Conversation with Papa Rose 6-19-12

The young Gangrel walked through the forest enjoy the sights and sounds of nature.  They first faded and then stopped as he arrived at the empty space where Papa Rose kept his home.  The eyes from the forest where watching him, he knew.  Those dead ancient eyes that had seen so much. 

He sat down on his rock and waited.  There were no tricks up his sleeve this time.  Right now he just wanted to talk.

There is a sudden displacement of air somewhere up in one of the trees and a loud crack that seems to echo in the otherwise quiet night as the tree strains to hold its sudden and much more massive load.  It sways wildly, creaking as it does so and after a moment, Sallow drops to the ground clumsilly, falling forward into the grass and slowly dragging himself to his feet with a huff.

 

"I ate trees.  Too damn weak.  Always too damn weak.  You'd tink tey'd make em stronga, but no, no, neva any stronga.  Always too damn weak."

 

He stumbles slowly up to the rock and nods to Raoul.

 

"Okay, what is it?  Chicago finally lose its shine?"

As Papa Rose approached Raoul shook his head.  "I've tried to fit in with them.  I'm the Deputy Sherif now so I thought I was getting somewhere.  Still it's not good enough.  There's talk about putting me in a box and sending me back to you for retraining whatever that means ..."

He paused ... "I'll never let that happen."

"Fit in?"  Sallow Chuckles and shakes his big shaggy head.  "You make a joke rie?  Cause dat be da stoopidest ting I hear in awhile.  No one fit in wit dem.  Dey insane.  Dey greedy.  Dey violent.  Dey care about notin dat mattas one lil wit.  Dey know notin,  understan even less.  Tere is no fitin in wit dem."  Sallow sits down heavily and sighs.  "Boxes heh?  Dey like dat foolishness.  Ai've helped put people in dere silly boxes.  Juss waited till tey weren't lookin an killed te poor fools.  Boxes, peh."

 

Sallow drags up a big mess of dirt and sorts through it for a quiet moment.

 

"Why you tryin te fit in?  You a Vedma, we don't fit in.  Surely you know dis.  No matta where you go, what you do, you ain't neva gonna fit in nowhere.  We live on te edges.  Dis is where you should be.  What you doin fitin in?"

 

"I'm proud to be Vedma and I value my independence over everything else.  It's all a game, this fitting in.  Every time I bow my head to the Prince I'm laughing inside because to me it's nonsense.  I was told playing this game was the price to stay in Chicago.  Yet the longer I am here the more I feel it's taking from who I am and still it's not enough.  I much prefer the edges.  Only I thought I could learn from the others.  Maybe not."

Raoul paused to take a pointless breath from the still air.  "Even my 'sister' feels I should be retrained like a dog.  Of course it was Evengii who put that bug in her ear.  Perhaps he seeks to destroy the bond between me and her.  But she believed him and that hurts."
  

Sallow chuckles dryly and leans back against the rock, dropping his handful of dirt and brushing his hands off on his overalls.  "Ahh, well, yer sistas neva been one for real thinkin.  Is not her fault.  I ain really much of a thinker eitha.  But no one should eva listen to Colburn.  Neva.  Dats juss wrong.  Betta ta call up da devil itself an ask eet for advice."  He sighs deeply.  "Foolish gull."

 

"Well, you do what you tink is rie.  I tink tere is plenty of good ways to fine good life ere but you know, I got rie lucky m'self.  If'n Mae weren't ere, I'd have left long ago.  Chicago ain't a healthful place.  Neva has been.  When ma sista tried to fix it, it fixed er instead.  Ai know why LEgba wanted me ta come ere but damn if this place ain't a rie mess."

 

"She's been a good support for me and perhaps she doesn't realize how dangerous Evengii is.  I didn't know you had a sister.  Who was she?"

Raoul looked down at his fingers and curled them up.  Although he stopped short of releasing his claws.  It wasn't a threatening gesture, only contemplative.  Then he looked back up.

"Speaking of siblings I met Joe Taggery in Detroit.  He asked me to tell you that he's prince of kankakee now.  Seems quite proud of himself.  He invited me to visit him and I'm thinking I might stay for awhile.  Might go better for me there."

 

"Ahh, Joe.  He's a good boy.  Not much a tinka eitha but none of us really are besides you.  Kankakee?  Is tat a real city?  Sounds silly.  He should know betta but he was always doin such foolish tings.  Ahh well.  Good for im.  Hope he is happy."  Slowly he drags himself upright and walks down the rise to the water's edge and kneels down in the thick, brackish water.  Tiny flying insects swarm up and around him before dispersing into the gloom.  "Its simpla out dere.  DeKalb was always simpla ten Chicago.  Dunno Kankakee but prolly alike.  Could be gud for ya.  But be careful, Joe, well, he's no Vedma.  He's dangerous stupid sometimes.  Gets all sorts of ideas.  As wont to blow hisself up as get anything done and like your sista, he listens to folk like Colburn.  Even though he knows betta."  He sighs again and spits.  "Damned foolishness.  But if you are smart, you could do well with him.  He's tough, strong, surviva.  He can teach you allot.  An you could smarten him up too.  Heh.  Could be good all aroun.  Git yourself known out tere an tey can't mess wit you so much in Chicago."

 

Raoul looked up at the sky and the faint remains of stars thousands of light years away.

"I won't change for them especially not into them."

He turned to look at his sire.  "The Prince shot a sick toddler out of my arms that I was trying to save.  It was simply barbaric and it was pointlessly cruel.  I can accept people die but that unconscious child was no threat to any of us.  There needs to be meaning to what we do or what are we?"

He stood up.  "Thanks for the talk.  I'll be back to visit but for now I'm leaving.  I want to run through the forest again without the burden of others at my heels.  I'll remember your advice about Joe."

 

Sallow nods slowly and smiles slightly.  "Good for you.  Ya, dey all crazy.  Vlad, he's been crazy so long, he tinks he's rie in te head.  Its sick, sad and juss wrong.  I tried killin him once but I juss don care.  Tey can kill one anotha.  Play tere silly games.  Don matta.  Juss so long as tey stay clear of me and mine."  He rises and walks a little way into the bog, nodding some more.  "Good luck.  Enjoy da runnin.  I like tis too.  Runnin, huntin, bein free.  Tats te truest ting about bein Vedma.  An so few unnerstan.  Ah well.  Fools.  Poor crazy fools."  He chuckles dryly, nods to Raoul then vanishes.