As Nuri sipped on her coffee, her mother drove forward on the lonely highway. The mother and daughter were traveling through the night towards their next destination. This particular destination was almost always a large money maker for the two. For the last three years, they had attended a massive festival in New York State. Many patrons from New York City visited and they brought their money with them.
"Hey Mom, want me to take the wheel?"
"No."
Nuri's mother had been in a terrible mood ever since she learned that Nuri had inadvertently "cursed" a yuppie couple at their last stop. Nuri felt terrible about the incident and had recently been mulling over in her own mind the fact that she may have forgotten to uncurse a few of the minor aspects of her victim's curse. Still Nuri was still fascinated by her newfound powers and it would be a challenge, not to use curses in the future. The desire to learn more about curses burned Nuri up. As her mother continued to ignore every attempt Nuri made to initiate small talk Nuri became dejected and filled with remorse. Nuri looked away watching the dim highway pass her by, she hoped that her mother would chastise her gain if only to remind Nuri that she cared. Then, as Nuri started to nod off her mother said something surprising.
"You know Nuri, I cursed someone once myself."
Nuri perked up, her mother was usually so guarded about her past, Nuri's heart raced, she wanted to hear every word of her mother's story.
"Who did you curse, Mom?"
"I will tell you all about it, you must not interrupt and be warned this story involves your father."
Nuri's eyes opened, wide Nuri did not know much about her father, other than "he was a good man," and "If it were his choice he would be here with us right now." Nuri's anticipation for her mother's story swelled to unimaginable levels, finally she would know something about her mother, other than the fact that she was a strange, eccentric, stern, old Gypsy woman.
"Mom, please tell me!" Nuri pleaded looking over at her mother as she drove the large moving van.
Nuri's mother cleared her throat. "Nuri, this is a long story, so be forewarned. To tell the story of how I cursed someone, I must first explain my situation at the time. I was, as I am now a traveling merchant, I traveled with a large group of Gypsies, we were mostly located in the former Soviet Bloc. The people loved us, we brought goods into these countries, goods that were not available to the people under the communist regime. Although we got by well enough, I longed for a more glamorous life. One day when I was in a large city, I went to a ballet. In this ballet was a beautiful young Gypsy man, he was an outstanding dancer, he was masculine with a large bushy mustache."
"Was that dad?" Nuri said interrupting.
"Hush, let me continue!" Nuri's mother said harshly.
"That day, I do not know what came over me, I felt bold. I approached the man and he told me his name, it was Boyko, such a masculine and sexy name. Almost as if we had been cursed to do so, we fell in love and before I knew it I was living with him in his apartment. Life for a while was grand. For a year, I attended Boyko's ballets and sold my wares at the makeshift market. The year was 1990 and the Soviets were losing their control of the people. Then a devil came into my life."
"Is Boyko my dad?"
"Hush, Nuri! Let me continue!"
"Sorry, Mom," Nuri said in a slightly ashamed tone.
"This devil was Helma Faust, she was a part of a top secret offshoot of the KGB dedicated to the science of the supernatural. She had been studying Gypsies over the past decade and had discovered that the ability to curse someone came from a recessive gene present in some Gypsy males, but not all. I had up to this point been told and taught how to give a curse, but I was forbidden to do so as curses always resulted in our banishment from whatever country we tried to peddle our wares in. Curses are bad for business, and as you will find out they offer little help! Little did I know, but at the time Helma was desperately searching and looking to kidnap as many Gypsy men as she could.. She wanted their sperm."
"How did she get their sperm?!" Nuri said holding back laughter.
"How do you think? It isn't rocket science, how to get sperm from a man! Anyway, I arrived home from the market one day to see Helma at my doorway, two large KGB thugs flanked her, and Boyko was standing next to them. He looked terrified, I inquired as to what was going on and that Aryan bitch Helma, explained in the most clinical way possible, that she was taking my love away from me forever. I still remember her conceited look to this day, she was over 6'0" tall, with high set cheek bones and long blonde hair. I could just tell that she believed she was superior to me, she didn't care that she was breaking up two lovers, she didn't seem to possess any human emotions. Nazi bitch!"
"Dude, Mom you really hate her!" Nuri said surprised by her mother's sudden and uncharacteristic vindictiveness.
"DO NOT CALL ME DUDE! I have told you one-thousand times, I am no "DUDE!" Anyway, let me continue. I still remember Boyko's masculine tears streaming down his face as he was dragged away. When he was finally gone, I went into my apartment to find that part of my wall was opened. A secret doorway was revealed behind the wall, it led to an elevator shaft. Before I knew it an older man spoke, he was standing behind me. He was a veteran KGB assassin! He told me he came up through the secret elevator and was given the assignment to murder me and take my body back down the elevator. He told me that Helma was giving orders for ALL female Gypsies to be assassinated, he explained that he could not carry out the orders and instead was risking his life to warn his would-be victims of their coming doom. The nice man said that he had grown up in a concentration camp, during WWII and would not let the same kind of evil happen again. He said that all the large Soviet apartments built in the Stalin era had secret elevators going to every room, just in case the KGB needed to assassinate a citizen. I was in a panicked state, I asked him desperately where I was to go and what would happen to Boyko. The nice KGB man said that he already forged the right documents to get me to America and he handed them to me, he told me to leave in a hurry. It wasn't until I got into America that I found out I was pregnant, and yes Nuri, Boyko is your father. He knew you existed."
Nuri was stunned, she never knew that her mother's life was so harrowing. Then after some minutes of contemplation Nuri remembered an element of the story that her mother forgot. "What about the curse Mom? Who did you curse?"
Nuri's mother cleared her throat again, "That bitch Helma! Before I left, I took that same mortar and pestle and the same ingredients that you used to curse that poor unfortunate couple and I used it to curse that bitch Helma! I am ashamed to say that my curse was also sexual in nature, and like you, at the time I had no idea if it worked or not. Yet now, because your curse seemed to work, I am certain mine did as well."
Nuri was dying of curiosity, "What was the curse?"
"I am too ashamed to say."
"MOM! Come on!" Nuri goaded her mother.
