”
“You’re going after our debts now?” Candy growled. “You’re hoping to buy the banks, is that it? Become a shareholder by force?”
“I have no need to discuss Barkley Enterprise’s private financial affairs with you, Ms. Cornelious.” Jacob said coldly.
“Aw gee, I thought we were business associates?” Candy said sarcastically. “He’s gona pay that loan, just you wait and see.”
“Indeed we will.” Jacob said, checking his wristwatch. “Unfortunately I’m very busy and must take my leave.”
“Good, go.” Candy scoffed.
Jacob briskly stepped away, with silver trotting behind him. She looked back with her tongue stuck out.
Candy rubbed her temples as she spun around to look at the envelope stuck to jozo’s door. She already knew what it said. Jozo was behind on his debt payments, and all he had were bottle caps. His stake in the circus was hanging by a thread. What had once been a respectable clown business had fizzled into an empty bank account with a hangover. She knew it would soon be time to cut him off, and without his act… Candy would have no choice but to sell just to break even. Her dreams of carrying on her mother’s dream of a respectable business had fizzled right before Candy’s eyes.
She wiped her tears away and slammed her fist against the trailer door before walking away. It was almost time for the afternoon crowd, and she couldn’t afford to keep them waiting. The envelope fell off the door as she exited in the distance.
Guzbo walked up to the envelope and gripped it between his teeth before slowly climbing into his caravan. Benjie looked up at his friend as he disappeared again. He scratched his ear before whining a bit at the loss of his bestest pal. But he knew better than to expect anything but a quiet trailer for a while.
Guzbo hopped onto Jozo’s bed and spit the envelope into his owner’s face. Jozo coughed and squinted in the light as he finally achieved consciousness. He grabbed the envelope and looked confused.
“Candy am cwying.” Guzbo explained as best he could.
Jozo opened the envelope in a hurry and read the letter. It was a collection letter alright, more urgent than usual. His debt had been bought and sold to…
“Bradly Barker Enterprises.” He growled. He was not fond of that name. It had been trying to buy him and the rest of the circus for years. They resisted, knowing full well that Big Brad Barker was a heartless monster only interested in profit, no matter how miserable his employees were. Most carnies would rather quit than work for that bastard.
“He dat bad man we don’t wike?” Guzbo asked.
“That’s right.” Jozo sighed. He lit his last cigarette and scratched Guzbo’s head. “We’ve got a lot of work to do…”
