Subterfuge by Ollin Morales

Part II

The crowd was murmuring with excitement. The sounds of eating popcorn and gulping down coke were heard everywhere. A group of men were chewing tabaco while they were arm wrestling with each other in the 5th row. There were couples kissing with their tongues hanging out and wrapped around each other in knots. There were excited kids running around waving Mexican flags and playing flutes. There were women in beautiful dresses of pink, orange, lime green, and deep red that showed off their beautiful round and voluptuous frame. They’re faces popped with iridescent make up and their oily hair was filled with sunflowers and roses. Up front there were humble-looking men selling parakeets and parrots to the audience.

Then at the front row there sitting a group of military men. They were all huddled together, listening attentively to something their leader was whispering to them. Meanwhile, at the balcony level a small group of nuns and priests were sitting, appearing tense and nervous. Although they were very far away, a funnel of sound-river appeared to allow the two groups—the holy ones and the soldiers—to hear one another’s whisperings so that members of each group would occasionally look down or look back at each other with a snarl and shake their heads.

“Oh, is this your first Gustavo show?” Whispered one of the soldiers.

“Yes it is, they just transferred me over from Guadalajara. They don’t really have circus shows like this over there.”

“They don’t have circuses over there?”

“No, well they do, but ranchito-style. This looks like a real professional production. But, mira, what they don’t have in terms of entertainment they make up in the best mole in all of Mexico lindo.”

“Oh si? Que padre. I’ll have to try it.”

As this conversation was happening, a similar conversation was unfolding at the balcony level.

“You’ve never been to a Gustavo show?” Whispered a nun to a priest.

“No, they just transferred me over from Veracruz. They don’t really have shows over there, just clowns running around on donkeys.”

“Ah, I see.”

“They don’t have circuses in Veracruz, but what they don’t have in entertainment they make up for in the spiciest menudo in all of Mexico lindo.”

“I prefer pozole.”

“Pozole is disgusting.”

“I can’t tell the difference really.”

“Well if this is your first show with Gustavo, you’re in for a real treat. There’s a lot of twist and turns so pay close attention. Something you think is a mistake is really not. Pay close attention to the mistakes!”

“I don’t know,” said another nun. “He doesn’t always hit the mark with his shows. Remember the one he did with the werewolves?”

“Yes, what was that about? It felt very derivative. Well at least this one appears to have some promise.”

“Yes I hear it draws from historical fiction. About Mexico.”

“Ah I wonder if he references the revolution.”

“I remember when I was a boy,” one of the priest said. “In would hear the eruption of gun shots and explosions outside my bedroom window at night. It was terrifying.”

“Pancho and Emiliano.”

“Yes, Pancho and Emiliano verses the biggest baddest dictator in history, Porfirio Diaz. What a fight!”

“Remind me who won?”

The nun laughed.

“Well some would say both sides won a little bit.”

“Oh no, it was a lost. See where the indigenous are today. Same place as they were yesterday. Wars are so stupid.”

“Aren’t we in the middle of another one?”

“Civil wars are so stupid. Don’t we have enough enemies? We need to be each other’s enemies too? What we really need to be is to be prepared for enemies from the outside: we need to be ready for another invasion from America.”

“America? Ay carajo! When were we invaded by the United’s States!”

“Don’t you remember? They came all the way to our beautiful castillo in Chapultepec!”

“Los niños heroes!”

“Ooooh that’s right los ninos heroes.”

“The sacrifice they made…”

Suddenly, in the middle of this private conversation between these holy men and women came a voice like shrapnel that shook and startled them all.

“Hey shush, monja!” The voice cried. “We can hear you from all the way over here!”

“Have some respect!” The nun cried back.

“Why don’t you take a vow of silence!” Shouted the soldier “And shut that mouth of yours”

The military men roared with laughter

“How dare you!” said the priest. “She is a woman—“

“Hardly a woman, padre: I think I saw that one with a lady friend of mine!”

The soldier mimicked making out with an invisible woman and the military men laughed even louder.

“Enough!” Said the priest. “The show is about to start. Let us all be quiet.”

“May god have mercy on your soul joven,” the nun whispered under her breath.

“God is dead, monjita.”

The soldiers statement hushed the crowd. Everyone now turned their attention to the soldiers and holy ones as they continued to argue with each other.

