3.84
The woman
that welcomed me into house was Granny, just Granny. I tried to get another
name from her, but she wouldn’t give me one. She claims to be 168 years old,
but she doesn’t look to be over 50, a young looking 50. I suppose that’s a perk
of being a vampire. She remembers Destiny as soon as I mentioned her. The words
sounded filled with joy, then sadness that Destiny had died, but the body
language was suspicious. She doesn’t trust me, I don’t trust her. But, there’s
something that we want from each other. I want to learn more about Adze and
different things I can do. She wants to know what Destiny had planned. While
Destiny didn’t have anything, I’m not dumb enough to outright tell her that. I
have to move more cautiously now, the way she did. She’s not here to bail me out
of trouble anymore.
Next to
Granny is Old Ben, a man that’s supposedly just as old. I’m not sure if they’re
lovers or not, but he hasn’t spoken much. He’s spent most of our little lunch
chat staring at me and Sampson. It’s clear he doesn’t like either of us.
Sampson seems like a child on his best behavior, he’s afraid of them, that
tells me they’re dangerous. I need to learn what I can and get out. Isis is the
gardener, she brought in the lunch and went back outside. The other members of
the family that were mentioned are Michael who is a mechanic, James who Sampson
called a no good thief and then there’s recruits. Big Chester doesn’t talk much
and apparently, he makes Sampson look small. Catalina, Ashley and Isaac are
human, they haven’t been turned but they’ve been with the family for almost a
year. I’ll be sharing a room with Isaac if we ever finish this dinner.
As for the
house, it’s a plantation. It’s inside one of those little bubble worlds, hidden
away from the eyes of normal people and only accessible to those with the key.
As beautiful as the grounds look through the windows we’re supposedly in a
swamp somewhere.
“Do you
know why I call this place Turnerville,” Granny asks.
“If he
doesn’t we can feed him the gators,” Old Ben chimes in with a heavy accent.
“It’s named
after Nat Turner,” I answer.
“That’s
right, I met him once. He was a wonderful man, a brave man. We offered him the
power to become Adze, the power to rise up and kill his masters. He turned us
down. He said he would pry freedom from this country with his own hands and he
almost did. I was just a girl then, I couldn’t understand why our elders
wouldn’t help him. They said it was a bout pride, and I didn’t understand that
at the time. I thought it was all about power, and being Adze gave us the power
to never be enslaved again.”
I listen,
and nod as Granny tells me about all the Black leaders she’s met in the past.
She swears Langston Hughes is an Adze traveling the world right now and he
sends her letters sometimes. Who would even be able to find the house and
deliver the letters? I don’t let her know I think she’s full of crap. I let her
talk until she’s tired.
“You been
through the trials,” Old Ben asks.
“I don’t
think so,” I’m still not sure if I hallucinated or I really went through the
trials.
“If you
don’t know, then you ain’t,” Old Ben spits back at me.
“It’s not a
problem, you can go through with the babies. They’re close to the turning point
so they’re about to do trials,” Granny cuts him off.
“Thank you,
you’ve been so kind to me,” I respond.
“It’s what
we do for family, and you married one of my daughters.”
“I can’t
say thank you enough,” Destiny didn’t teach me to kiss ass, and I can tell
Granny loves it.
“You
thanked me by making my little girl happy,” she smiles. “I’m sure you’re tired,
Sampson will take you to your room.”
Sampson is
somewhat calmer as he gives me a small tour of the house. He seems to be
searching for something and I don’t want to upset him by asking. Eventually we
make it to the library, a small room in the corner of the second floor.
“You really
marry Destiny,” he asks without warning.
“Yeah.”
“She ever
mention me?”
“No.”
“Damn,” he
pauses for a minute. “If someone gives you trouble, come see me. Michael don’t
care about nothing but cars and driving fast. Isis has her head so far up
Granny’s ass she could taste her dinner. James ain’t shit, a good for nothing
thieving asshole and you shouldn’t trust him as far as you can throw his
crooked ass. But if Destiny liked you, I got you,” he puts a heavy hand on my shoulder.
The room he
leads me to is somewhat large, especially for one person, but there’s a
bathroom attached. Still, there’s only one bed; hanging off that bed upside
down is tall, but skinny guy with amber skin and curly black hair featuring a
section dyed pink. It doesn’t take much for me to guess this is Isaac.
“There’s a
bathroom, but one bed,” I try to joke.
“Well it’s
king size bed. One by the head, one by the legs. As long as nobody pisses in
the bed you’re good,” Sampson makes his own joke.
“My little
brother used to pee in the bed,” I respond.
“I don’t
pee in the bed,” Isaac lifts his legs over his head, flipping his body until
he’s standing. “At least I’m sharing the bed with someone cute.”
“Here we go
with this shit again. Good luck,” Sampson smacks me on the back hard and heads
off down the hall.
“You look a
little old to still be trying to turn. How many times have you done this?”
“I’m
sorry?”
“Old, you
got frown lines,” Isaac studies my face.
“I don’t
even know what that means.”
“We’re
going to have to get you a skin care routine.”
“I got some
Noxzema, is that what you mean? I haven’t had to use it since I turned, but
I’ve got some.”
“Wait,”
Isaac finally stops talking for a second. “You already turned? Like full on
blood sucking?”
“Yeah.”
“If you can
make it, I know I can.”
“Wow, nice
to meet you too.”
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