"They Call Us Gypsies" (closed)

[DeadManTyping]

Jason watched Marla head away. He wished she could believe that he was better than most of the mean with whom she dealt. But he couldn't blame her for feeling the way she did. The men she knew spent their time leering and chanting at her while she danced half naked, then paid handsomely to put their cocks in her pussy and mouth.

He spent an hour or so watching the townsfolk -- mostly children and women but also a few protective men -- enjoying themselves with activities, shopping, and eating. He headed for a tent from which a delicious smoke was rising. The Romani woman there served up a portion larger than normal for the farmer upon whose land they were living, then refused Jason's payment. When she turned her back, though, he hid money under a container before heading away.

He caught sight of Inga eventually emerging from Gregor's vardo and moved to meet her. But she very quickly told him...

"There's a few things I need to talk to my Papa about. I'll meet you back at the house."

Jason watched yet another beautiful Romani walk away from him, wishing there was something he could do. But until something specific was asked of him, he felt it was best to stay out of Gregor's business. He headed for the house, knowing he had more than enough to keep him busy until well after dark.

***************​

"You never told me that growing up would be so difficult."

Papa Don smiled wide. As if answering all the ills they had and would ever face, he simply said, "We are Romani."

"There are some serious things that we need to talk about, Papa."

Papa Don listened with interest to Inga's explanation of her lover's offer. He wondered about the reason behind it. Was he interested in being a humanitarian? Was he interested in the rent or services that would come from the Family? Or was he simply interested in ensuring that Inga's warm, welcoming body remained here and felt that the odds of that increased with the Family remaining as well?

"I want you to consider it. Really think about it. I know it goes against everything that the Romani are alive for, but it might be nice to set down some roots and settle down."

"I will, my daughter," he said, urging her close to kiss her on the cheek. He shooed her off, then waited for his young lover to return and -- after stripping to no more than her socks -- join him in bed. As she gently crawled atop his aging body and worked his still very competent cock into her tightness, he asked, "What would you think about becoming persoană legată de teren?"

"Bound to the land?" she asked with surprise. When he recalled Jason's offer, she began riding him more actively and told him between deepening breaths, "I will live with you ... wherever ... and however ... you wish."

As the pleasure built quickly toward, to, and beyond climax, Papa Don wondered -- with a great deal of doubt -- whether the others would be so amenable to the idea.

***************​

"Where is the Sheriff?"

Christian Parker looked up from a file to find Jacob Townsend in the doorway of his office. He stood tall, as if a peasant responding to the sudden appearance of a Noble lord. The Deputy respected the District Judge a great deal, but even more than that, he feared the man.

"He's out on Harrelson Road," Christian answered. He explained about the call they'd received, and when Jake asked for the Sheriff's expected time of return, Christian only answered, "Don't know."

If looks could kill, the Deputy would have been dead on the tile. Jake had wanted the papers served on the Romani today, but after continued inquiries of Christian proved worthless, he turned and stomped away. He'd skipped his return to his house for lunch when an issue with a case arose, and now the Sheriff wasn't available to deal with the gypsies.

Jake had several hours of work left and wouldn't be home until dark. He couldn't wait to get there, though. All day, the only thought in his head had been of how much pleasure he'd received from his cock slipping in and out of his wife's mouth ... and he was anxious to see if her second attempt at it was even better.

 

[heartofcourage]

Grace had waited all afternoon for Jake to come home. When he didn’t appear over and hour after he had told her, she tried to ring the courthouse on the phone, getting only dead air when the set failed to connect to the operator. It was very odd considering Jake had just purchased the set and always kept it on top shape.

By the time the second hour rolled around, Grace worked on packing up the food that she had prepared for lunch. She would eat it again tomorrow, making something fresh for dinner. Jake didn’t like left overs, insisting that he was wealthy enough to not have the eat the same meal twice in the same week.

Just as she got the last put away, the front door bell sounded and Grace frowned. She hadn’t been expecting guests, especially dressed as she was. However, when she went to answer, she was soon grinning as her little sister Maudie wrapped her little arms around her legs.

“Sarah, what are you doing here?” Grace asked, stooping to pick up the three year old as her nearly nine year old sister Sarah stood there looking at the both of them.

