Framing Felipe (3 page)

From
the
time
Felipe
and
Fabian
were
four,
turning
five,
their
days
were
counted
in

blood,
sweat,
and
tears.
They
thought
the
circus
training
was
fun
at
first.
The
circus
was

their
playground,
and
they
had
full
access
to
the
gymnastics
apparatuses.
Under
tutelage
of

an
acrobat
too
old
and
too
broken
to
perform
any
longer,
the
brothers
learned
to
leap
and

flip.
They
learned
to
fly.

But
ringmaster
Jacques
was
an
impatient
man,
and
a
greedy
one,
so
their
net
was
taken

away
too
fast.
Their
stunts
became
death
defying
much
too
soon.
They
were
two
little
boys,

risking
their
lives
twice
a
day—and
three
times
on
Sundays—drawing
gasps
from
their

genteel
audiences
as
they
hurtled
through
the
air
like
blond
cannonballs.
People
could

hardly
believe
their
eyes
for
the
stunts,
and
rightfully
so.
Some
seemed
to
be
illusions.
They

weren’t,
but
the
crowd
didn’t
know
that.

So
they
grew
up
in
that,
getting
pushed
harder
to
do
exponentially
more
dangerous

things
for
increasingly
jaded
crowds
who
clung
ever
tighter
to
their
money.

They’d
seen
many
of
their
peers
in
the
travelling
freak
show
become
paralyzed
or

worse
from
falls.
But,
Felipe
and
Fabian
had
more
than
skill.
They
had
their
own
sort
of

magic.

At
least,
that’s
what
Fabian
thought.
Felipe
wasn’t
so
sure
of
that.
If
they
were
magic,

wouldn’t
they
have
some
luck?
They’d
always
seemed
short
on
that.

FRAMING FELIPE
–
8
–
Holley Trent

A
couple
walking
with
arms
linked
passed
in
front
of
him
on
the
sidewalk.
He
eased

back
into
the
bricks
a
bit
more,
watching
the
young
lovers
until
they
disappeared
around

the
corner.

Lucky.

From
where
he
stood,
he
could
see
the
backside
of
the
circus’s
main
tent,
and
the

caravan
vehicles
that’d
brought
them
and
all
their
gear
there.
In
one
of
those
campers
was

Fabian,
probably
pacing.
Fretting.

He
wouldn’t
be
forced
to
perform
without
Felipe.
They
were
a
package
deal.
But
Fabian

wouldn’t
be
worried
about
performing,
anyhow.
He
didn’t
live
and
breathe
for
the
circus.

Neither
of
them
did.
His
brain
would
be
occupied
with
thoughts
of
survival
because
he,
like

Felipe,
knew
Jacques
didn’t
make
idle
threats.
Jacques
wouldn’t
allow
the
duo
to
shirk
the

spotlight
for
long.

Somewhere
nearby,
a
church
bell
pealed
and
the
sound
echoed
through
the
valley.

Felipe
counted
the
dongs.
One,
two,
three,
all
the
way
to
seven,
then
fixed
his
gaze
on
that

camper
again.
He
thought
maybe
Fabian
wouldn’t
remember,
but
then
there
was
the
light.

Felipe
straightened
up
and
concentrated
on
the
flashes,
cataloging
the
frequency
and

length.

Two
flashes
of
light
at
the
kitchenette
window.
A
long
pause.
Three
flashes
of
light.

After
all
those
years,
he
remembered
that
code
they
devised
as
teenagers
in
case
they

should
ever
get
separated.
Two-‐pause-‐three:
I’m
fine
for
now
.

He
swallowed
and
waited
for
the
repeat.

Two-‐pause-‐three.

Not
a
fluke,
then.
Not
a
mistake.

Felipe
shoved
off
the
wall
and
pulled
his
backpack
strap
up
to
his
right
shoulder,
only

to
stop
walking
when
more
lights
flashed.

“Fabian…
¿Qué
estás
haciendo?
”

One-‐pause-‐four.
One-‐pause-‐four:
I
called
for
help
.

Help?
Who
the
hell
could
help?
Who
could
Fabian
confide
in?
What
would
he
possibly

say
to
them?

“
Mierda.
”

FRAMING FELIPE
–
9
–
Holley Trent

His
brother
had
always
been
the
more
cautious
of
the
two
of
them,
but
even
when
he

had
stumbled
into
trouble,
it
was
Felipe
who
took
his
blows.

Help?
No
one
could
give
him
the
kind
of
help
he
needed,
and
even
if
they
were
so

inclined
to
stick
their
necks
out,
they’d
probably
want
to
lock
him
away
in
a
padded
room

and
assign
some
team
of
scientists
to
study
him.

At
the
sound
of
the
approaching
train,
he
sped
his
pace.
He
phased
to
invisible
as
the

beast
rolled
near,
then
eased
onto
the
locomotive’s
small
back
ledge,
grateful
for
the
train’s

slow
speed
as
it
chugged
through
the
small
town.

