The Rise of the Nations

Chapter 3

“I saw you just last night!” Rio, the man from the elevator, said laughingly, hugging his cousin, Tokala, back, “Grandfather, it’s so good to see you.” Rio walked around the table to embrace his grandfather. He was so tall, he practically towered over him.

“Rio, I want you to meet my new friend Mica,” Tokala said, gesturing to me.

For the first time since arriving at the table, Rio looked at me and I saw him clearly for the first time, as opposed to looking up through his hair while trapped on an elevator. His eyes were just as piercing as I remembered, if not more. It seemed, like his cousin and his grandfather, Rio also possessed the ability to look into my soul. Or at least, his eyes gave that impression.

I waited for recognition to pass over his face, but it didn’t. It seemed he’d already forgotten the incident in the elevator.

“Hello, nice to meet you,” he said, leaning over the table to shake my hand. I reached out to grasp his hand, but at the last minute, he pulled his hand away and patted my hand instead. Heat flushed my cheeks; not only did he remember, but he had also just played me in front of everyone. Oh, this guy was bad.

Tokala laughed at my embarrassment and the grandfather just smiled. We all sat down and a few other people joined our table. Tokala introduced me to his Aunt Rose and Uncle Mora, Rio’s mother and father. I made a mental note to ask Tokala where his parents were, after the show.

The family chatted away, and I sat and observed. Many people came over to the table and greeted the Grandfather, him being the founder of the Gathering of the Nations and all, and I found many people were fans of Tokala and Rio who were the reigning Kings of the majority of competitions.

Right before the first Ms. Indian World competition began, a petite and beautiful Native American girl stopped by the table and took the empty seat next to Rio. She had long chestnut colored hair, pouty lips, and a small nose and wore a long flowing shirt that was longer in the back, some skinny jeans and a pair of combat boots; she matched him well.

“Her name is Sparrow, Rio’s ex-but-kinda-not-ex,” Tokala leaned over and whispered in my ear, “Can you say drama?” We both chuckled, but I could feel my heart taking a step back. If the man was taken, I was not going to intervene.

Looks like its friendship again, I thought.

As if able to read my thoughts, Tokala leaned over again to whisper, “But I’m single,” with a wink and a grin.

I caught, a few times, the grandfather watching me, and once, during one of the dance performances, I caught Rio looking at me as well. But he looked away quickly, as if he’d been watching the show all along and I wouldn’t have noticed if Sparrow hadn’t also seen him looking and her gaze had lingered. I couldn't discern what her look meant, but I wasn’t going to start anything so I told Tokala I was going to look for the restroom, and I got up.

The show had started about half an hour before and everyone’s focus was on the dancers, and grandfather was the only one to really notice I had left. My focus, too , had been on the dancers but after a while, my attention began to wander. The colors were bright and the steps of the dance were in perfect beat with the music. The competitors moved in unison, their arms making wide arcs in the air, the metal bells adorning their traditional wear adding a light tinkling, and the tassels waiving about, magnifying their every move. It was captivating, but I’d been diagnosed ADHD when I was young, and although I’d been fine without the medicine, believing I wasn’t truly ADHD, I did find it hard to focus for long periods of time. So I got up and left in search of a restroom.

I walked down hallway after hallway, unable to find a women’s restroom, and after turning what must have been the 5th corner, I bumped into a very tall man. He was so tall; a little voice in the back in my head told me he shouldn’t be able to fit in this hallway. But when I blinked and looked again, he seemed only 6 feet tall. A little tickling in the back of my mind made me slightly nervous to be near this man who had translucent skin, pulled taught around his face and stringy slicked back hair, dark extreme eyebrows and piercing eyes as cold as death. Blinking again, his skeleton like features disappeared, showing only a slightly malnourished man. One thing that didn’t change was this strange aura surrounding his silhouette in a small, thin line of such darkness it scared me to just look at him. At last the last little piece of evidence clicked into place in my head and although it was crazy, I couldn't but blurt it out.