The Soul Mate (5 page)

Fifi Horváth squealed in delight as Xan shot
up, grimaced as he spit blood and lunged at Marko, tackling him
from behind. The two of them rolled for some time, fists flying.
The sound of flesh pounding on flesh was making my insides
roil.

I seemed to be part of a small majority. The
dozen or so others watching the fight were thoroughly enjoying
themselves. Every blow that caused pain, every tackle that took a
man down, every trickle of sweat and blood was an aphrodisiac,
especially to the Horváth triplets.

Xan, who’d managed to pin Marco down on his
belly, had the poor guys arms wrenched behind his back in a very
unnatural position.

Grinning nastily, Xan bared his teeth at the
crowd. “Nadya!” He shouted.

Jericho and Maisera’s granddaughter, the
youngest Popa at twenty-three years old stood up and brushed the
grass and mud off her tiered rainbow colored skirt.

“What do you think of your man now mea dulce
fata?” Xan taunted.

Nadya, hands on hips, narrowed her pretty
brown eyes. “I think I’m going to have a hard time telling him what
a cai fundul you are with him under your boot!”

Even with his face in the dirt I could hear
Marko laughing.

“Who’s next frate’s?” Xan bellowed helping
Marko up. He released him with a friendly shove.

This was a typical afternoon for the guys.
Hours upon hours of physical labor was never enough to tire them
out. They had to beat each other bloody, bruised and broken in
order to call it a day.

Cupping his hands around his mouth, Shandor
yelled, “Hockey! Come on man! Get over here!”

Cutting wood near the chicken coop, Hockey
waved them off. Becki’s stark look of disappointment didn’t go
unnoticed by me. Why Hockey’s lack of participation bothered her
was beyond my comprehension.

In my opinion the frighteningly masculine
display was utterly unnecessary to prove one’s worth. No matter how
beautiful their muscles looked as they tightened and released,
gathering a nice coat of shine the harder they worked at bringing
their opponent down, it hardly determined what kind of person they
are. It only proved they could kick some ass. Not that I had much
experience in the way of relationships, but it seemed that there
had to be more to it than winning wrestling matches if it was going
to work.

“I’ll fight you, brother.” Gerik strode
forward, his hands shoved in his pockets. Shandor both snickered
and giggled, sounding like a deranged hyena.

“Oooh damn,” Loiza Siwak breathed, watching
Gerik take his shirt off. “I have always been so jealous of Onyx.
That Gypsy bitch gets that beautiful man naked every single
night.”

She turned toward the Horváth’s and lowered
her voice, “My tent is right next to Onyx’s and you should hear the
two of them go at it. Oh. My. God.” In a romantic gesture, Loiza
put her hand over her heart. Hearing that, the Horváth’s began to
giggle like thirteen year old girls.

Becki turned toward me, eyes wide, and I
immediately looked away, my stomach clenching. I’d had my
suspicions, it was hard not to since I had seen them disappear
together and heard tidbits of rumors around camp, but hearing
firsthand that they were together every single night by someone who
lived right next door to Onyx was like a punch in the gut.

Xan was pouring some water over his already
torn and bloodied fingers. His bottom lip was split in several
places and blood was trickling from the corner of his mouth but his
dark eyes were alit with pleasure. The word crazy came to mind as I
watched him.

Cracking his destroyed knuckles and rolling
his shoulders, he faced Gerik, smiling impishly. I shook my head.
What an idiot.

Gerik, smirking, threw the first punch. His
fist shot out with ridiculous speed and Xan’s head was thrust back
with an audible crack. His footing wavered as he stumbled backwards
but he caught himself before he fell.

The girls went crazy.

Xan’s smile had disappeared. In its place was
what was going to be some nasty bruises.

They rushed each other like bulls, heads down
and horns forward…er, fists forward.

I jumped up.

“Where are you going?” Becki looked shocked
that I would even consider leaving this useless testosterone laden
display.

“I can’t watch this.” I gestured toward Gerik
and Xan. Xan was face down in Gerik’s chest, pummeling his abdomen.
With both arms wrapped around Xan’s neck, Gerik was trying to
wrestle him to the ground.

“Want me to tell you who wins?”

I gave her a wry look. “I’m sure I’ll be able
to figure it out.”

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.