“God is dead,” continued the soldier with a malicious smile. “And this is a new age in Mexico. We, who follow logic and science and critical thinking have nothing to fear from the power and greed of your pope. We are no longer ruled by superstition and stupid rituals.”

“Yeah!” His fellow soldiers egged him on.

“This is a new age enlightenment in Mexico,” the soldier continued. “And my hope is that one day all your stupid religions will be wiped off the face of the earth, a punishment for all the wars and bloodshed your so called churches and mosques and synagogues started.”

“God is not dead, young man!” A priest erupted. “He lives! El Cristo Rey lives! Watch your mouth or you will suffer His wrath!”

“You should watch it,” the soldier said. “It is man and man only that has dominion over this planet for his superior intellect and genius. It is we who will master the elements and, with the power of science, we shall uncover all the misterios of the universe.”

One of the sisters, much older than the rest stood up. A priest nearby tried to pull her down.

“Listen calm down don’t provoke the soldiers sister Maria.” He said.

“You are too young to understand the power of god,” the oldest nun said. “One day you will be brought down to your knees joven and you shall seek his salvation. The salvation of my master.”

“I am my own master poor woman,” the soldier said. “I am no ones slave. You and your people are lost.”

The soldier tossed his hand in the air in frustration.

“My people!” Cried the nun. “My people are the Mexican people!

The Edison light bulbs flickered.

“Would you two be quiet: the show is about to start!” Shouted someone from the crowd.

But the old nun was undeterred. She continued:

“And the Mexican people are catholic. They have always been, and they always will be no matter what the small man who currently resides in the presidential palace thinks! He cannot be arrogant enough to decide what is in the hearts and minds of the pueblo. You cannot convince us that god doesn’t exist for we have felt him and we have experienced him. We have seen his miracles in our lives and he breathes live into every waking moment. He is what makes life worthwhile and we will not give him up so easily.”

“God is dead!”

“Que Viva Cristo Rey!” the old nun shouted back at the soldier as if she had just thrown the young man a cannonball.

“God is dead!

“Que Viva Cristo rey!”

“Stop, stop, everyone stop!” someone in the crowd shouted. “The show is about to start! Let us have a night of fun without you all at each other’s throats! Paz paz!”

At the request of his fellow soldiers, soldier who was speaking sat down reluctantly. Meanwhile the old nun, her face blood read, herself sat down and began to pray the rosary in silence as if it was the only thing that kept herself from becoming consumed by the wrath growing in her heart.

As the ruckus subsided, the spotlight appeared and there at the center of the circus was Gustavo, in his moth-eaten top hat, worn tuxedo, with a twinkle in his eye, and all tall and gangly. The gitano appeared to roll and skip across the circus stage as the drums, trumpet and guitar played behind him.

“Señores y señoras , ladies and gentlemen! Welcome to El Circo Alegria! Once again we have the pleasure of performing for you. Gustavo Cienfuegos and his rag tag group of misfits, desde the Yucatan all the way to Chihuahua—we travel straight to you and bring you joy, laughter, and magia!”

“Who raised you young man!” The old nun suddenly bursted out.

“Excuse me monjita!” The soldier shouted back. “Are you talking about my mother?”

The solider was brought back down to his seat by his friends, while two priests gently brought the old nun down.

Gustavo paused awkwardly for a moment. Then he smiled, continuing his speech.

“Some of your old favorites will be returning tonight, and some new additions! Perhaps even some ninos heroes will be making their debut.”

The gitano winked.

“So get ready, hold on to your nalgitas and enjoy the show!!!!”

The crowd erupted in frantic overzealous applause, seemingly anxious to dissipate the tension that had been present up until then.

“Let us begin, with my lovely ladies. Las damas de MonteAlban!!!”

The music changed and several women dressed in rainbow tutus emerged from behind the curtain. At the same time, two clowns dressed in bright yellow overalls marched out carrying a small wooden box no wider or taller than a kitchen table. The box had a blue rose painted on the side.

The dancing ladies in rainbow tutus came out one after the next, each one more beautiful then the next, they twirled and bowed in front of the audience before they quickly walked up a very tall ladder that reached all the way up to the ceiling of the circus tent. At the top of this ladder was a tiny pink plank that rose high above the small box, which almost 30 feet below.

As each ballerina walked up the high plank, the crowd grew nervous.

“I Know what you are thinking!” Gustavo shouted, “there must be a trapdoor!”

