Gypsy in Black: The Romance of Gypsy Travelers (26 page)

Shocked, Sahara stumbled
over her words. 
“
But
Emilian
and
Greggor...
”

Nicolae
touched his finger to
her lip. 
“
That is my father's
problem, yes?  He is the
Rom Baro
.
”
  He smiled and reached into
his trouser pocket. 
“
I have
a present for you, S'hara.  For
being such a good girl, yes?
”
He stepped back, holding out a
shiny gold headband.  In the ce
nter, it dipped into a V with a
black opal in the shape of a dewdr
op hanging from it.  Carefully,
he placed the cool gem against her forehead, hooking the ends
together and laying it against the back of her head. 
“
It matches
your
eyes.  Now you are a
real gypsy, yes?  A husband, a
kumpania, and jewels.
”
 
Nicolae
laug
hed to himself, in an unusually
jovial mood.  He leaned forwa
rd, softly kissing her forehead
above the opal. 
“
You like, yes?
”

Sahara frowned, raising her fingers to the op
al.  It was
cool under her touch.  She traced
the headband, wondering why
Nicolae
was so happy. 
“
Where did you find this?
”

“
You have not answered my question, S'hara.
”

She bit her tongue, forci
ng the suspicions back into her
throat.  Instead of accusing him
of stealing or cheating, she
smiled pleasantly. 
“
I would love anything you gave to me.
”
Sahara kissed his cheek. 
“
I
t was very thoughtful of you to
remember me while you were out ho
rse trading.
”
  Or stealing, she
thought.  Her eyes moved past his should
er toward the crowd of
gypsies around the new horses.
 
“
And a beautiful lot they are
too.
”

Nicolae
stroked her cheek w
ith his hand.  He stared at the
beautiful jewel against her In
dian brown skin.  The jewel was
gorgeous.  The woman wearing it before
Nicolae
had
managed to steal
it hadn't looked half as beauti
ful as Sahara.  He had seen the
black teardrop against the rich Ea
sterner's pale skin and known. 
Sahara must have it. 
“
Not as
beautiful as you, my bori.
”
 

So
Sahara was pleased to be remembered, he thought.
  Indeed he had
remembered her.  All day, his th
oughts had been of her, wanting
to return to camp and pull her into his arms, make love to her over and over again until
they fell asleep, their bodies
entwined and exhausted.  When he had rode over the hill,
his eyes
had searched the faces of the g
ypsy women, eager to see Sahara
waiting for him.  He had barely
heard the story about
Emilian
and
Greggor before he understood Sahar
a's disappearance. 
“
Perhaps we
do not join the festivities tonight?
”
  He stroked her
bare arm,
waiting for her reaction.

She snapped her head away fro
m the horses, the opal bouncing
against her forehead.  She met hi
s lustful gaze.  So that was on
his mind, she thought. 
“
Wouldn'
t the people be disappointed if
we didn't dance for them?
”
  The
past few evenings since the
Rom Baro
had agreed to allow Locke a
nd Finny to wed,
Nicolae
and Sahara
had been the main attraction
of the camp.  Everyone loved to
watch their love story danced
out, including the gypsies.  It
hadn't been planned.  The music had started one night and
Nicolae
spun around the fire, taunting Sah
ara to join him.  Rakiya burned
her head as she
drunkenly
got up,
laughing to herself.  Her feet had moved like
never before, dan
cing after him.  The next thing
she knew, she had been in his arms and the crowd was applauding.

Nicolae
gave his shoulders a c
hildish shrug. 
“
Perhaps I want
you to myself tonight.
”

Her pulse began to quick
en.  Startled, she realized she
wanted him just as badly. 
“
And what about what I want?
”

He smiled at her question.
  Glancing over his shoulder at
the other gypsies, he was pleased to see they were inspecting the
new horses.  No
one was paying a
ttention to the future
Rom Baro
and his wife. 
“
You wish to
get dressed for the dance?
”
  He
chuckled, tugging at her hair. 
“
I find that hard to believe.
”
 

To argue with him would ha
ve been fruitless.  She reached
out, pressing her hand against
his cheek.  She could feel the fire burning
within him. 
“
No,
Nicolae
.  I don't want that.
”

“
What do you want?
”
he teased.  He took her b
ack into his
arms, lowering his lips onto hers. 

