The Nile water was flowing in rapids and the rain was coming down in heavy torrents. The serpent reared its head and huffed menacingly at the tied up Andromeda.
Perseus gulped. His battle with Medusa was over, but this war had just begun. He had to rescue his princess, even if he would surely die doing so... he was not as strong as his brother Hercules…
Tanya was abruptly interrupted by someone making a cough sound. He had stood up. Percy. She gestured asking him what the matter was, and he walked over.
He leant down and whispered in her ear, the closeness and hotness of his breath making her heart beat faster.
What he said though, did not impress Tanya at all. She frowned. He looked at her with the same perplexed look and shrugged, indicating that he didn’t know what to make of it either.
He then excused himself and walked out of the class.
Aisha had called him to her office?!!! And since when did she have an office?!!
Tanya could not help but wonder whether it was curiosity or jealousy that was making her ask these questions. Why was she so concerned about Aisha and Percy?
It's probably just school schedules or scholastic material, she thought reassuring herself.
She went back to reading her book and tried to get her mind off of Aisha... and onto the damsel-in-distress, Andromeda.
Percy knocked on Aisha's office door and he heard a cooing sound, probably inviting him in.
He tentatively stepped inside, looked around the office and when his dark eyes settled on one particular thing, he couldn't help but mouth a silent wow...
Chapter Five
Percy closed the door behind him and mouthed, "Nice..."
Aisha smiled mischievously, "Impressed?"
The tall Greek nodded slowly, "Very."
Downstairs, Tanya forced herself to continue reading the book Perseus despite wondering what Percy was doing in Aisha's office. She had this nagging thought it had nothing to do with school materials like she wanted to believe... after all, she saw the way the principal's daughter gave Percy lingering looks in the hallway.
The question is, why do I care so much? She asked herself. I've known this new teacher for less than a week!
She turned the page a bit too forcefully and folded it, "Damn it," she whispered.
One student looked up from what he was reading and frowned at her.
She smiled back apologetically and immersed herself in the book once more...
Perseus peered over the rock he was hiding behind and saw her once more. With her head hung low and her braided hair cascading down her naked body, she looked as if she was slipping into the unconscious.
The young warrior panicked and looked up at the skies, "Father! Zeus! Give me the strength to face this monster..."
The strength to defeat the serpent. Sure, he had just cut off Medusa's head, but Perseus knew that this monster was another task altogether, and he didn't want Andromeda to get hurt in the process.
He looked up and the clouds started moving really fast. Was his father, Zeus, answering his call?
He then heard it. The serpent was huffing loudly and writhing its beastly head around. It had emerged from the water once more.
It was angry.
Perseus squinted his eyes not believing what he was seeing. There, were Andromeda had once been tied, was nothing. No one. Just broken chains.
She had disappeared. Had she escaped?
His eyes widened as he looked around frantically. The serpent was doing the same, searching the sea for a sign of its victim.
When Perseus looked up at the skies once more, a thunderous voice said, "Son. It is too late now. She has been banished to a place far, far away... another time."
Perseus he shouted back, "It cannot be! This is not how it's supposed to be! Where is she?!!"
Zeus replied, "This is your punishment for your failure to be brave. You will search the ends of the earth for Andromeda and travel across periods of time. Once you find her, you will be half mortal. It is up to you... how the story goes from there..."
Perseus was now panicking, "Father! No! I don't understand! What about mother? What-"
"I am sorry son... but the mortal world awaits you...you will find her someday," Zeus replied sadly, from his throne in the skies.
Perseus looked down at his sword which he slowly dropped to the ground in shock. The serpent had re-entered its waters, and the Nile River was now calm.
He had failed his mission, and now he would search for Andromeda for the rest of eternity, losing his immortality as time passed by…
Tanya stared at what she had just read. She was an expert at Greek legends and she had never heard of a story that ended like this. The rest of the pages were blank, as if the story was unfinished, or unprinted.
She closed the book and examined it. It had no publisher, no dates, and no author. She frowned. She hadn't noticed all the missing detail before, but it certainly worried her now.
So according to this strange book, Perseus was now roaming the earth looking for Andromeda.
Tanya gulped as she remembered how the new teacher Percy, had called her just that, the day they met...
She looked up and her students were now packing their things to go home. On the way out, one girl, whom Tanya knew as one of Donyelle's friends , stopped by the teacher's desk and told Tanya smiling,
"That Greek teacher is sooo into you. Have you noticed?" Tanya smiled back shyly and shrugged the girl away.
She looked back down at the book and stared at the cover title Perseus.
"So what do you think? You like it?" Aisha asked shyly.
