Romania. We’re standing in a parking
around the bus that will take us into the heart of the country and,
for some, even across the border to Moldova. Entertaining us in full
circus style is Dez. Seriously, she could be a circus clown. She
has all the prerequisite skills: juggling skills, balloon animal
skills, and that huge, clown smile.
“Alright! Ready to see my trick?!”
she says in her big, smiley voice. Apparently, it’s a rope trick,
and she holds the rope folded in half. The rope was originally
draped around Ashley Weaver’s neck.
“It’s a versatile thing,” she said
when I asked her about it. ” It could be a necklace like it is now,
but also be a belt, a jump rope, or a life saving device, if the
situation calls for it. And have you seen… okay, it’s really bad
because it says the F word like every other word, and… I shouldn’t
even say it… never mind…”
“Wait, what?!” I said. I had heard
good things about Ashley Weaver, that she was really funny. What I
didn’t know is that she was almost perpetually embarrassed,
especially if she was put on the spot. “What says the F word every
other word?”
“Well, have you seen the movie
Boondock Saints?”
“Yeah! Great
movie.”
“I love that movie…” she says,
her voiced filled with hushed awe. “But you know that part where
he gets the rope and then the other guy says, ‘What are you going to
need that rope for?’ and then they fall through the ceiling and the
rope saves them? That scene was probably a big reason for why I
brought this rope.”
her and held it in the middle. Then, shook her whole body as if she
were having some kind of violent seizure. Her brown hair with its
red highlights flashed out. The rope twisted and turned in her hand.
She stopped shaking. The rope swayed back and forth.
a knot. She had a tied a knot in the rope.
Too be continued…