From off in the distance
, a man called out,
“
Nicolae
!
”
 
Nicolae
gently
pushed Sahara back as
he looked up.  The
Rom Baro
was
walking toward them, his f
ace twisted in a frown.  Sahara
recognized it as the frown
Nicolae
wo
re when in a rage. 
Suddenly frightened, she clung
to
Nicolae
's arm, standing behind him as she wat
ched the
Rom Baro
a
pproach.  The
Rom Baro
nodded his
head at Sahara then turned his
attention to
Nicolae
. 
“
I must speak with you, my son.
”

Frustrated,
Nicolae
glanced down
at Sahara.  Her fingernails dug
into his arm and her dark eyes were la
rge. 
There were beads of sweat on her forehead and she looked pale.  Too pale.
 
“
You are alright, S'hara?
”

The
Rom Baro
looked concer
ned as he reached a hand out to
steady Sahara. 
“
S'hara?
”

A soft moan escaped her lips.  There were three
Rom Baro
's
reaching
out to her.  She wanted to scream but nothing came out.
Everything grew
dark and heat flashed through her body like lightning.  She grabbed for
Nicolae
as her knees gave way and she crumbled into his arms, her entire world spinning rapidly before closing in around her in
a dark shroud of
blackness. 




   




The older boy watched his father with Amaya.  The way that they talked to each other.  They way that they danced together.  He thought of his own mother, barely cold in her grave.  He saw tenderness from the Rom Baro to the wild Amaya that he had never seen between his father and mother.  It angered him.  How could his father fall for the wild, shamed gypsy girl from Europe?  She had never been married yet she had a child, a child that was betrothed to him.  An infant.  He looked away from the Rom Baro and Amaya in disgust.  His future wife was not even walking yet he was almost a man.  Would he have to wait forever to marry?  Would he have to marry a child when there were so many women available now?  If he waited another ten years, he would be twenty and a man.  But the child would still be a child.

The other boys teased him about his infant bride.  The other boys teased him that his father would marry Amaya and have more sons, sons that might replace him as the future Rom Baro when his father died.  The other boys mocked him as they pointed out the girls that they wanted to marry in the upcoming years.  But Emilian was destined to wait for many more years to come.  He didn’t want to wait and he didn’t want an infant bride, especially one born from this woman who was bewitching his father and changing the customs of the kumpan
ia
.

The rage built inside him and he left the fires, retreating to the solitude of the shadows where there was no Amaya and no baby Sahara.

When Sahara opened her eyes,
she stared around the tent with
a twinge of shock.  How had she go
tten there?  The last thing she
remember
ed
was the
Rom Baro
's h
and reaching out to her and
Nicolae
calling her name.  What happened
, she wondered fearfully as she
clutched the blanket around her
half clothed body. 
“
Nicolae
?
”
  Her
voice cracked as she softly calle
d his name.  She looked around,
thankful to see
Nicolae
standing near the tent opening, talking wit
h
someone she had never seen before
.  The man was dressed in black
slacks and a black jacket with
a white shirt underneath.  The
black hat on his head and leather
bag in his hand made her wonder
if he was a gadjo doctor. 
“
Nicolae
?
”

This time, he heard her. 
Nicolae
nodded his gratitude to the
doctor before hurrying to Sahar
a's side.  He knelt beside her,
reaching for her hand.  Pressing
it against his lips,
Nicolae
kissed
it. 
“
You made me worry, S'hara.
”
 

She saw the relief in his eyes. 
“
What happened?
”

