Chey


They have been driving all night. They are three people in the car. Three tired people. The car must be blessed by a Devel. It has brought them the long way from the woods in the north without falling apart. The city is bright in the morning sun in front of them. The way this morning is breaking, is quite unusual for them. Will it save them? The city? Two of them think so. They had not been on the road driving all day and night if not. One of them is not sure. He is just happy to be there in the car with Sita.


- It does not matter as long as we are moving on. I have my chey and pushka, and I will take no shit from any gadjo. I'm not going down like the way Zott`s father did… He thinks to himself.
Zott pulls the car of the road just outside the city, and he walks out of the car, kisses the warm hood and recites blessings. Its not much gasoline left. They manage to set up the tent under the shadow of a three with some difficulty. They are almost wasted of tiredness. He lays down beside Sita. She lays her arm over him and falls asleep. The last thing he feels before he enters the easy world is her breath on his neck.

When the evening comes they feel young again. They light up a fire, cook a poor meal and eat. Zott says he has a little surprise. He opens the trunk of the car and fetches a big bottle of clear liquid. He can see by his smile that this is a strong liquid. “Lets get drunk”, Zott shouts out in the hot night. His dark eyes greets him when he gives him a cup of the stuff. They drink and laugh around the fire til they are drunk. Then they drive into the city to find a car they can lift for some gasoline. In a desolated ally they find a car. He jumps out and sucks the gasolin out of the car with a hose, when it starts running he puts the other end of the hose in a can. When the can is full he fills their own car with it. He gets back in the car. He takes a big swallow of Zott`s bottle, and he kisses Sita. They are back in business.

They drive around til they find a party in a wear house with beating rhythms. The place is full of gadjos, but they are drunk and happy and don’t care about it. He dances with Sita. He pulls her up from the floor and spins her around. Her long beautiful black hair whips people around them as he spins her. She laughs. Some people get annoyed, other smile. He and Sita don’t mind them. Its their fun. They are far away from trouble now… Zott seems to be enjoying himself too. He has found a chey who is hanging around his neck. Zott has his toungeinside her ear and she is laughing her head off. A big muscular guy with heavy gold chains around the neck is not happy about it, he comes over and pulls the chey away from his arms.

He sees Zott gets angry and he runs over to stop the explosion that is about to happen. He sees the guy hit the chey, while he holds Zott. Zott is almost gone in rage when he sees it. He manages to calm him down, and he tells him that they will find them self in big trouble if they do something about it. The pimp is not alone. His gadjos are hanging out by the bar. “Fucking pimp,” Zott shouts. Luckily he doesn't hear it. He`s in the middle of a quarrel with the chey. When everything calms down he turns around and looks after Sita, but she is gone.
And so are the guys that hung by the bar. He runs towards the entrance and sees a black Mercedes drive away in hurry.

He can't see anything trough the dark glass of the car. He walks back inside, and looks for Sita all over the vast wear house. There are lots of people everywhere, but Sita is not amongst them. People are smilling and dancing. He is sober again. He finds Zott and tells him that Sita has disappeared.

“What?” he shouts trough the loud music. “She's probably outside getting some fresh air.”
“No she's not, she is gone,” he shouts back.

They leave the place. They drive back to the tent when the day breaks, after driving all over the city looking for her. He is tired and nervous. He don’t sleep. He squeezes his pushka til his knuckles get white.

When night falls again they drive back to the wear house. The place is empty. Only garbage and broken bottles on the floor tell that people have been there.
He gets behind the wheel and drives around the city in a frenzy. He swears and shouts. Zott is silent. He is silent only when the situation are out of his control. Like the time his father got home badly beaten by the local shanglos. They were the last ones that left the north. The other left for the cities when the welfare money were cut down to a minimum. Their situation were unbearable after Zott`s father died. He lost all his spirit after the humiliation. He gave up his horse breading business. A fucking gadjo bought them for nothing..

He reflects about how he lost his job at the stable, and how Zott lost his father. Here they are left with nothing, and he has a bad feeling about Sita`s disappearance. They park the car and walk trough the streets with bars and restaurants. Then he sees a black Mercedes parked outside a bar. They go inside. There he is. The guy from the night before. He walk towards him. The pimps sets his eyes on him. He meets them. He feels his pushka his pocket. He asks him were Sita is.

“Get out of my sight,” the pimp says.
He ask him again.
“ You will never see that girl again.”
“What do you mean with that?” he says.
“She`s not yours anymore, she's mine, and she's gonna make me money.”
“She`s on her way to Berlin were she's gonna fuck a lot of fat strangers for money.”
“ Now you know, so get out of my sight before I kick your head in.”
“You can't get away with this,” he says.
“Yes I can, who can stop me?” says the pimp.
“ I am.”


The bar spins. People are gathering around them. His gadjos come up to them. He can see Zott in the corner of his eyes. He is walking towards him.
He pulls out his pushka and fire all the shots he can towards the pimp's chest.


“Ka xlia me pe tute!”


Glossary (Romani)

Devel – God
chey- gypsy girl
pushka - gun
gadjo – non gypsy man
shanglo - police
Ka xlia me pe tute – I will shit on you

This is my gift to you.

Softtag