Leyla
Leyla was sitting on her math homework trying hard to concentrate, but it was a complete waste of time. Her thoughts kept on drifting, and there was nothing she could do about it. Nearly three weeks had passed since Gregory left and there was no mail, no text, in short terms, no vital sign of him so far. She was worried sick about him. What if something had happened to him? He had solemnly promised her to get in touch as soon as he arrived in Sicily. The uncertainty drove her crazy, as well as being grounded probably forever.
Yesterday her parents had a bad fight because of her. They had different points of view concerning the empty bank account. Dad had taken her side and wanted to go easy on her. Mom had been furious and on top of it, she almost lost it when she found out that her father, Leyla’s Granddad was involved in it. Granddad had become a - persona non grata - for her mom. Even her uncle and her aunt had apparently dug up the hatchet and announced their arrival next week. Leyla sighed, how did she get into this whole mess? Even the only opportunity to get out of her room, - school - was torture. Constantly she felt Brooklyn's compassionate look on her, let alone Melissa’s gloating expression. Not even her Judo sessions could take her thoughts off her misery. Even though Judo was the only possibility to leave home apart from school, it was literally, the way to take the edge off and blow off some steam. She felt like a prisoner and had no clue how long her life would continue like that. She decided to take a break from math to watch some YouTube Videos and switched on her laptop. Brooklyn had become an absolute fangirl of this new Canadian Teen Star even Aiden was slightly irritated by her behavior. The Songs were all over the Radio. She had to admit that at least one song was brilliant, and she liked it because it was so beautiful and sad. Each time she listened to the song "Crazy," she burst into tears, which was not any different this time around. Determined she wiped the tears from her face searching for a song to cheer her up. There it was, this was the song that was to improve her mood. "Better to be loved." She started tapping to the beat of the music, humming the catchy melody to herself when the doorbell rang. Since she was home alone, she had no choice but to go for the door. She shuffled downstairs, not being too enthusiastic about the interruption and opened the door.
Quincy, her mom’s business partner was standing in front of her, looking at her suspiciously. "My God Girl, what’s the new look, are you becoming what they call a punk? Now I finally get why your mom is in such a bad mood." Leyla frowned, what was wrong with her look and why would he care anyway?
"Hi Quincy. Mom is not home. She's at the dentist. I think she 'll go back directly to the studio," her voice took a slightly irritated tone that made it quite clear that his appearance was disturbing her. Leyla hated being disturbed lately, and would rather linger in her room all by herself sulking, and listening to some depressing music, which matched her mood. She tried to close the door, but Quincy seemed more persistent than usual and was apparently not willing to let her chase him away by her chilly manner. He even squeezed his white Nike Airmax into the crack of the door to keep her from closing the door on him. With his round tanned face, his sad brown eyes, the sorrowful forehead wrinkles, and his flaxen blond hair, apparently treated with an extra dose of gel combed back tightly, he instantly reminded Leyla of a turtle. He cleared his throat looking uneasy. "I'm not here because of your mother. I actually would like to talk to you." Oh no, not that! Leyla thought and tried to suppress the impulse to roll her eyes. Her smile was tense when she asked him in. She shuffled into the kitchen. "Do you want some coffee?" Quincy nodded following her. He was in a state of shock.
Something was wrong with that girl. He knew Leyla since her early childhood, and she had always been a sweet, friendly girl with good manners. During the few weeks in which he hadn't seen her, she had completely changed. Puberty was apparently a terrible time to go through. He watched her as she struggled ill-tempered with the coffee machine. Leyla took a cup out of the cabinet with an unsteady movement. Good god, she looked terrible. She was far too skinny, her face was very pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes. Apparently, she no longer took particular care in her appearance. She wore a shabby looking T-shirt and some sweat pants, which had seen better days and were a couple of sizes too big. There was a huge hole in her stockings, and she seemed totally absentminded. If Quincy had not intervened, the coffee would have overflown. God, now he could understand Kyra, and if he had been Leyla's father, he sure would worry as well.