Nicolae
smoothed back her
hair. 
“
You fainted.  Don't you
remember?
”

She shook her head. 
“
Not really.
”

“
I carried you here and someone ran into town for a doctor. Everyone was very worried.
”
  His
hair had fallen loose from the
leather
strings that he used to tie it back
.  Dark circles hung und
er his eyes.  When Sahara
had paled, clutching his arm as
her knees gave way,
Nicolae
's heart
had almost stopped.  Unconscious
in his arms, Sahara had looked
so helpless and still.  O Del, he t
hought, don't let her be dead. 
He had sent one of the young men
into town, sum
moning the doctor to come with
him to the gypsy encampment. 
Upon arrival, the doctor had to
push the frantic
Nicolae
out of the
tent before examining Sahara. 
The gypsies kept their distance
, murmuring among themselves as
they glanced at the distraught son of
their
Rom Baro
, pacing back
and forth near the tent. 

With a nervous smile, th
e doctor had slipped out of the
tent.  He glanced around at the u
nusual surroundings.  The older
gypsy women hovered over their c
auldrons, stirring dinner while
the younger children ran afoot. 
Several young men sat against a
wagon, sharpening their knives as
they talked.  An old man walked
through a crowd of small childr
en, stooping to pick up a small
girl dressed in a long, dirty white
shirt with a tear at the hem. 
Her dark hair hung in her eyes a
nd the old man pushed it back. 
The little girl laughed, huggin
g the old man before he set her
back on the ground. 

“
What is wrong with my wife
?
”
  The panicking gypsy man had
asked impatiently, tugging at his sleeve.  He was a youn
g man, no
more than
twenty-three.  His richl
y tanned face was streaked with
sweat from
worrying about his beautiful, young wife. 
“
How long have you been
married?
”

Nicolae
frowned, standing with
his feet apart and his one hand
on his hip.  Running his other han
d through his hair,
Nicolae
glanced
nervously at the tent as he mumble
d,
“
Two months…maybe three.
”
 
Nicolae
looked back at t
he doctor. 
“
Is there something
wrong with her?  I want to know now.  Is she going to die?
”

The doctor shook his head. 
“
She shouldn't.  She's healthy
enough.  Strong too.
”
  The doctor
smiled as he placed his hand on
Nicolae
's shoulder. 
“
She's with
child, man.
”

Nicolae
had been speechless.
 
It hadn’t crossed his mind but, as the words echoed in his ears, he realized the obvious.
A child, he thought.  The first-born of the next generation.  He felt pleased and apprehensive at the same time.  Pregnancy had been the furthest thing from his mind.  He had to digest it, not quite able to realize what that meant on the many different levels that he had to consider.

The doctor had given her some
medicine so she could sleep, claiming she had fainted because
she
was overtired as well as her body reacting to the growing child
within her. 

Now,
Nicolae
kisse
d the inside of her hand, still
worried.  Would O Del take Sa
hara away as He had
Nicolae
's first
wife? 
“
You feel better, yes?
”

Sahara nodded. 
“
What did the doctor say?
”

Nicolae
pulled her into his
arms.  Hugging her tightly,
Nicolae
said,
“
The doctor said you'd be fi
ne.  Just needed some rest,
‘
tis
all.
”
  He wanted to tell her but
he knew it wasn't his place.  A
man never talked about such subjects to a woman.  Pregnancy w
as
mahrime, a pollution of a woman
's body.  Until six weeks after
the child was born, a pregnant
woman was mahrime.  Remembering
this,
Nicolae
quickly released Sah
ara and got up, heading for the
entrance of the tent.  Pausing,
he spoke with his back to her. 
“
Make yourself presentable then co
me for supper, yes?
”
  He didn't
wait for her response as he left the tent.

