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My back straightened with the words, my whole body suddenly alert. “What did you say?”
“De poppet?—”
“No,” I explained, interrupting her, “did you say jibber babber?”
“Why, child?”
“That’s a word my mom taught me.”
A smile lit up her face, and she pat my cheek. “Dis a chant of protection.” She placed the doll in my palms, folding my fingers over it. “Just like the poppet. Jibber babber, a blessing of love and shelter. It keep de evil spirits at bay. A shield for those you love.”
My lip trembled, warmth washing through me. I bent my head to the poppet and inhaled deep, remembering the soft words of my mom. Jibber babber, Jibber babber, cried the river as it overflowed….
As an adult, I’d thought the words of the nursery rhyme to be gloomy, that the swamp was a dangerous entity, threatening to steal souls and take them to hell.
But now I understood. They weren’t hurting the souls, they were whispering words of protection as the spirits moved from the earthly sphere to the afterlife.
It was a symbol, something she taught me because she wanted to protect me. And now, holding the poppet in my hands, it was like she was here once more, watching over me.
“Bury it somewhere you trust,” Kuru kissed my cheek.
"Thank you," I said, humbled by her thoughtfulness. “I?—”
“Mama Bondo,” Harmony came bounding in, the air in the room suddenly charged with her energy. “He’s here.”
“Who’s here?” Kuru asked.
“The Sheriff.”
Rook stood, easily picking me up in his arms. “Which sheriff? What does he want?”
“Now now, Rook. Dis is not for you to handle,” Kuru waved him off.
“I disagree,” he growled, and I wiggled out from his embrace, though it took a moment because his hands only tightened on me.
"You think you can protect us all, but I don’t need your protection, chile," Kuru declared, her eyes piercing through the shadows. Then she chuckled. “Now, get on you two. I gots things to do.”
She waved her hands, ushering us out.
Rook scowled but allowed her to push us towards the curtain, "How much do we owe you?”
"Boy! You insult me!" Kuru suddenly became alive and animated, "You get outta here wid that." We passed through the curtain, coming face to face with three men in uniform.
Ignoring them, Kuru herded us away quickly, after Rook shot them a dark glare, grumbling as she pushed us towards the front door, “Ca't believe you just tried to pay me. Think that money is everything, dat man." Shaking her head and tutting her lips in disgust.
Stepping through the front door, the rain had subsided, and sunlight peeked through the clouds.
As Rook held it open for me, I gave Kuru a hug and kissed her on the cheek. "Thank you."
She pinched my cheek, smiling. "You call on me any time, daughter. Maybe I tell you more stories about your ma."
“I would love that.”
She waited in the doorway, watching after us as we began our walk down the road, hand in hand.
"Rook," she called out, a strange deepness to her voice.
We turned and I froze in surprise.
