Dirty Minds: An Interracial Russian Mafia Romance

I didn’t know David’s baba, but I understood women like her. Ones touched with something more. Ones that could see beyond others.

I desperately wanted to believe her.

But am I wasting my time?

She whispered, “You’re not wasting your time.”

Chills hit my skin.

She set the first card on the table.

On the card, a pale white skeleton stood within cold darkness.

“Death. Not surprised that it would be your first one.” She touched the card’s edges. “In the dream, there was blood on your paws and on the mouse’s fur. Lots of blood.”

Pressure built in my chest. “But was it our deaths?”

“You don’t care about anyone else?”

I stared at her. “No.”

“You should, but this is something different.” She tapped the card. “Something else must die, when your mouse comes to you.”

“What does that mean?”

“You must let something go. Let it die. I don’t know what, but let’s see.” She pulled out another card. A clown sat on the edge of a cliff and grinned at the sun. “The Fool.”

She studied both of them , grabbed a long silver stick, with a purple gem at the tip and touched the card with the jewel. “With the death, there will be a new cycle. But there must be death.”

I rubbed my eyes. “I don’t understand.”

“You have to let it go.” She circled the fool with the gem and pulled out another card. A woman sat on the throne with a cross dangling from her neck. “The High Priestess. She relates to the woman’s cycles. Their magic.”

“Their magic?”

“Their fertility.” Baba squinted and tapped the death card. “This is an odd reading. There’s death and birth, and right in the middle of it all, is a fool.”

She pulled out another card. Another woman sat on the throne. “The Goddess.”

She leaned back in her chair. “This reading is more of a feminine nature than I thought you would have.”

I stared at the fool. “Am I him?”

“Who?”

“The fool?”

“No. But there is a fool around you.” She touched the death card. “This is you, if we look at the cards that way. You are darkness, and these future days will bring even more death. You must let it go.”

“Let what go?”

“You’ll know better than me.” She pulled those cards forward and shuffled them. “Deep inside, you know.”

“Jean-Pierre kidnapping Emily?”

“Perhaps.”

“I won’t let that go.”

“He may be the fool.”

“He definitely is.”

“Then, what does your mouse bring. Let’s see.” She pulled a card from the center of the stack, turned it over, and placed it on the table. Two nude people stood in an embrace. “No surprise. The lovers.”

Baba smiled. “Your mouse brings you love. She gives you balance.”

She took another card out. A king held a sword in one hand and a set of scales in the other hand. “Justice. She brings you peace.”

My eyes watered. My throat went dry.

She placed another card down. A woman in a white robe petted a lion. Although the animal was massive, the woman had no problem soothing him with her strokes. “Your mouse is the strong one in the relationship. Look to her more than you look within yourself.”

I stared at her. I couldn’t blink. I couldn’t find the words.

And deep within my chest, my heart ached.

David cleared his throat. “You’re depressing him, baba.”

I held my hand up to stop him and leaned in. “So, my mouse is safe?”

“Today she is.”

“And tomorrow?”

“I don’t know. I only see today.”

“You saw the destruction of our future.”

“That’s not God, or the cards. That’s just my two eyes.” She gestured to the cards. “These just tell me what happens now.”

I’ll have my mouse by this evening. And she’ll be safe.

I rubbed my face again.

All my life, I trusted in the universe. I noticed the signs. Many times I believed this kept me safe, and ahead of all my enemies.

But that had just been my life in danger. When it came to Emily, I wasn’t sure if I wanted to put all my beliefs in the moon and stars.

“Let’s see if we can get more answers.” Baba took all the cards again, shuffled them, and set the death card back on the table. Shaking her head, she set another card next to him. Upside down, a man dangled from a tree by his ankles. “The Hanged Man.”

She picked up the silver stick and tapped the gem on the table. “You must surrender the ego. Everything you know must be turned upside down. . .or. . .” She tapped the death card. “You’re demise will surely come or the death of those you love.”

I gripped the edge of the table.

She pulled out another card. “The Devil.”

His black horns stuck out at the top of his head. His red skin appeared to be on fire. “The Devil is an illusion. It’s power. Greed. Anything that comes from the material world.”

She circled the card with her gem stick. “He’s your dark side too. Your shadow. Keep him at bay.”