“We runned away.” Maudie told Grace, so honest for her age.

“Sarah Jane.” Grace scolded, looking down at the little blonde headed beauty. “Don’t tell Maudie you’re running away.”

“Mama knows where we are.” Sarah said with an exasperated sigh.

Grace gave them both a look before she brought them into the house. Seated at the table, she got out the food she had just put up, serving them a hearty meal on Jake’s dime. He might not have let her bring them into their little family, but she would certainly spoil them when she got the chance.

 

[heartofcourage]

Inga stepped back into the house a while later, pausing to watched as Jason ate before she moved into the living room. She needed to be alone for a moment, thinking about everything that had happened to her family in the past few days. Perhaps promising to stay there on the farm with Jason was a mistake. Perhaps asking her family to stay as well was an even bigger mistake. There wasn't an easy choice in any of this, but she knew that she did care deeply for Jason and he probably cared for her just as much as well.

She wanted to go down to the Sheriff right then and there, demanding that he do something about the situation with Gregor. No one deserved to be beaten like he was, left bedridden for a few days and unable to work. However, Gregor had been insistent that this is what happened to Romani and there was nothing to be done about it.

Not in that town. Not if she had a choice in the matter. She'd be a loud voice, demanding change and charges. It didn't matter if she were new or that she were Romani herself. She heard Jason enter the room behind her and she turned to face him, her indecision written clearly on her face.

"We should go to the Sheriff. He would probably not want to mess with me, but I still feel as if we should go." She said softly.

 

[DeadManTyping]

Jason didn't hear Inga enter the house but only caught sight of her as she was walking away to have a moment alone. He looked in on her and could see her deep in thought. So much had happened to her and to her Family, to him and to his over the past days.

He returned to some tasks inside for a bit, then returned to study Inga from the doorway until she said to him...

"We should go to the Sheriff. He would probably not want to mess with me, but I still feel as if we should go."

Jason understood that Inga wanted justice for Gregor's beating. But he also knew that the Sheriff wasn't going to do anything for the gypsies, short of having one of them killed or the camp in its entirety attacked by a mob. He moved in to sit beside her, taking him into his arms for a tight embrace.

She smelled so good next to him after her morning bath, a mixture of her own womanly scent and the scents he'd gotten from one of the Romani stands and sprinkled into Inga's hot bath before she stepped into it.

And she felt so good against him as well, her smooth skin soft from some of those same bath additives. So good, in fact, that he couldn't help but get a bit excited and begin to stiffen a bit down below his beltline. Jason chastised himself silently, telling himself that now was not the time to want to be deep inside his lover's warm, tight wetness.

"I have a better idea," he finally whispered, kissing Inga on the forehead. "I'll take you to town ... to the courthouse. We'll go see my brother ... but ... not to wage a grievance."

He pulled them apart enough to look into Inga's eyes, then finished, "He's the Clark County District Judge. He performs a great many duties ... one of which is performing weddings ... for men who are madly in love."

 

[heartofcourage]

"Jason, do you really believe that your brother, the same man who has called me a gypsy whore, is going to marry us?" Inga asked, thinking that he had completely lost his mind. "Your brother would just as soon see me and my family dead as he would welcoming me into his family."

She didn't like Jacob Townsend. He didn't like her. The mutual hate was very real. However, looking into Jason's blue eyes, she could see the expectation that his brother would marry them without hesitation. She had to remind herself that Jason still believed that there was some good in his brother, in spite of the terrible way that he was treating his wife.

"If you're truly serious about it, I suppose we can." Inga finally relented, knowing that giving in was probably just as easy as telling him no.

 

[DeadManTyping]

"Your brother would just as soon see me and my family dead as he would welcoming me into his family."

"He would marry us, Inga," Jason said, turning his seat to face her more directly. "He is a proud man. Too proud sometimes. What he's been doing over the last couple of days ... the way he's treated Grace ... treated the Romani ... even treated me ... it's his pride getting the better of him. He was never--"

He hesitated for a moment, realizing that although he wasn't actually going to say before the gypsies got here, that it was going to come out sounding as if that was what he was implying. Jason didn't mean that, of course: anything could have set Jake off as the Romani had, so -- for the Romani -- it had simply been a case of wrong place, wrong time.

