The Soul Mate Read Online Free Page B

you
that, yeah?” He tilted my chin up until I was drowning in his two
deep blue pools of blue. I never wanted to leave his arms, never
wanted to let go, never-
    “Gerik?” Becki said softly, appearing next to
us. “Trinity and I have clothes to wash and if you don’t let her
go, we’re not going to get them done before daylight runs out.”
    I’d never been so grateful for dirty
underwear before.
    I followed Becki to a large metal basin where
three large piles of clothes waited for us. She threw me a large
clump of soap and I dutifully started scrubbing clothing against a
washboard.
    I had never before been a big fan of manual
labor. It had also never crossed my mind that someday I would find
myself burdened with such a large amount of it either. Here my days
are longer than ever before, eaten up by washing clothes and
dishes, cooking and serving food and playing with children who are
not mine. I fall into bed at the end of the day bone tired with
aching muscles and sore feet and yet…I feel a fulfillment that I
can honestly say I’d never experienced before.
    Technology, even the simplest forms of it,
had made people’s lives so much more accommodating but it had also
disconnected us. But here, in this Romani camp, we are forced to
interact just to survive. It was a forgotten way of life, yet, to
the Romani it was all they’d ever known and they worked hard to
keep it that way.
    Staying in tune with the earth and keeping
their families close, passing knowledge along to the next
generations was what the Gypsies considered the right way to live.
They never wasted a thing. They didn’t litter or purposely pollute.
Everything had a use or a purpose. The land we lived on was sacred,
it gave us life and in return they gave back to it. That, to me,
felt right and I respected them for it.
    “So…” Becki said.
    I paused in my scrubbing to rub the itch on
my nose with the inside of my elbow, careful not to get soap on my
face. “What’s up?”
    “How would you feel about cooking duty
tonight?”
    I narrowed my eyes. “No one cooks at night,
what are you talking about?”
    “I’m supposed to make jerky tonight, but I
promised Hockey I’d meet him in the back lot later.” She scrunched
her face up at me like a cute little puppy dog.
    “Pretty please, Trinity? I’ll be your best
friend!”
    I rolled my eyes. “You already are.”
    She jumped up, clapping her hands. “Great! I
so owe you one! I’ll be right back, I’m going to go tell him we are
on for tonight.”
    She ran off, her hands still covered in
soap.
    Hockey and Becki had been together for a few
months. They were polar opposites. Whereas Becki was loud, Hockey
was quiet, Becki liked to drink and Hockey didn’t, Becki wouldn’t
read a book to save her life and Hockey constantly had his nose
buried in them. Becki had dated half the guys in camp and I’m
pretty sure Hockey hadn’t dated anybody until Becki. Still, they
were pretty adorable together; she did all the talking while she
dragged him around behind her.
    “Trin, do you ever smile?” Xan appeared out
of nowhere and threw a large green duffle bag at my feet.
    “Didn’t you already fill your harassment
quota for the day? I asked.
    “I’m just dropping off dirty laundry, not
here to fight.” He nodded at the canvas bag he’d left at my feet.
“Mostly Pitti’s underwear and socks. Knock yourself out.”
    I groaned. Pitti Moldoveanu had the smelliest
feet in the world.
    “Xan?” I called out as he turned to leave,
wanting to ask him something that maybe only he might have a
familiarity with.
    He turned, one eyebrow raised, his eyes dark
and hard. I thought about his explosive temper and changed my
mind.
    “Never mind," I said quickly.
    “Fată, what’s bothering you?” He leaned up
against the basin a few inches from me, too close for comfort, his
dark eyes always assessing. I always felt uncomfortable around him,
exposed in a way I wasn’t used to feeling.
    “Your father