“she - she fell in with a bad crowd.”
johnny waited for betsy to say more. “what kind of bad crowd?” he finally asked her. “dope dealers? bank robbers? communists?”
“worse than any of that,” betsy told him. “she - joined the circus.”
johnny managed not to laugh. “the circus? plenty of fine hard working folks in the circus. course you get some lowlifes too, but you can find lowlifes working at the general store.” he took a sip of the bad but hot coffee . “i wouldn’t worry too much about it.”
“but i am worried about it,” betsy insisted. “you don’t know this circus. you don’t know what they wanted poor rose to do.”
“what did they want poor rose to do?”
“they wanted her to be the tattooed lady!”
this time johnny did laugh. “well that beats being the fat lady, i guess, or the lady who gets knives thrown at her.”
“it’s not funny,” rose looked she was ready to cry.
“you are right,” johnny told her. “i shouldn’t have laughed. so did rose agree to be the tattooed lady?”
“no, but she said she would think about it. think about it! what is there to think about?"
“so then what is she doing now ?”
betsy hesitated. “she’s a - hoochy -coochy dancer.”
johnny took another sip of coffee. “that’s not so bad - in a circus or a carnival. they play in small towns, where folks go to church and read the bible. and kids can get into the shows, or at least sneak in. it’s not like being in a burlycue show in new york or chicago.”
betsy did not look reassured. “but she’s out there in the middle of nowhere, all alone, traveling from town to town, in those bleak wide open spaces - where there could be tornados or outlaw gangs or stampedes of buffalos or who knows what…”
“yeah,” johnny answered slowly. “yeah.” he looked out the window at the dark street. he could feel the american night calling to him. the american night, away from the stinking city, with its bums and welshers and crooked cops like grogan and its two timing con men like “professor” sturdivant… and its shadows and alleys filled with who knew what might have it in for him…
“you know the name of this circus?” he asked betsy.
“sure, it’s the great imperial coast to coast circus. that’s what it calls itself. but it’s a real two-bit operation, believe you me.”
“the great imperial coast to coast circus, “ johnny repeated. he put his coffee cup down. “i tell you what, i will look it up. i will find it. and i will find out how rose is doing.”
“you will? oh, johnny, thank you! thank you so much!” betsy turned to johnny and looked like she thought about hugging him, but did not actually do so.
“think nothing of it,” johnny told her. “it was time for me, anyway.”
“time for what?”
“time to be moving on.”
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