He had to prevent Cyndra from seeing Leyla like this. Otherwise, he would be confronted to hear about her fears and concerns for days, about whether she would be capable of being a good mother. From the way it looked Kyra was Cyndra's role model in all aspects of life. Apparently she had not managed to bring her only daughter unscathed through puberty. If Cyndra ever found out, he was well into some significant discussions, which he’d rather avoid. Because after all, who knew what would happen. Life was a mystery and to be honest, he didn’t even know what would happen the next five minutes, let alone how his life would be in ten years. But, Cyndra didn’t care, she sometimes was from another universe, fluttering around him like a hummingbird, making him nervous. He truly wanted to avoid that to happen. He loved Cyndra, but sometimes she was a bit capricious and exhausting, an unfortunate peculiarity enhanced during her pregnancy. Last night, when she had felt a sudden inner urge for a Ben & Jerry Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream, he hadn’t been able to talk her out of it, even though their freezer was full of various ice creams. She insisted that it had to be that particular Strawberry Cheesecake ice cream and man, she could get outraged lately. So, finally, they had been cruising around the darks streets until they finally found the damn ice cream at a gas station.
He’d gotten so lost in thoughts, that he didn’t notice that Leyla was standing in front of him, staring sullenly at him. Startled he heard her annoyed voice close to his left ear, "So shoot, what did you want to discuss with me?" He looked at her pale, tired-looking face and said without really wanting to, "Are you on drugs?" Indeed, an ill-considered question, he could have kicked himself. If she were doing drugs, she would hardly tell him and let him in on it. She frowned shaking her head in disbelief. "What makes you think something stupid like that?" She was looking at him, shaking her head. Since when did Quincy care that much about what she was doing? He had certainly enough on his plate keeping his rather Bitchy girlfriend happy.
Leyla liked Quincy with his childlike mind. He had always been kind to her in the past when she was a child hanging around the gym being bored. Back then he played hide and seek with her for hours. A smile crept across her face, as she remembered. It had been kind of weird as she always hid in the same spot behind a curtain and all Quincy had to do, was look from time to time behind that curtain saying, "Got you!" After that, he could continue to do his job without being disturbed. Then the game had started again, on and on.
Suddenly it dawned on her why he had appeared on her doorstep today. Apparently, mom had a good cry on his shoulder after she'd been fighting with dad yesterday. Quincy had gotten comfortable in the meantime sitting on a bar stool at the kitchen counter. "What's so funny about that?" He asked suspiciously. Leyla turned around putting the coffee on the counter in front of him. "Nothing, I was just thinking about how you played hide and seek with me when I got bored hanging around the Studio when I was little." Quincy smiled at her, "Yes, I remember, those were probably the good old days. Now it seems that you don’t have much fun anymore, and neither do I." Leyla frowned, "Why what’s going on with you?" "Cyndra is pregnant, and she is driving me crazy." "Congratulations," Leyla said grinning at him knowingly. "When is she due?" "Oh, it will still take a while. Next April." Leyla said, "Hey, then it could happen that the baby will see the light of day on my birthday." Her face had lightened up considerably. Quincy pulled a face, "I asked her to marry me." Leyla asked, "So what's the fuss? Did she say no?" looking curious and a bit worried for him. "No, that's not the point. She said yes, but she gets so excited abo
ut every little thing lately since she is pregnant." Leyla shrugged, "Well, I think that's normal, and you'll get through that. Do you know whether it’ll be a boy or a girl?" His face lit up all of a sudden. “It’s a boy, and we even agreed on a name, which is something close to a miracle." "Oh, what's the Name then?" "We've decided to call him Gabriel." Leyla looked at him in horror, "What? No, under no circumstances, you can't." Quincy frowned, "Are you, crazy girl? Why?" Leyla shook her head, "Bad Karma, I just feel it." Quincy was in no mood to discuss it any further with her. These women, they all drove him insane.
