A Greek God In Harlem Read online

  Percy tightened his embrace around Donyelle as he looked from her to her boyfriend. He had not signed up for this. He looked to Tanya for help but all she was doing was standing there, glaring at Morris. Perhaps Donyelle had not reacted in the right time and place, but that was damn disrespect, how Morris was going about things.

  Julianna placed her hand on Morris shoulder, who shrugged it off. He didn't want to incriminate himself further.

  "Look Donyelle. All I'm saying is, we spend every waking hour together. Why can't we just have different acting partners? You're seriously overreacting."

  And with that, an embarrassed Donyelle broke free from Percy's strong comforting arms and ran out of the crowded but silent classroom. Julianna flipped her hair and giggled at Morris, in a 'did-you-see-that-mess' kind of way.

  Then Tanya ran after her, but not before throwing Morris and Julianna a look.

  Percy let out a deep breath, "Okay everyone. I think you oughtta' pick up the scripts you've been throwing all over the place and head home. Class is done. See you tomorrow." Julianna blew Percy a kiss as she left the room. He ignored it.

  "Morris stays behind," he said as he saw Morris get ready to leave.

  Morris gave Percy a sour look, "What?! What did I do? I got basketball practice son. She'll get over it."

  As Morris flung on his backpack and started to walk out, he felt a strong hand grab the bag from behind and he almost fell backwards, as some girls laughed at him.

  Percy said it one more time, "We need to have a small chat. Man to boy."

  Morris turned around and Percy was giving him a steely look. The college boy's shoulders slumped. If looks could kill. Damn.

  Tanya ran after a sobbing Donyelle into the school parking lot,

  "Donyelle wait!" she called. Donyelle turned around and all Tanya heard was, "Tell Morris I'm dropping out. Of school. Me and the baby."

  Tanya stopped in her tracks and stood still in shock, watching Donyelle run down the street.

  Percy removed his reading glasses and told Morris, "Sit down."

  Morris sighed and found a seat. He looked up at Percy, who was sitting on the teacher's desk.

  "This is my first class with you guys and this is how you repay me?" Percy started, half-jokingly. Morris breathed out. Percy continued,

  "I was about to blow a fuse on you just now, but I'll give you a chance to explain yourself."

  Morris could tell his teacher was forcing himself to remain calm. Judging by the size of his body, Morris was glad Percy wanted to keep calm.

  "I'm waiting..." Percy calmly said. Morris leaned back in the chair. Did he owe this white dude an explanation? The guy had just come into the school today, he didn't know shit. Who did he think he was?

  "Look dude, as I said, it's my business. Why don't y'all just leave me and my girl alone?"

  Percy looked at his watch, as if becoming impatient.

  "I could send out a disciplinary letter to your parents for your behavior today. Would you like that?"

  "What?!! Dude it was Donyelle wilin' out not me. Geez. Why's it gotta' be me to pay for that shit?"

  Percy shrugged, "You're the guy. And something tells me this is about more than flirting with other girls."

  Morris narrowed his eyes at the teacher. Damn, this guy was good. But he would not give in. It wasn't his business, about the baby. So Morris didn't answer.

  "Are you ready to be a dad?" Percy asked. The look on Morris' face was that of a guy who had just peed on himself. What the hell? How did this teacher know about the pregnancy?!!

  Percy saw this look and remained focused on reading Morris's mind.

  "I, I don't know what you're talking about..." Morris stuttered. He didn't want to be associated with being the father or the baby...of any baby. Not now. Even if it was his.

  "Oh but you do. Donyelle is pregnant and you've got to start thinking about the baby's future, which will involve both you and the mother. Trying to flirt with other girls and going for basketball practice is not gonna make the baby go away."

  Morris narrowed his eyes at Percy. Had Donyelle confided in him? That was some major betrayal right there.

  "Donyelle told you all this?" he asked tentatively. He would have a proper word with her later. Going around telling people she was pregnant. Chick had no brains.

  "No. But the fact remains, you're gonna be a father soon. I need you to start finding out what semesters Donyelle would like to take off, whether she needs aid of any sort and what you'll be doing to ensure she keeps reading despite the situation," Percy explained.

  Morris was still wondering how the hell Percy had known. It's not like he was a superhero of some sort.

  "Dude I ain't doing all that. The baby might not even be mine!"

  Suddenly the weather outside started to change. The clouds turned grey and started to move very fast.

  It started to drizzle. Morris let out a "Huh?" as he turned towards the window.

  He looked back at Percy who was now looking at him with a more than deathly look,

  "That baby is yours. And you're going to be a part of its life. No matter how idiotic I find you, Donyelle needs you right now more than she needs anyone else. Are you going to do as I say? Or not?" Percy cracked his large knuckles.

  Morris gulped and looked at the door. If this dude decided to attack he could make a run for it. He looked back at the professor and said in a resigned voice, "Whatever. Yeah I'll talk to her, about the baby."

