Month: May 2013

No one knew where Orguz was. By the end of the night, Aata was frantic. She wanted Saleh to go look for him, but Saleh said, “Don’t worry, he will be back, he is a boy, he’s doing something stupid.” He didn’t say it but he planned to slap Orguz silly when he saw him next.

Neither of them slept. In the morning, Saleh slipped away to ask Bilko if he could use the phone in the maintenance trailer. He called all the hospitals in the area and the police station.

Then, he and Bilko unhitched the trailer. Saleh told Aata that he was going to drive around the area. Bilko asked Hormat and Leila to sit with Aata, and he and Saleh went to the police station.

They found Orguz sitting in the rear corner of bunk in a small cell with three other boys.

“We found him, he’s alive, he’s OK, but he is in big trouble,” A very sad Saleh told Aata, when they got back. She was sitting on a small sofa with Leila and Hormat and all three women were hugging one another and crying as he told them what had happened.

Bilko sat next to Hormat with his hand on her shoulder.

Jubilee! left Long Beach without Saleh, Aata, Mehmet, Hormat and Syeira.

It took two weeks for Bilko to turn over his job to his father and the other men in the crew, then he returned to Long Beach.

“Up first tonight, Gladys Pitch, a cashier at the QC Mart in downtown Long Beach, was shot to death during a robbery that netted an estimated $200. One sixteen year old boy was arrested at the scene of what the police believe may be a gang related robbery.

According to Manny Wilcox, police spokesman, warrants are currently out for the arrest of several other boys believed to be involved.

A silent alarm alerted police to a robbery in progress at approximately 9pm…”

Orguz found his way to 7th and Cherry in Long Beach where he was to meet Lisa in front of a small market just down the street from the theater.

And she was there. Along with some boys he didn’t know. One tall lean boy with pimples watched him approach with a predatory grin on his face.

Lisa looked embarrassed. “My brother,” she said, “and some of his friends.” Her voice was a melody, Orguz wanted to reach out and touch her arm. Her brother was the one with the grin.

As soon as she introduced him, her brother, still grinning, thrust his hand out to grab Orguz’ hand.

“You like my little sister? Pretty, isn’t she? Looks like me, right?” He turned to look at his sniggering buddies.

Orguz didn’t know what to say but shook the boy’s hand with what he hoped was a pleasant smile.

“Leave us alone, Hijo. He’s just a friend, we want to go to the movies,” Lisa pleaded.

“Yeah, we are just going to the movies.” Orguz added, trying to sound agreeable.

“Well, you’re going to want some sweets, aren’t you? Maybe something to drink?” Hijo asked, and then pointing into the bright fluorescents in the market, he added, “you can get them right here.”

Lisa looked mortified, she quietly apologized. Orguz didn’t know these boys but figured the best plan was to play along with her brother’s hazing, get through it and into the theater as quickly as possible. “Sure, good idea,” he said.

“But you don’t want to be spending any money,” Hijo said shaking his head, still smiling.

Orguz responded, “I have money, no problem!” He was a little confused, but he would get through it.

Hijo repeated, “You don’t want to spend any money here,” he said, emphasizing ‘want’, “So, we will go in with you and provide a distraction, and you can get my sister all kinds of goodies.” The smile was making Orguz uncomfortable.

“That’s OK, Hijo, I’ll just go in and get the stuff- want anything special, Lisa?” He asked her, upbeat.

“I don’t want anything at all, except for you guys to stop bothering us!” She said.

“It will be OK, I will just get some candy and we will go to the movies,” Orguz whispered.

Orguz was concerned. She was upset and that distressed him. He started walking into the market and quickly realized that Hijo and his buddies were right behind him.

He turned and smiled in acknowledgement. Hijo grinned back.

As soon as he was in the market, Orguz nodded at the fat bleach blond behind the counter, made a sharp left at the first aisle and walked quickly down to the coolers. No one followed, he was alone, what a relief.

Orguz picked up a couple of Cokes and looked around at the candies, trying to think of a way to sneak out, when he heard a shout followed by an explosion that he realized, a moment later, was a gunshot. It might have been the loudest sound he had ever heard.

He was on the floor hiding behind a rack of cards, There was the sound of hasty footsteps everywhere and he was afraid to move.

And then he was afraid not to move.

Suddenly, it was quiet. What if someone was standing right over him? What about Lisa? Orguz waited for another moment and peeked up and around the corner.

He waited another moment. There didn’t seem to be anyone around anywhere. He got up. Still, nothing moved.

He forced himself to walk toward the entrance and when he got to the counter, he saw the fat blond woman on the floor behind the counter, her apron quickly filling with a roseate blush.

There was a gun on the floor. Orguz thought of Lisa. He didn’t know what to do.

His only thought was to get rid of the gun and somehow would make it all go away.

Orguz picked up the gun and ran for the door. He would throw out, away, into the darkness.

Just as he got to the door, the first police car arrived with its lights flashing and siren blaring. Orguz froze.