Percy nodded slowly once more as he held the vase.
"Is this straight out of Greece?" he asked almost disbelievingly. The tall woman nodded proudly, "I got all this stuff when I went on a trip to Athens with my dad...when I was little."
By all this stuff, Aisha meant the massive collection of ancient Greek artifacts that now adorned her office. From vases, to paintings, to miniature statues, to parchments. She seemed to have it all.
Percy was frankly in awe at seeing these things for the first time in a long time. Tanya would love this.
He turned the black vase around examining it. It had just enough chips and scratches to be the real thing. On its surface, its copper-colored characters told the story of two ancient Greek lovers.
He set it down and picked up a painting of a beautiful woman.
His eyes glazed over and he ran his hand over it. Queen Danae...
He looked up at Aisha with swollen eyes and smiled, half ashamed at his emotional reaction, "This- These are beautiful Aisha."
Aisha wondered why he was so overcome with emotion but smiled back anyway, "I know. My dad has even more, back at his home. He's a closet Greek freak, just like I am."
She stood up straight from the desk she had been leaning back against and walked towards him in her royal blue dress, "I think now, I'm ready for the real thing..."
She deftly took the painting out of his hands and stood before him, "You didn’t comment on my dress."
Percy looked down at her body. It was covered in a dark blue satin minidress that displayed ample cleavage. He looked back up at her face. She was beautiful despite the layers of light brown makeup she had on.
He started to apologize, "Aisha I- Tanya's waiting for me downstairs. She probably thinks I'm here to pick up a teaching schedule..."
Aisha ignored the pang of jealousy she felt when she heard that name and ran her finger down his sinewy arm, "I really want to get to know you Percy..."
"...and so do I."
Both Percy and Aisha turned to the door to hear who had just said that in a forceful tone.
Tanya was standing in the doorway, holding the book.
Chapter Six
"Donyelle there's no easy way to say this..."
"Babe we just don't"
"Donnie you know I love you but..."
Morris tried to think of a better way to say what he w
as going to say to his girlfriend.
He was standing in front of the mirror, trying to think of the best face, the best pose, the best words.
And his mind had drawn a blank.
What he really wanted to do was punch the mirror and grab his reflection by the neck and possibly strangle it to death.
His phone vibrated. He opened it and it was a message from Julianna,
Hey dude.
You rushed out of class today and didn’t even kiss me goodbye. Are you still thinking about Donyelle? Better yet, are we still on for that movie? You know how I love Denzel. Text back or it's over :)
Your chica(if you want her), Julianna. Xoxoxo
His eyes lingered on the message and he finally pressed 'DELETE'. He didn’t know why he had just done that, but it seemed like the best thing to do right now.
He then scrolled down his phone list until he came to her name. Instead of the name 'Donyelle', was his pet name for her, "Indigo". It was an inside joke about the makeup brand she loved. Morris always told her she looked the same with or without it- always gorgeous. She always rolled her eyes at him before getting into an explanation about the wonders of makeup.
Morris smiled at the memory. He clicked on it and rang her number.
After a while, the phone was picked up on the other side, "Hello?" her voice was slightly groggy.
Morris asked worriedly, "Donyelle? You okay? You sound a bit... I dunno..."
"Pregnant?" Donyelle replied with some attitude.
Morris chuckled nervously, "Huh. Yeah... that's what it is. Are you okay otherwise babe?"
There was a pause on the other end. She hadn’t bothered answering.
Morris trudged on, "Look. I wanna' come over. Can I come over?"
There was an even longer pause from her end. He crossed his fingers.
"Only if you bring me a tub of ice cream..." she replied with some humor.
Morris smiled with relief, "Strawberry flavor and chocolate chip cookies?" It was her favorite.
The groggy voice from the end yawned, "That's the one. Hurry up though because my aunt's gonna be back in a couple of hours. And she feels a certain way about you now, ever since I told her you didn't want to take care of the baby." She said the last bit in such a matter-of-factedly kind of way, it was almost chilling.
Morris tried to clear it up, "Donnie I never said "
"See you in an hour. I can't wait to hear what you have to say." Donyelle interrupted him, before hanging up the phone.
Morris looked at the phone then up at the mirror where he had been practicing his break-up line with her.
He balled up his fist and punched his reflection with all his might shouting, "You don't deserve her you bastard!!!!!"
His eyes brimmed with tears, not at the pain in his fist, but at the sudden 'revelation' that he was not worthy of Donyelle.
His phone rang again and he quickly looked at it hoping it was her.
Instead, it was Julianna calling. He let out an exasperated sigh.
