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“Don’t make me put a hex on you,beau diable! I’ll make it so your wee willy refuses to stand upright for a month.” Jameson’s hands both covered his junk as he gave her a disbelieving, concerned stare.
“Now, no need to get drastic here,” he argued darkly, as we all laughed and he glared at me. “Jesus, Voodoo! Do something.”
“You’re on your own with this one, brother!” I chuckled. “She already blessed me with a passel of boys and a girl!”
“God help us all,” he muttered as he shook his head.
What I didn’t tell Kira, because I doubted she was ready to hear it, was that my grandmother’s predictions for children were uncannily accurate. In fact, people came from miles away to seek her out for exactly that.
Laughing, we all got in the car and headed to a part of New Orleans few people who visited actually got to see.
Back in the swamps, deep in the bayou off the east side of the river, there was a quiet cabin.
You had to know where you were going to get there, and you could only get there by boat. Dark as pitch when the sun went down. Frogs, creatures of the night, and the beasts that dwelled under the murky water were your travel companions.
If one was lucky enough to be welcomed, you’d knock twice. No more, no less, and wait. Those were Granmé’s rules.
Jameson quietly guided the boat through the swamp. Kira held my hand tightly the entire way.
“Come inside, children. I must read her cards,” my grandmother instructed when the boat hit the dock. We followed her in after I promised Jameson we’d swing by the clubhouse to see everyone the next day.
“This is amazing,” Kira whispered to me as we trailed behind my crazy grandmother with a flair for the dramatic.
Through a doorway at the back of the house, behind red and black beads, was her sanctuary. She welcomed us in, and we took a seat at the other side of her table.
While voodoo was a very serious belief system, this was fairly new to Kira. I’d only briefly shown her my sanctuary in my basement. She’d been fascinated, but skeptical.
My grandmother lit candles, then mixed herbs and roots in a dish before lighting it as well. Then she picked up her tarot deck. The delicate silver knife went in her right hand, and the silver rings on her fingers glinted in the candlelight.
She’d taught me as a young boy that silver restored stability in a person’s spiritual energy and protected from the dark energy that tried to get in. I’d taken every lesson to heart.
Finally, she cut the deck and motioned for Kira to touch the cards. Slowly, she revealed each card, one by one, studying them as she laid them down. It was the same process every time. One that I’d been taught and cultivated.
As she studied them together, she absently whirled the small knife through her fingers.
She prayed over the cards, and I knew Kira was experiencing the peace that washed over us as she completed her ritual. Then she spoke.
“You have been through much, but there is someone new in your life. Not Ogun. Someone new but old.” My grandmother frowned. “A father that is not a father, and one that is but couldn’t be.” Though my grandmother seemed slightly confused, Kira gasped. We both knew what my grandmother didn’t about Grishka and Aleksandr.
“The one that couldn’t was thought to be dead, but he isn’t. You must find him, because he’s the father of all.” She appeared confused, but Kira sobbed. She hadn’t mentioned to her mother what Grishka had told her, because we assumed Aleksandr had been killed.
It almost sounded like her other brothers may belong to Aleksander as well.
“But how? If Grishka knew immediately that you weren’t his, how did he not know your brothers weren’t his? And how did Alexsandr still have access to your mother?”
“Viktor and Dmitry look like my mother. I always assumed I looked like someone else from the family. Maybe Grishka lied or only assumed my brothers were all his.” Kira appeared thoughtful.
After the reading, Kira called her mother, who was tearful when she found that the man she’d had a passionate affair with might still be alive. I promised to help her find answers and sent a text off to Facet with the information I had.
We enjoyed every day that we spent in my old home.
Kira had been welcomed into the family by the brothers and the families of the New Orleans chapter. She couldn’t believe that all the way across the country, I was as loved and accepted as in my home chapter.
Before we knew it, it was time to head home.
My grandmother cradled Kira’s cheeks in her beringed fingers as we stood outside of the security checkpoint saying our goodbyes. “You take good care of my Ogun. He’s a good boy, and you’ll never find a soul more loyal, for the love between you two is strong.”
Then she turned to me with a soft smile. “Godspeed and safe travels.”
One last lingering hug and promises to visit again after the baby was born were exchanged. My grandmother was tearful but trying to act tough.
“Go on! Get, before you miss your airplane.” She made a shooing motion, and I kissed her wrinkled cheek.
Right as we were getting ready to pass through the gate, she called out to me. “Remember what I told you? Love always wins, Ogun.”
I grinned as I wrapped an arm around my beautiful woman.
Hell, yeah, it did.
The End