Orguz was going to take Lisa to the movies. He was going to get in trouble, and he knew it. His father and mother and possibly management would be upset but this was his chance and he was going to take it.

The following day, he worked as he usually did, talked as he usually did, but at 6pm exactly, he dropped the curtain in front of his joint and slipped out the delivery gate, ran across the darkening parking lot and toward the lights of the city.

Love was love. But the magic of love, the rapture of love was what Orguz longed for. He had felt the current, the inevitability of it, the overpowering inexorability of it in his dreams and, sometimes, a pale echo of it in the shower when he had time. But never with a real girl.

It would mean trouble and he knew it. He had heard what happened to Bilko. He had felt the current himself but he could only guess at its full power. But from what he did know, it was magnificent.

The first time he saw Lisa, she was wearing a loose purple blouse and a short dark skirt that hugged her hips, she had a long flowered scarf that she wore around her neck.

And simple red shoes, round toed not pointed like so many girls, that were like slippers and seemed so elegant on her.

He saw her watching him and he saw her looking back to see if he was watching her as she walked away.

Orguz could only imagine what it would be like to touch her. And he did imagine it, it kept him awake at night. She was clearly Latina, with a perfect oval face and long brown hair with just a wisp over her doe eyes. Orguz wanted her badly.

Then he saw her again, and then, again over several days and wished he could talk to her.

One night, toward the end of the engagement, he was walking between shows and she was suddenly in front of him.  Smiling.

Orguz managed, “Hi,” then added, “I have seen you around.” He wanted to acknowledge somehow that she had caught his attention.

“And I have seen you,” she said smiling. “I’m Lisa,” she said, “and I want to give you something.” She said shrugging her shoulders.

Orguz was confused.

She looked around and nodded to a space between two tents.

He followed her into the semi-darkness wondering what she could possibly have to give him.

She stood very close to him, and bounced up on her toes, kissing him on the cheek. “You are cute,” she said.

Orguz had not expected that and in an instant of decision, he kissed her back. Then he took her in his arms, pressing her full against her, and kissed her again a little harder and felt her mouth open slightly and her lips surrender, and he wanted more.

She started to turn to go but Orguz would not let go, he held her by her waist knowing this could be the last chance he would ever have.

“I have to go, sweetheart, she said, I have to go,” she said gently.

Orguz said, “But I have to see you again.” And he meant it.

“Can you get away? I mean could we go somewhere?” She asked.

Orguz said, “yes, anything you want.” He knew he would do anything he had to.

When she ran off, he saw her join a group of girls that were all looking his way. When she got to them, they all started talking and laughing at once, excitedly.

As they walked away toward the entrance, Orguz saw her looking back at him, smiling and and waving. He waved back at her.

(Orguz was making faces and posing in front of his mother’s mirror. “Call me Orgaz, he said in a low raspy voice tossing his hair, Orgaz is the man can show you a goood time!” He laughed randily. 

His father was suddenly behind him: What are you doing?

Orguz was startled, “Nothing, Papa. I was just getting ready for the show.”) 

The townies enjoyed watching him romp in his little suit, straw hat and cane.

He was already well known around Jubilee! both for his enthusiastic show and for his escapades.

When he was 12 years old, he was caught peeping through a small hole he had cut in the dressing room tent for one of the kootch shows. He was taking pictures.

Saleh was mortified that his son would do such a thing. And the camera. “Did I raise a peeping tom? Don’t you think those women deserve their privacy?”

Bilko smiled an uncomfortable sideways smile. Syeira wouldn’t talk to him. He went and apologized to the girls in the kootch show. Management confiscated his camera and put him on probation.

But nothing could stop Orguz from growing up, and growing up fast. He was loved, envied and hated, often by the same people. Through the seasons, his act changed a number of times, and his walk gathered swagger. Orguz wasn’t humble.

(Orguz was slouching against the kitchenette sink in a t-shirt and shorts, letting his right shoulder drop a little more than his left. A cigarette between the forefinger and index finger of his right hand. Syeira sat on the couch covering her nose and making a face.)

At 15, he was lean, dark and handsome, his smile was bright and his skin was perfect and, already, a boy of legend.

Not only did he attract attention for his showmanship, a boy with so much acumen, but townie girls came to see him because he was beautiful with his wavy black black hair, big eyes and dark skin.

Orguz reveled in their attention and the fact that any trouble, fancies or romances ended on jump night. And every new town was a sterling silver promise.

By the time he was sixteen, Orguz claimed to have done it all. He had been drunk, been in fights, slept with townie girls, he even hinted that he involved with one of the girls in the kootch shows. Orguz said… Orguz said a lot of things.

That summer, Jubilee! arrived in Long Beach, California, for a month long engagement.

“Hey, kids! lookee what I’ve got here. Its alright crowd around, its alright, come over and take a look.

“I’ve got treats, I’ve got candy, I’ve got passes to the best rides on the midway- I’ve got what you want to see on the midway, right over here!” Orguz shouted, patting the top of a long table draped with red cloth brocaded with stars and the sun.

