A Greek God In Harlem (3 page)

Chapter Two

Tanya got off the bus at her usual stop and sighed. It was already evening time and she knew she had to walk back to her townhouse. 

Harlem was known for many not-so-good things, but you couldn't deny the intricate architecture that was built in the 19th century. It was beautiful when it wanted to be. You wouldn't find this anywhere else.

Tanya loved where she lived, the Dutch design of the buildings, and the nearness to all of Harlem's famous spots. She loved her walk back home every evening, just because of the buildings she could stare at.

She had moved back here seven years before to teach and she didn't regret the decision one bit. California had been great, and the opportunities were endless, but it was not home. Most people thought she was crazy, moving back to Harlem, but they didn't know it like she did.

Great things were in store for it, that she knew. And she wanted to be there when it finally happened. One hundred years. Two hundred years. She didn't care.

Hmm, maybe that’s where my obsession with Ancient Greece comes from. Immortality. The Greek gods were lucky. They lived forever, and got to see all their dreams and goals fulfilled, something mere mortals like Tanya did not have.

When she finally reached her townhouse, the first thing she did was check to see whether nothing had been vandalized. It had happened before. She sighed with relief and removed her light jacket. 

It was now fall, and Tanya hated the jackets and dreary colors she had to wear. She switched on the answering machine.

"Hey it's me Eric. Look baby... I just wanted to say, we need to sort things out between us, this isn't like you, not returning my calls. Don't you think you're being a little dramatic? Do you want me to beg..."

Tanya angrily pressed the button and stopped the message right there, deleting it. If she had to 'forgive' Eric one more time, she would go crazy. She had seen him with enough women to finally wizen up. He was not getting her back this time. If she was strong enough....

She felt tears come to her eyes briefly before quickly composing herself. She was not going to cry over a dude. Not even Eric.

After eating a lonely supper, noodles and a leftover pizza, she settled down in front of the television. Usually, she went through her teaching schedule every night on the couch, before falling asleep. But this time her mind was on something else.

The mysterious handsome guy from class who called himself 'Perseus'. She wondered if he would make an appearance again the next day.  A part of her hoped he would, and she didn't know why. She pulled the book out, 
Perseus
, and continued to read, getting comfortable on her couch.

The girls giggled as they watched Perseus bathe in the lake. One of them whispered to the other, "I heard he is going to Ethiopia to rescue a princess."

Another girl made a face, "Ethiopia? That means 'land of the burnt faces'. They have princesses?" 

The third girl hit her friend's arm disapprovingly, "Beautiful ones at that. But he's going to have get past Medusa and the sea serpent first."

"It's not worth the hassle," one girl quipped. Her friends nodded in agreement.

"He's my son and he's doing it for me. Am I not worth the hassle?" 

The shocked girls turned to the side and saw Queen Danae standing there, extremely pale. She was leaning back against a tree and looked very weak. 

The shamed girls bowed their heads in reverence and one of them said, "Our queen. Forgive us."

"If you're done staring at my son, maybe you can get back to your duties?"

The girls quickly nodded and ran off. Queen Danae sighed and stared at her son bathing in the distance. She wondered whether his journey was really worth it.

Oblivious to it all, Perseus was looking at his reflection in the still water. Suddenly, the water started to whirl around him and he gasped. He looked back at the reflection. A woman with snakes for hair. Medusa. She was smiling and talking, 

"Your mother is becoming weaker by the day! Andromeda is losing her grip on the rock! The tides are getting more dangerous. You will soon lose everything. All because you do not want to face me and Cetus." As Medusa said Cetus, a hideous snake emerged from her mouth.

Perseus closed his eyes at the sight and on opening them, his reflection was back to normal. He stared at the water for a bit, before hitting into it angrily. This Medusa wench was not going to get the better of him. 

He would kill her and her sea snake thing, all by himself. His mother would regain her health, and Andromeda would...

Well, he didn't know what Andromeda would do then. She was engaged to someone else after all...

He jumped out of the water and dried himself off. He had to seek Hercules' advice before leaving. Hercules had done this all before...

At this moment, the book had fallen out of Tanya's hands and she had fallen asleep in spite of the interesting story. She fell asleep dreaming of gods and mortals, and whether they could truly love each other. 