Jason continued, "His pride ... it will force him to marry us. About a year ago, just after Jake had become District Judge, he went to a conference in Dallas. When he returned, he learned that -- in his absence -- the Sheriff had had the privilege of marrying the Mayor's daughter off to a young man she'd brought home with her from university back east."

Jason didn't explain that the quick marriage had been necessary as the Mayor's daughter was already two months pregnant. but he could see in Inga's expression that she understood this perfectly fine. He continued, "My brother was ... what's that word the Sheriff used later ... incensed! He even went so far as to claim that the Sheriff hadn't had the right to marry and forced the couple to repeat their ceremony ... even bringing his parents back from Boston again to act as witnesses. When the groom's parents said they wouldn't once again pay such an expense ... Jake paid for the train tickets."

He smiled broadly to Inga, telling her with confidence, "Trust me. My brother will marry us."

"If you're truly serious about it, I suppose we can."

"Go get your witnesses," he told Inga, leaning in to kiss her full on the mouth before standing and pulling her to her feet. He pulled her hard against him, kissing her passionately as one hand fell to grasp and squeeze a firm ass cheek. He smiled when their mouths parted, telling her with humor, "And once we are married, we can finally consummate our relationship."

He laughed as he turned Inga for the door, telling her to hurry. He assumed that she would go back to her vardo to change into a pretty dress, maybe put a flower in her hair, collect Papa Don and a couple of others...

...but he couldn't have realized exactly what he'd put into motion. Jason couldn't have imagined exactly what a Romani wedding entailed.

 

[heartofcourage]

Jason had no idea what he was in for when he told her to go gather a few people to act as witness to her wedding. She simply stared at him after he had kissed her and groped her bottom, sending her on her way with a gentle push out the door. She looked over her shoulder at him and simply shook her head. Once she told Papa Don about what was happening, word would spread like wild fire around the camp.

And that is precisely what happened as Inga reemerged from the camp in a new dress, an army of Romani at her back. There was a celebration happening, happiness in a time of extreme uncertainty. Marla had chosen to stay behind to care for Gregor, but it seemed that nearly everyone else was following her back towards Jason's house.

 

[DeadManTyping]

Jason had taken a quick shower, dressed in what he called his casual city clothes -- not work clothes but not Sunday best either -- and headed for town to see his brother. He'd gotten just about the welcome he'd expected, with Jake making him sit in hall outside his chambers for more than hour before being ushered inside by the secretary.

"I want to marry Inga Murtorovanni," Jason told his brother.

He'd barely gotten his lover's surname out with stumbling over his tongue, not because he hadn't memorized it by now but because his entire body was trembling with both excitement and fear.

Jake looked up from the file in which he'd been pretending to have an interest to stare at his brother for a long moment. Marry...? Marry that gypsy whore...? He couldn't believe that his brother was even joking about something like this. After a long moment, Jake let out a single quick chuckle, looked back to his papers, and responded, "That's not going to happen."

"Why?" Jason asked. "Because she's Romani?"

Again Jake looked up and studied his brother for a long moment. He could have confirmed Jason's assumption, but that would have meant revealing his own prejudices against the gypsies. And Jake wasn't about to put a stop to a proposed marriage between a normal person and a Romani due to his own prejudices when -- as a Judge -- he had the law on his side.

"Because you don't have a marriage license," he responded looking back to his papers. He detected movement in his peripheral and looked up again ... to find his brother holding before him a marriage license, already signed by Jason, as well as by the County Clerk. He chuckled again, shaking his head. "You are so determined ... to ruin your life, aren't you brother?"

"She makes me happy," Jason responded. He looked to the paper, to the blank spots in which Inga and the witnesses would have to sign to validate the marriage. He looked to his brother, asking with a challenging tone, "So, are you going to marry us, Jacob?"

"No," Jake said without hesitation, looking back to his papers.