Gustavo shook his finger and gestured to the clowns.

The clowns moved the box to the side and spread their feet across the floor to demonstrate there was no hole in the ground, and then they turned the box over so as to show the bottom of the box. The crowd could clearly see there was no hole in the box.

“No way out, my friends,” Gustavo said. “No safety net, no pool of water and no cushion to break the fall! How on earth will they pull it off damas y caballeros!”

The clowns placed the box back in its original position, right underneath the 30 feet high plank, just as the first ballerina made it to the top.

Gustavo pulled out a flute.

“They say ballerinas have great grace and always know how to land on their feet,” he said.

Gustavo played the flute.

He winked at the audience.

“Let us hope that is true!”

At that moment an audience member screamed. All looked on in horror as the first ballerina made a graceful dive from the 30 foot high plank down into the small box.

She quickly disappeared.

The crowd was stunned.

Gustavo smiled devishly. He snapped his fingers at the clowns.

The clowns nodded and then goofily turned the box over. The ballerina popped out and began to dance in front of the crowd. She covered her open mouth and feigned a look of shock, and then then quickly disappeared behind the curtain, laughing her head off as she did so.

The crowd erupted in applause.

Gustavo played the flute.

“Now, that was impressive! But how about… more?”

He curled his finger at the next ballerina that had just made it to the very top of the plank, and nodded his head in her direction. This ballerina also made the dive, disappearing quickly into the box that had just in the last moment been placed upright by the clowns again.

Then soon after another ballerina took a dive, then another, then another, and the to the audiences horror, five more. Meanwhile the clowns playfully would move the wooden box in the correct position mere moments before the ballerinas dived in, only heightening the risk to the ballerinas.

Many members of the audience stood straight up as they watched this unfolding on stage.

“Gustavo how could you?They shouted. “This is impossible! Save these girls!”

“Do not worry profe! Everything is under control.”

Gustavo tipped his cane to his top hat and then nodded to the clowns. The clowns wiped the sweat off their brows with comically oversized handkerchiefs upturned the box once more. There in the box, contorted miraculously into pretzel-like shapes were all six ballerinas, all smiling and all breathing heavily.

The crowd burst into laughter and applause.

Gently and deliberately, one by one, each ballerina unwinded themselves and detached themselves from the others, effortlessly undoing their elaborate pretzel-like bonds, until all the ballerinas had emerged from the small box. Once they were all freed, they danced and twirled and made their way across the front of the stage. They took a long bow for the audience and then made their way off stage.

As this was all happening, the crowd was too enthralled with the dancers to notice Gustavo frantically pulling the curtain back and screaming backstage.

“Where is the tiger!!!! He’s missing his cue! Pendejos!!!”

Memo appeared and held up his small bandage hands.

“Sorry jefe, we had a bit of an argument.”

“Dear god what happened!”

“I don’t know, I was telling Sergio about my new girlfriend and se encelo. He got jealous I think!”

“A tiger? Jealous? Estupido! Can you just get it together, Memo—the act is almost wrapping up and he has to be ready. Benny, I need you to go into the audience and be a peacemaker. The soldiers and the nuns are at each other’s throats again, they nearly ruined my entrance!”

“Got it, jefe,” Benny said as he adjusted his wig and make up.

“What is that?” Gustavo pointed to a brown dress tie Benjamin was wearing around his small waist.

“Oh that—just a style choice.”

“A style choice? I’ve never seen you wear that before. That’s a soldiers tie, Benny. Where did you get it?”

“No, its not.”

“Are you kidding me? I don’t have time for this, get rid of it!”

“Why?”

“Just get rid of it!”

Gustavo emerged again and rushed to center stage just as the last danced exited.

“Now, lets up the ante!” He said.

He took out his flute once more but this time also took out a match. He lit the tip of his flute and a burst of flames emerged as he played it.

Then he nodded mischievously.

The clowns reemerged but now holding rings of fire in each hand. The rings they held just above the wooden box just as more ballerinas made their way to the plank.

Meanwhile, Gustavo could see Benjamin with his blonde wig and mango colored dress taking his seat in the audience right between the clergy and the soldiers. He took his seat and nodded knowingly to Gustavo. Gustavo nodded back. He scanned the audience and notice one of the soldiers staring at Benjamin. But just at that moment Gustavo noticed his cue from the stage manager and returned his attention to the show.

