Free Ascension by Steven Galloway Page A

acted the part of older brother far better than any real older brother would have been likely to do. He was, as far as Esa was concerned, a blessing upon the Nagy family.
    Salvo, for his part, felt that the Nagy family had done him a small miracle by letting him stay for these past two years. He missed his family, sometimes so much he could hardly imagine what it had been like not to miss them, but without Esa and Leo he knew it would be worse. He also enjoyed the
gadje
lifestyle far more than he ever would have imagined. The Nagy apartment was, by Salvo’s standards, a palace, and they ate far better than Salvo had ever eaten in his life. As for Leo, Salvo liked the sickly boy, and seeing as how the child didn’t seem to care who Salvo was or where he had come from, Salvo decided that he didn’t care about Leo’s physical shortcomings. Besides, it wasn’t as if there were a lot of other kids for him to play with. Most
gadje
children wouldn’t play with a Rom, and László had strictly forbidden both Salvo and Leo from consorting with gypsies. So Salvo really had no choice.
    Salvo and Leo sat on the floor. Today they were bandits on the run, huddled around a makeshift fire, their voices low, eyes nervously scanning the night for signs of their pursuers. The head bandit, Salvo, told stories to pass the time.
    “Sometime in the past, in a place that is not this place, there was a village of
gadje
who could not talk to God. They had lost His voice, and wanted badly to get it back. But it would not come, no matter how they asked for it.
    “Then one day they asked, even begged, a Rom who lived on the edge of the village to help them hear Him again. The Rom was suspicious, but he felt badly for them, so he agreed to help. The Rom went and climbed the steeple of their church and asked God to speak to these people again. But there were things this Rom did not know.
    “He did not know that God had stopped speaking to these people for a reason. He went silent because the people were wicked. Hewent silent because the people were greedy. He went silent because these people were no longer His people. None of God’s opinions were known by the Rom, but maybe the Rom would have agreed with God. After all, it is not often that God is mistaken.
    “So the Rom, in his ignorance, asked God to speak again to the gadje. Because God loved the Rom, He granted this request. But He refused to lie to the
gadje
and tell them good things about themselves, which is what they wanted to hear. He told them the truth, which is never what anyone wants to hear. The pain of hearing it caused the village priest to fall down dead where he stood.
    “The
gadje
did what
gadje
have always done, which is blame the Rom. They found him in his home and they killed him. But killing a Rom is nothing; it will not stop him. The ghost of the Rom returned to the
gadje
church and went to the top of the steeple and called again to God. God told him that from that day forth, He would no longer speak to the people, not one word. And He spoke no more.”
    Esa stood in the doorway. “I have never heard of this story.”
    Salvo blushed. He hadn’t known she was listening.
    “Is it true?” Leo asked, eyes wide.
    Salvo nodded. “It is, or may I be dead.”
    “You will not die of this, but that story is not true, and you would be wise to watch where you repeat it.” Esa returned to her kitchen of sausages.
    “Maybe now,” Leo said, “God isn’t mad. Maybe you could talk to him.”
    Salvo shrugged. “Maybe you could too.”
    “Nagys aren’t Roma,” Leo said. “Mother used to be, but she stopped.”
    Salvo nodded. She had stopped. And his uncle László was no Rom, that much was obvious. Salvo knew his aunt was right; heshould watch what he said. He shouldn’t make up stories that served no purpose except to aggravate his well-being in this house. Being a Rom had caused him trouble enough already.
    The knob on the front door turned and the door swung open.