Freya left Sunny Joe’s house and meandered toward the general store. Her shelves were almost empty before she left for Lakluun, and a visit to the store was long overdue. She felt a burning desire for dark chocolate, before she remembered the Night of the Salt. It was a transition that every Master of Sinanju experienced; it changed the body so that it could endure the rigors of Sinanju training, and forced it to hyper-efficiently process food and water. Eating food laden with impurities would now make her deeply ill. Sunny Joe had told Freya that her father, Remo Williams, had fallen into a coma after eating a cheeseburger. Now, Freya’s diet was limited to basic foods like fish, rice, nuts, and roadrunner. Sunny Joe called it ‘Sinanju duck,’ but that didn’t make it taste any better. Maybe she would get a few almonds.
Before she reached the store, Freya felt eyes turning her way. They were not threatening, but Freya had hoped to go to the store and return home without being the subject of gossip.
She detected someone approaching her — a young male heart, beating nervously. She turned around, expecting to see Tommy, the boy who loved trying to bully her around. But she was happy to see that instead of Tommy, it was the new boy, Tekoa.
He had been born on a reservation in Texas. His parents had died in a wreck, but since he survived without a scratch, the tribe declared him “cursed,” and sent him away. He wandered from tribe to tribe until he found Sinanju territory. Against Sunny Joe’s explicit wishes, the Sinanju tribal council voted to make him a member of the Sinanju.
Freya tried to stay out of tribal politics. She did not understand the traditions and laws of the tribe, so she submitted to whatever the final outcome of a situation was. The council had ruled that Tekoa was Sinanju, so that meant he was Sinanju.
“Hey, haven’t seen you in a while,” Tekoa said, catching up to her. He was a couple of inches shorter than Freya, but most of the men on the reservation were. His dark complexion was complemented by long, black hair that touched his shoulders. He had found a few friends since he arrived, but the xenophobic nature of the Sinanju tribe meant that most people still refused to speak to him.
Freya found that ironic, because had he been a native-born Sinanju boy, the girls would have been crazy about him. But since he was still seen as ‘other,’ it was hard for Tekoa to become part of Sinanju society. Freya sympathized with him. She knew how it felt to be a Sinanju outsider.
“I’ve been…out of town,” she said.
“Well, welcome back! After you left, Tommy had to help fix the basketball post,” Tekoa said with a grin. “I’ve got pictures!”
Freya smiled. Before she left for Lakluun, Tommy yelled at her from the basketball court that she would never be Sinanju. Freya had bent the post to the ground with one hand.
“They are showing one of the old Trek War movies at the hall tonight. Wanna go make fun of it?”
“Maybe another time. I am still weary from my trip.”
“What? From what everyone has told me, Masters of Sinanju never get tired.”
“As everyone keeps reminding me, I am not yet a Master,” Freya said. “But if you’d like to come with me, I was just going to the store.”
“Sure. You might need someone strong to carry those grocery bags,” he said with a smile, flexing his arms in a he-man pose. Freya laughed.
When they entered the store together, the small group of elderly women sitting silently on the porch began to whisper. Seeing Freya and the new boy together was enough to keep the rumor mill busy for weeks to come.
Freya was used to their stares, and long ago forced herself not to listen to their gossip. As they walked by, the Sinanju busybodies jutted out their chins to show their displeasure.
Tekoa ignored them as he followed Freya toward the aisle marked ‘Specialty Needs.’ One of the rules he was told when he first arrived was never to go down that aisle. It was reserved for Sunny Joe, and now Freya. He stood at the edge of the aisle as Freya entered.
“What’s wrong?” Freya asked.
“I’ll just wait here,” Tekoa said, looking down the aisle. As far as he knew, there was no rule against looking. The first section was nothing but shelves of rice. There were at least two dozen varieties on the shelf. Tekoa didn’t know that many varieties of rice even existed.
Freya grabbed a small bag of Texmati and moved to the refrigerated section. It held a few fresh fish, mostly walleye — Sunny Joe’s favorite — as well as small cuts of duck and roadrunner. It might as well have been squirrel to Tekoa.
Seriously, who eats roadrunner? he wondered. Gross.
