Jan Horvath Jr.Kolin
A Romany woman – I won’t name her – asked us to play at a party in her restaurant.
We said we would, and agreed on a fee. The party was supposed to be in exactly a week.
That day we came home from work, bathed, dressed and went to rehearse. At seven in the evening people started to arrive and we started to play. We played until about nine and then took a break.
All the time we were playing we were really hungry, so we went to the organizer and asked for some food. She told us she didn’t have anything ready, but that she would bring us something in a little while. So we went to the bar and bought something to drink and smoke.
Then they came for us and asked us to play again. We played until about ten-thirty.
Then we went to see the owner again and told her that we were still hungry.
But during the whole night of playing she gave us one hot dog and one two-liter soda – for six people.
There were Czechs with us too: they had loaned us their amps. The organizer gave them a banquet, but we – who had played all night – got just one hot dog.
When the party was over, we went to see her about money. We were tired, and it was already six in the morning. She started making excuses. She told us to wait while she counted something.
We waited about an hour and then went to see her again. She had promised us each a thousand crowns but gave three of us five hundred each and the rest nothing. Apparently she had taken a loss. When we saw that, we got our stuff and left.
We’ve decided not to play for Roma at any more parties. If we do, it will only be if they pay up front and guarantee us refreshments.
We have discovered that a Rom here would rather do something good for gadjos than for other Roma.
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