Gypsy in Black: The Romance of Gypsy Travelers (36 page)

It pained her to leave the Rom Baro.  He had been good to her and the promise of their future had been great.  But it could not be at the expense of her daughter.  The memory of the man at the fires in Europe haunted her.  He was Sahara’s father and she had to protect the memory of those nights of love.  Sahara was the product, th
e proof that it had happened. 

The music warmed the weary caravan.  The
last wagon had
pulled into the enormous gypsy cam
psite only an hour before.  The
tents were already set up and
the children racing about.  The
air, although lacking the heat o
f summer, defrosted their tired
souls.  Sahara sighed as she looked around.  It
was exactly as
she had imagined.  The fires
that burned reminded her of the
first days she had been on the roa
d with
Nicolae
.  The happier days. 
The music, wild and flamboyant,
raced the blood in her veins. 
Young girls danced around the fi
res, stamping their feet in the
dust, throwing their heads back
as they trilled their tongues. 
All around the outskirts of t
he camp the horses were tied in
separate herds.  Several dogs chas
ed the small packs of children,
nipping at their heels playfully.  

Confused and timid, Sahara s
tuck by Duda's side.  The sight
of so many strange gypsies frigh
tened her.  The younger gypsies
ignored her, noticing her condit
ion.  While
Nicolae
could force his
own people to overlook Sahara's p
regnancy, he could not make the
other kumpan
ias
break tradition. 
The
Rom Baro
had gained some of
his strength back although death
was lingering nearby.  None of
the other gypsies knew of their
Rom Baro
's grave sickness but some suspected he had taken ill. 

Gathering some of her courage, Sahara broke a
way from Duda's
side,
impatient and fidgety
because she had nothi
ng to do.  A little less than a
month until her due date, she co
uld hardly help anyone.  Biting
her lip and her fear, she starte
d walking toward the crowd.  At
first, no one took notice of her.  The dancing
continued and the
drunken
men stood around, admiring
the many single women of im
pure
virtue.  But it was Sahara that
stopped their chatter.  One man
dropped his bottle of rakiya
and pointed, unable to speak. 
Slowly, as Sahara walked among t
hem, the crowd silenced and the
music stopped.  The gypsies mu
rmured softly among themselves,
parting where she wanted t
o walk.  One old woman dared to
approach
her.  She stared int
ently into Sahara's face before
noticing the white streak over her ear.  Her face paled an
d she
began praying in some language Sahara didn't understand.

“
Sahara!
”
  As if by
miracle
,
Nicolae
pushed his way through the
crowd and took her arm.  Sahara c
lung to him, her eyes wide with
fright.  Tenderly, he laid his han
ds on her cheeks and tilted her
head up.  Each time he looked at
her, her beauty startled him. 
Gently, he scolded her. 
“
I told y
ou to stay near Duda, yes?  You
decided against it.  Why?
”

She responded softly,
“
I was bored,
Nicolae
.  Why are they
staring at me so strangely?
”

Nicolae
had wanted to find her pe
ople before anyone saw her.  He
knew they would react strongly to her presence.  Amaya was legend
among the
gypsies and her daughter
often thought of as myth. 
Nicolae
had known everyone would realize S
ahara was Amaya's daughter just
from taking a look at her
.  Looking into Sahara's large,
childlike eyes,
Nicolae
smiled. 
“
Come, I have someone for you to
meet.
”
  Gently, he took her arm
and started to lead her through
the
wide-eyed
,
open-mouthed
crowd.  The silence annoyed him but
it was expected.  Sahara was a living ghost to them. 

The crowd parted and
Nicolae
stopped walking.  Sahara bumped
into him, her eyes still staring
into the amazed crowd.  For the
first time, she wished she was b
ack with her father.  The man I
thought was my father, she correc
ted herself.  Raising her eyes
to meet
Nicolae
's, she was startled
to see his eyes glazed over and
distant.  Nervously, she laid her free hand on her stomach as if
protecting her unborn from whatever was about to
happen. 
“
Nicolae
?
”
 
When he didn't respond with words but a short n
od followed by a
glance toward a large tent
, she let her eyes roam in that
direction. 

