Pello Island: Cassia

PELLO ISLAND:

A. L. JAMBOR

Copyright©AmyJambor2012

ISBN's for original single volume book

ISBN -10: 0985417021

ISBN- 13: 978-0-9854170-2-4

All rights reserved.

AUTHOR’S NOTE

This is a work of fiction.  Names, characters, places, and scenes are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, 

and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events or locales is entirely unintentional.

The replication, uploading and distribution of this book on the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the author is illegal and punishable by law.  

Please only purchase authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted material.  Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.

Cover design by [email protected]

This book is dedicated to my sister Mary Ellen. 

She loves a love story.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT 

I want to thank my good friend Loraine O’Connell for all her help.  

She did the first edit on my manuscript.  

Any mistakes in the text are mine and mine alone. 

Loraine’s input has been invaluable to me.  

For over forty years she has been my best friend, 

and I look forward to working on my next book with her.  

Preface

I am not a student of ancient history; however, I’ve enjoyed every Roman story produced by the History Channel.  I’ve taken many liberties with regard to the Roman gods depicted herein in order to create a story for entertainment value.

During the course of the Pello Island stories, several Roman gods are mentioned.  To enhance your reading experience, I have made a list of the gods used herein and a brief description of them.

1. Jupiter – King of the Gods.  Thunderbolts were his weapon and his brothers were Neptune and Pluto.  He was married to Juno.  He was known to take mortal women by force.
   
2. Neptune – God of the Sea.  Brother of Jupiter and Pluto.  He was moody and arrogant.  His weapon is a three pronged trident.
   
3. Juno – the Queen of the Gods.  She was the goddess of women and marriage, and she was married to Jupiter.
   
4. Strenia – one of the goddesses of healing and strenuous tasks
   
5. The Parcae (Parche) – The Parcae consisted of three females who determined the destinies of human beings.  The Parcae’s decisions were final and no god could interfere with their task.  They were sometimes depicted as sisters, and I’ve chosen to depict them that way.  Their names were:
   

• Nona: She was the youngest and would create, or spin a life on her spindle;  
  
• Decima: She was the middle child and she determined the length of a person’s life;
  
• Morta: She was the eldest and her scissors would cut the thread of life.  She also determined the cause of death.
  

If you would like more information regarding Roman Mythology, the internet is a valuable resource and there are literally hundreds of websites available.

Besides the Roman gods, I’ve tried to depict the way Roman society worked, without getting too detailed.  Roman fathers retained control of their daughters even after they married.  In the event of her father’s death, if a woman didn’t have an uncle or brother to handle her affairs, she would need a male guardian.  Some women bucked the system and ran their own businesses.  More often than not, a girl was at the mercy of the men in her life.

Roman aristocrats always married within their own social sphere.  They rarely married for love, and male children were prized over females.  Often female babies were exposed to the elements by their fathers, who literally had the power of life or death over their offspring.  Those that were allowed to live were often betrothed by the time they were eleven or twelve years of age, and could be married to men as much as twenty or thirty years older than they.

The main purpose of marriage was to produce an heir to carry on the family name and fortune.  Love was reserved for one’s concubine or mistress, and wives were relegated to running the household and to teaching their daughters useful arts such as spinning and weaving which would enhance their husbands’ reputation.

The Curia Hostilia was the Roman building where the senators would meet.

Florentia was the Latin name for Florence.

Cassia

Cassia woke up with vomit in her mouth.  She opened her eyes and saw unfamiliar furniture.  She was on her side.  She lifted her head and it stuck to the pillow.  She used her arm to disengage it from her face.  Thanks, Morta, she thought.

Cassia sat up and surveyed the room.  Whoever occupied this space wasn’t rich.  The furniture was threadbare, as was the carpet.  She looked down at the T-shirt she was wearing.  It was full of holes and ragged on the edges.  She lifted it over her head and threw it into the corner.

As she made her way to the bathroom, she checked the drawers in the dresser.  She found a bra and panties that looked fairly new.  She took them into the bathroom and turned on the shower.  As she scrutinized the unfamiliar face in the bathroom mirror, she sighed.

“Just once, Morta, you could find me a body that took care of itself,” she said.

The face wasn’t old, but it had dark circles under the eyes and a chalklike appearance.  The long hair was an unnatural shade of blond, and she could see redness under the nose, indicating some sort of drug had been snorted frequently.  Cassia washed out her mouth and brushed her teeth and tongue.  She reached for the mouthwash and took it straight from the bottle.   

“Another round of detox,” Cassia said, as she looked in the mirror.  She would have to call her doctor, a woman well acquainted with Cassia’s situation, although she hadn’t seen her with the same face twice.  

Cassia stepped into the shower.  She washed her hair and scrubbed the rest of her body.  She could feel the familiar craving in the pit of her stomach.  This body would need drugs soon, or it would begin to get sick.  

She towel-dried her hair and put on the underwear.  She routed through the closet looking for something that didn’t scream “whore.”  She settled for another hole-filled T-shirt and ratty jeans.  Then she picked up the cellphone on the dresser and dialed her doctor.

Cassia looked around the small, studio apartment as she chatted with her doctor’s receptionist.  She was told to go to the nearest hospital and have the attending doctor call them so they could make the arrangements.  

When Cassia got off the phone, she looked through the handbag hung over the dining room chair.  She found a wallet with two dollars in it and a driver’s license.  She wasn’t sure if the license was valid or not.  The name on it read “Meghan Spencer.”  There were car keys, too.  The keys had an electronic lock, so she should be able to find the car by clicking on it.  

Cassia took one last look around the apartment before she left.  She searched in the drawers to see if she could find any more money.  She found an empty bottle of Oxycodone, a pipe and a spoon, but no money.  

She looked for a jewelry box but couldn’t find one.  Lastly, she looked for something she could pawn.  The girl had nothing.  If this girl was turning tricks for drug money, Cassia would need a test for STDs.  

Cassia didn’t know where she was or what the temperature might be, so she picked up the jacket hung over the chair.  The driver’s license said Baltimore.  She hoped she could find a hospital close by.

When she opened the door, the smell of urine almost knocked her over.  She quickly walked out, barely closing the door behind her.  The steps were wooden and old, and she was really beginning to feel sick.  She walked as fast as she could, but she didn’t make it all the way down without upchucking over the bannister.  

There was a parking lot across the street.  Cassia pushed the button on her key and heard a beep.  She followed the sound to a very old Mercury Grand Marquis.  Cassia opened the door.