The Priest -- 8

After breakfast, Jozef couldn’t wait to get away. He rode Leon’s scooter past the circus grounds and onto the grass surrounding the tree. The circus tent was already down, a mass of men busy rolling up the fabric. Others lugged masts and beams around, amidst yelling and shouting at each other.

 He arrived at the spot she had indicated, but Nina wasn’t in sight. He leaned the scooter against the tree without taking his eyes off the circus grounds. Maybe she had forgotten. Or she had just teased him, never intending to meet him here. Girls were like that. At least, his older brothers always said so. His heart heavy, he sat down and pulled out a blade of grass. It would have been so much fun to have a wild ride with her. Alone, it wouldn’t be half as good.

A shadow fell over him. He looked up, blinking into the sun.

She said, “Hello. Sorry I’m late.”

Jozef jumped up and stood, gazing at her. She looked so nice in a very unladylike pair of billowing pants under her dress. Her hair was combed back into the same curly bun as yesterday and held with the same pink bow. Her smile was even more amazing than he remembered.

“My dad and my brothers kept me busy.” She twirled a curl that had come loose from her bun. “But they finally went out to help with the tent. So here I am.”

“Great.” He turned to the scooter. “Look what I got. Have you ever ridden one of these?”

She shook her head. “No one in the circus has one. But I’ve seen them before.”

“Would you like to ride with me?”

He clapped her hands and nodded. “That would be so great!”

He picked up the scooter. “Let’s take a tour through the town first. The roads are smoother.” He held the scooter out to her. “Step onto the board here in front of me.”

She did.

“Now put your hands closer to the inside of the handlebars, so I can put mine onto the outside.” He stepped on behind her and coasted them to the road, where they took off.

They whizzed by the bakery and the butcher, being careful to avoid shoppers and the occasional carriages. One lady stopped and stared after them, mouth wide open.

Nina laughed out loud.

Finally Jozef took them back to the tree where they stopped. “Did you see that woman staring at us?” He laughed all over again.

But Nina didn’t join in. “People look at me like that a lot. That’s because I’m black and different from what they’re used to.”

“Oh. I thought they were surprised at how fast we went.”

Now she smiled. “Maybe it was both. Anyway, you never looked at me like that. That’s why I came.”

“But I was surprised when I saw you. At how pretty you are. My oldest brother already has a girlfriend, but I’ve never seen a girl as beautiful as you.”

She sat in the grass, leaning against the tree. “You really mean that.” Surprise swung in her voice.

Jozef dropped the scooter and joined her. “I have to go back soon. I’d be in so much trouble if my family would find out I met a girl. I’m supposed to become a priest when I grow up. I’ll never have a girlfriend or a wife.”

“I have to get back too. My father is very proud. He would beat me if he knew I met a local child. And a boy at that.” She giggled.

Jozef tore out another blade of grass. “You know, it’s not so bad being a priest. I don’t think I’d want a girlfriend, anyway.”

“Oh?”

“I mean, except for you.”

She kept looking at the grass, and he couldn’t read the expression on her face. Eventually she said, “We’re leaving right after noon. But I heard my father say that we’ll probably be back next year.”

“I’ll be there. I promise.”

“I’ll be looking for you. Don’t forget me.”

“I won’t. I brought you something.” He pulled his favorite stone, the shiny, blood-red one, out of his pocket. “Here. I found it near the stream that goes by our fields two years ago. It’s my favorite.”

She took it. “It’s beautiful. Are you sure you want to give it away?”

He nodded. “Yes. I saved it for something special. And that’s you.”

She laughed. “That’s the nicest gift I’ve ever had. And the nicest compliment.”

From the circus, a deep voice called, “Nina! Where are you?”

Nina got up. “I have to go.”

Jozef rose, too. She threw her arms around him, kissed him on the cheek, and stepped back. “Good bye.”

“Until next year,” he said, but she was already running toward the circus enclosure. She turned once, waved at him, and was gone.

