You couldn’t really call her a girl. She was too short and too … well, too beautiful, in a weird sort of way.
But if she wasn’t a girl, what was she?
Jacob didn’t know, and he didn’t really care. All that mattered was that he knew where to find her at the end of a long week working on the railroad.
Right there, dancing in the campfire Yooko built for his family.
Heck, if it wasn’t for Yooko, Jacob wouldn’t have made it three days in Las Cruces, let alone met Chooni. Most of the other men on the line were just plain old white or black, but Jacob’s dark hair and olive skin made him different.
A half-breed, they called him.
He’d been sulking through the desert alone that first night when Yooko found him and took him home for supper. Even though the indians called him “gringo,” Jacob knew they liked him.
They even gave him some of their special tea and let him sit in while the elders told their stories. That’s where Jacob first heard about Chooni -- from Yooko’s grandfather.
Just sip your tea, the old man had said, and she’ll appear in the flames. She’ll dance for you.
And Hell if she didn’t!
Jacob wondered if she would also grant him a wish, just like Hamuli said she would. This might be the night Jacob asked, but first, he had to tell her how he felt.
“I love you, Chooni!” he whispered.
All around him, the family erupted in laughter, as they always did.
That didn’t matter to Jacob, though. Not as long as he had his peyote and his little fire dancer.
He took another sip and watched his girl sway in the night.
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