Amitola: The Making of a Tribe

by A. Grant Richard

  “That’s it. We’re leaving as soon as this is over,” Caleb said while Tye shook his head in agreement.

  She looked back and forth between Tye and Caleb. “No, we can’t take Sadie back out there tonight besides, I’m tired of being manipulated by people. Trust me, I can handle Jason.”

  She continued around the ring, and when she got in front of Jason, he stood up and tried to kiss her. She turned her head, and he caught her cheek. He looked over at Tye and smirked then put his mouthpiece back in. Maia got down shaking her head and threw the sign at Allen as she walked back to Junior and the kids. Allen laughed then looked over at Tye giving him a thumbs up.

  Caleb looked around. “What the hell is going on here?”

  Tye stared at Jason with those eyes that said he was about to have the guy for lunch. He pushed his buttons one too many times today. He decided he was throwing the fight, but he wasn’t going to let it look like the punk earned it.

  As soon as Jason came in for the grab, Tye blasted him with a combo and finished it by punching him one last time as hard as he could. Blood and spit flew out of his mouth and nose. He wobbled, struggling to regain his composure. Tye wanted to laugh and point at him, but instead, as soon as Jason got close enough, he dropped to the mat in the center of the cage and waited for him to jump on top of him. The moment he did, Tye tapped out. He refused to give him bragging rights.

  The moment she saw Tye tap out Maia took the kids and headed back to the trailer. She was furious at Jason, Allen, and the whole situation. She needed a minute to breathe. It was unfathomable how Allen could do this to her, but she also felt overwhelming gratitude for what Tye did for her.

  She was sitting on the small couch when they walked in. Tye came through the door, and she jumped up and threw her arms around him.

  “Thank you,” she told him, her face tucked between his neck and shoulder.

  “What do you think happened?”

  “I don’t know. I can’t figure it out. I could swear Allen always knew I wasn’t sleeping with them and yet he’s never said anything. And Jason is a schmuck, but he’s never been this much of a butt to me.”

  “Well, it gets even weirder. Allen stopped us on the way out. He thanked me and congratulated me, and he gave us more credit on the bar tab. He said we passed the test and he’d explain later. And he said he has some stuff we can take with us when we go. They’re waiting for us before they eat,” Tye replied.

  “Why are they acting crazy? I have no idea what’s going on.”

  Tye cleaned up, and the crew headed out to the large screened-in pergola. Tiki torches lit the way. If it weren’t for their situation, it might even be beautiful. The six of them chose a picnic table and took a seat.

  Raindrops reverberated on the rooftop. As soon as they heard it, two women jumped up and ran out of the pergola and picked up sticks off of the ground. They placed them on the tables in the sign of a cross then they poured salt on them.

  “What—the hell kinda voodoo shite is that?” Caleb asked.

  Tye said, “Don’t ask, dude. These Cajuns have—“

  As soon as he said, “Cajuns,” several people, including Maia, placed their right fist over their hearts and pounded twice. To some, the word was a badge of honor and having lived amongst them for an extended period and respecting them as he did, Tye felt their pride. But, it was also because he understood them having come from an upbringing much the same as theirs.

  “As I was saying, they have a whole lot of superstitions. They think that’ll stop the rain.”

  “Oh, n-n-n-n-no, hold up. And y’all don’t have superstitions?” Maia laughed, knowing he was just as superstitious as they were.

  Though it had waned much over the last few centuries, many superstitions were quickly revived after Judgement Day. People were willing to try anything to change their circumstances, and superstition was near the top of the list.

  Superstition is the ridiculous belief in two separate and random events being the cause and effect of one another without any physical process linking them together. It was also the loony belief in supernatural folklore like the Rougarou and Chupacabra, and it was evident how Tye felt about them.

  Being the fact and logic girl that she is, Maia looked up the origins of all this nonsense many times only to discover a lot of it was rooted in their shared Latin heritage.

