The Soul Mate

CHAPTER FIVE

Fire meetings were our once a week version of a party. The entire clan gathered together for a lavish spread of drinks and food, storytelling, music and dancing. The celebrating usually lasted long into the night and sometimes didn’t end until the first sign of the sun.

Tonight I had been asked to tell a story, since I’d made it my business to tell them all the time anyway. I couldn’t help myself. My Daddy had been a born story teller and I’d grown up regaled with tales of Greek Gods and Goddesses and the mythology of Greece long ago. To me, it was as cherished as the stories in bible were for others. I knew the myths and legends like the back of my hand and loved re-telling them.

I waited until most of the children had gathered around me; the Moldoveanu Family twins, Pali and Mala, were taking up space on both of my knees while little Benyamin Vãdura sat directly in my lap.

Maisera, sitting with Jericho, held up her hands signaling silence to the clan. As silence descended, she smiled at me, her many wrinkles causing her face to crinkle like a ball of crumpled paper.

I scanned the crowd quickly, not focusing on anyone in particular. I didn’t see Gerik, didn’t smell him and exhaled a sigh of relief.

“Do you all know the legend of the mermaid?” I directed my question at the children. A lot of them shook their heads yes.

I smiled. “Are you sure?”

“Do they come from Greek, Trinny?” Daniella asked.

“Greece,” I corrected her. “And yes, they do. Everything does.” A collective groan followed my statement and a lot of laughter.

“Who can tell me what a mermaid looks like?”

Pali pulled on my hair. “Nakey,” He said very seriously. The men in the crowd roared with laughter and Pali, startled, looked confused by the reaction. I hugged him and whispered, “You’re right, ignore them.” Pali grinned, proud of himself.

“Mermaids are usually naked. They have the torso, arms and head of human but they also have the tail of a very large fish.”

“How do they take a crap?” Stevo Moldoveanu shouted.

“Ow!” He cried as a cup was thrown at his head.

“Anyway,” I continued, shooting him a dirty look. “This story is about the very first Mermaid, a Macedonian Princess named Thessalonike, who lived in a time so long ago no one knows exactly what year this story took place.

“Was she beautiful?”

“Yes Daniella, very. All princesses are, especially Roma Princesses, like you.”

The little girl grinned revealing several missing teeth.

Her brother was Alexander the Great…” I paused, “You all know who he was right?” A bevy of small heads shook their heads back and forth. I groaned.

“Ok, well that will be a story for another time. All you need to know is he was a great warrior, a great king, and he loved his sister Thessalonike very much. He also loved adventures and during one he discovered the Fountain of Immortality-

“What’s immorodally?” Adi’s big brown eyes were full of innocence. She reminded me of a young Tahyra when our father would tell us the same stories.

“It’s living forever without getting older.”

Little Benyamin Jr.’s eyes went even wide.

“But I want to get older,” He cried out. “I want to be big and strong like tată and Hockey and Xan.”

“I am definitely bigger than Hockey.” Xan’s voice cut through the chuckles. Hockey gave him a mocking grin, then went back to chewing on a blade of grass.

Benyamin Sr. came and collected his son, pulling him into his lap. “You’re going to grow big son; you have nothing to worry about. Let the poor girl finish her story.”

“So,” I continued. “Alexander found this fountain and took some of its immortal water and brought it home. The story goes that he bathed her hair in the precious water-

“Why?” Mala’s face was scrunched up in confusion. “Why not drink it?”

I sighed. “I’m not really sure why.”

“Dumping it on her hair sounds pretty stupid to me.” A few of the other children murmured in agreement with her.

“Well, whether it was stupid or not, that’s what happened. Not long after, Alexander died in battle and a grief stricken Thessalonike tried to kill herself by jumping into the sea. But, because of the immortal water her brother had washed her hair in, she didn’t die.

Instead, she turned into a mermaid, an immortal mermaid who forever swims the seven seas. Whenever a ship would encounter her, she would ask the sailors a question, the same one every time. “Does Alexander the Great live?” She would ask. If they answered incorrectly, she would transform into a Gorgon, sinking the ship and all its sailors to the bottom of the sea. But if they answered correctly, telling her that “Yes, Alexander the Great lives and still rules as King”, she would allow them to pass safely.”

“But that was a lie, cuz he was dead.”

“Duh, Dani, but she was crazy, she turned into a Gordon and killed them. Wouldn’t you lie to her?” Benyamin piped up.

I laughed. “A gorgon. They have giant gold wings and huge claws and fangs with scales like a snake. They were the most feared of all sea monsters.”

“See, Dani.” Benyamin stuck his tongue out at his sister. “You would have lied too.”

Hockey’s little sister Simza stood up. “Trinity?”, She asked. “Maisera always tells us what the story means afterwards, what does your story mean?”

Oops. I hadn’t thought that far ahead.

“Well… ” I heard someone snicker at my hesitation causing my face to flame. The guys were going to eat me alive unless I got my act together.

Think Trinity! Think! I tried to channel my daddy.

Taking a deep breath, “It also shows you the importance of accepting what the Gods have granted you. Alexander was already a great warrior with great power. He should have never stolen the immortal water. He was never meant to have it and neither was his sister. The story shows the consequences of his greed. Instead of being thankful for everything the Gods had blessed him with Alexander ended up dying and his sister was forced spend eternity grieving him in the form of a monster, killing innocent people as a result.”

Simza nodded slowly, smiling, “It’s like dark magi-

“Sim!” Aishe yelled. The warning in Simza’s mother’s voice was clear. The little girl shut her mouth, gave me a small smile and took off toward her mother.

Aishe couldn’t have been anymore obvious. I was an outsider, an interloper, a Gaje. To speak of magic in front of me was forbidden. Between learning that Gerik’s on again/off again relationship with Onyx was definitely on and once again being called out as a Gaje in front of the entire clan, I suddenly didn’t feel much like being social.