"Anyway, we'll see about that, and that’s not why I am here. Your mom is worried about you, and I wanted to talk to you about it. Maybe I can help you somehow. You know that you can tell me anything. No matter in what kind of mess you are in. I've known you all your life, and I am here for you, no matter what." He seemed serious about it. "Quincy, have you ever been desperately in love?" The question caught Quincy completely off guard. Quincy had expected quite other troubles than lover's grief. "Of course, High School is a difficult time, and everyone gets heart-broken at least once." Leyla looked sad again, "No, you don’t understand. I mean the immortal, eternal kind of love. Something such as Romeo and Juliet against all odds. Do you know what I'm talking about?" "Oh," Quincy said, "you are talking about Gregory I get it. That moron broke your heart and if I get him, …" He slammed his fist against the palm of his hand as if he was going to hit someone. "But you'll get over it, life goes on."
"You don’t have any idea what's going on!" She shook her head in despair and yet a thought crept in, what if he was right? Was that it? Would she eventually move on and forget Gregory? No way!
Her vibrating phone ripped her from her thoughts and at the same time the front door opened. Her dad appeared in the kitchen. God, it felt like being at the central station in here today. There was no time to listen to what her dad had to say, as she took the call. She didn’t recognize the number, but being engaged in a phone conversation was a good way to avoid her dad's as well as Quincy's questions. “Hi, who? Oh yes, I remember. Ana, right? Sure, why not. Wait a minute." She turned around, where had her dad gone? She found him outside the front door talking to Quincy. "Dad, can I go to the Eaton Center with Ana and help her pick out the right Judo clothes and whatever else she needs to buy for the training? Please, she's new at the club and needs support." Her dad seemed to be involved in a serious discussion with Quincy. He looked up briefly, and then he nodded. Oh great, she asked herself what the two of them were up to now. "Ok Ana, I'm going to change quickly, and we’ll meet there in an hour. There is just one thing. I have to be home by five, because I'm grounded for eternity and beyond. It doesn't matter. Maybe I'll tell you one day. See you, Ciao." She stormed upstairs to the upper level of the house to get changed quickly before her dad would change his mind.
Ana, the new girl at the BJJ, the Judo Club, was quite nice. Brooklyn lately had mainly cheer-leading, this teen pop star, and Aiden on her mind. Not necessarily in that order and Mila brought back too many memories, and except during school, there was no opportunity to hang out with someone because she was grounded. Therefore, Ana came in handy. She was just about to leave through the front door when she saw that her aunt Shannon and her uncle Franco got out of a cab. Her dad and Quincy gave them a warm welcome. What next? Damn, what did Gregory's stepparents do here? They shouldn't get here until next week. She made a U-turn heading to the back yard to leave the house. At least she had some time to figure out how to behave around these two tonight. They would certainly ask her some tough questions that she couldn't answer. She sighed and headed to the Subway Station.
Gabe glanced benevolent at his younger half-sister. "Well done Ana, soon we will know where the Savior is."
Coast of Sicily 1867
Ourday's eyes darted around frantically. His two sisters were nowhere in sight. The sky was dark, and the rain pelted down on him. The storm subsided slowly, but the waves still rocked him slightly back and forth. The ship hadn't made it through the storm, the only thing visible of the giant vessel was its stern like a huge monster rising from the ocean in front of him. People screamed splashing around him in the water, trying to get to the coast on the horizon not that far away. Many of them couldn't swim, and their desperate cries for help echoed through the moonlit night. Frantic his eyes searched the water around him. His sisters would not drown because all Onendas learned how to swim in their early childhood. He used his wet hand to slick back his long black hair, which clung like a curtain to his face blocking the view. He still looked out for his sisters, but it was impossible to make out someone in the dark water, with all the confusion.
He swam around the ship, but when he felt his jaw chattering he realized that he had to get out of the water if he didn't want to die from exposure. He felt the cold spreading slowly within and he already felt numb. He could not stay in the water much longer, and decided to swim to the shore. After gathering all of his remaining strength, the coast was clearly visible on the horizon. He should be able to make it his arms and legs moved in powerful strokes through the dark water. His whole body was tense as he smoothly glided through the waves despite his fading strength. The stormy sea made it difficult to get forward, and it took him an eternity to get to the sandy beach. Exhausted, he fell to the ground, clutching his clammy fingers into the fine sand of the beach. He was so cold that he could not feel his body anymore.
