Circus of the Dumb

Chapter 4: Dirty Clothes and Broken Bottles

🍾Content Warning: This chapter contains implied sexual assault and potentially disturbing content. Papa will always love you...🍾

It was another late night. The clowns were at their most comfortable under the familiar guise of darkness, and they were more easily able to perform their sadistic activities undetected, as well—however, their intentions were not primarily malicious as they sped down the empty street, the five of them packed into the newly stolen vehicle they had acquired just a day or two prior.

"Take a left here," Papa Corn calmly ordered as the car slowed at an intersection, one hand lightly gripping the back of the driver's seat while the other pointed out the window. Mister Blister said nothing in response, only casually doing as he was told from behind the wheel.

"Think anyone will be there?" Pipette questioned from her position betwixt Jumbo and Papa Corn, a decently sized bundle of clothing piled in her lap. She was playing with the fabric between her gloved fingers as she spoke, her gaze cast out the windshield. "Does someone even work there?"

Mister Blister huffed in mild amusement. "You ever been to a laundromat before?" he retorted, his voice muddled by the cigarette bobbing between his lips.

"Don't you worry your pretty little head, Miss Pipette," Papa soothingly assured the woman, one hand now gravitating to affectionately stroke her painted chin. She tensed briefly at the gesture, her eyes shifting to focus on him. "Papa will take care of it..."

"Okay," the girl practically mumbled in response, averting her gaze almost as quickly as she had offered it. It was evident that she wasn't sure whether to be flustered or made uncomfortable by the unwarranted contact and its accompanying dialogue; a rather frequent conflict when it came to dealing with Papa, unfortunately. Speaking of the clown, she hesitantly took notice of the fact that drool was freely slipping down his chin again.

"We're here," Mister Blister gruffly announced as the vehicle came to a sudden halt, prompting the strange tension between the clowns in the backseat to cease. They had parked around back, where they were more likely to go unnoticed during this time of night.

The small, silver bell situated above the laundromat's door jingled as it opened, Jumbo entering first. He was quickly followed by his larger counterparts, most of them identifiable as clowns only by their faces; their costumes were bundled in their arms, coated in the dirt and blood of the last couple nights' events. The only one empty-handed was Papa, though his clothing was arguably the most in need of laundering due to his...unique variety of activities.

The establishment's manager watched with wide-eyed curiosity as her only customers wandered down the aisle of washing machines as if it were the most casual thing in the world; just five clowns doing some late-night laundry. She was unable to mask her surprise as Papa Corn approached her, prompting her to silence the phone she had previously been playing on before transferring it to her back pocket.

"Long day at the circus, huh?" she politely joked, a somewhat uneasy smile spreading across her face as Papa leaned over the counter, his gaze calm but intense. The clown eyed her from top to bottom, categorizing her distinct features in his mind. She was middle-aged, a larger woman with her hair tied in a thick ponytail.

"You could say that," Papa murmured, his eyes scanning her uniform for an identity, "Penelope..." His voice was hardly above a whisper as he read off her name tag, causing the woman in question to slip further into uncertainty.

Meanwhile, the four remaining clowns had taken to plopping down before the washing machine of their choice, allowing Pipette to take the lead in the matter. Wow, guys, sexist much? She easily stuffed the dirtied uniforms inside, though she hesitated to shut the compartment door. "What about Papa?" she asked, her tone soft and laced with mild concern. She, and likely the others as well, had little doubt as to what the leader was up to as he conversed with the laundromat's sole authority.