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Romani Detective Original Fiction: O is for Omens, Good and Bad

[asphaltcowgrrl.livejournal.com]

Adrien scratched the palm of his hand and noticed the detective frowning at him. “What? Did I do something wrong?”

Startled out of his thoughts, Andrej shook his head. “No, no, of course not.”

“Then why were you looking at me so strangely?” Adrien rested his hands in his lap and watched the detective.

Andrej laughed. “I am sorry, but in my homeland, an itchy hand has some opposing meanings.”

“Like what,” Adrien asked, happy to be talking about something other than a dead body for the moment.

“It means that you are either going to receive money,” Andrej said, quickly looking away from the young man, “or you are going to get beaten.”

“Ah,” Adrien said, suddenly understanding why the detective had been watching him like he had. “And considering my situation, I’m likely to get my ass kicked in the near future.”

“Let us hope not,” Andrej said. “It would make me very unhappy to have that happen to you.”

“Glad to hear someone other than my mother is worried about me,” Adrien joked. “So, are superstitions like that common where you come from or is that an oddity?”

“Romanians are superstitious people,” Andrej said with a wry grin. “They see omens in everything around them sometimes. I have managed to leave most of those back in the old country although there are a few that I watch out for because…” He shrugged, unable to put it into words.

“Because sometimes doing something silly is better than tempting fate.”

“Yes,” Andrej said, smiling. “That is a very good way to put it.” His fingers brushed against the coin he carried in his pocket at all times. He reached inside and withdrew it, handing it over to Adrien. “This is a protection charm that I made many years ago. Since then, I have added my partner’s name to it.”

“Just in case,” Adrien said, nodding.

“Yes, just in case,” Andrej agreed. “He is a bit of a – how do you say? Walking disaster.”

Adrien laughed out loud. “Oh, lord, a homicide detective that is a walking disaster. I guess I should be grateful he’s not here with you today.”

“Zayne is a very good detective,” Andrej said, taking his coin back and putting it into his pocket. “He is just prone to accidents at times.”

“I can relate to that,” Adrien said with a sad smile.

“I believe we all can,” Andrej agreed. “I do not need anything more from you at the moment, so be careful.”

“And keep my eyes peeled for bad omens,” Adrien joked. “Got it.”

Stifling a chuckle, Andrej bid the young man goodbye, wishing that Zayne had been there to meet him. He had an odd feeling that the two would have gotten along quite well.