A Greek God In Harlem (2 page)

A young peasant boy looked up at the clouds and so did his mother. The clouds were turning grey and flashes of lightning appeared.

"The gods are arguing," The mother said as she looked up at the rain clouds. Her husband nodded and told her to get on with selling the tomatoes.

"Mother is sick. I am not leaving her here for what will be a long odyssey to a dark land." Perseus stated matter-of-factedly.

Zeus sighed as he thought of his wife. It was true, Queen Danae, Perseus' mother was ailing and constantly in bed. Their bed was made of clouds, but that didn't stop Danae from perspiring greatly. She was a mortal after all.

"Yes. Your mother is sick. However, this is your chance to prove yourself as a man, as your brother Hercules once did." Perseus winced. 

He hated it when he was compared to Hercules, his older half brother. As much as he loved him, he didn't want to be him. He wanted to be himself, Perseus.

"There is a girl," Zeus said, half smiling. Perseus stared at his father dumbfounded. Was he really playing the 'girl' card with him? It was true Perseus loved his fair share of beautiful mortals, but not enough to face certain death.

Zeus continued, "Andromeda. She is the daughter of Queen Cassiopeia and King Cepheus. She's the princess of Ethiopia. She's about your age and very desirable."

Perseus knew there was something his father was not telling him, "So I slay the sea serpent and get to dally with Andromeda, just like that?"

Zeus added on quickly. "Of course. One little thing..." Perseus sighed. Of course, there's always one little thing...

"She's tied to a rock in the rapids of the Nile River, naked. And Cetus is making sure no hero comes to rescue her. Not even her fiancé, Phineus, to whom she is engaged."

Perseus gave his father a blank stare. So he was going to leave his sick mother to rescue a princess who was already promised to someone else...

"Did you say naked?" Perseus inquired. Zeus nodded and the two snickered at each other before a woman cleared her throat. They both turned to find the beautiful Queen Danae standing there, her hand on her stomach. She was getting paler by the day and she was now holding her stomach.

Perseus rushed to her side with lightning speed and held her. She smiled lovingly at her son and touched his cheek. Her hand was sweating, like her face. When asked what was wrong, she told her husband and son,

"Medusa came to me in a dream yet again... son you have to go and rescue Andromeda from the rock, in order for me to live..." Both Zeus and Perseus looked at her in shock. This was what it was coming to? Medusa was entering her dreams? 

Perseus looked into his mother's eyes. If this was what it took... he would do it. He would travel to the land of the beautiful dark people. The Kingdom of Ethiopia awaited him. Andromeda awaited him...

"Hey Tanya are you gonna buy that book or what?" the shop owner shouted.

Tanya gasped in shock and closed the book, its dust flowing into her face. She sneezed and looked up at the Arab salesman who had called her name. She had been so engrossed in the story that she had forgotten she was reading it in a store. She set the book Perseus back in its place.

Chapter one

Donyelle opened her textbook and practically shoved her head in it, trying to ignore her boyfriend. He was currently making eyes at Julianna, the lone Latina in the class. 

She rolled her eyes. Was he trying to make her jealous? If so, he was succeeding greatly. Her eyes bore into the book that she was not reading.

When she stole another glance at them, she was taken by surprise. Morris, her boyfriend, was looking straight at her. He winked. 

Donyelle stuck her tongue out and went back to 'reading'. She hated it when he did that, flirting with other girls. Admittedly, she did the same thing with the guys. Yup, they were a weird insecure couple, that couldn't admit that they loved each other.

Morris stood up from where he had been talking to Julianna and all the girls turned to look at him walk. Tall, dark and handsome. Donyelle was so lucky! He purposefully passed by her seat without giving her a second glance and the whole class gasped. Donyelle blushed angrily. How could he?

Then she felt him cup her face, turn it up and kiss her. The whole class cheered. When their passionate kiss was over, he whispered into her ear, "I've been wanting to do that all morning." 

Donyelle let out a deep breath and composed herself before asking, "Whatever Morris. Have you done the assignment? The one on Zeus?" Morris shrugged, "Don't know, don't care. I'm in this class for the credits."

His girlfriend shook her head. He had to let go of this 'bad boy' attitude. This was so not him. 

"Here for the credits huh?" Tanya Whitford entered the class with a bunch of books. The whole class groaned. They had hoped the lecture was not on.