Behind him were posters of Elvis Presley, Marilyn Monroe, Bettie Page, Jane Mansfield, Bridgette Bardot, James Dean, John Wayne and Commander Cody.

In the middle of the table was a one foot tall replica of Robby the Robot with blinking eyes and arms that moved. Next to the robot was a large bowl of folded strips of paper. “I am Robby the Robot”, the robot ground out in grainy inhuman speech.

“Someone is going to win this tonight, very likely someone standing right here, right now is going to win this tonight,” Orguz shouted raising his cane into the night sky and taking off his straw hat. “And it could be any one of you!

“You see those two barrels? Every time you buy a Bonomo’s, Sugar Daddy, or take a dive into my surprise package barrel, or make any purchase, your name is placed on a slip of paper and put in the bowl for the BBBIIIIIIIGGGG drawing, later tonight.

“Just think about it, kids, how would you like to go home with one of these???” Orguz pointed at the blinking robot with his cane.

“Don’t go off buying a hamburger and thinkin’ this stuff’s still going to be here when you get back! It won’t! Not at these prices. Management is going close me any minute and I have to get rid of everything, right now, tonight!

At each end of the table were barrels that at one time were full of pickles but now contained sealed paper bags of candy of assorted candy and small toys.

“You just look from one end of this table to the other, you will see every reason you came here tonight and more!

“See these all-in-one passes? You heard me discount passes to the biggest and best rides on the midway, all for one low price!

“I’ve got candy, I’ve got toys, posters and a barrel full of surprises.

…and,” he stopped searching the crowd with his eyes, “Yes Sir! I’ve got pictures.”

“What is this? This little lad asked?” Orguz pointed at a stack of pink envelopes behind him, “Well…

“Those girls in the shows down the way. Those girls are friends of mine and,” he smiled what he hoped to be an unctuous smile, “they let me take their pictures in some very interesting poses.” He said, with the accent on they.

“And some of the time, they didn’t even know there was a camera on them.”

“Now, I can’t show you what these girls are doing but your friends and neighbors have been talking about it, you have heard about it.”

Then he raised his cane over his head and shouted, “One dollar for anything on this table, one dollar for a chance at Robbie the Robot, One dollar for a pass to some of the best rides on the midway,

“And one dollar to take home pictures of some of my friends in the show down the way!”

Orguz’ hand rested on top of a stack of pink envelopes behind the table, the one on top revealed the edge of a glossy photograph.

A boy was straining to see, Orguz leaned close, “I’ve got your girl friend’s picture in here,” he said, winking at a him.

The first season, when he wasn’t delivering lunch and dinner, Orguz sold surprise packages out of a barrel, candy, posters and plastic figures of Superman, Batman and G.I. Joe from a small stand across from Aata’s Fancy.

But business was slow and he was having trouble juggling his delivery business with the candy stand.

Saleh could see his son was struggling, so, about mid-season, he made Orguz a deal. Saleh would supply all the candy and Cracker Jacks Orguz could sell at the same volume wholesale price Saleh paid in exchange for his food delivery business.

Under this agreement, Saleh could hire other carnie kids to deliver using the system that Orguz had set up and make a little more money. And Orguz could concentrate on making his stand work, plus he would be paying very little for his merchandise.

They made one more arrangement. Orguz and Saleh would conspicuously post prices on chalk board menus for their competing items. Saleh’s prices would be higher.

At slow intervals during the day, there would be pricing wars between Aata’s Fancy and Orguz booth. Saleh would suddenly drop his prices and Orguz would shout in protest, grudgingly offering his for a few cents less. When it got busy again, the prices went back to normal.

Orguz finished that season with a small profit and bragging rights. Privately, he was very dissatisfied with how well he did.

He vowed to make the next season better.

And it was.

But by the third season, Orguz was red hot.

A couple days later, Orguz put on his gray suit and went with his father to the Russian River  Commercial Restaurant Supply House.

There, he bought a case of Pez dispensers and inserts, a case of Bonomo’s Taffy, wax lips, assorted hard candy, small plastic toys and a ream of sheet cellophane.

He also placed orders with several companies he found in the ad section of a Superman comic.

Later that same week, he got into the wardrobe trailer for the LeeMeng Miniature Circus act and stole a straw hat and cane.

Still, Orguz was barely ready when Jubilee! went on tour that following summer.

At the end of that tour, he went to Aunt Leila, told her his plans and asked how much it would cost to make a gray suit for him.

Leila laughed out loud but was so tickled by the idea that, two weeks later, she delivered Orguz a gray silk suit, complete with a scarlet hankie for the breast pocket.

He was dumbfounded. It was even more beautiful that he imagined. Orguz dug into his right pocket and pulled out three wadded up five dollar bills and promised that he would see that she had hummus, pita and tea every afternoon until Jubilee! went back on tour.

He took the suit home, bathed and put it on. He sat in it and stood in it. He considered in it, and he spoke in it. He danced in it, and he posed in it.

He stood leaning against the kitchen sink with his left hand on his hip and his right foot balanced on the tip of his toe in it.

He was pleased, but he needed a hat and cane.