For a Limited Time Only – third draft

The large crowd that lined the city sidewalk pressed against the steel, police barricades.  Several officers, some on foot and others mounted on horses, paced up and down the streams of people, checking for stragglers who may have escaped from the clearly defined maze.

The air was heavy and warm which was not unusual for late summer in New York.  It was one of life’s great ironies – the weekend that marked the end of summer activities and a return to the drudgery of work and school was usually accompanied by gloriously, sunny weather.  Labor Day – the grand reminder that life was not a perpetual picnic.   Get off your ass and go back to work.

One of the mounted policemen grew tired of repeatedly circling the same route and decided to follow the line of people to its source.  He turned to one of the flatfoots, indicated with his head that he was leaving, and headed for the front of the line.

He let out a low whistle as he passed the scores of people.  The cue stretched from the entrance of the park right up to the Great Lawn.  Had to be a few miles at least.  All over some stupid, carney act.  He shook his head.  Why was a permit approved for something so ridiculous?  The whole thing was a New York Post expose waiting to happen.  He tried not to give it too much thought.   Let the boys at City Hall figure things out.  His job was crowd control and nothing more.

His eyes stung from the blaring sun and he lowered his sunglasses from on top of his head.  It made things a bit clearer as he scanned the long line of bodies which twisted and snaked along the grassy path. Up close, they looked like ordinary spectators – parents attempting to keep impatient children occupied, couples speaking in low, private hushes, and tourists trying to blend in, fearful of unwarranted attention. Further away, however, their individual forms disappeared and melted into one large, swelling mass.

He struggled to see what was at the head of the crowd. As he squinted his eyes, (he had to stop putting off that trip to the eye doctor), he was able to make out the faint outline of what seemed to be a large circus tent.  He nudged his horse and trotted towards it.

The sounds from the bulging throng seemed to change as he grew closer to the tent.  Back at the park’s entrance, their voices and body language reflected anger and impatience.  As he neared the center of attraction, he could feel their growing excitement .Almost there.  Just a few more minutes.

“Step right up folks, don’t be shy.”  A tall, gangly man dressed in white overalls was shouting through a megaphone from near the front of the line.  “Five bucks, that’s five measly dollars will get you a glimpse of one of the most unusual oddities of our time.”

He glanced over at the crowd and saw that some were anxiously searching their pockets while others proudly held the green notes in their hands. They waved them eagerly as if displaying their money would, somehow, get them in faster. He sped passed them, ignoring the obvious opportunities for pick-pocketing.

He finally slowed down about ten feet from the entrance of the tent and brought the mare to a halt, surprised at how nervous he was to approach any further.  He could stare down a crack addict holding a rusty knife with no problem, but this…well, this was something completely different.

An attractive, blond woman was standing at the front of the line, collecting the admission fees. Her partner, a small round man, was periodically lifting a velvet rope to give each spectator a turn.  “One at a time people, one at a time ,” he bellowed.  “Everybody gets two minutes inside. No more, no less.  Hey you!”  He yelled to a teenage boy who was trying to sneak out of the barricade.  “Back in line.” He shook his head in disapproval.  “Kids.”

The blond woman threw her head back and laughed, obviously used to her friend’s complaints. Her perfectly-coiffed hair bounced slightly as she shifted her eyes from the crowd. Suddenly noticing him on top of the horse, she looked up and met his gaze. “What about you officer?  Want a look?  No charge.” Her tone was flirtatious.

A fly buzzed unusually close to his ears and he self consciously waved it away, trying to decide if he should dismount.  The woman raised one eyebrow and tilted her head, waiting for an answer.  He looked behind him out of habit, careful to grab the reigns with his left hand. Standing up in the stirrups, he swung his right leg over the horse’s backside and dismounted.

As he walked towards her, the grass crackled beneath his heavy boots, the after-effects of an unusually dry summer.  His mind drifted to his own, meticulously maintained lawn and he pushed his shoulders back, confidently.

“Nice job,” she cooed as he approached her.

“Thanks,” he answered nonchalantly and handed her the reigns.

“What he fu-

He ignored the outburst and headed for the tent, once again pausing as it became closer.  The tall, gangly man was closer to him now, still hawking to the crowd. “Five bucks for a once in a lifetime experience, folks.”

He tried to urge himself forward, but hesitated.