A man older than the
Rom Baro
stood in front of a small
group of people.  His dark gyps
y eyes widened momentarily then
narrowed.  A muscle twitched in his cheek.  Slow
ly, he took
several steps toward
Nicolae
and Saha
ra.  When he stood before them,
he looked up at
Nicolae
.  Sorrow was
written across the older man's
face as he laid a wrinkle, sun bak
ed brown hand on
Nicolae
's arm.  No
words were spoken.  The old man turned to Sahara,
reaching out to
tilt her chin toward the sun.  His exhausted eyes studied every feature of her face.  Finally, he sighed
and said several words
in a foreign language. 
Nicolae
sm
iled to himself, taking a small
step away from Sahara.  The old man missed the gl
are Sahara threw
at
Nicolae
when he turned back to
face her. 
“
Once I knew you as
shey.
”
  His words were stilted an
d thick with an accent.  Sahara
frowned, forgetting
Nicolae
a
s she listened to the older man
continue. 
“
Now, we meet and you are romni.
”

Sahara quickly translated wha
t he had said in her mind.  She
knew what a shey was. 
“
You knew me as a child?
”

The old man glanced down at
her swollen stomach.  He nodded
twice to himself. 
“
Soon, you will bare my great-
grandchild,
yes?
”
 

It had never
occurred
to her
that she had another family.  A
gypsy family that belon
ged to her mother. 
“
You are my
grandfather
?
”

The old man exhaled loudly.
“
When Amaya
was pregnant,
my heart broke.
I had no choice but to send her away.  Too many customs were betrayed.  But when she ran off with the Irish man,
she took with her the
only grandchild of the Afrikai
ya kumpania's
Rom Baro
.  Then E
Martya took Amaya and the gran
dchild was lost.
”
  He smiled at
Sahara before raising his e
yes toward the sky. 
“
O Del has
returned the gr
andchild and I may go to Him in
peace.
”
 

Sahara shook her head, glancing at
Nicolae
for an explanation. 
“
I don't understand.
”

Nicolae
moved closer to Sahara
again.  He lowered his voice so
no one outside the small group of three could hear. 
“
Your grandfather had only one child th
at survived long enough to bare
him a grandchild.  We are both the
heirs to kumpan
ias
, S'hara. 
By our marriage, we will combine two kumpan
ias
into one.
”

Sahara's grandfather nodded
his head again. 
“
Now I may die
and know the Afrikaiyi will be lea
d by the rightful.  Amaya still
lives through her daughter and one day through your child.
”

Sahara chewed on her lip, t
houghtful for several seconds. 
Did this mean she was going
to lead her own
“
people
”
?  The
thought terrified her. 
“
Why a
re you so quick to accept me as
your kin?
”
 
Nicolae
stiffened, squeezing her arm but she ign
ored
him.  Her self
-
confidence back
, Sahara continued. 
“
What if I
don't want to lead the Afrikaiyi?
Wha
t if I'm not truly her child
?
”
  Her last
question brought laughter to her grandfather's lips.

His laughter
slowly ceased. 
“
If you are not
Amaya's flesh and blood, then Beng
has played a glorious trick on
my eyes.  Your face.  Your hair
.  That white streak.  You look
more like Amaya than Amaya did,
yes?
”
  Again, he laughed.  When
he sobered, he answered her other
questions. 
“
If you wish not to
lead the Afrikaiyi, you need fear
not.  The title of
Rom Baro
is
passed to your rom, yes?
”

“
Nicolae
will be
Rom Baro
o
f my people?
”
  The emphasis she
placed on the word
“
my
”
made
her displeasure apparent. 
“
Our
marriage has jo
ined two kumpan
ias
but to be le
d by one
?  Is this the way all gypsy marriages
work?
”

Quickly,
Nicolae
answered,
“
No, S'hara.  But you must know that
y
our
people travelled from another
land to America.  The
Afrikaiya
Rom Baro
did not fare well on the
journey.  Many died, yes?  With
no sons to lead the kumpania, the
Rom Baro
struck a deal with the
Machwaiya
Rom Baro
.
”

She listened to his words, w
ondering how much ambition this
“
bargain
”
had given
Nicolae
to seek
her out.  Was this the basis of
his love, she wondered.  Casting aside her suspicions, she tu
rned to her
grandfather. 
“
How many of my kin live?
”

“
I am your kin.
”

The sorrow in his voice to
uched her heart.  Softening her
voice, she asked,
“
And our people?
”