Behind The Green Fence
Author: Betty A. Wilkins
Smashwords Edition
Copyright 2004 by Betty A. Wilkins
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Behind The Green Fence – Chapter 1
Francisco lay in bed and tried to shut his eyes tightly, but as soon as he did they would pop open and his gaze would be pulled toward his open bedroom window. It seemed hours had passed since he had come to bed and most of that time he had spent crouched by the window, his face close to the screen with his eyes, ears and nose taking in all the sensations they could from the field behind his home.
It was a dark night but by peering through the leaves of the large tree outside the window he could see the streetlights reflect off the metal of the long, spidery arms of one of the contraptions. Now and then he could catch a glint from the framework of the giant wheel.
If Francisco breathed hard he could scent strange, unfamiliar odors, and he had sat, trying to sort them out, for what seemed to be hours. Now and then he recognized the sweet, musty smell of the horses that he had seen earlier, and then the farm scent of hay, and the earth smell from places where the ground had been dug into for stakes and braces.
Earlier in the evening he had caught odors of cooking food and in his mind had pictured a group of strange, vagabond people gathered around an open fire, eating the exotic foods it seemed to Francisco they must eat. Nothing ordinary like the meatloaf his mother had fixed for their dinner.
Best of all he liked to listen. There was only an occasional car, now that it was so late, and by listening hard into the quiet he sometimes heard the rustling which he imagined was being made by the huge, gray elephants as they moved about, perhaps pulling loose trunk fulls of hay from their feeding bins and stuffing it into their mouths.
“Jeretta”, his mother had said in a stern voice to Francisco's sister when she left for work that morning. “You make certain Francisco stays at home today. I don't want him hanging around over there where they'll be setting up that carnival”.
The way his mother said “carnival”, he could tell she thought it was something offensive.
“You keep him away from there Jeretta, and I mean it! There will be trucks, and animals, and Gypsies. and all kinds of ways he could get hurt. You take him to the park, but don't let him go out alone!”
Jeretta did not always heed their mother's' instructions, but this day she had known it was important that she obey. It seemed to Francisco she had watched him like an eagle, permitting him only as far as the bottom of the steps to their upstairs apartment. A tall, green board fence separated the lot where the house sat from the empty field in back. By sitting on the seventh step up he could see over the fence and get a partial view of the activities in the field. Francisco was watching when trucks began to arrive in the vacant field and men began to unload strips, and chunks, and various shapes and pieces of metal, which they amazingly assembled into soaring, swinging and flying carnival rides. They had spread out what seemed to Francisco to be blocks of canvas and then, miraculously, it had been lifted into the sky until it was a tent as large as several houses.
He had recently seen posters in neighborhood stores, with pictures of a man on stilts, a lady all covered with veils and jewels, and a gigantic person who according to the poster was “The Fattest Man in the World”.
“Frannie.” That had been Jeretta, shouting from the top of the stairs.
“Francisco, come up here this minute and get your shoes on. We are going to the park.”
Francisco didn't move. Across the fence he could see a man leading an elephant, which was attached to a chain and pulling a large round pole; He could hear Jeretta's feet coming down the stairs behind him.
“Francisco Rodgers, did you hear me?”
Francisco desperately wanted to see what the man and the elephant were going to do with the pole.
“Look Jeretta” he said hopefully. “Let's watch and see what they are building over there. Boy is that old elephant strong.”
Jeretta sat beside him and watched for a minute.
“Look, Frannie”, she said. “You know Mama told us to go to the park today. I have to be back to start supper in awhile, and if we don't spend some time at the park, she may be angry”.
So Francisco had let his sister take him to the park. They had tossed their ball through the basketball net, They had pumped themselves up in the swings, and watched part of a softball game. But Francisco's mind had been on the more exciting sights and sounds right on his own street, which made the slides and swings and the kids in the park seem dull and babyish. And although he had always looked forward to the park, even begged to be allowed to go, today, he could not wait to get back home.
And even yet, late into the dark night, he thought of the carnival.
“Somehow” he thought, “I will ride on the flying mechanical cars, and look down upon the roof of my own house”.
“Sometime, I will walk right among the lumbering elephants and sweating horses, and I will feed them hay from my hand.
“Someway, I will actually see the unusual people in the tents.
Most importantly, I will talk with them. I will talk to the exciting people who sell the tickets and popcorn, who travel from far away, who do thrilling and exciting things, and are right here, in my own town, down the steps and behind the green fence.”
“I will” thought Francisco as he dozed into sleep. “I will. I will”.
Behind The Green Fence – Chapter 2
Francisco's Mama worried about him. When he went off alone she always insisted on knowing exactly where he was going, and she always told him exactly what time he must be back. His teenage sister, Jeretta, stayed with him while Mama was at work, and they both had to account to Mama for all their activities.
But Mama always explained to him WHY. She told him WHY she did not want him out alone after dark, and WHY he was not to go on certain streets, and WHY he could not be around certain boys in the neighborhood. So that morning, Mama had explained to Francisco WHY he could not go to the carnival.
Even though he was too old for such things, Mama still liked to take him upon her lap, and as she hugged him to her, she told him what she thought about carnivals.
“They may seen exciting to you Baby, but they are really not. Up close they are dirty, and noisy, with all kinds of ways to make you spend money. It is hard to win at any of the games. The rides are jerky and dangerous. And Honey, you are not spending money on such things.”
After giving Jeretta one more warning about keeping her eyes on her brother, Mama kissed them and left for work, and Francisco headed for the steps. He still could not understand why his sister was not excited about the carnival right behind their house. He could not understand how anyone could not be excited.
But Jeretta was not the least bit interested. She liked to listen to music, and to dance, and this morning her friend, Crystal, was visiting her. Jeretta and Crystal stayed inside, playing records and showing each other dance steps. Except that every little while Jeretta would come to the door and look out to make sure Francisco was still there.
Between Jeretta's checks, Francisco would slip down into the back lot and over to the green fence. It had been built to entirely surround the vacant field. Sometime, before they had lived here, the field had contained buildings, which had been torn down, leaving a large, empty gap in the otherwise crowded section where they lived. The fence continued behind the other houses on both sides, to both ends of their block and around the corners.
“It must be” thought Francisco. “that the Carnival entrance is on the other side.”. To go in, pay his money and go in, he would have to walk to the end of the block, go around the corner, and follow the green fence until he found a gate. “Then” he thought. “I could read the signs to see how much money is charged to get it”.
Suddenly Francisco had an idea. He ran up the steps and into the kitchen.
“Jeretta”, he shouted. “Let's go for a walk.”
Jeretta and Crystal were gliding across the floor with rhythmic movements. Jeretta's bouncing head barely hesitated as she spoke to him.
“Not now Frannie. Can't you see I've got company.”
“She can go too. Ask Crystal to go too. Does she know about the Carnival?”
“No. Not like that Jeretta.' Crystal put her hand out toward Francisco's sister. “Swing your leg all the way around.”
The record stopped suddenly. Francisco tried again.
“Crystal, you should see what they're putting up for the carnival. Why, just this morning they set up a pole, straight up into the sky, higher than a building, with a platform at the top. Let's walk around to the gate. Maybe we can look in.”
Crystal looked interested. “I've seen the pictures”, she said. “There is a man who does tricks up there. My Daddy said maybe he would take us on Saturday.”
“Mama said we were not to go near that place. You heard her Fran.”
“But Jeretta:, he protested. “She didn't say we couldn't go for a walk.”