Jason simply stood there for a moment, studying his brother before dropping the expected barrage as he turned to leave, "Well, thank you anyway. The Sheriff arrived back in town as I was getting the license, so--"

"Wait!" Jake called from behind. As his brother turned back to him, a fuming Jake stood and turned to look out the window. Only after a long moment, he half turned to tell Jake, "Set a date and time with the Clerk. I will officiate--"

"We have a time and date, Jake," Jason interrupted. "Today ... as soon as I get back to the farm."

Jake turned back to his brother, his eyes and mouth both open wide. He began to argue that that wasn't possible, but Jason stopped him by reminding him, "Remember how much joy the Barlow got out of officiating the marriage of the Mayor's daughter? I bet he'd loved to--"

Jake cut off his brother by literally hollering, "FUCK!"

Jason's face filled with shock at his brother's profanity. Jake just didn't say that word. If Jason searched his memory, he'd probably realize that the man hadn't spoken that taboo word in more than a decade.

Jake turned back to the window again, staring out onto the town. Jason simply stood there, staring at his brother's backside. Finally, after what had been a full minute but felt to Jason like a full hour, Jake said over his shoulder, "I'll be at the farm at six o'clock ... sharp."

Jason turned to leave, his face filled with joy. But as he reached for the door handle, he stopped. The excitement disappeared as he looked back over this shoulder to ask, "Will you bring your wife...? Or ... do you want me to--"

"Grace won't be coming," Jake cut his brother off. When Jason tried in a soft, cautious tone to convince his brother that Grace needed to her at the wedding of her husband's brother, Jake firmly repeated, "Grace won't be coming."

He looked over his shoulder to Jason and finished, "If you don't like that, go find the fucking Sheriff."

Jake turned away again, and after a moment Jason retreated to the hallway and then further to his Ford at the street's edge. He realized that he had a choice: have his brother perform the ceremony or have his brother's wife attend. He could have pushed it, but he knew his brother enough to know that Jake would simply told him to go to hell ... and take his gypsy lover with him.

He cranked the Model T to life and headed back for the farm, smiling from ear to ear as he realized that in less than 3 hours ... he would be a married man!

************************​

Jake entered his home to the unexpected -- and unwelcomed -- presence of
his wife's younger sisters, Sarah ... oh hell, what was her name...? Maude ... Maudie! He slammed the door hard behind him to ensure that Grace was aware of his presence, then stepped farther into the living room as he waited for their responses.

The three year old's reaction to see Jake with his arms full of store bags was the reaction he would have expected, had he known anything about three year olds: she rushed his direction, grasping at the packages, calling out, "Presents! Presents! Presents!"

Sarah's reaction was far less excited, which wasn't a surprise to Jake. Since even before his marriage to the nine year old's eldest sister, Jake's actions and words had left little doubt about his feeling toward the other family members. They served little purpose to him. Simple.

When Grace entered the room, Jake wasted no time to indicated the garment bags, shoe box, and other things he'd picked up at the boutique from which much of Grace's now destroyed wardrobe had been purchased. He let the bouncing little girl take a final bag -- in which were a variety of cosmetics and such -- telling her to take it to her older sister.

"Jason is getting married at six o'clock, on the farm," he said with a matter of fact tone. As he headed toward the stairs with the intention of ascending them to get his own self ready, he told her, "You have forty minutes."

************************​

Jason couldn't believe what he was seeing when he arrived back at the farm. There were few guests from town, which -- of course -- what was typically drove the Romani activities. And yet the camp was as alive with activity and flooded by the cultural music as it was during any afternoon carnavale. New decorations were stung up between vardo or along the fence line closest to the house. The Romani were dressed even more extravagantly than normal. Even the animals were dressed, with garlands around their necks and colorful blankets and such.

He parked the Ford and headed for the camp to find Inga. Along the way, though, Jason was mobbed by one Romani after another -- sometimes by several at a time -- with the men shaking his hand or slapping him on the back and the women of all ages hugging him and kissing him profusely, sometimes full on the lips with their hands clutching his cheeks.

Suddenly, the crowd parted like the Red Sea at Moses's command ... and there was Inga, looking more incredible than he'd ever seen her before. He took a moment to look her over from head to toe to head again, then said with a sincere tone, "You're the most beautiful woman in the world."

