D’ANGELO AND TANESHA:

SHOME DASGUPTA

D'Angelo’s father, Perry, and Tanesha’s father, Lorenzo, both were deeply involved in falcon-fights. Perry and Lorenzo were the leading owners of the two best falcons in the falcon-fighting competition. In the championship tournament, Perry’s male bird, Thunder, and Lorenzo’s female bird, Lightning, were in the final round of the tournament. The match was anticipated to be one of the best fights of the falcon-fighting tournament -- pre-fight parties were held, bets were placed, street fights glittered the town under fireworks and shooting stars. Thunder was considered to be the underdog of the two birds, though they were equally fierce. As the bell rang, the two soared into the air to kill. But the unexpected took place, and neither of the falcons won: once they were in the air, and as soon as Thunder was to make his first peck at Lightning, he fell in love with her. Lightning, who once had the narrowest of eyes, looked at him with round, watery pupils. They fluttered in the air, in circular motion, observing each other’s wings. As soon as Perry yelled “fight” the two flew away together. Perry and Lorenzo never saw their birds again, and they blamed each other.

“Your falcon is a womanizer!” Lorenzo screamed.

“Your falcon is a whore!” Perry replied.

They stood there for hours arguing about the fight, and who should get the money. Perry claimed that he should since Lightning had followed Thunder. But Lorenzo asserted that since Lighting had followed Thunder, he should receive the reward money. The tournament judge, a Mr. Shursh, ruled that they should split the prize money, but both refused, for each wanted all the money. So the town decided to use the money and buy drinks at Café Bar while Perry and Lorenzo continued to squabble like chickens.

At the same time, D'Angelo and Tanesha met each other for the first time. D'Angelo peered over his father’s back to see Tanesha peering from behind her father’s back. They stared into each other’s eyes until they both felt dizzy and fell to the ground. Without saying a word to each other, they stood up and ran off to the field of orange trees where they discovered each other’s bodies. They were cartographers; they were dancing to the silence of their own explorations. And while their fathers continued their dispute, and while the rest of the town drank their brains away, D'Angelo and Tanesha realized the purposes of science and geometry.