Not understanding his sud
den departure and gruff manner,
Sahara stared after him.  What d
id I do, she wondered.  When he
had hugged her only seconds befo
re, her heart had fluttered
.  She had given herself to this man, accepted all of the changes in her life and looked forward to the future.
But only for
that brief moment.  When he had
pushed her away and retreated
from the tent, her heart turned
cold, despising
his
temperamental
mood swings that she would
never understand.  If she had do
ne something wrong or offensive
to
Nicolae
, why didn't he speak
up and tell her?  Sometimes she
thought
Nicolae
wanted her to hate him. 

After getting dressed in a sky blue dress with a full skir
t,
Sahara ventured outside.  Th
e dry, stagnant air struck her,
forcing her to stand still for a
minute and steady herself.  Her
head swooned and her stomach fel
t
nauseous
.  Shutting her eyes,
Sahara waited until the quea
siness passed.  The summer heat
seemed to jump at her.
Although the gyps
ies travelled north for the hot
season, Sahara knew they would n
ot escape the relentle
ss intense heat
of Mid Western summers.  

Sahara headed for the cooking fires, hoping
Nicolae
wou
ld be
waiting there for her.  Some of
the older women walked over the
knoll, returning from the ri
ver with their arms full of wet
clothing.  When they saw Sahara wa
lking toward them, they greeted
her with smiles.  But no one stopped to talk with her.  She thought nothing of it until she
saw Finny near a small cooking
fire, dishing some papin into two bowls.  When Sahara stopped to
say hello, Finny just smiled polit
ely and walked away.  Confused,
Sahara stared after Finny.  Af
ter all Sahara had done to help
Finny marry the man she loved, s
he couldn't even
say hello?  Angry and
hurt,
S
ahara wandered aimlessly toward
some wagons, her mind reliving
Nicolae
's coldness, the women ignoring
her, and Finny turning away.  W
hen she noticed Duda sitting in
her rickety rocking chair, her fee
t
rising
above the ground each
time she rocked backwards, Sahara
approached her in the hopes of
finding comfort.  The chair cr
eaked softly, moaning under the
heavy weight of the elderly gypsy.
  Duda seemed to sense Sahara's
presence and looked up, smiling
at the bedraggled Sahara. 
“
You are feeling better, bori,
yes?
”

Sahara nodded, sitting besi
de Duda on the ground.  Tucking
her legs under her body, Sahara s
tared up at the
graying
woman. 
“
Yes, romni.
”

Duda gave Sahara her toot
hless smile again.  She reached
down and stroked Sahara's loose h
air.  The heat made it cling to
Duda's hand. 
“
You have never w
orn the diklo
Nicolae
has provided,
no?  Why is that?
”

Sahara shrugged her sho
ulder, leaning her head against
Duda's knee.  It felt nice to hav
e some motherly affection. 
“
Is
it necessary?  After all, my blood is gypsy but my
upbringing was
still gadjo.
”
 

Another smile, more dista
nt than
the others, crept onto
Duda's face again.  A long while b
ack, when she had been younger,
she had known a similar woman. 
“
Y
ou are much like Amaya.  Except
you are more beautiful.
”

Sahara tried to imagine her
wild mother, racing through the
fields on the bare back of a bla
ck stallion.  She tried to feel
her mother's thoughts, emotions, dreams.  After he
aring everyone
speak so highly of her mother, Sa
hara wished she had known her. 
“Did you know her?”

Duda nodded.  “Briefly.”

“
Did she love a man, Duda?
”

“
A man?
”
  A laugh escaped.
 
“
She loved many men, S'hara. 
But she loved herself most of al
l.  She was promised, yes.  But
she ran off with a gadjo.
”
  Sh
e hesitated, thinking back many
years. 
“
She refused to marry a
man she did not love.  She was
her own person, yes.  Her name w
as legend among the campfires. 
Even after she left, the men sang
of her beauty and feats.  Women
tried to dress like her,
act like her, be her.  But none
succeeded
.
”
  A wistful look crept onto her face. 
“
Until now.
”