Black Girl Magic

Chapter 5

My uncle led them into the living room, where we were all seated. The council was an intimidating group. All of us except my grandmother stood and bowed our heads briefly in a show of respect. Besides my grandmother, the council comprised two other women and two men. They all were dressed in white as well. They were all my grandmother's age, but something about them all gave off an aura of power. These weren't your feeble grandparents. These were powerful priests and priestesses; you could easily tell they wielded it well despite their age.

One of the women spoke with a heavy southern accent and said, "It is wonderful to see your family together, Asha, such beautiful offspring. Grandmother nodded and said, "Thank you, Delphine. I wish you could have met everyone under better circumstances."

One of the men spoke this time and said, "Which one is Kaveri?" Grandmother looked over at me and nodded, and reached her hand for me. I stood and walked toward them, grabbed her hand, and bowed to the council. I said, "Hello, I am Kaveri; it is an honor to meet you." He nodded his head but didn't say anything more. Delphine looked at me and said, "She is gorgeous and looks so much like Kijani." Grandmother smiled in pride and said, "She reminds me so much of him.

The other gentleman said, "Asha is there someplace we can go briefly to talk to you and Kaveri before we get started with the ritual?" She nodded and said, "We can head to the library and talk there." She turned to the rest of the family and said, "Emmanuel, you and the men go head to the cemetery and make sure everything is prepared, double-check. Check everything." He nodded, and the other men left the room and headed towards the back door.

"Kia baby, go ahead and get everything ready in the main bathroom. Kaveri, when we come out and Josette, Lacey, and Faith, go and make sure them herbs and everything else we need is ready." Everyone went to follow my grandma's orders. She turned to my mom and said, "Harper, honey, you can come with us to the library." She looked very relieved and walked up with a quick nod to the council. We all followed grandma down the hall past the dining room to the library. It was a large room filled with bookshelves and a few desks with comfortable chairs tucked into the corners. Right in the front near the entrance was a set of couches and chairs with a coffee table in the middle. Grandma sat in one of the chairs while my mom and I sat on the loveseat right next to her. The other elders settled on the remaining couches and chairs.

Grandmother said, "Kaveri, Harper, meet the rest of the council. This here is Delphine Soule." The woman who called me gorgeous smiled and said, "Nice to meet you, sweetheart." She was very light with a laugh, wrinkles across her face, and salt and pepper hair in a bob shaping her face. She was short, right around my height, slightly stooped over, and a large behind. Grandma pointed to the other woman, who was dark and tall, very regal looking with barely any wrinkles and gray hair pulled into a severe bun, not a hair out of place, "This is Eleanora Bellevue." The woman nodded without smiling. She turned to the men and said, "And the gentleman in the chair is Raphael Valentin." He was a caramel-skinned, kind-looking fellow. He reminded me of a black Santa Clause with a thick, white beard, receding hair line and a full round belly. He smiled brightly and waved at me.

She then turned to the last gentleman and said, with tightness, "And last but certainly not least, Baptiste Saint-Clair. Naamah's father." I sucked in a breath; luckily, it was quiet. Mom tightened her grip on my hand. He was a severe-looking man, resembling Naamah, unmistakable now that I was looking. He was a very handsome older man. He had a sharp cut fade with a well-groomed mustache and goatee. He was tall, standing around 6'3", and looked strong and healthy for his age. He didn't smile.

Grandmother looked at him briefly before she said, "I know you are probably tired of talking about this, but I want to ask one more time, baby, can you tell the council what happened with Naamah?"