He showed her the marriage license, telling her all she had to do was sign it, then continued with their preparations...

 

[heartofcourage]

Grace was preparing to start dinner in the kitchen, Maudie and Sarah entertaining themselves in the front room with a radio program. The radio was a luxury, one that they enjoyed immensely. She wouldn't tell Jake that they had played with the dials for what seemed like hours on end, sitting patiently in front of the machine as they listened to one radio program after another.

The slamming of the front door made her jump, Maudie's voice calling out to the packages that Jake had in his arms. She entered the front room cautiously, seeing Sarah still in her spot on the floor watching everything cautiously as Jake stared down at the little tow headed three year old who was bouncing around for his attention.

"Maudie, leave him alone." Grace said softly as Jake suddenly insisted that the bags which he had brought home were for her.

Had he had a change of heart while he was out that day? Why had he suddenly shown back up at the house with bags of garments and cosmetics for her when he had spent so much time destroying her things just days earlier. Then she heard him mention the wedding and she knew that it was to show his brother up as much as possible. It wouldn't be right for him to show up at the farm without her in tow or looking the part of a judge's wife. He had been forced to make his purchases.

"I'll be ready in thirty if we can take Maudie and Sarah home." Grace commented as Jake went up the stairs, ignoring her comment as Maudie started to pull items from the bag she held.

"Maudie, those aren't for you." Grace scolded softly, setting her littlest sister on the sofa as she pulled a beautiful black dressfrom one of the bags.

"It's beautiful, Gracie." Sarah said, her eyes lighting up as Grace unpacked stockings, shoes, undergarments, and that black dress from their packaging.

"It is beautiful." Grace said, the irony not lost on her that Jake was dressing her in black for a wedding. "Watch Maudie while I change. No more radio."

Sarah nodded, watching her little sister like a hawk as Gracie disappeared into the downstairs powder room to dress and apply her makeup, doing her hair as it was always done when she went to events with Jake. She could recognize the woman staring back at her in the mirror with the bruises covered and the fancy dress on, but she wasn't so sure that she liked what she had to do to become that person. It was a hard compromise, she thought to herself.

By the time Jake came back downstairs, Grace was ready to leave, Sarah and Maudie standing on the porch and behaving as much as they could. "I don't want them walking home this late. Especially without an adult watching them. We can drop them off at the farm before we go to Jason's."

Jake stared at her with that guarded expression on his face, considering her and then the two little girls before he simply walked past them all and called for the girls to hurry up.

"Don't touch anything in the car and not a peep on the way." Grace murmured to them, taking Maudie's hand to march her to the vehicle. "And say thank you when we stop."

The two little girls were very quiet in the back of the car as Jake drove, the entire inside of the vehicle filled with a tenseness that Grace hadn't expected. As Jake pulled up in front of the drive, Grace turned in her seat to look at Sarah and Maudie. She raised an eyebrow at them and soon a chorus of thanks yous issued from the backseat before Sarah ushered Maudie out and onto the dirt road.

"I'll see you both soon." Grace said softly as the door closed and Jake drove away without another word.

Inga grinned when Jason came to find her, a group of young girls working to braid ribbon and flowers into her hair. When he handed her the slip of paper that would legally seal them together, she chuckled and took it, looking it over. All it needed was her signature and those of the people that would be there to witness the event. The entire family would be there if they had their way. They adored Inga and they seemed to have developed a soft spot for Jason.

"Papa has gathered you an outfit for tonight. It's in your room." Inga said as Jason stole a kiss and hurried away to see what awaited him.

 

[DeadManTyping]

When Grace told him that the little rug rats would be going home, Jake was relieved. Personally, he would have let the girls walk home, dark or not. But then, if something were to happen to them -- such as being kidnapped or raped by those retched gypsies -- he might find himself responsible. So, he'd make the effort of getting them back to their proper home and away from his own.

When he descended to find his beautiful wife ready to go in the dress he'd purchased for her, Jake actually found himself pausing for a moment to marvel at her, though the blank expression on his face gave no hint as to how he found her.

