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A Gathering of Waters by Uzumaki Rebellion

Characters: Elijah "Smoke" Moore and Elias "Stack" Moore (characters in the Michael B. Jordan movie "Sinners"). Taiwo Moore and Cash "Big Smoke" Moore (OC).

Warning(s): Mentions of Hoodoo, Yoruba Orishas, Mississippi Share Cropping Life, a Stillborn Death, Supernatural Elements, Slight Romance (if you squint), Sex, Some Violence, and Angst. Pre-Sinners movie.

Summary: Clarksdale, Mississippi. 1897. Taiwo Moore recently gave birth to twin boys, Elijah and Elias. Haunted by lucid dreams foreshadowing danger for the babies, Taiwo hopes to use conjuring magic to protect her sons from the supernatural tricksters who want to snatch the children's uncertain futures away.

Word Count: 15.1K

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"Come to your river, wash myself

I will come to your river, wash myself

I will come to your river, wash my soul again"

Ibeyi – "River"

Ibeji

Taiwo Smoke carried her babies low and heavy in the first five months of her pregnancy. Hummingbirds followed her around as she hung laundry all of November, fluttering their rapid wings near her ears before their winter migration. All signs that twin boys were coming in the early spring. During their first year of life, otherworldly tricksters soon plagued her days and nights, trying to steal her babies, Elijah and Elias.

The boys tore out her body with the force of the raging storm that rattled their newly built tenement cabin. Rainwater fell from the sky in an icy deluge as if the mighty Mississippi River had flipped upside down and emptied itself over their heads. It threatened to overflow the section of the Big Sunflower River near their home surrounded by a thick forest that tapered off into the cotton fields her family sharecropped.

Taiwo's husband Cash stood watch at the front window, plucking on his banjo, staying alert for signs if they needed to move to higher ground because of flooding. When they were courting, he used to brag that he could play his banjo and stop raindrops in mid-air if he wanted to. But they needed the rain this year after a long drought, and Cash played a soft song for her birthing time to soothe and coax the babies out.

Elijah came out first in a rush of warm birth waters, eyes closed and mouth silent. The midwife, his grandmother that shared the same name as his mother, had to make sure he was breathing because his entry into the world was much too calm for a rainy night. Elias, on the other hand…well, that one roared out of her aching vagina two minutes later, wailing and shaking his wet, blood-smeared limbs in protest. His eyes were all wide open and searching around for the culprit who interrupted his secure peace in the womb.

Wo-Ma, as the younger Taiwo called her mother, chuckled and rubbed the traces of blood and pale, greasy coating of the vernix caseosa into Elias's skin. They wouldn't wash the babies off until after twelve hours or more. Wo-Ma said it protected the baby's ruddy complexion, and they needed time to adjust away from their old home in the belly slowly as they entered the new one outside of it.

"This one here is Taiwo, in honor of all the Taiwos in our bloodline," Wo-Ma said. "And this loud baby over here…he is Kehinde."

The name Taiwo meant "the firstborn to taste the world" in the old language of Wo-Ma's ancestors. They came from some long gone and often mis-remembered part of West Africa where Orishas still wept for them. Passed down generation to generation that revered the numerous double births in their family as blessings from the divine twins—Ibeji—Taiwo's people always named the first twin that way. The second twin was always called Kehinde and nicknamed Meji. Wo-Ma said it meant "two" or maybe "second". Language of the old world faded, and so did accurate understandings.

Elias still fretted, refusing to latch onto her left nipple.

"He carry fire in his mouth," Wo-Ma said.

Taiwo nodded and glanced at Elijah. His nature, the opposite of his fiery younger brother, reflected the energy of the unseen depths of big water, lying cool and calm. Wo-Ma studied Elijah's features first and then Elias's.

"Mirrors of each other. Gonna be hard telling them apart until we know them real good. But I'm prepared," Wo-Ma said, walking over to a bureau.

She opened a drawer and pulled out two white, hand-sewn birthing gowns. One had red stitching of little stars; the other blue.

"I give them the colors to match their natures. Blue for Elijah…and red for Elias."

"Mama, how you have those colors ready before they were even born?"

"All twins in our family come out this way. One is always blue, and the other is always red. That's how it be."

"So you were the red one?"

"Sho'nuff. The way I was taught is…twins are divine gifts. They tell the world that you have abundance in store for you. Each twin is fire or water. I was the fire. When you and your twin sister were born together, I knew you were water."

Taiwo noticed the shadow of her husband shift the light of the kerosene lamps in the small bedroom. His tall, sinewy body filled up the room like an extra wall, but his eyes looked small and helpless in the glow of fireplace light from the next room. The lush hair on his head was as soft as fresh cotton bursting from its boll.