Outside, the wind blew and ruffled the tree leaves. Somewhere, a gunshot could be heard. Somewhere else, a block party had just begun. Tanya slept soundly on the couch.

Another night in her home town, Harlem.

Clunk! Clunk! Clunk! Tanya's black heels sounded on the shiny floor as she frantically rushed through the white hallways of Mount Sinai School of The Arts. She couldn't believe it. She had overslept on the couch reading that book Perseus the night before and it was now 10 in the morning. Her lecture was supposed to have begun two hours before. 

Maybe she would find her students silently reading instead of having gone home?

Huh? Fat chance, she thought as she turned a corner. She held on tight to her folders as she approached her classroom. It was silent for sure.

She entered the room with a huge apologetic smile on her face and her face dropped. 

They were all gone. 

They hadn't even waited for her. They couldn't wait two hours. Maybe her Greek Philosophy lesson really was that boring. She felt her past insecurities creep back in. Was she really up for this 'teaching' thing?

She started to make her way to the staffroom before spotting Donyelle come out of the ladies' bathroom. 

Donyelle beamed at her professor, "Hey Tanya. Sorry we didn't stay in the class, we're all in Theatre Hall... waiting for you."

Tanya gave her student a perplexed look, "Theater Hall? What are you guys doing there?" They both started walking.

Donyelle dabbed some lip gloss on her fleshy lips, "Errm...it was on your orders teach'. Percy told us."

The older woman grabbed Donyelle's arm as they both walked towards the Theatre Hall, "Wait what? Percy? Who's Percy?"

Donyelle rolled her eyes at her beautiful teacher,

"Only the hottest new teacher ever. Perseus Theodosiou. The Greek guy from yesterday? He's our new Theater Coach."

Tanya shook her head as they entered the Theatre Hall. What the hell was going on? Don't tell me that guy is a teacher here, she thought to herself.

Alas, when she entered the Hall, all her students were there, most of them paired up and reciting scripts. They were all into the activity and none of them looked up as she entered the room angrily.
She headed for the tall figure in the corner of the room, who was currently surrounded by a group of giggling female students.

She damn near pushed a few girls out of the way as she approached him, tapping him on the shoulder. A surprised Percy turned around. He was clearly enjoying all the attention he was being given. He had a huge smile on his face.

"We meet again!" He exclaimed. Tanya stood there glaring at him. Her eyes fell down to the name tag on his chest. She read the wording under his handsome photo:

Perseus Theodosiou
Theater/Acting Coach
Mount Sinai School of the Arts, Harlem.

He smiled when he saw her disbelieving eyes widen. The dark haired, thick eye-browed man held out his hand, "Just call me Percy. I quite enjoyed calling you Andromeda yesterday but Tanya is just as hot." He gave her a mischievous smile.

Tanya put her hand to her forehead, "Why didn't you tell me you were a new teacher here? Why didn't you show your ID? You were totally freaking us out yesterday!" Her anger was turning to embarrassment at the way she had thrown him out of her class the day before.

Perseus, or Percy as he liked to be called, shrugged, "I'm an acting coach. I was acting. Yesterday I was role playing as Perseus, the Greek god...and you were supposed to be Andromeda, my queen. Too bad you didn't play along." The corners of his lips lifted slightly.

Tanya shook her head and looked around the buzzing Theatre Hall. The students were hunched over scripts and seemed to be enjoying it. She looked back at Percy, who was observing her gaze. He answered before she could ask,

"I figured you wouldn't want them to leave before you got to school. I found them packing their bags and led them here instead... you can have your lesson now."

She looked at his earnest expression and looked back at the class. She was curious,

"What script are they reading?"

Percy reached over and grabbed one of the books she was holding to her chest. As he removed it, his hand brushed against the mound of breast under her sweater. They both blushed. Tanya pretended not to have noticed, although her ears were becoming hot.

She couldn't help wanting him to do that again. To touch her.

He cleared his throat and showed her the book, "It's some bits from this book, Perseus. That's why I left it on your desk yesterday. I got it from a bookstore."

Tanya's eyes widened, "That is such a coincidence. I was reading this same book a few days ago. You must have picked it up after I had returned it to the shelf. The shop owner is Middle Eastern right?"