The start of the music was a happy reprieve from my dark thoughts. A heavy drum beat had begun and the clan whooped with delight. Intrigued I headed toward where the crowd had gathered. Drums had never been used at fire dances since I’d been at camp.

The immergence of two male figures, both wrapped in bear furs complete with the bear head that concealed their identities, was a fearsome sight. Their beady eyes, formidable fangs and sharp claws cast menacing shadows from the firelight.

As the two men began to dance, heads down, feet pounding and bodies swinging, so did the clan, stomping their feet and clapping their hands along with the resounding thunder of the drums.

The bear’s movements were starkly different and yet somehow in sync with each other. It reminded me of something Native American.

There was a natural energy forming around them. Their movements were electric and the rhythm was addicting. You couldn’t help but be affected by it.

I didn’t even notice Drina standing beside me. She nodded toward the dancers, her expression one of admiration and also sadness. “Beautiful isn’t it?”

I wasn’t sure beautiful was the word I would use to describe it. Beautiful seemed far too tame a description. It was awesome, ferocious and unique.

It was downright seducing.

“So you’re a bear dancer.” I teased, finding Xan leaned up against a tree, expertly juggling his giant bear headed fur and a bottle of gin while smoking a cigarette. His face was swollen mass of blue and purple.

“You looked pretty into it,” He murmured.

“It was cool,” I admitted, a blush creeping up my neck. “I’d never seen anything like it. So, who was the other dancer?”

“Tobar.” He said on a big exhale of smoke.

“Tobar! Quiet, introverted Tobar!”

Xan shot me an amused glance. “One and the same, although he’s not so introverted as all that, just ask Becki.”

Becki?

“My father taught us. He’s a Blackfoot Indian. Or half anyway.”

“Truly impressive heritage,” I said, genuinely meaning it.

“It is what it is.” He took another swig of his gin. “At least the asshole gave me something before he took off.” He gestured to the bear skin.

“You miss him,” I guessed.

Xan’s dark eyes bored into me. “Not so much anymore. He’s been gone for twenty years.” He took another drag off his cigarette and offered it to me.

“Now I’m just kinda pissed he left me somewhere I don’t really belong. I’m a goddamn mechanic in a clan of some of the most powerful Roma in the world.” He looked down and snorted.

I could identify. I didn’t belong here either. The fire meeting tonight had, once again, painfully driven that stake a just a little deeper.

Even Gerik, who claimed to care for me and desire me, still wouldn’t share so many things with me. Things I knew he could easily share with Onyx, a fellow Roma. I had to question how anything between us could ever be real when a wall of secrets would always lay smack in the middle.

“See you later fată.” Xan nodded at Gerik, who had wandered over to us and was watching me curiously. Probably wondering why I had been avoiding him the entire day. No bruises marred his perfect face. A whisper of pity for Xan slithered through me. Gerik won everything, got everything he wanted.

“Frate,” Xan said to Gerik. He left quickly, walking toward the fire pit.

“Where have you been? And why are you smoking?” Gerik asked. “I thought that after…" He trailed off. I mean, I thought we were good.”

Good? What did that mean?

“Everything is fine.” I tried to walk around him but he mimicked my footsteps and blocked my way.

He shook his head. “You are avoiding me.”

I sighed. “I’m not. Honestly.”

Skepticism crossed his features.

“I’m really not. I just needed some…” I paused thinking of how Simza had almost accidently betrayed some magical Roma secret in my presence and had been shushed by her mother.

I shot him a hard look. “I needed some Gaje time.”

He rolled his eyes. “You can’t take it personally Trinity, you’re not one of us, you can’t expect an entire culture to change their ways overnight because you have hurt feelings.”

“No,” I said, agreeing with him. “I don’t.”

“Then what’s the problem?”

“Gerik, it isn’t them I expect anything from.”

He narrowed his blue eyes in confusion while I continued to stare at him.

“Me,” He said flatly as realization hit. “You expect it of me even though you know I can’t, yeah?”

"Can’t? Or won’t?” I shot back.

Gerik drew himself to his full height, his legs spread wide and his jaw set in a hard line. He laced his hands behind his neck causing his t-shirt to pull up, exposing his abdomen. My breathing increased as the thin cotton stretched tight across his broad expanse of muscled chest.

I drank him in, the sight of him, the smell of him, all instantly steering me away from my anger. All my previous hurts fled as the magic that compelled me to react to Gerik in this manner infused me. Unwillingly I took a step closer to him.

My reactions to him never went unnoticed. With his hands still around his neck, he took a step forward as well, his eyes now burning gray.

“Let me come home with you tonight,” He whispered.

My body screamed yes. The blood streaming under my skin itched and burned to move forward, to touch skin to skin, and fuse with this man.

“I can make you feel better Trinity. You know I can make everything better.”

My will broke and although Gerik’s facial expression hadn’t changed, his eyes shone brilliantly with triumph.

“Are we interrupting?” Shandor’s head appeared in between us. He was grinning like a jack-o-lantern. Behind him were two of the Horváth triplets, an arm slung over each of them.

“Oh Gods,” I mumbled, shaking my head clear.

“And sometimes you make everything worse,” I pointedly told Gerik.

Gerik continued to stare at me until I felt like I had empty holes where my eyes had been. I had never thought of him as anything but Gerik, but for the first time he looked frightening. Between his height and his impressive muscular stature, he was a formidable sight. Add the ridged set of his jaw and the moonlight glinting off his eyes, he looked downright scary.

He turned abruptly then, nearly knocking into Xan and Fifi. His long legs ate up the distance back to the living lot in a matter of seconds.