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Before I forget this story is heavily influenced by Russian Roulette. It was such a wonderful story that made me want to write my own. So read it, it's outstanding you will love it.

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V

V ( Friday the 14th of June 1957. Seventh Ward, New Orleans, United States of America.)

It took Louise nine meetings for Andrei to take her to see where he lived.

Louise always found Andrei in the French Quarter pickpocketing people. The first four times Andrei kept on pickpocketing people seeming to know she would not stop him from doing it. The five times after the first four he asked her if she wanted to do something else. She always refuses because she instinctively knew he was doing the pickpocketing for a reason.

That reason turned out to be him needing money for his family.

Finding Roma or Gypsy people in New Orleans Louisiana should not be that surprising. Roma people have been in Louisiana since Napoleon deport hundreds of them to Louisiana territory in 1803.

When Louise thought of Roma people, she thinks of a circus or caravan.

What Louise knew of the Roma people was that they were nomadic people. An for the most part she was right, but after World War II the Roma people thought it'll be much safer to migrate to America. Because it was much safer than Europe and some of their people already had rooted there.

In the Seventh Ward, the Roma had taken over a neighborhood like a cypress community did in the Ninth Ward.

Before walking into the neighborhood Andrei presents a list of things I should not ask or say in the neighborhood.

1 Do not say the word Gypsy.

2 Do not call someone a Gypsy.

3 Do not ask someone if they are a fortune teller.

4 Do not ask have ever worked in a circus.

5 Do not ask why they now lived in America.

I asked why I can't say or call someone a Gypsy. His response to that was to give me an angry but sad face and to tell me "The word gypsy to Roma people is like saying the word nigger to an African American."

That honesty surprises me because even in the 2000s New Orleans the word gypsy is still used as the name of the Roma people.

And it made me understand his feelings on the word. It was like being called black or Indian by Caucasian people.

To make him know I understood his feeling I told him about how I don't like the Mardi Gras Indian. And how most of the time the costumes look like our traditional wear and being name Indian was an insult and how when people call the outfit that name it was like insulting our traditional wear.

He didn't seem all that surprised to find out one of my parents is Native American.

When they got to the neighborhood it seems like a whole new country compared to the rest of the seventh ward. Before Ivory's mother forbidden her from going outside and play and instead to study for her's doctorate; she used to run around with her friends and explore all the wards of New Orleans. So she knew what the 2000s New Orleans seventh ward and 1957 seventh ward the look like. The ward didn't look that much different from each other.

Even though New Orleans first through the sixth ward is vibrant with bright colors the seventh ward was not. The ward in either time period was always primary color an as the place with dull coloring. But Andrei neighborhood looks like a run-down version of the French Quarter. Even with the houses looking like they will collapse on to itself, it was painted with shushing are vibrant colors.

Looking around the ward make me realized that it just not the African Americans and Native Americans that are the only races who having it hard in New Orleans.

The cypress community might seem like it living it up for a discriminated people in America; but it only looks like that because they grow most of the things they eat, make most of the things they use, fixes things that can be fixed. The thing they can't make or do themselves are budget and made funds for the thing by Istas.

In the neighborhood, there was a lot of Roma people, but you can tell that a lot of the young kids are of mixed heritage but that's not so surprising when you look at Andrei with his cocoa brown skin color being the only thing to notes him to be of African American descent.

We passed most of the better-looking houses to the most run-down house in the neighborhood and stop this yellow house with a burgundy roof.

When Andrei walks inside, it makes me realized this was his home. Inside I came to the living room with three doors attached to it. Andrew was telling me where the doors go to. It goes to a very small kitchen, bathroom, and an area for the family to sleep. His family slept all in one room he told me. He said that it was only his mother, father, and a little sister who live here.

Listing to him tell me they will only come here when his father and mother were at work and when his sister was with the Grandy's of the neighborhood did not bother me.

He told me we will be spending the time hanging out in the sleeping area. Because the living room was not all safe to be in.

Later on, looking back at those types of comments and thinking about them and how I didn't ask more about them make me want to laugh at how much an idiot I was when I was younger.

Going into the sleeping area made me realize it was the biggest room in the entire house. In there were two beds, two dressers, and one mirror in that room.

Looking at all of the things in that room made me realize the reason why he pickpocketed was that it's probably is the only way he can get money. He most likely uses it for the entire family and not for himself.

Even though my family is not living the high life we are living better than his family. And realizing the reason why my family is living better, make me think of other ways to help him.

"Do you want me to teach you how to grow food?" I said interrupting him explaining his family.

"No, not really and even if I want to learn where when I grow food," he said probably already guessed why I ask.

"Do you want to learn how to make stuff for your own house stuff you usually need to buy?" I ask next being very obvious so the reason why I am asking by looking around his home.

"What type of things?" he said now looking interested in what I have to say.

Now hearing interest and his voice made me looked straight into his eyes. Looking in his eyes made me see this spark in them that told me what I told my family was finally coming true.

Author's Note

Anything I wrote about the different races group in this story that is not true is not meant to offend those people of that race grow.

Now on to facts

• The word Gypsy is an insult to the Roma people.

• Napoleon did deport hundreds of Roma people in Louisiana in 1803.

• Lots of Roma people did decide that America would be far better than Europe.