The Priest -- 7

Leon's scooter looked a lot like this one, except it had larger rubber wheels and a wider and longer platform to stand on.

Jozef, the youngest of the six boys, sat at the breakfast table, squeezed between his brothers and cousins. The other boys, some already teenagers, were busy making plans, which, Jozef hoped, would not include him.

The maid brought in another plate of scrambled eggs. Leon, the oldest of the boys, helped himself to a spoonful, then said, “Let’s go to see Jarek. He is fun to be with and he has three sisters. Very pretty girls.”

Jozef saw his chance. “Girls!” he looked at the warm sunshine streaming through the window. “That’s boring. Can’t we do something else? I’d rather play with one of your roller scooters on such a pretty day than sit inside talking to girls.” If Leon or one of his brothers would let him have the scooter and not make him go with them, that would be perfect. He was good at riding a roller scooter, and Nina and he could go for a ride.

Leon turned to him. “You know what? I’ll let you have my scooter for the day and you can go and have your own fun. Wouldn’t you like that?”

Jozef made a face. He’d better not be too eager, or they’d suspect something and tell their parents, who had breakfast in the formal room. “But I wanted to go with you,” he said.

Januz turned to him. “You said yourself that would be boring. And Leon’s scooter is brand new. You’ll love riding it all through town.”

Leon broke in. “Right behind the plaza,where the circus is, the woods are starting. They have some wicked paths there to ride on. You’ll have so much fun.”

The woods. They could have so much fun there. Or, if she were scared of the woods, they could race through town and explore it. “Okay. I guess that would be a lot more fun than going with you to see some boring girls.”

“Good. It’s settled then.”

The Priest -- 6

“Hi,” Jozef said to the dark skinned girl leaning against the empty animal cage.

She glanced at him, then down at her feet. “Hi.”

What should he say next? He thought of her riding the elephant and blurted out, “The best part of all the performances was when you rode that elephant into the ring.”

“It wasn’t a big deal. Not like the tightrope walkers.”

“You looked so beautiful on top of that large animal, and I could tell you loved it and loved riding it.”

She glanced up at him with another of her brilliant smiles and nodded.

“Have you always lived in the circus?”

Again she nodded.

Mama’s strident voice came from the other side of the elephant, where his brothers were dismounting. “Jozef! Where are you?”

He turned to the girl, knowing he had only a few minutes left. “Can you play tomorrow? I’ll be in town until late afternoon.”

She nodded. “I’m not supposed to. But yes. They’re taking down the tent tomorrow morning and I'd just be in the way.”

“Good. I’ll be here at ten in the morning.” He nodded toward the large tree just outside the circus fence. “I’ll be waiting for you there. My name is Jozef, by the way.”

She gave him another of her amazing smiles. “I’m Nina. I’ll be there.”

“Great. I can’t wait. But I have to go now.”

He turned and saw his mother striding toward him. “Haven’t I told you to stay put? What would happen to you if you’d get lost?”

“It’s okay Mama. I didn’t get lost.” He followed her back toward where the rest of the family was standing, his brothers excitedly talking.

Mama stopped and frowned at him. “These gypsies could have kidnapped you and I’d have never seen you again. Did you ever think of that?”

“Oh Mama. They are circus artists, not gypsies. And I don’t think they kidnap people.”

She patted his head. “Maybe so. In any case you’re back safe.”

They joined the other brothers and Papa. Jozef glanced back at the cage, but the girl had disappeared. He hardly heard Januz talk about the ride. All he could think about was meeting Nina the next day.

Carnival Girl Proofreading

I'm really busy with the proofreading for Carnival Girl, but tomorrow I'll post the next installment of "The Priest."

Thanks for being patient!

News About Carnival Girl, the Book

I have received the proof of the memoir, Carnival Girl, and will have them back to the editor next week sometime.

I still haven't got a picture for the title page, nor a link. I guess a link would be pretty early, since the book isn't scheduled to be published till June. I'll keep you informed of any and all news regarding Carnival Girl!