Freya grabbed a small duck breast and walked to the last section. Though it had a large sign above it that said ‘DESSERT,’ its contents looked unappetizing at best. All Tekoa could see were bags of almonds, a few ears of corn, and some honey.
Freya grabbed a bag of almonds. She picked up the honey, then realized that she still had a nearly-full jar at home. Although Masters of Sinanju were permitted to eat honey, the surge of natural sugar was still dangerous to their systems. Freya only allowed herself a fingertip of honey in her morning tea.
Freya walked back to Tekoa with her groceries and passed the register. Like Sunny Joe, she did not have to pay for anything taken from the Specialty Needs aisle.
Tekoa opened the door for her, making sure to smile and wave at the ladies sitting up front. As one, they gasped. Chins out defiantly, they turned back to each other, and began whispering even more intensely.
“So…what’s with the food?” Tekoa finally asked. “I was told never to step into that aisle, but after seeing what’s there, I don’t think I’d want to.”
“Sinanju trainees have very particular dietary needs,” Freya said. “Believe me, I would much rather be eating pasta and dark chocolate.”
“That makes sense, I guess. So, about that movie,” Tekoa said, leaning toward her. “It’ll be fun. Plus, I’m guessing you won’t want to get anything from the concession stand. That’ll save us at least twenty bucks,” he teased.
Freya laughed again. “What is this film about?”
“It’s the one where the bald guy becomes a dark Jedi,” Tekoa said.
“Stone would probably say ‘spoiler alert,’ but I do not know the meaning of any of the words you just said,” Freya said. “If you already know what is going to happen, though, why watch it again?”
“It’s a bad movie. Really, really bad. It’s so bad that it’s funny. Plus, it’s the only one playing. We’re not really spoiled for choice out here.”
“I would like to go, Tekoa, but there are things I need to do. Perhaps another time?”
“Okay. I’ll take a raincheck. But if you change your mind, you know where I’ll be.”
“Enjoy your spoiled movie,” Freya said, nodding.
“Enjoy your spoiled food,” Tekoa said, waving.
Tekoa watched Freya leave toward her house. No one was allowed in that area of the reservation unless they wanted to speak to Sunny Joe at his house. Tekoa would take a root canal over talking to Sunny Joe any day.
Sunny Joe had gone out of his way to prevent Tekoa from becoming a member of the Sinanju. He could tell that Tekoa had been lying about something, but he did not know what it was. Had Sunny Joe known what Tekoa was lying about, he most likely would have killed Tekoa on the spot, because the only reason Tekoa had taken on the mantle of the Sinanju was to be the eyes and ears of someone else.
Someone who wanted Sunny Joe dead.
Tekoa returned to his small room in a rundown motel at the edge of the reservation. As soon as he was inside, he made a call.
“Status,” the voice answered.
“The girl and her brother have just returned. I don’t know what happened, but Freya seems distracted by something. We talked for a while, though, and I think I’m gaining her confidence.”
“Good. And her brother?”
“He doesn’t even want to pretend to talk with me. He’s siding with Sunny J…I mean, with Roam. He left this morning. I don’t know when he’ll be back.”
“It doesn’t matter. The girl is more powerful anyway. Have you been using the pheromone that I sent?”
“Of course,” Tekoa said.
Although he could not smell the oil even when he held it close to his nose, the voice had ensured him that it would have a powerful effect on Sinanju senses.
“Stay away from Roam and her brother while wearing it. While it makes her feel close to you, it will only enrage them.”
Tekoa wished he had been told that earlier. He was wearing it the first time he met Stone, which was probably why Stone took an immediate dislike to him, despite his best efforts to be friendly.
“I’ll report back when Freya is on our side,” Tekoa said, “but it may take some time.”
“You don’t have much time. Our plans will be put in motion soon. If the girl is not with us then, you’ll have to take her out.”
The phone disconnected and Tekoa cursed. He was faithful to the voice, his true family, and would do as he was told. But not until he had made every effort to save Freya from the coming destruction of the Sinanju reservation. She was kind, funny, and beautiful. If Tekoa had anything to say about it, she would not die along with all the others.