  The weather started to clear again.

  "Tell her this is not the end of her run here at Mount Sinai so she should not even think about dropping out. I'll prepare special assignments and test days for her. Tell her that."

  Morris rolled his eyes. Was this guy just trying to make him feel guilty? Being all husband-like towards Donyelle.

  Morris spoke up, "Look dude. You're just our teacher. You're not her boyfriend, I am. I'll decide where we go from here..."

  Percy shrugged, "You better watch your mouth around me. Donyelle is a very beautiful girl who has her whole life ahead of her. Whether you decide to take this baby as a blessing or a curse, she'll always have support from the school."

  Morris shook his head as he walked out, "Okay. I hear you. I'll talk to her. I guess I've been acting this way since she told me she was pregnant yesterday. I don't know how you found out, but can you keep this between us?"

  Percy got up from the desk he had been sitting on and nodded. Morris asked one last question,

  "Do you have a girl teach'? I mean, what would you do if you were me?"

  Percy hesitated to answer,

  "I did. Have one. I lost her. Now I'm trying to find her again. She was my queen. Just as Donyelle should be yours."

  Morris prodded on, "Trying to find her again? Where did she go?"

  At that moment, Percy spotted Tanya standing at the door behind the class, staring at him. He smiled at her but her eyes were glassy. She was holding herself and just staring ahead. Morris took this as his turn to leave.

  When he had left, Tanya slowly walked towards the man seated on the front desk, looking at her confusedly.

  "Did you catch up with Donyelle? And on the same note, did you do track in high school?" He asked lightheartedly. Tanya simply broke down right there and then.

  Percy panicked and stood up, walking fast to where she was and embracing her. She was now sobbing profusely and saying, "I see myself in her. So much."

  Percy looked down at her beautiful tear-stained face and the clouds turned grey again. Why was Andromeda crying?

  He wanted so badly to capture her lips, but she had to tell him what was wrong first.

  He wiped a tear away from her soft caramel face and waited for her to speak.

  Later on that evening, Tanya sniffed and took another sip of her coffee. She sat back in the chair and looked up at the sky. She was currently on the rooftop of her apartment and the evening sky was becoming a darker shade of blue.

  She looked at the tall man sta
nding near the edge, looking out at the dilapidated borough. He looked back at her and caught her staring at him.

  She gave him a shy smile and he winked. Percy had brought her back home after the Morris-Donyelle ordeal and she had led him up here.

  Neither of them knew why, but it felt right. Them being up here, the both of them, alone.

  Percy looked down at the drink he was holding and sighed. What a long first day.

  Tanya noticed his exhaustion and gestured for him to come and sit down with her. There were two chairs after all.

  All the way back home, she had refused to indulge any bit of her past to him including what might have caused her to cry for Donyelle so much.

  In an apartment across them, they could hear Let It Flow by Toni Braxton playing. It was a soothing sound, one that Tanya so desperately needed. RnB ballads, intertwined with the sound of distant police sirens, were a sound that Tanya had grown accustomed to whenever she sat on the rooftop.

  Percy walked up to the vulnerable beauty and sat down as she had suggested. He had insisted on not leaving until her tears dried.

  She wiped the last tear from her face and smiled dejectedly, "Don't let me keep you here. Tomorrow's another school day."

  Percy set his drink down and asked tentatively, "Do you want me to leave?"

  Tanya shyly shook her head and sniffed again.

  Percy hesitated before continuing, "You have to forgive yourself Tanya."

  Tanya's eyes widened and she gulped. What? What was he talking about? He can't possibly know about…

  Percy took her hand, "You had named her. You had created a room for her... but he didn't want her...and eventually, neither did you."

  There was a long awkward silence and Percy was wondering whether this was the right time to be saying all this. He knew it was a very sensitive topic for her, as it would be, for anyone.

  Tanya frowned and looked down, "I guess you got the lowdown on me from the teachers' lounge huh?"

  Percy shook his head, "No. No one was talking about you. But I know how much that baby meant to you. Freya. She was Freya right?"

  Tanya couldn't hold it in. She burst into tears. Percy felt a pang of sorrow and got a hold of her hand. He hated doing this, but he knew he'd have to reveal himself to her very soon. To explain how he knew all of this.

  He knew she had an Afro-Dominican boyfriend named Eric. He worked out of state and was always gone for months on end, though they shared the apartment.

  They had met when she had just moved to Harlem, eight years before. He had swept her off her feet, with his Afro-Spaniard good looks and slick talk. A modern day Casanova.

  He was the CEO of his own startup, and it had branches all over the East Coast. Tanya was smitten with him and possibly he, with her. At company parties, girls would throw themselves at his feet all the time but one display of Tanya in a short red dress, with his arm around her... and all the vultures would stay away.