Morris licked his lips at Tanya, who was getting ready to write on the board, "Morning teach'. Looking good." Tanya shot him the evil eye and looked at Donyelle apologetically. 

"Please sit down Morris. Our lecture has begun. So who can tell me about Zeus?" Tanya tried to pull her skirt down. She was the lecturer for Greek Mythology here at Mount Sinai School of the Arts, in her beloved hometown Harlem, and it was a tough job. The students were great, and willing to learn, but some of the boys were downright disrespectful. Her young and beautiful looks made it hard for her to teach without getting lewd 'compliments'. She was clocking thirty, but could easily fit in with the best of the college girls.

Tariq spoke up, "Zeus? Only the most respected god in all of ancient Greece, had a bunch of baby mamas..." The whole class burst into laughter. Tanya couldn't help but smile. If it had been Morris making the comment she would have cussed him out, but Tariq was her top student.

"Yes. Yes. Class calm down. Zeus did father many children with different women, true. And all his children grew up to become important mythical figures. Can anyone name some of them?"

Tariq was about to speak up again when a different voice said, "Hercules and Perseus. Two brothers who always fought for their dad's love and attention."

The whole class including Tanya turned to look at the man who was now standing at the door, leaning against the wall, staring straight at Tanya.

Damn! The girls thought unanimously. He was tall, muscular and very Greek-looking. He had dark hair and dark eyes that were staring straight at their professor Tanya.

Tanya herself seemed to have forgotten what the hell she had been teaching as she stared at the handsome man that had sneaked into the class. She then remembered and nodded,

"Yes. Hercules and Perseus were Zeus' favorite sons. And you are..." she asked, prompting for his name. 

The man continued to lean against the wall, "... enamored by your beauty, princess."

The whole class cheered and laughed. Morris cocked his eyebrow. Who did this white dude think he was, hitting on their hot teacher?

Tanya blushed, "Why thank you. I think you may be lost though. I don't remember hiring a teaching assistant. You can't be a student, and since you don't want to tell me your name..."

The man interrupted, "Perseus." The class snickered. Yeah right!

Tanya asked, "Perseus? Zeus' son Perseus? Like the god Perseus?" 

The man nodded, "Like...the god. Yes." 

Tanya quipped, "Your parents must have really liked Greek myths. That's quite an ancient name..."

Perseus shrugged, "Coincidentally, my brother is Hercules and my dad is Zeus." Tanya gulped. Okay this guy was getting creepy.

"You know that you have to be registered to be in this building. May I see your ID?" she asked. The whole class waited for him to show one. The girls were hoping he would show one and stay. He was sooo dreamy.

'Perseus' shook his head, "No ID, princess. It got lost on my...journey...here. Have you ever been a long journey, looking for something?" He flexed his shoulders as if to relax them.

By the time he had finished his sentence, Tanya had pulled out her phone, "Please leave this classroom before I call security." The class groaned.
The man called Perseus looked at her in shock and said, "We shall meet again Andromeda."

Donyelle uttered a 'what the f' under her breath. Was he calling the teacher Andromeda now? Andromeda was some princess from the Greek stories. This dude was definitely hot but weird.

Tanya made a gesture as if to start dialing a number and before she knew it, 'Perseus' had walked out of the classroom. She breathed a sigh of relief and looked back at the shocked class.

"Okay. Just ignore the last ten minutes and let's get back to our lesson." She looked down at her notes and saw something that had not been on the table before. The book. From the day before. The book she had been reading in the store the day before, 
Perseus
. 

She looked up at her students, "Who, who put this in my desk?" They all looked at each other.

One of the girls replied, "The hot crazy guy from just now. When you weren't looking."

Tanya stared at the book and then at the door where 'Perseus' had been standing. She hoped she didn't have a stalker on her hands. And why had he called her Andromeda?!!

She made a mental note to find out after the lecture, who was playing this prank on her, because it was not very funny. Not funny at all. 

Perseus my ass, she thought.

On top of the book, lay a sticky note that said, 'Keep reading our story'.

Tanya stared at the note for a bit and a student asked, "You okay teach'?" 

She looked back at her class and offered a weak smile. She'd have to find the mysterious dark-haired guy later on and set him straight. No one played around with Tanya Whitford.