He
retook
his
physical
form
and
crouched
low
into
the
shadows
cast
by
the
train,

watching
the
lights
from
the
circus
and
town
shrink
smaller
and
smaller.
If
the
conductor

opened
the
door,
Felipe
could
phase
back
in
an
instant,
but
holding
on
was
so
much
easier

when
he
had
hands
to
use.

Running
was
foolish,
and
he
knew
it,
but
he
hadn’t
been
thinking
clearly.
People
rarely

made
sound
choices
when
they
were
desperate,
and
desperate
he
was.
He’d
have
to
go
back

for
his
brother,
but
right
then,
the
best
thing
he
could
do
was
put
some
distance
between
el

negrero
and
him.
Jacques
could
threaten
all
we
wanted,
but
as
long
as
Felipe
wasn’t
there,

Fabian
was
safe.

…Felipe
hoped.

Sarah
pressed
the
phone
against
her
ear
and
leaned
against
the
tent
support,
rolling
a

circus
program
into
a
tight
tube.
She
tapped
it
against
her
thigh
as
the
phone
rang
on
the

other
end.

“Yeah?”
answered
a
baritone
voice.

Sarah
turned
her
back
to
the
crowd
filling
into
the
bleachers
nearby
and
whispered,

“Patrick,
where’s
Dana?”

“She
left
me
her
phone
in
case
you
called.
She
and
the
rest
of
the
Shrews
went
out
to
set

up
some
surveillance
before
the
gathering
tonight.”

FRAMING FELIPE
–
10
–
Holley Trent

“Right…”
That
had
been
on
the
agenda.
It’d
been
Sarah’s
idea
to
install
cameras
around

the
clearing
the
were-‐cats
used
for
their
monthly
meeting.
One
of
the
Shrews
would
hang

back
at
Patrick’s
cabin
and
watch
the
live
video
while
the
others
acted
as
security.

The
cats
hadn’t
needed
security
until
recently
when
a
couple
of
their
wild
young
men

broke
the
tenuous
truce
the
group
had
with
the
were-‐bears
whose
territory
abutted
theirs.

They
hadn’t
exactly
hired
the
Shrews
directly,
but
since
Dana
was
dating
Patrick
and
Dana

thought
Patrick
had
a
death
wish,
it’d
become
something
of
a
monthly
gig
for
them.

This
time,
though,
they
were
prepped
for
war.
Sarah
had
made
a
lot
of
contacts
in
the

mountains
in
recent
months,
and
like
Dana,
she
had
a
psychic
gift
that
occasionally
came
in

handy
for
investigation
work.
She
could
compel
people
to
talk.
The
best
Doc
could
tell
was

that
she
made
something
in
other
people’s
brain
chemistry
shift.
They
became
calm,

compliant.
They
felt
like
unloading
their
thoughts
to
her
was
a
damned
good
idea.
That’s

how
she
found
out
the
bears
weren’t
just
content
with
retaliating
against
the
cats

anymore—that
they
were
itching
to
strike
unprovoked.

The
were-‐cat
leader,
Billy,
couldn’t
prove
it,
but
he
was
pretty
sure
the
bears
were

responsible
for
his
grown
granddaughter’s
disappearance.

“Anything
important?”
Patrick
nudged.

“No.
It’s
the
boss
lady’s
new
rule
as
of
last
night.
I’m
supposed
to
check
in
frequently

when
I’m
working
alone.
She
has
to
hear
my
voice
or
she
won’t
believe
it’s
me.”

That
new
fear
of
momma-‐bird
Dana
had
activated
during
the
undercover
assignment

Sarah
had
just
come
out
of.
Sarah
had
made
a
stupid
mistake
and
lost
her
phone.
A

bartender
at
the
strip
club
she
was
infiltrating
found
it
and
handed
it
over
to
his
boss
one

night
after
closing.
Sarah
knew
the
boss
had
been
suspicious
of
her
for
a
while,
asking
her

all
kinds
of
questions
about
her
past,
saying
she
was
too
smart
to
be
a
strip
club
waitress.

She’d
held
her
tongue
at
the
time,
and
made
sure
to
temper
her
vocabulary
in
future

interactions
with
the
guy.

Anyhow,
he
didn’t
get
much
from
trawling
her
phone.
The
only
number
programmed

into
it
was
the
Shrew’s
answering
service,
who
had
been
instructed
to
answer
calls
with
a

very
vague
greeting.
Her
boss
had
tried
having
another
female
employee
call
and
put
a

message
through,
disguising
her
voice
to
mimic
Sarah’s,
but
Dana
hadn’t
fallen
for
it.
If

FRAMING FELIPE
–
11
–
Holley Trent

Sarah
had
called,
she
would
have
only
said,
“I
need
someone
to
turn
the
lights
off
at
my

place.”
That
was
their
standard
verbiage
for
“I’ll
be
out
another
day.”

Sarah’s
boss
at
the
strip
club
had
offered
her
phone
back
a
couple
of
days
later…for
a

fee.
Sarah
refused
to
pay
it,
and
was
thus
out
of
the
loop
having
missed
four
call
attempts