“Let us see if the flames don’t burn your little nalgas my lovely ladies!”

The ballerina that had finally made it to the top smiled and bowed. She embraced herself and trembled, feigning terror. Then with a wily smile she relaxed her arms, spun in a circle and gracefully dived into the box just as the fiery hopes crisscrossed in front of the opening

Several gasps came from the audience.

Another seven ballerinas took a dive, each barely making it through the flaming circles.

Finally, the clowns put aside the flaming hoops then gently turned over the small box.

Once again the audience saw the ballerinas contorted in the small box into pretzels and one-by-one each ballerina emerged unscathed and without any burn marks. There was an explosion of applause from the audience.

Then, suddenly , one of the ballerinas bent over and let out a big belt. She feigned a burp and a huge flame emerged from her mouth.

The crowd laughed.

Now the other seven ballerinas doubled over at the same time and each burped as well, letting out a lick of flame from their mouths. The crowd was in stichtes.

At last, they all smiled and the audience was in for another surprise as it was revealed their teeth were singed and were pure black. The dancers looked at each other and acted embarrassed as they pointed out the black teeth the others had, and they quickly ran off covering their mouths and pretending to be humiliated.

Gustavo bounced his eyebrows around’.

“Don’t worry ladies, your husbands won’t notice! They’re too busy at work.”

He laughed and winked at the audience.

“But your lovers might.”

Suddenly in the crowd, the soldier who was arguing with the nun earlier stood up once again. Apparently he had not been paying attention to the show and had been boiling with anger the entire time.

“And where do you get off disrespecting my parents!” The soldier shouted to the nun. “They are engineers! A man and woman of science. They are working hard for our country to keep us ready for the new century! You and your sisters on the other hand are working hard to keep us in the dark ages!

“Benny,” Gustavo said through clenched teeth. “Put a stop to this please.”

“The dark ages!” The nun stood up. “Our father only brings the light! It is you and you presidente that are bringing darkness to our great country. The Mexican people were proud men of god until President Calles came along.”

“You and your church have no power anymore.”

The nun pretended to wipe some dust off her robe and smiled confidently.

“Soldado: god is the only thing that has power here.”

The soldier cross his arms.

“Oh is that so?”

“No, come on, Alejandro, we are supposed to wait until after the show. Those were the orders.” The soldiers friends said.

“Yeah don’t get ahead of yourself.”

“No, no no,” Alejandro said. “I think this monjita needs to learn a little lesson about the power of the new century.”

“Don’t Alejandro, you’re ruining the show! We came to see the show! We paid for the tickets!”

“Benny, what are you doing, why are you sitting down doing nothing?” Gustavo whispered, gesturing to Bejamin who was still in the audience

Benny just stared at Gustavo, unblinkingly.

Gustavo turned his head to the side, and his eyes grew wide.

“Benny, if you are sending me a message with you eyes I am not getting it,” the gitano said underneath his breath. “This is all going to shit.”

Just at that moment, Memo walked out with Sergio the tiger.

“Memo what are you doing, it’s not your cue!”

Memo froze and began slowly walking the tiger back, but the tiger snapped in protest and roared.

“Sergio! Stop this! You must get over it! I love her!”

“Memo, get the tiger out of here!!!!”

Meanwhile, the nuns and the priests had made their way all the way down form the balcony’s and now had reached the soldiers in the front row. Benjamin stood still and gently caressed the tie he wore around his waist.

“Benny!” Gustavo finally shouted “What the he’ll do I pay you for! Get a handle on the crowd!!!”

Everyone was confused, some in the crowd begin to check out. The vendors meanwhile used this as an opportunity to sell more popcorn and cigarettes.

While all this was happening, the conversation between the holy ones and the military continued.

“Christ died for our sins and—-“

“There is no evidence that there is a god—“

“Our holy mother was chosen—“

“Religion represents a bygone era, humans are evolving—-“

“Evolution!”

“DARWIN!”

“The Holy Spirit”

“La virgen de Guadalupe!”

“Que VIVA CRISTO REY!”

“GOD IS DEAD!”

“ENOUGH!!!!”

Alejandro took out a cigar and lit it. He smoked it as he approached the center of the circus stage. The spotlight moved from Gustavo to the soldier.

“Diego what are you doing?”