The Priest -- 5

Jozef's three brothers were next to ride the elephant

Mother turned to Papa. “Is it all right if they take a ride on the elephant, Piotr?”

Papa, in a great mood, nodded. “But only one. That animal can carry all four.” He handed her some money.

Mother approached the boy who collected money from the visitors. “How much for my four boys?” she asked and pointed to Jozef and his brothers.

The young man looked at the boys and shook his head. “They’re too big already. Our elephant is old. It can only carry three of them.” He named a price for one ride with three children.

Mother frowned. She turned to the boys. “Januz, you’re too old anyway. Let the younger ones ride.”

Januz groaned. “I really want to ride.”

“Januz!” Papa growled.

Januz turned away from the group. Jozef heard him mutter. “It’s always me. Why do I have to be the eldest?”

Jozef saw his opportunity. He would have liked to ride the elephant, but he wanted to talk to that girl more than the wanted the ride. He pulled on Mama’s hand.

“Mama.” He looked at her with big eyes, hoping she’d see the little boy he used to be. “I don’t really want to ride. The elephant is so big. Let Januz ride. He wants to.”

Mama looked down at him frowning. “Are you sure?”

He nodded, not trusting himself to say anything else.

“Okay then.” Mama called Januz, then turned back to Jozef. “He’ll ride. You stay here. Don’t you get lost, hear?”

Jozef nodded.

Mama and Papa herded the other boys towards the elephant and helped them up.

Jozef glanced at the girl who was still leaning against the cage. She was done eating, and when his eyes caught hers, she gave him a brilliant smile.

Jozef walked up to her.

The Priest -- 4

Young Jozef was playing checkers with his next older brother Henrik, when their father came into the family room. He turned to their mother, who sat on the sofa, knitting something blue, probably a sweater for one of the boys for the winter.

“I just heard that the circus is in town,” he said to her, but in that tone of voice that told Jozef the conversation was meant for the boys, too. “Since I have business in town day after tomorrow, I thought we could all go there tomorrow and watch a circus show.”

Mother put down her needles. “Do you really mean that? That would be so great. We could stay overnight with my sister. The boys will have so much fun getting away from here for a while.”

Jozef rose from the table quickly enough to dislodge the checkers from the board. “Great! I’ll tell Januz and Oskar!”

Henrik yelled, “Me too!,” the game forgotten.

***

The next day at the circus, Jozef admired the horses with their colorful riders, and together with his brothers, he laughed at the clowns’ antics.

The family, sitting together close to the ring, held their breath as the tightrope walker danced above the ring seemingly on air. They clapped in admiration when the juggler, stood on a simple ladder and balanced it. At the same time he also kept five china plates in the air.

But as the large lead elephant came in, Jozef forgot to breathe. It wasn’t the elephant that had him so fascinated, but its diminutive leader. On the back of the elephant rode a girl, dressed in pink. The girl was dark, a mahogany color, more beautiful than anything or anyone Jozef had ever seen. A pink bow held back her curly hair and her smile lit up the ring all on its own.

When the performance was over, the family joined the other circus visitors at the animal cages behind the tent. In front of them was a free space where two black boys, as dark as that beautiful girl Jozef had admired, were leading the elephant around in a circle. They were about Henrik’s age. Three local children sat atop the elephant’s back, clinging to each other and laughing.

Jozef looked around, hoping to see a glimpse of that girl. His heart sped up when he saw her, leaning against an empty cage and eating a piece of bread. He wanted to go closer and talk to that girl, but knew his parents wouldn’t let him. After all, he was destined for the priesthood and had no business talking to a girl.

As he was wondering how to get away from his family for just a moment, Henrik pulled on Mother’s hand. “Can we ride the elephants too? Please, mama?”

Their mother smiled down at the boys. “Okay. We might as well make the most of it.”

More about Young Jozef and the circus girl tomorrow!