  Those superstitions are passed down generation to generation the same way genetics are. One simply cannot escape the ingrained patterns and habits of their upbringing. It was awe inspiring to think that groups of people who started out in the same area so long ago now had descendants in such large people groups that still shared the same ways they had way back when.

  Tye grinned then defended himself. “We eat both ends of the bread. We don’t wear dimes around our neck to ward off spirits that we know must be around because we have goosebumps.” He rubbed his arms and continued, “And we don’t do the cross with the knives thing to get rid of tornadoes. And if we drop food on the floor, we don’t eat it even if we do bless it. What’s that nonsense about anyway? Then you go out of your way to avoid those yellow flowers. You do know they don’t make you wet the bed, right?”

  “All right, all right,” she said giggling, “Let’s do this. Those bread ends that get thrown away, I’ve seen you have near conniptions over it because that bread is supposed to be kissed and blessed first, right? And don’t think for a second that I didn’t see you put that broom upside down and a bottle of water by the door every night, so don’t talk to me about warding off spirits. And it’s called ‘the frissons’ that tell us spirits are around. And—“ she pointed her finger at him then continued, “and, you are always looking for mal de ojo, the evil eye, or whatever, so there.”

  Caleb and the kids were hysterically laughing because they knew it was true.

  Her eyes lit up. “Then, my favorite…after you’ve put one shoe on, I’ve seen you bounce around on that foot to avoid putting your barefoot on the floor to grab your other shoe. I mean, why don’t you make sure you have both shoes to begin with? And why doesn’t this rule apply to two bare feet? Explain that Mr. They Have Lots of Superstitions. Hmm?” she said, raising her eyebrows and smirking.

  Caleb chimed in. “Don’t forget that if his one bare foot does touch the floor, he makes the sign of the cross.

  “Yeah, like that takes away whatever juju he got stuck with for putting it down,” Maia grinned.

  “What?” Tye said, smiling like a schoolboy who just got caught skipping class. “That’s different,” he said, still grinning.

  Tony added, “Well, let me tell you, my parents came here from El Mexico, so they are old school. And I grew up with the Camerons, so you can imagine all the stupid stuff we endured as kids. The girls especially…they have it the worst; the no sweeping over a woman’s feet; no putting your purse on the floor; they can’t hold a baby or eat a banana when they’re, you know, that time of the month.”

  “That’s right,” echoed from the women at the table.

  “Then if you're pregnant you have to have red and safety pins on your clothes somewhere to ward of spirits. Dude, we all got some crazy ol’ wives tales.”

  “Yeah, y’all crazy with all your superstitions,” Caleb said in jest.

  “Oh don’t get me started on the Irish. Only y’all would think poop is good luck,” Maia joked.

  “Says the red-headed Latina with green eyes,” Caleb shot back at her.

  “Green eyes yes, but my hair only has a red tint. And yeah, I’m Cajun. So what if my people are couillon? I’m proud of it. By the way, the rain stopped,” she said pointing at the roof.

  Getting all excited Caleb said, “Of course the rain stopped. All the ‘goosebump’ spirits got scared of the water, the broom, and the color red and went looking for some unblessed bread and bare feet to inhabit. Besides y’all are all full of shite, so the luck was with us Irish all along,” he said laughing and holding up his glass of moonshine, “Cheers to the sup
erstitious nonsensicals but most of all…to those we’ve loved and lost…may we carry their ways and their love in our hearts forever.”

  A resounding, “Cheers,” rang out from everyone along with the clanking of Mason Jars.

  It was only appropriate that they served the food at the same time the poop talk occurred. The aroma of grilled fish and venison backstrap had people licking their mouths long before it ever reached their tongue. The corn was delicious and spicy after being cooked in the crawfish boil. And of course, even post-apocalypse, Cajun’s served jambalaya and cornbread. It wasn’t the same as the recipe they were used to having six months ago. This was the original recipe, the way their ancestors would have prepared it.

