Living With The Gypsies | RAINBOW98

Living With The Gypsies - Chapter 16

Chapter 16

I stifled a scream as he drew the knife. As if suddenly he realised what he was doing, he lowered the knife and gave me a toothless grin. He walked around the front and entered the bakery. 

"Dash-" I start to say but I’m cut off mid-sentence because the man has come to stand in front of me. 

Upon closer look, I believe that he is not a man, and that he is actually a she, dressed up as a man. 

"Hi," the person says, breathing heavily. What was I meant to do? As if Dash read my thoughts, he came over and sat down, his arm wrapping protectively around me. 

"Hi babe, I got you a chocolate croissant," he says smiling at me, completely ignoring the weird man\woman that was standing right in front of us.

"Waggy!" Someone yells and the man turns around. I see one of the workers motion for 'Waggy' to go over there and I'm grateful for that. 

"He is so creepy," I say, cuddling into Dash. 

"Don't worry, one of the workers said he was a homeless man that hung around here so often, he inspired their name," he said and I realised thats why the bakery was called Waggy's Buns. 

"But he had a knife," I say quietly and Dash turns his head turns to me immediately. 

"What?" He shouts and a few other customers glance curiously at him. 

"Don't worry, it was nothing," I say quickly and pull at him. 

"Alright, if you say so," he sighs and continues eating his own chocolate croissant. 

After we finished our breakfast, we left the diner but not before I noticed Waggy throwing a few winks my way. 

What a freak, I thought to myself. I grasp Dash's hand and I pull him to O’Neil’s. 

"I really want a bag to keep all my stuff in," I say and start browsing through the store. 

"What about this one?" Dash asks whilst holding up a fluro pink bag, with the Adidas logo across the front. 

It was gorgeous. I grabbed it off him and saw that it was on sale, only 15euro. I walk over to the cashier and hand her the bag. Dash goes to grab his wallet, but I stop him. 

"I have money, I can pay," I say, squeezing his hand, he retreats and rests his arm around my waist. 

Whilst the cashier is packing my bag up, I notice a bulletin board hanging up. I take my bag and pocket the change and walk over to it.

There were many advertisements, but one caught my eye for a second-hand guitar for 50euro. One thing that I missed about home was my guitar lessons that I took every week. I had won a music scholarship which allowed me free lessons during school. There was a number at the bottom of the ad and I quickly memorised it, a skill which I had learnt from my Mother. 

“Dash, did you go to school?” I say, turning to face him. 

He nods and says, “I stayed at school till I was around 14, which was pretty unusual for a gypsy boy. Most gypsy boys and girls have left school by the age of 10.” he says and grabs my hand.

Wow, I couldn’t imagine not going to school after I had reached ten. At ten, I was still learning how to read properly and solving what 9x8 was.

"Ready to go?" Dash says, linking his arm through mine and I nod. I decide to not tell him about the guitar and we walk out of O’Neil’s. 

***

We continue browsing through each store, but my mind is elsewhere. I am thinking of ways to earn money, as I didn't want to bother Dawn or Dash for money. Besides, Dash had probably just spent the money he had earned from the carpet laying job by buying breakfast for both of us. 

Eventually we wander back to the field and see that most of the other gypsies have risen. I notice a new caravan has joined us and I point it out to Dash. 

"Other gypsies usually join us when we travel, that's what makes it fun because you get to meet new people," he says and I nod. 

I felt too shy to go and introduce myself to the newcomers so I just tagged along side Dash and we entered the caravan. I gather my clothes and chuck them all into my new bag and feel quite pleased with myself. I still had a 5euro note in my pocket and I decided to save that. 

Dash, I realise, is chucking on another jumper, over his sweatshirt. Actually it was quite cold, so I went over to his closet and picked out a jumper that I could wear. He wrapped his arms around me and I smile. 

"I love wearing your clothes," I say smiling. 

"They smell so good."

he laughs at my comment and spins me around. I bury myself into him and he hugs me close. I don't know how long we just stand there, but I swear I could have stayed in that moment forever.