"You alright, Taiwo?" he asked.

She smiled. Wo-Ma had already cleaned and covered her lower half. The room smelled of afterbirth, sweat, and tears. Taiwo sat upright with both babies propped under each arm. Elijah suckled a heavy brown breast, and Elias kept fretting. She watched her husband's eyes water with his question.

"I'm fine Cash…we're all fine."

Cash let out a loud exhale and sat next to her on the lumpy bed to look at his boys. He leaned the banjo against the mattress. His fingers trembled as he touched the new life they created. He was terrified of losing Taiwo since her own twin sister, Kehinde, had passed away giving birth to a stillborn a year ago in a Philadelphia hospital.

She gazed at Cash's face that she went soft for at an informal dance where she hiked up her legs doing the cakewalk with him. He had bright, playful eyes and a seductive smile. A true ladies' man that sent hearts racing across three plantation properties. She hoped their babies would have his sun-burnt umber skin color and full lips. Their soft tufts of black hair laid flat on their tiny scalps, looking like her daddy Papa Will who probably worried about her back at her parent's old shack. He was half Choctaw and told her it was bad luck for a man to be around a woman giving birth. Wo-Ma said that was a lie. He feared watching her struggle to give birth to his first grandchildren. They were only the second generation of children to be born free in their family. Papa Will's own Choctaw grandfather owned him until the end of the Civil War when Freedmen slaves and Black mixed bloods could claim their own lives for themselves.

"Cash, I want you to say their names first. They hear you say it, and they'll grow up strong and handsome like you."

He grinned and his lips curled into a half moon. She glanced at their firstborn and Cash looked down at the baby.

"Hello Elijah Smoke…and hello to you too, Elias Smoke."

Wo-Ma lowered her eyes. The corners of her lips turned down with disappointment.

"Wo-Ma, me and Cash think the boys need Christian first names. Times are different and it might be hard for them to carry our old names without people looking at them funny."

"You mean white people," Wo-Ma huffed.

Cash lifted Elijah from her breast. The baby looked so tiny cradled in the nook of his arm. He grinned so hard that Taiwo could see the gums above his teeth.

"Elijah Taiwo Smoke and Elias Kehinde Smoke. They still carry the names Wo-Ma, just in a new order," Cash said.

Wo-Ma fixed her lips into a delicate smirk after hearing the boys still kept the naming tradition for twins.

"Lemme go fix you some soup. Don't worry none if the babies don't eat a lot right now. They may wanna sleep the next few hours," Wo-Mo said.

She lifted a bucket from the floor where she tossed their shared placenta. Taiwo would bury it in the yard once the rain stopped. Wo-Ma headed for their stove in the other room, humming to herself.

Cash lowered his head and kissed her on the forehead. He never displayed too much affection around her parents. Especially Wo-Ma. He was still nervous around his mother-in-law and the quiet Hoodoo power that resonated within her like a hidden torch.

"Tell the boys how we met," Taiwo said.

She loved listening to Cash tell stories. He could spin a tall tale like a spider weaving intricate patterns in the corners of their cabin or relay the juiciest gossip from town about the white folks as if you'd been there to watch it all play out. He'd keep a porch full of drunk men enraptured for hours, all animated a full of charisma. The tone and lilt of his voice gave her shivers whenever he sang songs to her in that romantic, delta-born cadence of his.

He glanced at Elias as he rocked Elijah.

"No, I think you should tell them. I want to hear how you see it."

"I might fall asleep in the middle of it," she said.

"Well, if you do that, I'll pick up the rest and finish it for them. Deal?"

She nodded.

"Elijah…Elias. You see that banjo? Your daddy used that thing to win me over."

Taiwo could see her reflection in Cash's soulful brown eyes.

"He saw me dancing in a ring of young ladies at a barn dance over on the Lexington plantation. Your daddy played his banjo so good to try and impress me. He could make those strings talk! Uncle Beatty played his harmonica…there was a jug player and Mr. Abe played an old washboard. The fiddler sounded so pretty mixing in with the banjo. Oh! I had so much fun that night. Dancing around a fire and relaxing after a hard harvest season. There was only one problem…"

Taiwo looked at her babies and wondered if it was okay to mention her dead twin sister. They would never meet her, and she hadn't been gone that long in order for Taiwo to say her name out loud without tears welling up. Elijah opened his eyes for the first time, and she took it as a sign that the boys wanted to know everything.

"The problem?" Cash said, urging her to continue.

"Your daddy thought I was my sister, Kehinde. See, he met her earlier that day at the merchant store. He invited her to come out and sees me dancing in the ring… thinks he knows me already!"