There was a reason he'd taken her as his wife late last year: she was the most stunning example of womanly perfection that he'd ever seen, until that point and even following. That first time Jake set eyes upon Grace he'd known instantly that he had to possess her. It had been late in the day, nearly sunset, and he'd been delivering papers to her father concerning a land swap between Walter and the County. He made his farewells with the lowly dirt farmer and headed for his car, only to catch movement off in the direction of the falling sun. And there was Grace, dancing barefoot on the dirt road between the orchard rows, the distant sun penetrating her thin summer dress to leave her essentially nude to his widening eyes.

Jake would make an excuse to return soon to the farm, then again soon after. He would meet the beautiful redhead, and it would take just one look upon her face and one conversation with the youthful, playful beauty to know that nothing else mattered but having her as his wife. Jake would ask Walter for his daughter's hand just a month after having first seen her there in the grove, and less than a month after that they would be wed and Jake would have her on her hands and knees upon the bed in his newly purchased house, ramming her hard and fast as he recalled that evening in the grove.

Of course, after that, things only went downhill for Jake. He's completed his mission, claiming the beauty from the orchard, as well as claiming her purity. But while having the stunning Grace Townsend by his side made Jake look more successful to those of importance in his world of justice and politics, his career had stalled at District Judge for Clark County. And sometimes, he blamed that slow down directly on his wife. He could have married up; he should have married up. Instead, he'd let his pride and ego hurry him into a marriage with a woman who he knew would jump at the chance to get away from her depressing life of tending to crops and younger children before, likely, letting her own needs get the better of her, resulting in Grace getting knocked up by some local farm boy to end up raising the first of her own rug rats.

When they were dropping Sarah and Maudie off at their own house, Jake looked off toward the orchard in which he'd first laid eyes on his wife. He turned his face away from her and closed his eyes, trying to envision her out there in the fiery sun dancing and spinning about, her dress practically not there, revealing the curves of her breasts and buttocks, the narrowness of her waist.

"I'll see you both soon..."

Grace told her siblings. No sooner were they out the door and on the packed dirt of the drive, then Jake pulled the clutch and sent them on their way. He said in a hard tone without looking to Grace, "I wouldn't make them promises you might not be able to keep."

**************************​

Inga grinned to Jason as he approached her, his eyes wide and lips wide at the sight of her being all dolled up for her wedding. She told him...

"Papa has gathered you an outfit for tonight. It's in your room."

He cocked his head and let his lips spread further in a slow, suspicious grin. Papa Don is supplying my wedding clothes...? he thought, already thinking Be afraid ... be very afraid.

"I'll take him up," Harold offered from nearby. The big man took the suspicious farmer by the elbow, turning him away while reassuring him, "You'll see enough of Inga later, my good man."

Jason peeked back over his shoulder as they departed, winking to her before he called to her, "Am I going to like this?"



The next hour was the most uncomfortable 60 minutes of Jason's life. He'd arrived at the farm house to find it filled with Romani, male and female both. Papa Don was there, and almost before Jason had been able to welcome the Family's patriarch to his home for the first time, the old gypsy was directing others to begin their preparations of his soon-to-be-grandson-in-law.

Harold essentially herded the farmer into the bathroom, where a woman and her son were preparing a skin melting bath filled with smelly crystals and rose petals. (Jason couldn't help but wonder from which of his neighbors' rose bushes they came but let the concern go as he had far too many other things going through his mind at the moment.) They chattered at him and at one another with a mix of English and what Jason could only assume was Romanian, German, and maybe a bit of Italian.

"Whoa, whoa!" he called out, pulling back and toward the bathroom's corner as the old Romani woman began to undress him. "What the hell?"

Harold laughed aloud, spoke to the woman, and -- as she and the boy departed -- made a vague reference to Jason's body by explaining, "Trust me, sir, she's seen one before."

The big Romani instructed Jason to bathe, telling him that they would continue the preparations beyond the bathroom. Yet, no sooner had Jason stripped and ever so slowly descended into the almost scalding water than the old woman, a second woman -- this one little older than his bride to be -- and the original Romani lad were back inside again, fussing over Jason.