  Sean took a big bite, “Mmm…Ça c’est bon!”

  You could almost taste the cast-iron pot when you bit into the chicken, and the layered flavors of pork fat, the Cajun trinity, spices, and homemade chicken stock made your mouth water with every bite. But the best part was the gratin, those little pieces of food that stick to the bottom of the pot just waiting to be scraped off. That’s what gave the jambalaya its smoky depth, crunchy texture, and rich brown color. This was the real deal. Their great-grandparents for generations back would be so proud.

  Tony’s eyes glazed over. “I know all that stuff is crazy man, but that’s our people; that’s their traditions. That’s the kind of things we have to keep alive by teaching it to our kids. As crazy as it is, that’s a part of who we are. It’s our culture. It’s loco, but it’s us.”

  “You know he’s gonna be a dad, huh?” Jason said, showing up late to the party with his busted up face.

  “Yeah, right,” Maia said, blowing him off.

  “He’s not kidding, Yaya,” Tony said.

  “What do you mean? Are you really? Who?” she said looking around then back at him.

  “Yeah, Kat and me, we’re gonna have a bebé. You’re gonna be tia Maia,” he said, smiling proudly from ear to ear.

  When he said it, she couldn’t help but briefly look over at Tye as though he’d done something wrong. She jumped up from the table and ran around to give him a big hug. Tony, the guy she thought would be single forever and never have kids, was going to be a dad.

  “Tony, I’m so happy for you!” She looked around to find Kat and then gave her a hug, “Congratulations.”

  She knew she probably came off as superficial, but the woman had sex with a guy she didn’t even know, and she was pregnant for someone who was like a brother to her. It was just weird and awkward and much too complicated to attempt to rationalize.

  Tony had been friends with Maia’s older brother Rob all of his life. Their dads enlisted together, and their moms gave birth to them two months apart. Tony wasn’t a tall man, but he stood toe to toe with the best of them. He had dark hair and tan skin, but like Maia, he had green eyes though his were more of a forest green instead of emerald like hers. His parents called him mestizo, or mixed. Their ancestry was Maya, Spanish, Malian, Irish, Somali, Danish, and Italian.

  Before Judgement Day, things like specific ancestry was of no particular meaning except to those who chose to study it and record it for their families. Now, it was everything. They wanted to preserve these details and learn as much as they could about the heritage they’d been generously given so they could pass it on to their children. Besides, it was those same ancestors who lived, thrived and progressed with less than they had now. Those people were their heroes. If their ancestors could do it then, they could do it now. Their heritage gave them hope.

  When Maia and Tony were kids, they’d hear their parents talk about how the rarest eye color was green. It was always fascinating to both of their parents how they inherited that color when no one else in the family did. There was a running joke that some other man on the base must have fathered both of them. It was only a joke, no one believed it, but the similarity always bonded them. They had a genuine sibling relationship.

  Once Junior was done eating, he took Elex and went hang out in the community area with some of the other guys. Sadie went with Tobi to play with her daughter, one of the only other young girls there. Most of the others left too. Only a few remained.

  Allen walked to the door and called for Jason. When he walked out the door, Maia followed.

  Caleb was missing something. He looked at Tony. “She said she trusts him. Why would she still trust him if he blackmailed her? That makes no sense.”

  “All I know is she never did flip on Brent, but she agreed to feed Jason information on anyone else he told her about. Brent was always telling her about stuff they did. Because of that, her and Jason became quasi-partners. From what he tells me she helped him solve a bunch of cases and when she turned eighteen, he got his dad to hire her as an investigator. She’s always been smart like that. Anyway, they worked together for a few years so…”

  “So…if she was so into Brent how did she end up dating some other guy and then marrying Lance?” Tye asked, not realizing they had returned and overheard part of the conversation.

  “Because we pulled Brent out of the bayou with two bullets in him and if you want to know something about my past with Maia then you should be asking me,” Jason said while staring them down.

  “So spill it,” Tye wanted to know.

