The days were passing slowly and events seemed to have to some sort of a snail-like crawl. Normally, this drives a person insane, but Aysu knew that it meant she was to observe something. And there was much to observe.
Since the family was moving far away, she had to go with them because her father would not allow her to live on her own.
"I'm old enough!" Aysu used to say in her arguments with her parents. "I have a job, and I'm 20 years old!"
It was no use. Her father would say that he could not leave her in a place unprotected. Aysu stilled argued. Finally, it came down to logic.
"How much money to you make a month?" Father had asked.
"About $400," she said, knowing at once what was coming next.
"It will take you nearly $1500 to live alone," Father coaxed. "Per month. That's car, phone, apartment and food and other essentials."
Of course he was right. But that didn't make it any better or easier. So after many weeks of anger, frustration and home searching, Aysu spent a night in prayer to O'Dell.
She lit her candles and placed them around the oriental rugs on her bedroom floor. Then she put her bible and incense burner in the center turned down the lights then sat in the middle of it all. she closed her eyes and asked for peace of mind and calmness of spirit before she opened the Holy Book to a chapter. The first thing she read was an order from O'Dell to one of his followers to "go south".
That was all it took. It was real. She had asked and in that moment O'Dell answered. There was mo arguing about it. But then, something more extraordinary happened. In the depths of her stomach, something erupted and she felt excited. Something told her that something...or someone...was waiting for her in the southern land. She knew she had to go. She must go, take the journey, and find that something....someone.
And if only it was that easy. She had a plan to fulfil at the academy she attended. She had auditioned for the theatre there and had won enough money to take a few classes. She had been at the academy for years and was ready to graduate. This was the last semester she was to be there. And she would have to leave before that happened. Naturally, this made her angry, but she remembered that O'Dell had a plan. So she just took 3 classes and began to bide her time, still working in the Writing Center of the academy.
But it got worse. She auditioned for one of the plays and got a role in the Japanese play (perfect for a girl wanting to expand beyond the shallow thoughts of American Society). She thought it all would work out, but then the director told her that the play would tour in May...
She was supposed to move to the South before April. And now she didn't know what to do. She had thought of many options:
1) Stay. find a place to live till after May. But then she would be there for the rest of the semester, which she had not planned on. So she did not take the last class she needed to graduate. So now if she stayed, it would be frustrating to know she could have graduated, but didn't.
2) Move to working on costumes or makeup for the first play. Then she could still leave earlier in the year.
3) Just wait it out...
This last option was at first, appealing but the more she thought about it, the more it sounded less like good old Romani honesty. So she went with #2. And now all she could do was hope for the best and pray to O'Dell to be merciful. To let her life be a little easier now. Let the director know that the plays really did mean something and that she truly was sorry for being a burden.
All she could do was hope...
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