  They knew who he belonged to. They used to do all sorts of 'white people' things like skiing, bungee jumping. He would take her out every other day, whenever he was in Harlem.

  And then she got pregnant. Eric's attitude seemed to have made a 180 from the time she gleefully announced Freya to him.

  To keep it short, he was not too pleased, and was not afraid of speaking his mind. This had crushed Tanya's heart, and they separated for a bit.

  Lord knows what he got up to during that time, but Tanya would always try to call his cell and it would divert. His phone was always switched off at night. Tanya was not stupid. She knew he was cheating on her. He was many miles away and separated from her. She was pregnant and could not give him sex. It was inevitable.

  As the pregnancy wore on, so did Tanya's doubts about the baby. Freya. At exactly 4 months, she decided to terminate the pregnancy. It had been the toughest decision of her life.

  "It was necessary baby," Eric had said, while hugging her. Tanya could smell the perfume on his collar and that was yet another blow. How much disregard he had for her, he couldn’t even bother to cover his cheating behind.

  Tanya had hugged him back though. Tightly. And she didn't know why, up to this day, his things were still in her room, his number still on speed dial. Sometimes she hated herself for this.

  Percy got a hold of her soft hand and motioned for her to come and sit on his lap. If this was any other man, even Eric at this point, Tanya would have jerked her hand away. But his hand felt so right, so familiar.

  She stood up and went to him, settling herself on his lap and in his embrace. He got the blanket she was using and covered the both of them with it.

  Their own little cocoon, up on the rooftop.

  Her legs were propped up against her body and she leaned to his hard body. She sighed into his neck and whispered softly, "I know we're both exhausted, but we have to come up with a schedule for class tomorrow. For Greek Mythology class."

  "Shhh..." Percy said softly as he enjoyed the feel of her body against his. He looked down at her gentle face and saw her eyes flutter with sleep. She was adorable.

  Tanya looked up at the sky once more and could have sworn she saw the stars twinkle extra brightly as he gently squeezed her. What could have caused this, she didn't know.

  But Percy was getting to her, and she had to find out exactly who he was. She was not convinced about his 'teacher from Connecticut' story. How had he known about her past? She was too exhausted to become suspicious now.

  She fell asleep in his arms in spite of herself.

  In a brownstone not too far away, Aisha was picking out her best dress. She was going to get a taste of the Greek hunk.

  And she always got what she wanted at Mount Sinai. Maybe she could get daddy to transfer him to a department closer to hers... she sighed mischievously as she pondered the possibilities. Her and Percy would make pretty Greek-Black kids that's for sure.

  And if there was any black woman he liked, why wouldn't it be her, Aisha Mills? He would go places.

  Aisha finally settled on a royal blue mini-dress. Tomorrow, Mount Sinai wouldn't know what hit them.

  Percy would definitely have something to ogle at.

  Chapter Four

  Tanya sat at her desk and watched her students silently reading their scripts, rehearsing their parts.

  Donyelle was visibly missing, and Morris had taken up a spot next to Julianna. Tanya sighed worriedly at this.

  To get that image out of her mind, she looked to the other side of the lecture hall and smiled at the sight.

  Percy was seated nonchalantly, his long legs propped up on a desk in front of him. He was holding a Reader's Digest. He looked up when he felt her eyes on him and smiled back.

  Tanya blushed and looked back down at the novel she was reading, Perseus. She stole one more quick glance at Percy, wondering why he and the book character were so similar, down to the name and physicality.

  She shrugged it off and continued to read the book entitled Perseus. Gods only exist in books like this...

  Perseus had never seen a sight more beautiful than this. At the same time, he had never been more scared in his life.

  There she was, Andromeda, the Ethiopian princess, tied to a rock. He would have stared at her all day if not for the apparent danger she was in.

  "You may have defeated me, but you will not defeat my spirit!" Medusa hissed in his ear. He gulped and refused to turn his head. Ever since he had decapitated the Gorgon Medusa, her ghost had taunted him wherever he went.

  He was now on the banks of the Nile River, armed with only his sword. He had been to hell and back these last few days, trying to defeat Medusa and plenty of other beasts.

  He looked down from the cliff he was hiding behind and a bead of sweat rolled down his forehead. He peered over and saw the naked Andromeda yet again, waiting for him, her hero. Waiting for someone.

  She was weeping profusely and writhing against the rock. He had to do something. Give me the courage oh father! Perseus prayed to Zeus.


  A large sea serpent emerged from the water and showered her with it. She bowed her head and looked up again at the monster, seething with anger. She flipped her braids back and seemed to be taunting the monster.

  Perseus looked around and wondered whether he could jump on the serpent's back without it seeing him.

  The monster submerged again and Andromeda continued to sob and cry out for rescue. It was a haunting sound.

  Perseus didn't have to know her language, to know she was crying out at having been 'abandoned' and 'forgotten'. If only she knew.