Cash chuckled, showing gums again. She warmed up to the telling.

"He asked me to cakewalk to the next song he wasn't playing the banjo for and we gets to kicking our feet and strutting with everyone. Ooh lawd, I had so much fun dancing with him! I took a break to get some water from the well at the back of the barn, and when I come back, he's dancing with my sister!"

"Honest mistake."

"We had on two different dresses!"

"I was looking at faces, not dresses."

"Mmhmm."

Elias opened his mouth and his tiny pink tongue flicked in and out. She offered him a nipple again, and this time he eagerly took it. His plump cheeks hallowed, trying to get the hang of sucking. Taiwo rested her fingers above her nipple, helping him secure his mouth on her. He gurgled and suckled while she gently stroked his hair.

"Boys, trust me," Cash said. "I couldn't tell them apart. They both had their hair out, all long and big, like giant black rain clouds all the way down to their waists. I ain't never seen that much hair on a woman in my life!"

Cash reached out and touched a thick rope of hair that hung down her side. Elijah squirmed on his father's arm impatiently, wanting the story to go on. He was learning Taiwo's voice outside of his womb water. Her husband put their firstborn against her other breast and watched boy boys feed from her. Fatigue settled on Taiwo's shoulders.

"Well, then…I marched myself right up to him and said, 'Now you after my sister?' If y'all coulda seen his face…my word!"

"I honestly ain't know there were two of 'em. I just thought it was strange how your Aunt Meji could dance so good one minute, and then the next time, she got two left feet and lost all sense of rhythm."

"Your auntie was a terrible dancer. We looked the same…talked the same…even walked the same…but that girl could never catch a beat to save her life!"

Taiwo laughed, and it was the first time she'd laughed with a memory of her sister. Progress.

"After we cleared up the confusion and Meji stopped fussing with Cash, I danced the rest of the night with him. The only time he let go of my hand was when he had to play the banjo, but he kept his eyes on me, studying me hard so he'd know he had the right one. Now your auntie, she stayed upset for a couple of months until she found her own beau and ran off to Philadelphia. Ain't a finer man around than Cash Smoke. I loves every part of him."

Cash darted his eyes away, embarrassed by her words. She never understood why he acted so bashful about her bragging on him. He truly was a fine catch. Even though he was married to her nearing three years, she still caught other women eyeing him, wondering if he was a tip toeing man. He wasn't. Although he'd still drink a bit of corn liquor with his friends, hoot and holler at celebratory gatherings, he was always straight and narrow with her. His personality often outshined his good looks, and she couldn't get mad at other women for desiring that type of heady concoction. Hell, even men wanted to be around him all the time. Something about his nature attracted people to him.

The day she knew for sure she was making babies, she cried and walked all the way to the cotton field to tell him. He shouted so loud and bragged all nine months about having children coming from her.

A lot of men tried to court Papa Will's girls. She and Meji were hard workers, sturdy in the hips, and as pretty as the dusk at twilight. Only Cash stole her heart. The way he played his banjo with tender care showed her how he would be with her.

"That's the long and short of it. Been a good three years for us. The rains have come back. We have this new cabin your daddy built for us. Now that we have you two, I see only more wonderful things coming our way."

Wo-Ma swept back in, carrying a steaming bowl of chicken and potato soup. Cash stood from the bed.

"I'ma go on over to see Papa Will. Let him know the boys got here safe and you're resting," Cash said.

He lifted a coat and his dark brown hat from a chair in the bedroom. Glancing back at her, his eyes softened.

"You look real pretty feeding them like that, Taiwo. I'm mighty proud to be your husband."

Wo-Ma grinned and sat at the edge of the bed, holding out a spoon to her filled with chunks of chicken and broth.

"Be careful, Cash," she said.

He tipped his hat to her and set off into the rain.

Taiwo's tired body settled into a deep and restless slumber after eating the soup. She flailed in the bed and Cash had to wake her up because she kept hitting his arm in her sleep, waking him.

"Taiwo, you're dreaming," he said, shaking her awake.

His dusky eyes held her gaze in the kerosene light. The babies were in the main room with Wo-Ma, where the fire still crackled near the hearth where they slept to keep warm.

The ends of Cash's hair still held the corkscrew curls from the rain when he went to see her father hours ago. Wo-Ma hustled into the room wearing her long white flannel nightgown.

"Taiwo? Are you in pain?" Wo-Ma asked.

"No, Mama. I had a dream. A bad one."

Wo-Ma crept closer to Taiwo's left side of the bed and touched her forehead.

"What did you dream about that has you so upset?"

"Upset?"