They ignored his call for privacy and curling of his arms around bended knees to hide the family jewels as they washed his hair and scrubbed his back. He eventually gave up on his modesty and let them rake the rough brush over his arms and feet. He did his best to hide his groin -- the floating rose petals helped -- but at one point the younger woman who was moving quickly about was suddenly hovering directly over the tub to hand the older woman a bottle of something smelly, looking directly down into the water.

"Inga e o fată norocoasă, mama," she said, nodding her head downward directly at Jason's privates.

To Jason's horror, the older woman reached out to part the petals with one hand and literally pushed one of his knees out of the way to give her a better view of his manhood! He clamped his knees together again and slapped a hand over his cock, just as the older woman said to her daughter, "Yes, very lucky."

This went on for another ten minutes of so, and finally Jason was out of the tub and drying, thankfully alone this time. He found what he initially thought was a pair of boxer-like underwear, only to learn that they were open between the thighs, more like a short slip. Harold suddenly reappeared while Jason was still standing there naked and helped him into four different undergarments, ultimately hiding his body from waist to ankles.

Out in the bedroom, the two women -- plus two more -- were waiting, and in a frenzy of turning him this way and that and giving him commands in languages only the Romani themselves could possibly understand, they dressed Jason for his most important day.

He stood back to look at himself in the mirror with wide eyes. The room went silent as the gypsies waited for his reaction. Jason turned to look at himself from the left, then right; he turned to look over his shoulder at his backside.

"Do I wear shoes?" he asked Harold, the only person in the room who Jason had known by name prior to this.

"No," Harold told him simply. After Jason took another long moment to look himself over, the big Romani told the farmer softly, "They want to know if you like it."

Jason glanced around the room and realized that all eyes were upon him, seeking approval. He looked back to the mirror at his reflection ... then smiled. "It's beautiful ... and its perfect."

The assembled Romani -- who had gone as silent and still as a mouse facing a herd of hungry cats -- erupted in joy. They practically mobbed Jason, hugging him and kissing him full on the lips ... even the males! Jason could only laugh at it all, thinking of the differences between his and their cultures ... between his and his soon-to-be-wife's cultures.

"Come," Harold called to Jason, who had gone back to looking at himself in the mirror, "it's time."

Jason's attendants had already begun filing out of the house, suddenly breaking into a raucous song in Italian, or so Jason thought. He looked for Papa Don but didn't find him, then fell in behind Harold and -- carefully picking his way in his bare feet -- made his way back toward the camp. It was already in full celebration mode: instruments were playing, Romani were singing, and guests -- there for the carnavale -- had also found themselves at a gypsy wedding and many were dancing.

**************************​

As Jake pulled up near the gypsy encampment, he noticed that there weren't nearly as many cars up and down the road or parked in the field adjacent to the carnavale as on the previous nights. He couldn't help but feel good about this: perhaps the locals were finally burning out on the sight-stealing booze, diseased whores, and thieving pick pockets; perhaps, if they were all lucky, the Romani would simply pull up stakes in a day or two and he wouldn't have to go through the time consuming hassle of running them through the court system.

He hadn't really paid much attention to the carnavale prior to this evening, so to Jake there didn't seem to be anything different than on those previous nights. He exited the Ford and came around to help Grace out, the act of a gentleman that would always continue no matter how badly he treated her elsewhere, such as in his bed. He took her elbow with a bit more grip than usual, hesitated, then walked her toward the open gate.

"This is such a farce," he said softly to Grace without looking to her.

Most of the Romani didn't know Jake for Adam, but some of them recognized Grace as the couple reached the perimeter of the crowd. They began to show her attention, particularly the women and children: the former approached her and wished her good tidings and hung garlands over her head, knowing and respecting her relationship to the groom; while the later -- believing that the man with her must also be happy about the upcoming event -- offered him long stemmed flowers, which Jake recognized immediately as having likely come from his deceased mother's still growing Iris and Day Lily beds.

"No, no thanks, that's fine," Jake murmured as the gifts were bestowed upon him. He did his best to resist the onslaught, growling, "Please, enough! I'm just the judge."

And then suddenly, the crowd parted ... and Jake was facing his brother. They each had expressions of shock on their faces for a moment, and all about them the near crowd went quiet as those more distant and unaware of the showdown continued to dance and sing.

