Guzbo - Chapter One
The hot summer sun shone down on the half-circle of caravans as morning crawled its way over the landscape. One by one each circus member stepped out from their trailers - sipping coffee, brushing their teeth, staring at their phones. Their generators hummed to life as AC units turned on to beat the summer heat. The smell of various breakfast foods filled the air as they gathered around the communal campfire to cook.
Candy Cornelius, or “Candy Corn” as she was known by her fellow circus folk, stepped out of her big red caravan to make her morning rounds. As the owner and ringleader of the Candy Circus, it was her job to keep things organized and running smoothly. She stopped to chat with each of her employees as she handed out their assignments for the day. She was followed by her big red fluffalo, Jasper, who sniffed each person, hoping for a pet and some free food. His tail swatted back and forth to shoo the flies away as the dark red mane that hung over his eyes fluttered in the warm morning breeze.
“Rudy, your on snacks again.” Candy said as she stood by the campfire. “Double the price of soft pretzels, we’re running low.”
Rudy was thin young man wearing nothing but a straw hat and a pair of overalls. He nodded at his boss’ orders as he spit chewing tobacco juice into a cup in his hand and roasted a hot dog. His pet fluffy, Benji, was a a golden yellow longhair unicorn who sat by his side, wagging his long, floofy tail with excitement as he waited for breakfast.
“Angie, you’re at the ticket booth.” Candy continued, going around the campfire one employee at a time.
“Awe, again?” Angie protested. “Ok, I guess.” She was a chubby brunette woman in a t-shirt and shorts, flipflops dangling from her sunburnt feet as she put her heels up on the cooler in front of her chair. Her fluffy, Speckle, was a white earthie fluffy with brown spots. She lay asleep in the shade under Angie’s chair, her ears flicking as the flies buzzed around her.
“Alex, you’re the strongman as usual, but could you help clean the animal cages again? They’re starting to stink.” Candy said, looking at the enormous, muscular black man eating a bowl of grits. He nodded and kept eating. His obese brown fluffy, Choco, huffed in the summer heat as it guzzled water from the dish next to Alex’s chair.
“Good…” Candy sighed as she tapped her clipboard with her pen. “That just leaves Joe…”
The other circus folk all paused for a moment before going back to their breakfasts.
“Anyone seen him yet?” She asked.
Everyone shook their head no while doing their best to avoid eye contact.
Candy looked down at the last trailer in the half circle around the cooking area. Unlike the others, it was dark and shuttered off as if to say “go away”. She sighed as she pulled up her slacks, fluffed her fancy coattails and jacket, and straightened her top hat. She marched over to the door of the trailer as Jasper trotted behind her, his hooves clopping in the dirt.
She pounded her fist on the camper door.
“Come on, Joey.” Candy pleaded. “I need you to run the balloon booth. You can’t sleep all day again.”
A groan came from within the trailer. The door opened, allowing several beer bottles and cans to drop out through the door. Candy put her hand over her nose as she took a step back.
“Good lord!” She coughed. “It smells like balls and booze!” Jasper also huffed and shook his big fluffy head at the terrible stench wafting from the trailer door. He mooed in protest as if to yell at the smell itself.
There he stood in the doorway. Joseph Abigail Zokowski Jr, aka Jozo the clown. You couldn’t tell by looking at him, but he was once a highly respected member of the Candy Circus family. He was the best juggler in the history of the small traveling band of carnival folk, just like his dad, Jozo senior, had been before him. He was also a decent acrobat, could make any balloon animal, could throw a pie 20 yards, and knew more than a thousand jokes.
Now he was a sad shadow of his former self. He had fallen into a deep depression due to the demise of his wife, an acrobat named Julia, who had fallen to her death right before his very eyes. He now spent his days drinking, sleeping, and occasionally running the balloon booth to make balloon animals for kids.
Candy sighed as she looked the man up and down. He was wearing nothing but a filthy pair of sweatpants, a dirty old green clown wig, and his trademark red nose. Even at his worst, he was still a clown, born and raised.
It was hard to believe she once admired him. He still maintained a somewhat fit form thanks to years of hard training, but a beer belly was beginning to form where his lean abs used to be. He stared through his boss with sunken eyes as he took a sip from the lukewarm beer sitting on the counter next to him. He struck a match on his five o’clock shadow and lit a cigarette butt from the ashtray on the counter. He inhaled the much needed nicotine and exhaled with a burp.
Candy shook her head with her hands on her hips. She glanced back over her shoulder to see the other carnies watching, wondering what she was going to do. She had been tolerating Joe’s miserable behavior for a while now - several weeks, in fact. She stomped her high heeled boots at them.
“What are y’all starin’ at?” She hollered. “You’ve got your orders, now move out!”
The crowd dispersed quickly, their fluffies running along with them. They knew Candy was quick to dock their pay if they didn’t follow orders. The Circus owner turned back around toward Joe with a frustrated glare. But his cold gaze made her hesitate, as it had for weeks before. She took off her top hat and smoothed back her bright orange hair as she gathered her thoughts.