Wo-Ma wiped tears from Taiwo's cheeks.

"Quickly child, before it fades," Wo-Ma said.

Taiwo touched her face, surprised to feel wet teardrops pooling under her lids. She closed her eyes and the remnants of the dream came into tight focus, like she was still bound to it by tenuous silvery threads.

"I'm near the old Indian mounds…and I can hear the rushing of water coming close…but I caint see it none. It smells wet all around me…there's no sunlight, but there ain't really no darkness either…just gray…all gray, and I see a tall man. No…not a man…wait…it's a man, but he's like a rabbit, Mama. Head of a jackrabbit, all furry…all over, but he stands tall on two dark furry legs like a man. Right next to him is a bear…large and black and he's standing upright, too…with eyes like a man looking right at me…they comin' toward me and I caint move, Mama…I caint move…!"

Cash hugged her tight against him and rocked her in safety and comfort. The heat from his body reassured her that the dream world had vanished. But she could still smell the scent of icy river water in her nostrils.

"What it mean, Wo-Ma?" Cash asked.

Wo-Ma placed her hands on her thighs.

"It means we gotta keep an eye on them twins. She done seen Brother Rabbit and Brother Bear. They only come when we need protectin'."

Wo-Ma rubbed her brow and sighed.

"Keep them babies indoors until I put things together for 'em, hear me?"

"Yes, ma'am," Cash said.

Taiwo touched her breasts through her gown.

"Babies are ready to eat," Taiwo said.

Elias's loud squall echoed in the next room.

Wo-Ma brought them back into the bedroom. Taiwo fed them and rested her head on Cash's shoulder. But Wo-Ma paced all that night burning small bundles of sweetgrass in the fire until the rain finally stopped.

2. Meji

Taiwo used her long, nimble, chestnut brown fingers to wrap Elijah in a snug baby blanket. She swiped his forehead and hair with a pungent golden oil she made for her sons.

"This one here gonna be a charmer, Taiwo."

Taiwo's best friend, Mavis, held Elias in her arms. The little brown bundle squirmed in Mavis's hands. After three months, Elias had become the more attention-seeking of the two boys. The loudest crier, and prone to seeking her breast milk again, even when his belly was bloated and hanging out of his baby shirts, Elias could never settle down like his brother and give her one moment of rest without fussing to be picked up and played with. Elijah often scrunched his face up whenever Elias's antics annoyed him. Despite being identical in every way, Taiwo only needed to glance at their impish eyes to know who was who.

"Here, give him to me," Taiwo said.

Mavis handed the boy over and Taiwo clucked her tongue to catch his attention. Big, shiny brown eyes peered up at her. Elijah rested cozily next to her hip on the bed, bundled up tight from the morning draft sneaking under the door of their cabin.

Taiwo smeared more prayed over cotton-seed oil steeped with marigold flowers across the second born baby, and wrapped him carefully. She placed him next to Elijah in their crib.

"Hopefully, they'll go to sleep soon. Call me if they get hungry," Taiwo said.

Mavis rubbed the protruding bulge in her expectant belly.

"Girl, I don't know how you handle two at a time. Having one soon is making me nervous for all you gotta do for 'em," Mavis said.

"You get used to it."

Taiwo went back outside. The clean clothes and sheets she hung up earlier to dry flapped gently in the breeze. Two neighbor's children she looked after while their parents worked the fields lingered near the side of the cabin playing with ants. The June sun hung above them in a pale blue sky with no cloud in sight.

A giant black pot boiled above a fire pit. Filled with white sheets, she stirred it with a large smooth stick. Wo-Ma taught Taiwo how to make money cleaning clothes for the white townsfolk. She had plenty of customers to keep her busy during the week while she babysat, too. She hired Mavis to watch over the twins so she could keep working while Cash tended to the fields. They were saving to buy a plot of land for themselves, and that would only happen if Taiwo kept working. White women in town hired out for everything: childcare, cooking and cleaning, plus their laundry. But they still had the nerve to call Black folks lazy good-for-nothings while they sat indoors pampered. Even the white tenement farmers near them acted like they were better than negroes while they walked around barefoot and unclean with lice in their stringy hair and bedbugs in their mangy clothes.

Wo-Ma said the more well-off whites were no different with uncleanliness, hence the boiling of their laundry to make sure nothing jumped onto Taiwo's clothes. She always greased her scalp down with added cornrows and a hair covering to prevent lice from trying to latch onto her hair.

All morning she boiled clothes, scrubbed them in a tub near the creek water before rinsing them clean, and toting them back in a wagon to the cabin for line hanging. In between those chores, she fed her babies, and shared an early hearty lunch with the older children and Mavis.

