Alamort

47. Bennett

“ G ood evening, my fellow ...” I trail off. “What the fuck are you?”

Crew rolls his eyes and continues to check off items on his list for the main event tonight. Technically, it was supposed to be my job since I planned it, but Crew took over like the control freak he is. I have no complaints because this is the boring part.

“A ring master,” he says. Not paying me any attention going down his list. No. No fucking way.

“Um, no you’re not.”

“I clearly am, Ben.”

“ I’m the fucking ring master. You… you’re the Wish/Temu version of it.” He shakes his head. “How the hell did you manage to copy me? I kept it a secret.”

“You clearly copied me,” he tells me, turning away to speak with one of the acts of the night. The audacity this guy has. I jump in front of his face, cutting off the conversation mid sentence. He huffs and attempts to sidestep me, and I follow.

“Admit it.” I press.

“Great minds think alike. I don’t know what to tell you. Go change.”

He has to be joking. His dismissal of me is telling me he’s not. There’s no hidden laughter or jokes. He’s serious. If there was ever time for a cat fight, it would be right now.

My eyes narrow, thinking of a way to fuck his life up. There are no boundaries I wouldn’t cross to force him to see he’s wrong. Brother or not. I don’t believe in coincidences. Before I can speak my mind about him and his bogus ass costume, a woman walks up. Beautiful figure, curvy in all the right places. She has that charcoal look on her eyes. What is it called?

What really draws me in is the full beard she has. I’m impressed. I can’t even grow one that full. It comes in patchy.

“Smokey eye!” I shout. Both of them look at me. “You’re the bearded lady?” My voice raises, betraying my excitement. “Oh, my god. Is it real? How do you get it so full? Can I touch it?” My hand reaches towards her and my brother smacks it out of the air with a dirty look. The woman smiles at me, despite my intrusive questioning.

“Yes, it is real. It’s medical condition. But I figured if I make good money off it.” She shrugs. Her thick Russian accent makes her roll her ‘r’s in English. Wow. This is amazing. She saunters off, hips swaying in the black lingerie she’s wearing.

“Whoa,” I whisper.

“Get a hold of yourself. Abuela had one just like it.” Crew rolls his eyes. He thinks everyone is dramatic, but we all got it from him. How is none of this amazing to him? It’s a real circus.

A huge part of this was because I have never been to a fair, circus, or carnival. Call it a childhood dream come true. The outside of this tent doesn’t do it justice for what’s inside. Tiers of seating stacked on top of each other to make room for tonight’s acts. People are practicing. There isn’t one area on the main floor that isn’t busy. Some people are just helpers, the ones who put everything together, seats, food and drinks. With everything almost done, it leaves barely any room on the floor for the most astonishing stints.

A knife thrower, motorcycles, acrobats, fire breathing, even trained animals. A leopard trailing after what I assume is its owner. Free. No leash, wandering around. A. Leopard. Would Crew let me get one?

“Hey, where is Saint?” Crew asks nonchalantly from behind me. The issue with my brother is he likes to pretend he doesn’t care. If he is bothering to ask, he does.

“I don’t know. He was here earlier helping with the stands.” He hums his acknowledgment. “Did you need him for something?” I ask.

“No.”

“So you were just … asking?”

He ignores me. Pretending to look at his bullshit list. I don’t know how much is on it, but there’s no way he has that much left to do. From the corner of my eye, I spot a man in a suit walking towards us. Everyone here is in costume, so when a man walking in wearing something so outrageous is sure to catch everyone’s attention.

“Crew?” I smack him on the back of the head to get his attention.

“What! Bennett?”

“Who the fuck invited this guy? He went with a Dior suit, but if you ask me, I think he should’ve gone with a Brioni Brunco. Can’t go wrong with that.” The man continues towards us, his nose held high, glaring at everyone like they’re beneath him. It’s that politician look, the one that’s ambitious and untouchable with that comb over and maintained beard. The Russian woman’s was way better. What holds my attention is the transformation my brother has made.

Gone is the spat we had. His posture is poised and ready to attack. My eyes look back and forth from the suit guy to my brother. Immediately taking up residence to the left of my brother, I brace myself for whoever this is that has him on edge. Regardless of what’s going on between the three of us, I’ll always take my brothers’ side.

I’m definitely missing something. Do we know this guy?

“Robert Carter. What brings you so far from home on this lovely Halloween evening?” Crew’s smile is almost too charming to be believable. Oh, shit. Carter? As in Priya’s father?

Robert’s glacier blue eyes narrow, taking us in from head to toe and looking away from us. I can tell he finds us lacking. He adjusts his Cartier cuff links and checks the time before speaking.

“I heard all about the Halloween festivities put on by the founder’s adoptive sons and couldn’t miss it, could I? Besides, it’s my daughter’s 18 th birthday.” He says with a vile smirk.

It’s Priya’s birthday? Am I the only one who is out of the loop here? Crew purses his lips but remains quiet.

“Where is my darling daughter?”

“You don’t know?” Crew asks.

“It’s a surprise visit.” He shrugs. “Aren’t there supposed to be three of you? Where is the third musketeer?”

“Probably fucking your daughter.” I sneer. There’s four of us. Or he’s just a fucking idiot that didn’t do his research. His face turns tomato red while he sputters for a comeback and falling short, choosing to storm away, his tantrum in tow. God, that guy was insufferable. Crew fixates on where Robert made his exit, fists balled at his sides.

“So… are you going to come enjoy the rides with me?”

“No. And neither are you. This is your show.”

My jaw drops open as he shoves the clipboard into my bare chest and walks away.