The man behind the spotlight shrugged his soldiers and pointed at a soldier standing next to him.

“You got to be kidding me.”

Gustavo walked over to tap Alejandro on the shoulder.

“Excuse sir but this is my circus its not—-

“I have a declaration to make,” said Alejandro. “Sorry Gustavo but my beef isn’t with you. It is with these… these cavemen, these Neanderthals these proto-humans of the earth.”

“Cavemen?”

“I have an official declaration to make, Señores y Señoras, sorry my apologies to Gustavo but the show can resume after I am finished. We had planned to wait until the end, but its clear these idiots must be put in their place NOW.”

“I’m sorry señor but this was not — you can’t—“

Alejandro placed his hand on his revolver and glared at Gustavo.

Gustavo stepped back and was silent.

Nearby, Memo was struggling with the tiger who kept snapping at the small man.

Alejandro took a puff I’d his cigar and pulled out a piece of typewriter paper.

“Señoras y señores,” Alejandro stared. “This declaration was just signed by our President. Presidente Calles. Our greatest President of all time. It reads: ‘By order of President Plutarco Elias Calles, In accordance with Article 3 of our Mexican constitutions which enforces the separation of Church and State, to ensure the intellectual integrity and enlightenment of the Pueblo, that we are to be based on scientific progress and fight against ignorance, ignorance effects, blind allegiance to the church, fanaticism, cult worship, superstition and prejudice of right thinking Mexican nationals, President Calles now declares that all those wearing religious uniforms—such as priest or nun robes—in public spaces outside of religious buildings, shall hereby be arrested immediately and be punished with a fine of one thousand pesos and jail time—“

The crowd suddenly stopped talking and grew somber and dark.

The nuns and priests meanwhile appeared to be in a state of shock.

The soldier continued:

“All churches in in the state of Guanajuato will be indefinitely shut down due to the escalation of rebellion and continued resistance of leaders in the Catholic Church against the Presidents attempts to fight back against the overwhelming and oppressive and corrupt power of the church over Mexican citizens and no services shall be resumed until the Catholic Church and its leadership follow the decree of separation of church and state as to save the masses of Mexican people from the claws of ignorance and pernicious surpertistion.”

The old nun who had argued passionately with Alejandro earlier, fell down to her knees and began to sob. Another nun fainted. Several of the priests crossed themselves and began to pray.

“President Calles will use the full force and weight of his Presidential powers as granted to him by the Mexican Constitution of this country to bring an end to all religion. He did not hope to get it to this point, he tried to do it the kind way. But the stubbornness of the clergy leaves him no choice. He must protect the Mexican People.

Que Viva Mexico lindo. God is dead!

Signed El Presidente Plutarco Elias Calles.”

Alejandro put his paper away and with a look of feigned sympathy said:

“Round them up, boys.”

“What!?”

The soldiers, following orders, began arresting the priests and nuns. Some resisted, some surrendered, but all were suddenly moved by a deep tangible grief that consumed them in dread.

Gustavo was crestfallen.

“Wait what what jail!?

The crowd was in an uproar. People were shouting and screaming, some tried to stop the soldiers from arresting the priests.

Memo’s tiger roared and snapped.

Gustavo could barely hold back his tears of devastation.

“Damas y caballeros!” He shouted over the crowd. “I am sorry to announce but the show is cancelled for tonight! Please go home and be with your families, it appears Mexico, mi Mexico lindo, has just declared war on God.”

The grief suddenly consumed Gustavo and be began to sob. Mariela emerged from behind the stage to console him.

As the shackled priests and nuns were thrown out onto the cobblestone streets, the night echoed and the moon shimmered. Sergio the tiger, roars were heard throughout the small town. Also heard were the sudden slamming of bug wooden doors.

For the first time ever in Guanajuato, the Churches would be closed, and no one was allowed in. The priests would not be in their booths waiting for confessions and the nuns would not be in their cloisters praying the rosary, instead they would find themselves in dank and rusty prisons. There behind those thick metal bars, the nuns clutched their scapulars, the priests held fast to their bibles, as the unthinkable was happening, something akin to what was prophesied in Revelations. As this would take place, the fat Mexican rats, stuffed with leftover enchiladas and day-old menudo, took several shits nearby, while the ants frantically scrambled for the scraps of bread that these poor men and women of god had no appetite for.

END OF PART II

(PART III AND PART IV coming soon)