While packing up a hot lunch of stew and rice for her husband, she debated about bringing the boys with her in the wagon after they finally went to sleep.

"The babies are sleeping Taiwo, don't wake them. It took me a long time to get Elias quiet," Mavis groaned.

Cash loved lunch visits with his sons, but Mavis was right. If Elias slept well for the next two hours, she could spend some time with her husband alone. Maybe even sneak in some kisses.

She took a deep breath and left them behind. The grandmother of the young girl and boy she cared for came to get them early after cleaning a home in town all morning. Taiwo grinned, carrying a small basket of the stew and rice with leftover bread baked the night before. A jug of cool well water tapped against her thigh. She changed into a pretty dress for Cash, and took off the scarf on her head, letting the four long cornrows bounce on her back. Her body healed enough so they could be frisky again if they wanted. She missed grown up time with her husband.

Taiwo headed toward the far end of the cotton field where she could see her husband in the distance. Cash worked their large plot, weeding and tilling between the rows. It would be a plentiful harvest that year, according to him.

"My stomach just started grumbling," Cash said.

He tossed down his hoe and kissed Taiwo on her lips. She handed him the fresh jug of cool water and he guzzled it down, wetting his lips.

"You didn't bring my babies?"

"They sleep."

Cash's eyes grew wide with surprise.

"What?"

"Mavis somehow got them down in their bed. They look so cute. Big chubby cheeks."

He looked inside the basket.

"There was some stew left? I thought for 'sho Mavis would eat it all up."

"I hid it from her before she could."

They sat on a blanket under a tree where Cash rested throughout the day from the heat. Taiwo watched him eat and lick his fingers, dripping with brown gravy meat. He rinsed off his hands with some of the jug water.

"I'm making fried chicken tonight," she said.

"Oh, yeah?"

"I cooked okra, and I made some cornbread."

"In between all that washing?"

"Yeah. The Claytons are gone this week visiting relatives, so that freed me up with less work today. I'll have a lot to do next week when they return…that'll make up for the loss."

"I'm renting out Brownie Boy to Pete next month for some late planting. His mule died this morning. He can't afford a new one, so I offered Brownie."

"As long as it's Brownie and not Esther."

"Nah, Esther ain't going nowhere. She only likes me and won't pull a plow for anyone else."

"People thinkin' we're rich now since we got Esther."

"It's because of them twins bringing good luck. Just think…a month ago Jake Mathis went on to glory, leaving us Esther, them chickens, and five pigs. Man turns one hundred years old the same day our sons are born and promised to give us all he owned after seeing them one time. Ain't that somethin'?"

Cash stared at her.

"I like this dress on you."

He fingered a button on the top part, admiring the yellow color, and glanced over her shoulder to look at their home further away.

"We're by ourselves," he said.

His seductive eyes drank in the new shape of her figure the babies gave her. He kissed her lips softly and waited for her to allow more to happen. She encouraged it with a slip of the tongue in his mouth and they remembered the touches and sighs that led to them having babies in the first place.

They pulled off their clothes and made love under the shade tree.

Taiwo ignored the discomfort of the hard earth pressing into her back. The strain of arousal lining Cash's face stoked her passion. His dick was harder than the wooden stick she used to stir laundry. He moved above her like a desperate man in need of release.

"Taiwo," he grunted, thrusting to the hilt.

To lessen the chance of impregnating her again too soon, Cash pulled out when he reached his brink. Taiwo scrambled to her knees before he ejaculated on her stomach.

"Whatchu doin'?" he yelped.

She held his erection by the root, took a deep breath, and put her mouth on the wide head. Cash held still and gasped loud enough to arouse her more. She wasn't concerned with her own orgasm. Her focus was on pleasing her husband with something new in her repertoire.

Mavis told her all month about the rumors of a woman named Ruby Lee who blew into Clarksdale stealing husbands. She was known to do nasty things for money that had men far and wide sneaking around with her. Taiwo ran into her once in passing after a church service where she noticed the menfolk cutting eyes at the woman, and she at them. She had voluptuous breasts like Taiwo, but lacked the pretty face to seem like a threat to most women. But she had a sway in her wide hips and fleshy lips with a penchant for what Mavis gossiped about: sucking dick.

The filthiness intrigued Taiwo. Putting a mouth on a man's privates was scandalous. Unchristian-like. She imagined Ruby Lee sitting in a church pew with a pungent whore's breath full of semen. Nasty work.