That was when Guzbo appeared. He was a dark teal poodle fluffy with dusty blue, curly mane and a big poofy tail. He wore a purple clown collar around his neck and a matching orange hat with purple spots and a purple puffball on top. He peeked around Joe’s legs, knocking another beer can out of the trailer door.
He, too, was miserably depressed. He had lost his love as well on the day Julia died. Her name was Sparkles; a pink fluffy that belonged to Julia and was part of her trapeze act. Joe and Guzbo both had yet to recover, and Candy was at a loss on what to do.
She finally spoke after a short silence, fidgeting with her white gloves as she figured out what to say.
“Joey, I know you’re hurtin’.” She said with a pained expression. “But we’re hurtin’ too! We need our best clown back! The other clowns got nothin’ on you!” Her southern accent grew stronger as her emotions got the best of her. Her eyes began to glisten as she fought back tears. She wondered if she should say what she had been holding back for days. “We all miss her.” She said, choking up a bit. “Julia n Sparkles, they were somethin’ special. They were like circus angels and…” she wiped her eyes dry and caught her breath. “But it’s been over two months now, and–”.
“Two months…” Joe interrupted. “One week. Three days. 14 hours.” He checked the smartphone in his pocket, Julia’s face still on his background. “And seven minutes.” He coughed as he put the phone back in his pants.
“Right.” Julia sighed, rubbing her forehead.
She watched as Joe snuffed out his cigarette on the door frame and slowly stepped down. She backed away as he exited the caravan, Guzbo hopping down after him.
They slowly walked to the back of the trailer where an old rusty generator sat on the tow hitch. Joe pulled the start cord to no avail. It was out of gas. He sighed and pulled the front of his pants down, urinating on the ground beside the generator. Guzbo followed suit and relieved himself under the trailer just a couple feet away.
Candy averted her eyes a bit, but continued talking. “It’s been long enough. I don’t expect you to be all sunshine and daisies, but I need you to at least pull your weight around here. The other clowns need you, they ain’t gonna learn shit if you keep blowing em off.”
Joe coughed again and spat a big wad of cigarette tar and mucus on the ground as he shook the last few drops of piss from himself. He shivered a bit as he pulled his pants back up and cracked his stiff joints one by one. Guzbo came out from the trailer and looked up at Candy. He had the same tired, grumpy look on his face that Joe did.
“And what about you, big guy?” Candy said sadly as she crouched down and reached out her hand towards the fluffy.
Guzbo backed away and moved behind Joe’s legs again. “Nu wan.” He said in a gruff voice.
“Have you been feeding him at least?” Candy asked, her hands back on her hips. “He needs more than beer, pretzels, and cigarettes, Joey.”
Joe didn’t respond as he walked back towards his trailer door, Guzbo on his heels.
“Well at least run the balloon booth today?” Candy pleaded as she followed him. “You don’t even have money for gas!” She said as she gestured toward his empty generator. “You’re gonna cook to death in that damn trailer in this heat!”
“GOOD!” Joe yelled back angrily before slamming the door behind him.
“Son of a bitch.” Candy muttered, wiping sweat from her brow before putting her top hat back on. She was suddenly spooked by two men standing behind her. It was Jack “Rancho” Whalberg, and Bobby “Bubbles” McFarley. They were the amateur clowns in training, hoping for some good news. Jack was a tall, skinny man while bubbles was a short and stubby dwarf. They were joined by their twin fluffies, Boop and Snoop. They were both light brown earthies with dark brown mane and tails. Their manes hung in front of their eyes, yet somehow they could see Candy before them.
“Is he comin’ out?” Jack asked with a hopeful tone as he held his cowboy hat.
“He ain’t gonna stay in there all day again, is he?” Bobby whined.
“You two are runnin’ the balloon booth again.” Candy sighed.
“But, what do we do for our trainin’?” Jack asked, clearly frustrated. “We’re clowns. We’re supposed to be gettin’ trained by the great Jozo Jr! That’s what you promised us when we sold our food truck.”
“Just keep workin’ on your gimmicks.” Candy said, rubbing her temples. “Lasso tricks for the rodeo clown.” She said, pointing at Jack. “Bubble wands for the bubble clown.” She pointed at Bobby.
“We already done that to death.” Jack said, walking after Candy as she headed for the Big Top tent at the center of the circus. “He only taught me one rope trick, and Bobby can only do so much with freakin’ bubbles. The crowd thinks we’re boring. I haven’t heard a cheer in weeks!”
“Weeks! Weeks!” Boop and Snoop repeated, stomping the ground to match their owner’s emotion.
“Then practice jugglin’!” Candy hollered, clearly stressed about the situation. “Learn some jokes, blow a balloon. Figure it out!” She disappeared into the tent’s front entrance, late to begin prepping for the morning crowd.
Jack threw his clown wig down in anger as Bobby shook his head. It was going to be another long day at the Candy Circus.