Aisha looked Tanya up and down before saying cattily,
"We're sort of busy right now, aren't we?" Aisha looked Percy in the eye, waiting for him to agree. He hadn't taken his eyes off Tanya, and he wasn't about to.
He didn't answer Aisha and she cleared her throat again,
"Ahem. Percy, weren't we in the middle of something before we got interrupted? I was showing you my Greek artifacts!" It fell on deaf ears.
Tanya, still holding onto the book, was staring at Percy just as he was staring at her, with an irritated Aisha trying to get the man's attention.
Percy asked Tanya slowly, "What do you wanna know?" He broke away from Aisha's grip on his arm.
Tanya gulped as Percy's eyes bore into hers, as if he knew what she was going to ask. She held the book up,
"I wanna know... why Perseus never rescued Andromeda, and whether he will ever find her," her eyes seemed to brim with tears.
Percy left a confused Aisha and walked towards Tanya. He got the book, set it down and held her hands in his. He held them up and brushed them against his lips.
They could hear Aisha shout in the background, "Mr. Theodosiou and Miss Whitford! This is a highly inappropriate place for such..." and the rest of the sentence was a blur.
All Tanya could feel was the sensation of his lips against her fingers.
He whispered, "He was a coward. He didn't believe in himself."
Tanya whispered back,
"Andromeda waited for months and months on that rock. Maybe he considered her not worthy of rescue?"
Percy held her chin up, "Andromeda was worth everything to Perseus, and still is." When he said the last bit, his brown eyes seemed to meet with her hazel ones as if urging her to believe him.
They looked down at each other's lips simultaneously. They were both daring each other to and they finally did. Right there in Aisha's office. They kissed.
Chapter Seven
Morris stood on the doorstep to Donyelle's family's house. It was a modest brownstone far from the projects that Morris lived in. He wondered what the Smiths would think of him now. They had already never approved of him, but now that he had gotten their niece pregnant...
He wondered what Donyelle had told them about the whole situation.
He rang the doorbell and stood there nervously. His macho attitude and 'gangster poses' were gone. He couldn't think. He was nervous as hell and it showed on his handsome but troubled face.
Unfortunately for him, Donyelle's aunt opened the door. She had already come back home. The elderly lady had Donyelle's dark brown skin and her grey hair was tied in a neat bun. Under normal circumstances she would have curtly greeted Morris.
But now, she was just looking at him bitterly. She looked him up and down, from his 'fade' haircut to his sneakers.
She got the tub of ice cream from his hands and shut the door, leaving him standing there.
Not a word had been uttered.
Morris stood there not knowing what to do, before he finally walked away in defeat.
From an upstairs window, Donyelle stared at her boyfriend walk away. She still loved the jerk, that she knew.
Tanya and Percy broke away from their passionate kiss and stared at each other in awe.
In the background, Aisha could be heard talking through the phone to her dad, the principal in an agitated tone.
Percy stroked his newfound lover's braids, saying breathily, "We need to get outta' here." Tanya nodded, still entranced, and opened the door for them to leave Aisha's office.
She couldn't help but wonder what price they would pay for their reckless behavior.
"So how are we going to explain to our students that we're both suspended? I mean this is totally and utterly irresponsible of us! It just reeks of... hmmm"
Tanya groaned as Percy's lips met her neck and he sucked her flesh. He embraced her even tighter and whispered into her ear, "I can't wait to see where you're going to take me tonight. Still don't want to tell me?"
Tanya smiled, "Harlem is more than what you think, and I'm going to show you."
Percy kissed her cheek and fed her another spoon of ice cream.
She was seated on top of his lap on this surprisingly sunny afternoon. It had been three days since their first kiss, and they were off from work. Of course, since the pair had been suspended for 'misconduct' in Aisha's office. Aisha's orders.
They were both enjoying this new found intimacy between them, that they had kept bottled up for... well... the week that they'd known each other.
The book, Perseus hadn't been discussed ever since and they were just living in the now.
Tanya ignored the nagging feeling that was telling her Percy was indeed Perseus, and she just wanted to feel the embrace of a man, a caring man, this man.
They had gone as far as passionate kisses and desperate gropes, but had refrained from anything more... what with Tanya's out of state boyfriend and all.
The past three days had been the happiest da
ys in Tanya's life and Percy knew he had found his princess. He showed her every time he nibbled on her earlobe. Just like he was doing now.
"So... what's Mount Sinai's policy on teacher relationships?" he asked curiously. As much as he had loved their little passionate clinch in Aisha's office, he didn't want Tanya to get fired from her job.
A Greek God In Harlem Page 4