However…

Listening to Mavis screech about Ruby Lee riding on a horse-drawn wagon throughout Clarksdale selling her granny's laundry soap and hair grease forced Taiwo to turn her attention to Cash. He hung out with the men who enjoyed Ruby Lee's favors. Had he been tempted to see what all the fuss was about? Last Friday, after delivering laundry with the mule Esther on her own wagon cart, Taiwo noticed a wrapped chunk of laundry soap left on her kitchen table. She made her own laundry soap and questioned Cash immediately.

"Oh, that soap gal… Ruby Lee… left free samples. I told her you made your own, but she insisted I try hers," Cash said off-handedly while sharpening their house knives with leather.

"She insisted?"

"She gave it to me and I said 'thank you' and put it on the table for you."

"And then?"

"And then what?"

Cash's eyebrows fixed themselves into two diagonal black lines on his forehead.

"Did she come in the house?"

"For what?"

His tone eased the height of her up-raised shoulders. He genuinely looked perplexed.

"To see the babies or something?"

"The boys were asleep. I don't know her well enough to let her in anyway."

Taiwo's relief tampered down her suspicions. But the woman did come to their home without her there. Brazen.

Ruby's snooping around Taiwo's hearth planted a defensive seed in her gut. Cash was the best looking man in Clarksdale, Black, white, or Native. Those extra pigs, chickens, and two mules probably made him appear enticing and flush with extra cash to toss around. Plus…men were weak.

Ruby could catch Cash at a gathering on a porch somewhere where Taiwo wasn't around. If he were playing his banjo at a jump-up, drinking a little bit, and not rushing to come home, a wily woman could take advantage. She tried something to ensure Cash would have no desire to stray.

The taste of his dick in her mouth mixed with her natural lubrication created an intoxicating sense of power. Cash groaned deep in his throat and she lowered her lips further, sliding them down the slick girth as she whimpered, adjusting to a male organ moving against her tongue.

She went down too far and gagged when his tip hit the back of her throat. Fighting her gag reflex, Taiwo raised back up, and went down again, making sure not to go too far. He hissed when she grazed dick skin with her teeth. She pressed her lips tighter around his penis and bobbed her head as she worked her neck, hoping that was the correct form.

"Taiwo…where you learn that girl? Huh? Keep sucking…keep sucking!"

Pleasure rippled all across her skin and her pussy throbbed, enjoying his pants and pleads to keep going. He shouted God's name and her mouth filled with his release, the blast of warm semen coursing down her throat.

She swallowed every drop.

Removing her mouth from his dick, she looked up at his face. Cash's eyes had narrowed and his brows furrowed looking down at her. Still panting, he stared at his dick as it turned soft in his hand.

"You like that?" she asked.

He threw his head back and looked up at the tree canopy. Laughter fell from his lips.

"Yes," he said.

He touched his chest.

"My heart is beating so fast right now," he said.

A coy smile lifted her lips. She pulled her clothes back on.

"Wayment…it's your turn. I gotta make you feel good, too," he insisted.

"Later," she said. "I have to go check on the babies. I was gone longer than I planned."

Cash reached for her arms and pulled her in close.

"Later, huh?"

She nodded. Reaching for the jug, Taiwo discreetly sipped water and rinsed her mouth. The taste of semen was something she'd have to get used to.

Taiwo meandered back to the cabin carrying her basket and jug.

The hairs on her arms rose, and she stopped walking. She turned to face the direction she came from, and the air crackled with a charge of energy that rushed across her entire body from head to toe, giving her the sensation of being folded inside out like the laundry she cleaned all day. The surrounding colors became saturated and objects in her sight came into sharp focus, as if she stepped into a freshly painted landscape. Her tongue felt thick and burdensome in her mouth. A scent of lavender perfume crinkled her nose, and the familiarity pumped the blood faster in her veins.

Kehinde.

That's what the air smelled like for seven seconds: Kehinde's perfume that her lover bought for her before he swept her off to the east, and an early grave. The odor permeated her dreams the last couple of weeks and it didn't startle her like a portent of grave circumstances in her sleep like it did now. In dreams, anything was possible. But in a waking state? No one else wore that particular scent of perfume. It smelled of sickly sweet foreboding. Only Kehinde—

Taiwo glimpsed a floating blue orb of bright light darting past her cabin. She dropped her basket and jug on the uneven earth and dashed for her home.

Coming upon the outhouse, the wooden door flung open, and Mavis stepped out. She rinsed her hands with a bucket of water left by the outhouse door and shook the excess away.

"Taiwo?"

Mavis stopped shaking her hands and stared at Taiwo.

"You done feeding them already?"

Taiwo ran around the side of the house, searching for signs of flickering blue amidst the flapping of cloud white sheets. Mavis approached her.

"You alright?"

Taiwo touched her arms. The hairs there still reached for the sky.