“That’s right people,” the words roared beside him. “For a limited time only, you get to see a genuinely bona fide, U.S.A certified, one hundred percent guaranteed, absolutely genuine, flesh and blood, real life, smart person!”

Someone gasped from behind the velvet ropes and he could see that some of the spectators were beginning to push against each other , impatient to get to the front.

“Mama, what’s a smart person?”  He heard a little boy near him ask.

He looked over, instinctively.

“Well, honey,” she tilted her head to the side and stared vacantly at the trees in the distance.  “A smart person is someone who knows how to think and stuff.”  She looked down at her son to see if he understood.  It was clear from the expression on his face that he didn’t  “They, uh,” she struggled to find the right words.  “They know how to make decisions.” She nodded, happy with her choice.  “Know how to figure things out.”

The little boy seemed confused.

She thought for a moment and then offered, “They know how to do math, without a calculator.”

“Oh.” Her son’s eyes grew wide.  “Without a calculator?”  He was quiet, contemplating the information.  “But how?”

His mother shrugged her shoulders.  “Who knows?  That’s why they call them smart.”

He turned his head away from the mother and son and back towards the tent.  The conversation left him intrigued and he crooked his finger at the blond woman.

As he walked past the line of people, he could see the round man stopping the next person from walking up. Someone shouted, ‘That’s not fair!” He ignored it and kept walking.

He stopped when he reached the entrance to the tent and looked inside.  A youngish looking man of about 35 years of age was sitting in a big easy chair.  A large metal bar ran across the front of the tent and served as a barrier between him and the spectators.

He peered in curiously, trying to get a closer look.

“Hello.”  The young man greeted him from across the metal bar.

“Hi.”  He looked down self-consciously at his boots and began to make little swirls in the sandy floor.

“Did you want to say something?”  His clear voice reflected a mixture of resignation and amusement.

He looked up.  “So you’re the smart guy, huh?”

“That’s what they tell me.”

“And you know how to figure things out?”

“Yes, I suppose I do.”

“What’s it like, being smart?”

He shrugged.  “Not sure what you mean by that.”

“Well,” He shoved his hands into his uniform pockets.  “What does a person like you do all day, you know for fun?”

The young man smiled faintly.  “Well, I read a lot…”

He raised his eyebrows.

“I think about things, wonder why the world is the way it is…”.

As interested as he was in what the young man was saying, he was finding it hard to pay attention.  Something was making him feel uncomfortable.  He shifted his weight onto his front legs and took his hands out of his pockets.  As he looked down at them, he noticed that his palms were sweating.  What was happening to him?

The young man noticed that something was wrong.  “Are you all right?”

“I’m, I’m not sure.”  He loosened the top button of his shirt and breathed in deeply, but the feeling persisted. To make matters worse, he was beginning to experience a sharp stinging in the center of his forehead, directly above his eyebrows. He scrunched his eyebrows, trying to ward off the  pain.  Could he be getting sick?

He was about to excuse himself and look for some Advil, when he found himself wanting to say something.  Suddenly, he realized what was happening.  He was having a thought!  Jesus F-ing Christ!  That’s what all the pain was about.  No wonder they had to lock these bastards away in some freak show.  They were too fucking dangerous.  “I uh…” he couldn’t bring himself to say it.

“What?” The young man was becoming impatient.

“Well, I just had a thought.”  The word sounded strange as it formed itself on his tongue but he decided to continue anyway.  He had come this far.  “Since you are so smart and you think about stuff all day, what are you doing sitting here in some carney tent?  I mean, you could really help people, you know.  He pointed to the crowd of people waiting outside.  “Look at all of them,” his words became more cohesive as he continued.  “Think about how much you could do for them, you could teach them things, help them to think and make decisions.  You know?

The young man looked outside at the crowd that was waiting outside of the tent.  It looked like an enormous, headless serpent whose body intermittently  bulged and bloated as if having recently swallowed a prey of some kind.  He looked back at the man in front of him.  “I think your two minutes are up.”  His voice was cold and flat.

“But, I just got here.” He was surprised that he didn’t want to leave.

“Get out before I have you thrown out.”

“Calm down buddy,” his ears were becoming hot.  “No reason to get nasty.  I was just asking you a question.”  He paused and then slowly walked out of the tent, strangely embarrassed over the interaction.

As he headed for his horse he heard the young man calling out.

“Listen Eddie, from now on, they’re not allowed to talk.  You got that?”