0:00

Where I live in Southern California,

0:03

psychic shops are practically as plentiful

0:05

as coffee shops. They're a part of the landscape.

0:09

I know people who have regular appointments with

0:11

their psychic. It's the kind of thing

0:13

you can drop in casual conversation

0:15

and no one bats an eye. And

0:18

I can understand why. People

0:20

want security. They want to know

0:23

what the future will hold. And

0:25

whether through tarot cards or a crystal

0:27

ball, the fortune teller will

0:30

hint at how your story

0:31

will play out. Let

0:34

me say up front that I don't know how this tale

0:36

will play out or how it will end. Because

0:40

in this story, the fortune teller

0:42

came to me.

0:43

At the very beginning of this podcast,

0:47

I never thought in a million

0:49

years it would turn

0:51

into what it is now.

0:53

My name is Faith Piniu, and I'm a reporter

0:56

at the Los Angeles Times. But

0:58

back in October 2019, I was

1:00

working at a small community newspaper in Orange

1:02

County called The Daily Pilot. And

1:04

that's where I first got a call from Paulina

1:07

Stevens. Paulina told me that

1:09

from the time she was a child, she was told

1:11

she would be a fortune teller. That

1:14

she came from a whole family of fortune

1:16

tellers. And then she mentioned

1:18

something that made my ears perk up. It

1:21

was a warning about a psychic shop in Orange

1:23

County.

1:24

She told me that this was the psychic

1:26

shop that she had escaped. I

1:29

suggested we meet up in person at a local

1:31

cafe. I'm a little nervous. I'm sorry for

1:34

like... That's okay. I don't know. I'm

1:37

like kind of nervous, but I'm okay.

1:39

Take your time. Whatever. Whatever

1:41

makes you comfortable.

1:42

Listen, people call reporters all the

1:44

time with salacious tips. But

1:46

when Paulina started talking, I felt like I

1:48

was drinking from a fire hose. What

1:52

do you do? You know what I'm saying?

1:54

What do you do? Paulina said she had

1:56

an arranged marriage with a distant cousin.

1:59

it's like you're supposed to know you're getting married

2:02

to, you know? That's like, you're going through puberty,

2:04

like I was getting too old. That her parents shielded

2:06

her from outsiders. Any kind of outsiders

2:08

was a big, like, no, no. And then she was pulled

2:10

out of school entirely at 12

2:13

years old. I was actually lucky, like,

2:15

I got to go to school up to sixth grade.

2:19

At the time, I was used to writing stories

2:22

on city council meetings and town art shows.

2:24

So Paulina's story, it was totally

2:27

out of my wheelhouse. It seemed too big.

2:30

Because ultimately, Paulina kept

2:32

blaming her culture, her culture, her culture.

2:34

And if you disobey us, then

2:37

you disobey your culture. Paulina's

2:39

culture is Romany.

2:41

I don't think I had ever even heard the word Romany

2:43

before. And that's because Romany

2:46

people are often known by another

2:48

name,

2:48

you know, a gypsy. You're

2:51

not going to hear me throwing around the G word on

2:53

this podcast, because for many in the community,

2:55

it's a slur. Not for outsiders

2:57

like me to use. But

2:59

at the time, I had no idea.

3:01

Because even a pop star like Shakira

3:04

casually throws around the G word.

3:07

It's set against this catchy, poppy backdrop,

3:10

like something you'd instinctively hum along to. If

3:13

you weren't paying attention,

3:14

you never noticed the lyrics are actually

3:16

overtly offensive.

3:24

I might steal your clothes and wear them

3:26

if they fit me.

3:28

Once I started noticing it, I couldn't

3:30

stop seeing the G word everywhere. Clothing

3:33

brands and restaurant menus, surfboards

3:35

and teabags. It's become a shorthand

3:38

for something nomadic, wild,

3:40

deceitful, romantic, something

3:43

exotic. A style anyone could put

3:46

on and wear like a costume.

3:48

And there are two stereotypes that always

3:50

come up. That Romany people

3:52

are fortune tellers and thieves. But

3:55

the thing was, Paulina and her family

3:58

were actually fortune tellers.

3:59

And while Paulina told me about

4:02

her family and their history, she

4:04

also seemed to be painting herself as

4:06

those very stereotypes. She

4:08

seemed to want to shock me to get me to pay attention.

4:11

Like, the rule is no stealing,

4:14

only scamming. Because people

4:16

give you stuff so it's not considered stealing.

4:20

Paulina seemed to be telling me, yes, fortune

4:22

telling is a scam. I

4:25

am a scam artist, you know, born in

4:27

bread. That's what I'm telling you.

