Sunflower Spectacle was in the kitchen working on dinner when she heard the front door slam shut and footsteps running up the stairs.
“Trixie honey! Is that you?” she called out, looking up from the casserole she was placing in the oven. Setting the timer and turning the oven on, she took off her apron and oven mitts, set them on the counter then walked to the stairs and up to her daughter's room.
Knocking on the door, she could hear muffled crying inside.
“Trixie honey, I’m coming in. What’s wrong dear?” Sunflower asked her daughter as she opened the door, then gasped.
Jack Pot came home from work to find Sunflower sitting at the kitchen table, face buried in her hands.
“Baby, what’s wrong?” he asked as he came over to sit beside her and placed an arm around her. “Is everything okay?”
Sighing, Sunflower looked up from her hands, turning to her husband. “No,” she sighed. “We need to talk.”
Taking her hands, he smiled at her and replied. “Go ahead babe. I’m listening.”
She told him.
Jack was no longer smiling. He was beyond furious. He was livid. Someone had hurt his daughter badly. He wanted nothing more than to unleash the fury of hell on those responsible, but as he was heading out the door to lay down the gates of hell on his neighbor, his brain caught up with his temper. He decided to take a drive for a few to cool down before he did something he might regret.
He ended up in his favorite bar, alone, nursing a drink while he thought over what happened.
A few friends had noticed him come in and tried to join him. They thought he might be up for a spot of fun, but he waved them off, in no mood for anything so frivolous. Catching his mood, they moved off, finding better things to do than hang out with an angry morose friend.
“Shit,” Jack sighed. There was no easy way out of this. He had to protect his daughter, no matter what it cost him or his family. But, at the same time, he didn’t want to sacrifice everything they had worked so hard to build together. Not like this. Not for some little filth of a shit that had used his daughter like a rag to sop up his wants then tossed her aside like trash.
No.
He would not give anyone the satisfaction of going down with them. He would find a way to take out the trash without giving up everything they had spent years working for.
Mind made up, he got up, paid his tab, and headed home.
Sunflower was still sitting there at the table when he returned. The casserole sat on the table as well, long since gone cold, untouched, the settings for the two of them and their daughter set, but unused.
“She still in her room?” asked Jack as he sat down hard in his seat next to her. She just nodded, face in her hands again.
“I didn’t go over there. I realized what would happen if I just stormed over,” Jack announced to his wife. “Sunflower, we need a plan. I have an idea, a way to end this, and keep our daughter safe, without giving up what we’ve built together. I need you with me on this, babe. Will you hear me out?” he asked.
Still in shock, Sunflower just nodded.
“Okay. We can’t go to the cops. If word of this gets out, we’re finished. This is the kind of scandal that ends careers and we’re just at the point we might break out from the pack. And frankly, I don’t think we should give the shit that did this the satisfaction of going down with them. Are you with me Sunflower?” he asked.
She just nodded, face still in her hands.
“Okay. So here’s the plan. I’m going to go over there and confront Bo. I’m telling him he has one day to get out of town, and I never want to see or hear from him again. I’m telling him if he is not gone by then, I am going to the producer and telling her exactly what happened and she can deal with him. He’ll never work in the industry again if this gets out. He’ll be ruined,” Jack explained. “I hope he takes the hint, because frankly if I do have to go to her, I expect we’ll be cast off too. She just can’t afford any hint of scandal, as it’s a family oriented show. Realistically I expect any hint of what happened here would be enough to potentially sink her entire production. But, if I have to, I have to. I will not just sit by and let someone hurt our baby girl.”
Sunflower nodded again. She looked up from her hands and over to her husband. “Jack, what are we going to do? Trixie is shattered. She won’t stop crying Jack. She keeps hiding in her closet curled up in a ball. She won’t even let me hold her,” she cried, a tear running down her cheek.
Jack reached over and held her hand. “We’ll pull together and work it out, Sunflower. Just like we always do. We’ll circle the wagons and dare the world to try to take us down.” He gave her a smile he wasn’t feeling, trying to soothe her worries. “We’re family. We’ll survive, and we’ll pull through. And we won’t let her down.”
Taking his hand in both of hers, Sunflower looked up to him with hope. “We’re family. That’s right,” she nodded.
Jack pulled her into an embrace, gently rubbing her back. “Yes we are, and always will be. Family, forever.” She cried quietly on his shoulder.
Jack went next door and rang the doorbell. As he expected, Bo answered the door. Pushing his way in and closing it behind him, he took Bo by the shoulder, leading him into his dining room. Bo quietly followed his lead. They sat down at the kitchen table.
“So, Flo around?” asked Jack as he looked around the room.
“No. I told her this was a good time to run some errands. I wanted to speak to you privately before she found out what happened,” answered Bo.
Just then, an older boy entered the room, head hung down, and started to speak.
Bo yelled at him. “What the hell are you doing down here?! I don’t want to see your face right now, you freak! Get the hell out of my sight. Get back up in your room where you belong!” Jack looked at the boy with such hate he might have died of fright had he looked up long enough to see his face. He quickly scampered back out of the room and up the stairs, slamming the door to his room. Bo rubbed his face with his hands. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m supposed to do with that kid.”
“I have a few ideas,” growled Jack.
“Not helping, Jack,” sighed Bo. “So what’s the deal?” he asked.
Jack nodded. “You got to go, and take that cretin kid of yours with you. Disappear, never look back, and we can both pretend this never happened. You continue your career somewhere else. Anywhere else. But never here, never again. Capisce?”
“Not that I’m arguing, but if I don’t?” asked Bo.
“Not that I’m threatening, but if you don’t I’ll go to the producer and let her sort you out. You know what she’ll do to you. You’ll get a first hand look at the underside of her bus. Anything she does to you will make what I’m offering here look like a golden opportunity,” Jack answered.