Meanwhile, an old black limousine pulled into the dusty dirt parking lot outside the circus. A set of multi colored balloons swayed in the wind over the “free parking” sign at the lot entrance.
The tinted black window of the rear door rolled down a crack as cigar smoke creeped out like thick, inky tentacles. A pair of cold, menacing eyes looked out at the circus, slowly panning around the lot as they surveyed the area like a lion circling its prey.
“So this is it huh?” A gravely voice said from inside the window.
“Yes, sir.” Another, lighter voice said from further in the limo.
It was Big Bradly Barker, or “Triple B” as he was often known as - the biggest, most cutthroat circus owner in the southeast United States. At his side was his jet black fluffy, Capone. He had pristine silky black fur that shimmered in the light, and styled bright silver mane. Brad reached out to pet the spoiled fluffy as he stared out the window.
Unlike Candy, Mr. Barker was a cruel kingpin who treated the circus as purely a business investment, nothing more. And he certainly didn’t participate in any of the circus work, which he considered asinine and beneath him. He scoffed as he watch a family in line at the ticket booth, chewing his cigar in disgust.
Barker was known for being a ruthless venture capitalist. He was notorious for running his competition out of town and buying up whoever he couldn’t scare off. He then cut costs anywhere he could, often leaving his employees overworked, underpaid, and in unsafe environments. His animals were miserable, his carnival games were rigged, and his food vendors served only the cheapest slop money could buy. All so that he could fill his bank account while using his power and influence to dominate the circus market in all of the southeastern states.
He had bought almost every competing circus in his territory, all except one. Candy Circus. He rolled his window up and snubbed out his cigar in the ashtray located in the center console of the leather back seats. His fat, hairy knuckles were decorated with gold and diamond rings. His obese frame filled his pinstriped Italian suit to the limit. He wiped the greasy sweat beads from his bald head with a silk handkerchief before addressing the man in the side seat of the limo.
“So. She still refuses to sell, eh?” He said with a dark chuckle. “Well, she had her chance to do this the easy way.” He tapped his fingers on his crystal glass as he poured himself some fine aged scotch. “So tell me about this little plan of yours, Jacob. Your father was the best lawyer I ever had, God rest his soul. Now it’s your turn.”
Jacob Carter cleared his throat as he straightened his tie. Sitting next to him was his fluffy pegasus, Silver. She had gorgeous white fur and dark black mane. She flicked her tail menacingly as her owner demonstrated his skill as an attorney. He opened the black leather book on his lap and pushed his designer glasses up his nose as his pristine blond hair gently rested on his forehead.
“Well, as you’re already aware, Candy Circus Enterprises suffered a big loss a couple months ago due to an accident that killed on of their star acrobats - a Mrs. Julie Zokowski.” Jacob explained.
“Zokowski?” Mr. Barker interrupted. “Why does that name sound so familiar?”
“She was…” Jacob paused as he read through his notes. “Wife of Joseph Zokowski Jr.”
“Of course.” Mr. Barker growled. “The clown.”
“Yes.” Jacob replied, looking up from his glasses. “The son of–”
“Jozo the clown senior.” Barker interrupted again. “The rat bastard who left my father’s circus to join this little shit show.” He waved his hand towards the circus outside.
“Precisely.” Said Jacob, going back to his notes. “His son, Joseph Jr, married Julia Lovelace. She died in an accident at the circus, and the insurance company refused to pay because the staff had removed the safety net.”
“Idiots.” Big Brad scoffed.
“So, now my sources tell me that they might be about to default on their loans.” Jacob continued. “Which is why I think we have a chance of pressuring them to sell today.”
“Hmm.” Barker hummed, sipping his scotch. He smacked his lips and sighed as he gave Capone another scratch on the head. “Alright then. But this is their last chance to do it your way.” He said coldly. “If this bitch still refuses to sell, then we do things my way.” A cruel smirk crept across his face as he swirled the scotch in his glass.
“As you wish, Mr. Barker.” Jacob said cooly as he slid down the seats towards the limousine door. “Come on, Silver.” He looked toward his fluffy. She held her head high as she followed her master’s command, brushing Capone’s snout with her tail as she headed out the door. He gave an annoyed snort as he watched her leave.
“Eww!” She protested as she hopped out of the limo onto the dirt ground below. A small dust cloud formed around her, causing her to snort and shake her fur in protest. “Ugwy dumb gwound am making Siwvew diwties!” She whined.
“Hush now.” Jacob said as he used his smartphone camera to fix his hair. “We won’t be long, and we’ll both take a nice hot bath when we get home.”
“Otay, daddeh.” Silver said reluctantly.
“Now follow me and stay close.” Jacob said as he adjusted his collar. “We have a circus to buy…”
<~previous chapter
Next chapter->
Thanks for reading! This was just an introductory chapter. The next chapter will focus a lot more on Guzbo and his fluffy friends, so stay tuned!
For more circus fun, check out our website, fluffy-circus.com