4:30

I just looked at her like, what?

4:33

You know, you're sitting here with a reporter. Are

4:35

you turning yourself in? I didn't

4:37

know what to think. And honestly, it

4:39

didn't seem like Paulina did either. Gypsies

4:42

have a bad rep and

4:44

they should, I think. I

4:46

don't know. Not all of them. And

4:48

then, Paulina said, she had decided

4:51

to leave. Because when I left,

4:53

I had no education. I

4:56

had two kids, no driver's

4:58

license, OK, no car. You

5:00

know what I'm saying? I had nothing. Nothing, nothing,

5:02

nothing.

5:03

The franticness in Paulina's voice suddenly

5:06

made sense. The unfiltered

5:08

panic and blurting out extreme claims.

5:11

It was the sound of someone stepping

5:13

out of one world and into another,

5:16

questioning everything she's ever learned.

5:19

And this was certainly part of why Paulina

5:21

said she had come to me. But

5:23

it wasn't just to tell her life story.

5:25

The real reason Paulina reached out to me

5:27

was she needed help.

5:30

Paulina has two

5:32

little girls. And when she left her

5:34

community, she was at risk of losing

5:36

them. To fight to keep

5:38

her daughters, Paulina did the number one thing

5:41

people in her culture were taught not to do.

5:44

She turned to the outside world.

5:46

She took her case to the American legal system.

5:48

And her custody hearing was coming soon.

5:51

By leaving her community,

5:54

going to the courts, and talking to the press, Paulina

5:57

was opening up her life to a world of scrutiny.

5:59

doubt. Lots of

6:03

things are sad in the heat of a

6:05

fight to protect

6:07

and to not lose your children.

6:09

It's hard for me to support you if I don't know what the

6:11

f*** you're doing. Paulina was a diamond. Now

6:14

she's just a stone.

6:17

But Paulina and I kept talking for

6:19

years. As Paulina and I got

6:21

to know each other, we peeled back layer

6:24

after layer together. Both of us

6:26

trying to get to the actual truth beneath

6:29

the surface.

6:30

To the place beyond the resentment and the

6:32

stereotypes. You

6:35

have to be exclusionist in

6:37

order to preserve identity.

6:40

You have to

6:43

close ranks to prevent

6:46

infiltration from outside.

6:49

One time during a session she

6:51

did a healing bowl and it

6:54

put me in a complete trance.

6:56

I opened my eyes and

6:58

the whole room was like a white cloud

7:01

and I could barely see her. What

7:03

we offer

7:04

is a spiritual

7:07

practice and

7:09

a spiritual dare

7:12

I say it, business, right? Because

7:17

it's true of any community, of any

7:19

identity, that there are stereotypes

7:22

and there are truths.

7:23

And while sometimes they can overlap

7:26

in superficial ways, the whole

7:28

and deep story is so much

7:30

richer and more complicated than we could have ever

7:33

predicted. It's weird actually

7:35

how I went from loving it to

7:38

absolutely hating it and now missing

7:40

it.

7:40

I'm Faith Pimieux

7:43

from the Los Angeles Times. This is

7:45

Foretold. Listen and follow Foretold

7:48

at LAtimes.com slash

7:50

foretold or wherever you get your podcasts.

7:53

That's LAtimes.com slash

7:55

foretold.

7:55

Hi,

8:01

I'm Faith Piniu, the host of Foretold,

8:03

a new podcast from the LA Times. On

8:06

Foretold, we'll introduce you to Paulina

8:08

Stevens, a Romani-American fortune

8:10

teller who approached us with an incredible story.

8:13

From preparing for marriage at age 12 to

8:16

her controversial decision to leave the community,

8:19

Paulina's story provides a unique glimpse

8:21

into a culture that outsiders rarely

8:23

get to see.

8:24

Listen and follow Foretold at latimes.com

8:27

slash foretold or wherever you get your podcasts.

8:31

That's latimes.com slash foretold.

8:35

Hi, I'm Faith Piniu, the host of

8:37

Foretold, a new podcast from the LA

8:39

Times.

8:40

On Foretold, we'll introduce you to Paulina

8:42

Stevens, a Romani-American fortune

8:44

teller who approached us with an incredible

8:46

story.

8:47

From preparing for marriage at age 12

8:50

to her controversial decision to leave the

8:52

community,

8:53

Paulina's story provides a unique glimpse

8:55

into a culture that outsiders rarely

8:57

get to see.

8:58

Listen and follow Foretold at latimes.com

9:02

slash foretold or wherever you get your podcasts.

9:05

That's latimes.com slash foretold.