"I came back from being with Cash…"

Mavis's lips pressed into a line and she glanced back toward the rows of cotton plants.

"Came back?" Mavis huffed, "But you were inside a minute ago, feeding Elijah—"

The pitiful, wailing sounds of her babies pierced the air. Taiwo rushed past Mavis and ran up the porch steps. Bursting through the door, she noticed her rocking chair still moving near the open window. Elijah was face-down on the floor wearing only his cloth diaper, struggling to lift his weak neck up with a tight face bathed in hot tears.

"Why is he on the floor?!" Taiwo shouted.

"I didn't leave him there. You fed him in the chair and told me to take a break. I just went to relieve myself!"

"Mavis…I came back from the field! I didn't…"

Mavis's eyes were round and wide. Her small mouth twitched, and she wrung her hands. A creeping dread cooled Taiwo's forehead. She lifted Elijah and put him back in the crib next to Elias.

"This heat must be getting to me. I probably should rest…"

She touched the baby all over his exposed skin, checking for bruising or itchy, red bites from pesky chiggers that irritated everyone during the summer. He looked fine, and she gave him kisses to soothe his fright at being left unattended on the hard floor. Her fingers trembled when she sniffed lavender on his hair and cheeks. She crossed the room to dig into a coffee can hidden behind a small bag of flour above her stove. Pulling out Mavis's pay for the week, she handed over three coins, and took a deep inhale to calm her nerves in front of her friend.

"I'm gonna stay inside and sleep with the boys. You can go on home now. I'll be fine until Cash comes back."

"What about the laundry? Want me to take it down later?"

"I can do that. Go on home…and thank you for watching them today. Appreciate it."

"Is something wrong? Are you feeling sick?"

"A little under the weather. I'll be fine after I sleep a bit."

Mavis looked unsure, but she patted Taiwo's arm and left the cabin.

Taiwo fetched a clean cloth and used it to wipe down the twins with marigold oil all over. She grabbed some braided sweetgrass from above the fireplace mantle that rested in front of the small wood-carved Ibeji figures Wo-Ma gave her after the babies were born.

They rested snug inside a brown and orange beaded pouch. One identical figure represented Elijah and the other Elias, and as long as she kept those totems together safe, the old spirits from Africa would intercede on her children's behalf if needed. Using a match to burn the sweetgrass, she smudged the totems and the entire interior before quickly moving outside with the burning plant bundle. She circled the cabin three times, waving the smoke around, creating a sacred barrier.

Glancing around, she checked for any signs of her twin sister. The last time she laid eyes on her, Kehinde had worn a pretty golden yellow dress with her hair pinned back from her face. She glowed with love in her eyes, and Taiwo missed her dearly. Her twin flitted in and out of her lucid dreams, a pleasant memory occasionally since she gave birth. It made Taiwo feel like she could visit with her sister from time to time, and that their bond had never truly broken, even in death.

She allowed the last of the sweetgrass to burn up on the ground in front of the bottom step of the porch. Instead of sleeping, she ironed sheets and dresses, and when she needed to urinate, she skipped the outhouse and pissed in a chamber pot, dumping the liquid on the ground in a line from the porch.

When the last of the laundry finally dried, she put the babies in her small wagon and kept them right next to her as she pulled down her last items of the day, along with clean diapers. She remained vigilant as the sunlight faded. Frying the chicken Mavis plucked for her, Taiwo prepared dinner and had food on the table right as Cash dragged in, stretching his back and rubbing his stomach.

They ate together, and he noticed her tense stance between bites of cornbread and fried okra.

"What's troubling you?"

Taiwo swallowed her food.

"Tired, that's all. So hot today."

"No hotter than it was yesterday. The boys give you trouble?'

"No. They've been good. Elijah wasn't too hungry for his dinner."

"What about Elias?"

"His usual self. Want more?"

Cash pushed back his plate.

"Nah, I'm full. Good meal, thank you, honey."

Taiwo grinned. She stood to collect their empty plates, but Cash gathered them up and washed them for her.

"Go get some sleep early. I'll put everything away and look after the boys."

She kissed his cheek and changed into an old slip for her night clothes. Her breasts ached from Elijah not feeding from her and she rubbed her nipples, wondering if she should try to feed him again. Cash walked back into the room carrying their eldest.

"He's moving around like he's hungry," he said.

Taiwo took Elijah in her arms and sat on the edge of the bed, revealing a breast for him to take. He latched onto her and suckled for a few seconds before he pulled away, bursting into tears. His face turned a raging red-brown.

"What's wrong, huh Elijah? You're hungry. Come on and eat."