Many others like him crawled around half dead, moaning. Some of them would be dying on that beach because they were too weak to move on. Each one of them was fighting his own battle glad to have escaped from drowning in the dark sea but afraid to freeze to death. Ourday scrambled to his feet, and his strong, muscular body shivered in the cold night. He had to find his sisters. They were in this disastrous situation because of him. They had followed him on board of -The Majorana -, and he was the only one to blame if they died.
After a terrible dispute with his father Abooksigun, Ourday had left the village. He wanted to get away from it all and see the world. Sail away with one of these big ships he had seen in the harbor. Find out for himself if one truly fell over the edge on the horizon. He did not care to become a chief, or to be like his father. He probably was a rebel, as his father had called him in anger and he would bring shame to his Onenda clan. Ourday did not believe him back then and left on a moonlit night, just like tonight. Now, he stood shivering on the coast of an unknown land. His father was right he had brought shame to the people of Onenda, taking away his two sisters to a foreign land.
The coast was not far away from his village. He had been eager to reach the big vessel with its white sails before it disappeared once again on the horizon as he had watched so many of them leave before. This time, he would be on the ship when it left the harbor, no one could stop him. He managed to get to the anchor point early enough where dangerous looking men, smelling of sweat and blood hired him. Having seen the muscles on his powerful build body, they decided that he was strong enough to do hard labor on board. They said that savages were agile like monkeys, which made perfect sense to set the sail. Ourday did not know what they meant, but he was happy having found a way to get on board.
But, life on board was hard, and he had to toil from morning till late night. The crew members made constant fun of him when the opportunity rose. Ourday swallowed his anger because it did not matter. Finally, he would see the world as he wished. No matter what those smelly men said about him. At night when he had some sparse free time, he sewed a shirt and pants made of old fabrics. All of the crewmembers kept themselves busy at night sewing, as they had little clothing. After some days, Ourday managed to make friends with the ship's cook "Smud," who under his hard shell and the uncouth appearance had a soft core. On the evening of the 5th day, Smud took him aside to tell him that food had disappeared with some drinking water. He asked him if he had noticed anything suspicious. Food and water were scarce on ships such as the Majorana. Ourday promised to investigate the matter and t
o keep his eyes open. He searched the ship for the culprit and found his two sisters Chiana and Alawa hid behind some barrels of rum in a dark chamber. Ourday was horrified, they had followed him when he left the village in anger, and they hid on the ship. What had he done?
His father and with him, his whole clan would never forgive him. Instead, of seeing the world, he had unwittingly destroyed the lives of his two sisters. They would never be able to return to the clan of Onendas because of his selfishness, and he had no idea what to do. If the crew found out, they would kill the two girls, and this would be their best option. Worse than death, itself was what the white conquerors were doing to young squaws when they got the opportunity. Ourday's mind raced like wild Mustangs in his head. There was only one way to protect them. He had to talk to Smud about their being on board of the ship, which was not an easy task to do. He was not able to express himself well enough in Smud's language. But, Ourday did his best to make Smud understand, his two sisters had followed him without his knowing.
It was a difficult thing to do, and Smud got angry, least at first. He even hit him with a foul-smelling fish. Ourday promised Smud to share his sparse food with his sisters so that nobody would suspect anything. No food would be missing from now on, at the end Smud's soft heart took over, and he agreed to keep quiet about Ourday's sisters. He even gave him some leftovers from time to time for them. Everything seemed to work out just fine until tonight when that big storm rose and hit the ship. The ship would sink quickly with no chance to get through the storm. Ourday hoped that Smud had made it ashore. Possibly his sisters, as well as Smud were stranded on a different beach. He prayed asking the Great Spirit to, save them. But, would the Great Spirit answer him? He had lost his tribute and his sisters, and he was no longer worthy to be a proud Onenda. Slowly, he walked away from the beach, and he found a rocky landscape on the left side. Searchingly he walked around until he found a suitable spot to spend the night. In a rock niche that would protect him during his sleep, he found trees with big leaves, looking like a fan. He grabbed a drooping branch and was able to tear some leaves from the tree using all of his remaining strength.
Elementary Virtue: The Prophecy Page 2