Gila! by Les Simons

Author:Les Simons [Simons, Les]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

13

Fairtime.

An annual event, the fair was always eagerly anticipated by the residents of Sierra County, and especially in Cotton Springs, where it was held year after year. It was the residents' sole opportunity to do themselves up proud, to show off Cotton Springs, and to bring in more revenue to a sleepy little desert town that was located between Alamogordo and Socorro, and was the proverbial backside of nowhere.

Agricultural exhibits, handicrafts, jewelry-making, horse shows, rides on the midway, tractor and farm-equipment displays, baking contests, and a concert by mariachis in the plaza had been going on since early in the morning, when the fairgrounds opened to the public, and all vied for equal attention from the fairgoers.

Now dusk was falling, and in the grayness of early evening the lights of the fair were beginning to come on, one by one.

White lights, like small stars, looped through the midway, showering it with a blazing light, casting harsh shadows on the dirt, giving a glare to the arcade that made it even uglier than in the day. Couples walked hand in hand, oblivious to the sharp reality of the midway.

"Come, gitcher sweetheart a bear," called one of the carny men, his white apron streaked with black.

"Come in, come in," another yelled, an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth. "See the two-headed calf! It eats! It moves!"

"Over here, young ladies, come here and see the world's strongest man!"

"Here now, boys and girls, free bunnies and ducks to the lucky lad or lass who can toss five nickels onto the plate!"

"Win!"

"Try your luck!"

"C'mon!"

"Win!" came the tantalizing shouts.

Angel Carlos Montoya hobbled down the hard-packed dirt of the midway and looked around with a faint smile creasing his weathered face. Loco doctors, he thought. They had wanted to cut him up for some estúpido pain that came and went, like the Coyote in the henhouse. Here one moment, gone the next, but always to return. Still, he'd fooled the gringo doctors. He'd sneaked out of the hospital and come on foot to the fair.

Hadn't missed one fair in over eighty-seven years, had he? He didn't remember the early ones, of course, having been just a baby. But he'd gone in his mother's arms. He wouldn't miss this one either, not for a little pain.

Maybe it was too much corn. Always gave him gas. He'd have to lay off the corn tortillas for a while. Stick with the flour ones.

Fair . . . it was different now. In the old days it had been simpler, slower than the ones today. Quiet, too. Now they had the Ferris wheels and the loop-the-mouse and the roller coaster and all the other noisy rides that appealed to the young kids. Everywhere you turned, too, you saw the concession stands filled with their junk food. Couldn't hardly find enchiladas, or tacos, or just plain chili.

But still, these fairs had their good moments, their fun places to visit. Like the animal barns, the stalls where they kept the show horses, the agricultural

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