  “Yeah, spill it, Jason,” Maia said, arms crossed.

  “What do you want to know?”

  “How about you tell them what happened to Brent,” she said sarcastically.

  “I just did."

  "No, the details," Maia said.

  "The details as you seem to recall them or what really happened?" he fired back.

  "You are such an asshole."

  Jason grimaced at her then turned back to Tye. "A call came over the radio that they pulled a white male, late teens, from the bayou. We showed up, looked at the body and she went cold. I didn’t want her to see that so I tried to pull her away but if you haven’t noticed, she’s somewhat stubborn. Then she went ballistic. That's what happened.”

  “No, I didn’t go ballistic until I saw your number on his pager and when I confronted you about it, you told me he was one of your snitches. How many times did I beg you not to go to him for that because the people he was dealing with would find out? He’s dead, and you contributed to that,” Maia yelled.

  “And I told you I didn’t go to him. He found out you were working with me and he came to me so you’d be free and clear.”

  “I would’ve been anyway. You didn’t tell him that.” She put her finger on his chest. “You had been trying to get in my pants since the day you brought me in for questioning not to mention you wouldn’t have ranked up as fast as you did if I hadn’t been there to help solve your cases. You didn’t bother to tell him that you had no intentions of slapping cuffs on me did you?”

  “Why would I? He committed felonies and was working with the biggest auto theft ring in the state. We needed the intel. You know we needed the intel. How many bodies did they drop? Huh?”

  “I know that.”

  “Yet, you still hold it against me! Why?”

  “Because you swore you’d never lie to me or hold anything back from me. You said you’d never put a case or the job before us. You said once we took down that ring and Brent was out of the picture that you wanted to be with me. I know I joked flippantly about it but I started to want that, and you knew it. And what happened Jason? Brent was murdered, you closed a stack of files, took down the ring, took all the credit, got promoted, and not only did you push our relationship aside, but you pushed me away from my job. A job I quit college for. A job I gave up everything for.”

  She threw her hands up and started to walk away then changed her mind and got back in his face. “And don’t think I don’t know why. Your daddy told you he didn’t think it was good for your career to be with me personally or professionally because of how we met especially since my name was in some of those files as an informant. You chose your job over me, and you weren’t even man enough to tell me yourself,�
�� she said taking a seat by Tye.

  “Well, I guess you got it all figured out,” he said taking a seat beside her.

  “Can I help you?” Tye asked him.

  “I’m sitting by my girl. Is that a problem for you?”

  “The problem is I’m not your girl. And I’m going to talk to Allen myself,” she said, standing abruptly.

  He grabbed her by the arm and immediately Tye, Caleb, and Tony all stood up.

  He stood up too, let her arm go, and looked her right in the eye, “You are my girl, for tonight anyway.”

  “Tony,” Kat yelled to him from across the pergola, “come here.”

  Tony looked back and forth between them then focused on Jason, “It’d be best if you never do that again.” He looked back at Maia. “I’ll be right back.”

  Once he saw Tony across the room, Jason turned to Maia and murmured, “I need you to cooperate just a little bit. I have no intention of doing anything you don’t want, and you should know that by now but I did expect you to pick up on all the clues I’ve been dropping all fuckin’ day. What’s the matter with you? Have you forgotten every damn thing I taught you?”

  Her head was spinning trying to play everything back.

  “What are you talking about? And why did you wait for Tony to leave?”

  “I’ll talk to you about it later. Cooperate, please,” he said, obviously annoyed with her.

  Jason looked Tye in the eye and held the stare for a moment then held out his hand to shake his, “Great fight, man. You might’ve had me at the end, just maybe.” Then he whispered something in Tye’s ear and walked off.

  He looked at Caleb then Maia and said, “He wants the three of us to meet him, alone, in the main house.”

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  The three of them walked to the main house taking care not to be noticed. Once they reached the side door, they knocked gently. A pregnant woman about their age opened the door to greet them.