“You know, if you do that, you’re finished too,” answered Bo, face in his hands.
“Bo, after what your boy has done to my daughter, I frankly don’t care. Part of me still wants to march up those stairs and rip his damned throat out with my bare hands, and kill you if you try to stop me. So as a former friend, I’m asking you not to test me. One day, Bo. You got one day. If you’re still here tomorrow, or I see you anywhere around town after tomorrow, I’m blowing the lid on this and you can deal with the fallout. Or you can walk away quietly and try to rebuild something from this. Your call, but I’m laying out all my cards. You got one winning play here, Bo. Don’t blow it.” Jack got up and pushed his chair in. “One day, Bo. One day.”
He walked out of the room, out of their house, and he hoped out of their lives.
He’d tucked their daughter in. She flinched every time he touched her. His baby girl, the apple of his eye, and she flinched like he was some sort of monster. His blood boiled, but he smiled and whispered kind words to her, smoothing her hair back and tucking her into her bed as she curled up in a ball and quietly cried herself to sleep.
He was laying in bed, Sunflower curled up next to him. Sleep was probably not going to grace him with a visit this night. He sighed.
“So did he say he would leave?” she asked.
“I told him what I would do. He has one day. I guess we’ll see what we see,” Jack answered. He pulled her close. “We really need to break Trixie out of this cycle. She’s going downhill, but she just won’t let me help her. I can’t hold her. She won’t even look at me. Everything I try to tell her just gets drowned in her tears. Honey, I’m at my wits end.”
“Babe, like you said, we’re family,” Sunflower reminded him. “We’ll pull together. Maybe it’s time we pulled a little tighter. You know how much Trixie loves watching the show and putting on her own acts. Maybe it’s time to bring her into the fold. Give her something to think about other than what happened to her. Help her to look somewhere other than herself for a bit, and stop hurting.”
“Yeah, we can do that,” agreed Jack, rubbing her back. “Bring her with us tomorrow when we head in for the show. I’ll talk to the producer and get her blessing. Trixie knows the tricks anyways, and she’s practiced enough she can pull this off. Good thinking, Sunny.” He kissed her gently, then snuggled up as they tried to sleep.
The next morning, they woke up, then got ready and dressed for the day. Sunflower woke Trixie and explained to her they were taking her with them to the show today and they wanted her to be a part of the act. She helped Trixie pick out her best show costume, packed it up, then helped her wash up and get ready to go.
Jack packed up his scram bag and called out to them. “Time to get going, Lulamoons! The show must go on!” He headed out to the car, put the bag in the trunk and unlocked the doors. As he was getting into the driver's seat, Trixie and Sunflower exited the house. Their costume bags in hand, Sunflower locked the door behind them. Then they got into the car with Jack.
“So Trixie, ready for your big showtime debut?” asked her dad with a smile. She just nodded. “Good! Off we go!”
Buckled up, he put the car in gear then drove to the venue. He dropped them off at the door.
“Go on ahead girls,” Jack encouraged them. “I’m going to park the car then talk to the producer about the show tonight. I’ll catch up with you both later!”
He smiled and waved as they walked inside. He parked the car in the employee lot then walked back to the club. Walking down the hall to the producers office, he knocked twice.
“Who is it? Kinda busy now!” called out the producer.
“It’s me, Jack. We gotta talk. Now,” insisted Jack.
“Come on in, Jack,” she called out.
He entered, shutting the door behind him then sat at her desk. He told her what he had planned.
Jack joined his family in getting ready for their act behind the stage curtain as the stand up comic was getting the audience warmed up for their show. They were all fully dressed in their show outfits, makeup applied and ready for the act.
“So what did she say, Jack? And what about Bo?” asked Sunflower quietly as they moved their props into place. Meanwhile Trixie was busy setting up her table of tricks in the corner.
“He called in and quit. Said he had a family emergency and had to leave town. He kept his end of the deal,” answered Jack quietly.
“Good, and good riddance,” whispered Sunflower as she stole a glance over at Trixie who was loading up the confetti cannons for her act.
“Agreed. At least she stopped crying. She seems to be taking this very seriously. That’s a good sign,” noted Jack as he turned back to Sunflower.
“It’s so nice not seeing her cry,” agreed Sunflower. “I’ll go check on her.” She walked over to Trixie as Jack continued prepping their props for the act. He saw Trixie nod, then smile while Sunflower pulled her into a hug. Jack smiled and continued his setup.
Just as they were finishing up, they could hear the comic ending his speal. Jack called out to them in a stage whisper. “Okay, that’s our cue! Places, Lulamoons! Showtime!”
Standing at what would be center stage when the curtain raised, he stood straight, arms at his sides, threw his head back and smiled broadly. His wife, off to his right and one step back from him, did the same, in a classic pirouette with her left arm raised gracefully overhead. Trixie stood just to the left of her, posed in a classic pirouette, arms bent elbows out at her sides.
Then the curtain raised, and the spotlight shifted to the three of them at center stage. The MC called out. “And now, the show you’ve all been waiting for, the Fabulous Lulamoons!”
There was a round of applause while the three of them theatrically bowed. Jack then stepped up into the spotlight and turned on the mike clipped to his collar.
“Good evening, ladies and gentleman! Tonight, I give you a treat that will warm your hearts and amaze your senses! For the first time ever, I present our daughter in her showtime debut!” Stepping back from the center stage, he bowed with a flourish, arms pointed to the center stage where Trixie was standing, still in her perfect pirouette. “Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you, the one, the only, The Great and Powerful Trixie!”
The spotlight tightened, centered on Trixie, who stepped forward into the limelight and gave a perfect dancers bow. The crowd applauded enthusiastically as Trixie looked up and out into the sea of faces.
And she smiled.