"Hello, brother," Jason finally said. He couldn't help himself: he held out his arms and turned around slowly to let Jake see his wedding costume in all its beauty and grandeur. Again facing his brother, Jason closed on him until they were barely out of reach of one another. He glanced about himself at the crowd and said, "I honestly don't know much about gypsy weddings ... but I presume that I still need a best man. Interested?"

Jake began with a critical tone, "I'm officiating this--"

He hesitated: he'd been about to use the word farce again but caught himself. He finished, "I'm officiating this. I can't be your best man."

"The Sheriff is here," Jason said. He leaned, looked, then nodded toward the lot of parked vehicles. "He arrived a few minutes ago I was told. He could officiate ... and you could stand by my side."

The two stared at one another for a moment: Jason wore a hopeful, friendly smile upon his face, while Jake's face was stone cold. The latter finally said, "I'm here to officiate this. Shall we get it started? My wife and I need to be going home soon."

Jason was disappointed but not surprised. He gave his brother a bit of an old fashioned bow before turning and heading away...

 

[heartofcourage]

Grace was quiet as Jake warned her that she shouldn't promise the girls things that she couldn't deliver. She missed her sisters terribly and wished that she could spend more time with them, but Jake had never wanted them around. He had been awkward around them, passing them back to her or her stepmother when they tried to get him to join them in a game.

He seemed lost in his own world, driving without comment until they pulled up next to the farmhouse, able to park just a short distance away. He came around the front of the car, taking her by the elbow tighter than normal as they walked to find Jason.

Nothing of this situation reminded her of her own wedding. She had been overwhelmed, slightly ill from nerves, and no one had seemed overly joyful for the ceremony to happen. She had looked beautiful in a beaded gown and veil, a group of lilies in her hands as she wed Jake, but she had been terrified. Her stepmother had tried to explain to her what was going to happen that night before she walked down the aisle, but it only served to make Grace even more nervous. She did remember Jason smiling as he stood next to his brother, nearly as proud as a groom should have been when he had seen her walking down the aisle in her new gown.

Women and girls immediately came up to her, playing loop after loop of flowers around her neck, each greeting her as they had seen her with Gregor and Jason in the days before. A few of the little girls called her Gracie, which she quietly corrected them that it was Mrs. Townsend. She wouldn't let Jake be angry at the fact that they were calling her by her detested nickname.

Grace remained quiet as Jake finally found Jason, having a face off with his brother over whom would perform the ceremony. Jason looked silly to her in his outfit, but it seemed to be completely normal to everyone else around them. He was marrying into a very colorful culture and it was only appropriate that he looked the part.

As Jake insisted that he would perform the wedding and Jason stepped away without another word, Grace gently touched Jake's arm and gained his attention. "Maybe you should be his best man, Jake. You asked him to be your best man and he wants you to return the favor."

She would never understand why her husband enjoyed the power of performing a marriage nor why it meant so much to him. A local minister had performed their ceremony, paid handsomely by Jake for the service. She had very little say in their wedding at all, everything chosen by Jake. He had the best of the best and he wanted everyone to know that.

"And you can tell all your politician friends how you came through for your brother." Grace tried to sweeten the deal, knowing that this meant far more to Jason than it did for Jake. "And...I'll...retry what we did last night without complaint."

She actually blushed deeply as she spoke about her forced fellatio from the night before. She knew it had excited her husband, even if it terrified her. In their household, making Jake happy is what really mattered and if he were happy, she were more likely to have more freedom.

"Just think about it?" Grace said softly, knowing from the way that he stared down at her with that unreadable expression he was already thinking about it. "I'm going to go freshen up."

She left his side for Jason's restroom, weaving her way through the crowd of people as quietly as she could. When she entered the kitchen through the back door, she paused as she saw Gregor sitting at the kitchen table. He looked like hell warmed over and she was actually shocked by how bruised his face was. He looked as if he shouldn't even be out of bed and yet he was there, probably for his cousin more than anything.

"Excuse me." She murmured in a soft voice, shaking herself clear of the fog that she felt when he was around and moving past him into the restroom.