Elijah turned his face away from her breast and Taiwo checked his diaper to see if it needed changing before bed. He was clean and dry. Cash came back into the room and looked at their son.

"That cry doesn't sound so good."

"He won't eat, but he's hungry."

"Is he sick?"

"He doesn't have a fever…"

Taiwo cooed and gently rocked him, but Elijah would not stop wailing. She stood and walked around their bedroom, giving comforting words. He kept screaming.

"Elijah, please…" she said.

Elias heard his brother and started fussing in the crib. Cash looked after him and Taiwo clucked her tongue, hummed, and bounced him against her breasts. Nothing worked. It was too soon for teething. She stuck a finger in his mouth and rubbed around his gums. He started sucking on her finger, thinking something was on it, and then erupting into earsplitting shrieks.

She took him into the main room and held him near his brother who stared at him with enormous eyes from Cash's arms. The moment Elias heard another shriek from Elijah, he joined right in.

"Let's put them in the crib together," she suggested.

Side by side, the boys continued squawking like frightened birds in a nest. Cash brought out his banjo and started plucking a lullaby for them. Elias jammed his tiny lips together and whimpered, his discomfort broken by the sounds of his daddy playing music for them. Elijah kept screaming.

And then he stopped.

Tears like dewdrops shined on his heated brown cheeks, and his wet eyes looked past her to the corner where he finally cracked a smile, the pitiful whimpers no longer escaping his mouth. His face became bathed in a radiating blue light that danced across his plump cheeks. Cash didn't see it at all.

Taiwo's body thrummed with the sense of being folded again, like someone squeezing her body in on itself. Elijah laughed, but he didn't laugh for Taiwo. He laughed for the entity that joined them in the room. Someone who stepped through the void when they shouldn't have.

The scent of lavender pervaded the front room.

"You smell that?" Cash asked, sniffing the air.

"Yes."

"Like flowers."

"Lavender."

"Yeah, lavender."

Taiwo reached out and grabbed Cash's shirt sleeve, stopping him from moving.

"Keep playing music for them," she whispered.

She focused her eyes on the Ibeji above the fireplace.

"Sing to them."

The tone of her voice prompted Cash to play a soft tune, and he sang about summer sunshine and marigolds. While he entertained their twin sons, she turned to face her own twin.

Mustering the poise and strength of Wo-Ma, Taiwo uttered a spell of protection that she learned as a child to ward off unwanted ghosts, because that was needed as she locked eyes with Kehinde standing in the corner. Her sister looked as alive as the last day of her stay in Mississippi. A blue ring of ghostly flames surrounded her form. The banjo music sounded like it was in a vacuum and far away as Taiwo stepped into a tear of the ancestral realm. No warmth emitted from the blue fire, only a bone-deep cold that divided the living from the dead.

"You shouldn't be here, Kehinde. Not like this. Dreams are one thing, but here? In the world like this?"

A ripple in the ghostly fire made Kehinde look fuzzy before she snapped back to full clarity. The dead twin stared past Taiwo and fixed her gaze on the crib.

"I lost my baby," Kehinde gasped, reaching her arms out, not for her sister, but for the boys.

"I know, and I'm sorry, sister. We miss you, but you caint be here."

"You have two…lemme have one of them. I'll take care of him. See? He wants me…he cried for me, not you."

Kehinde touched her left breast, and milk leaked from it, wetting the ghostly dress.

"He so cute, and quiet and he took my milk. He knows me now—"

"Meji, you must go."

Taiwo clutched at her mojo bag around her neck with her left hand, and outstretched her right, pointing three fingers at Kehinde's face.

"Ibeji will keep us from all harm…they will watch over our lives and your comings and goings both now and forevermore…"

"Taiwo, please, let me have him. You can keep Elias…"

The brightness of Kehinde's skin dulled, the crisp outline of her form slowly faded as Taiwo stepped forward holding tight to her mojo, and her fear of unwanted spirits. Her voice rang out true and clear. Meji wasn't welcome there. By the time she reached the exact spot where Kehinde once stood, her sister had vanished back into the void, and Taiwo's skin stopped prickling with gooseflesh. The tear in the void had sealed back up.

"Thank you…thank you…" she murmured.

Turning back to Cash, she listened to him finish his song. Both boys had calmed down. She joined her husband at the crib and looked down at two peaceful little faces.

Taiwo sought her mother the next morning, and Wo-ma gave her a block of indigo, some milk, and a bag of lemons. She spent the morning mixing the items into a thick paint of haint blue that she brushed all over the front door and the porch steps. After the first coat dried, she painted another layer to keep Kehinde out of her house.

Wo-Ma didn't act surprised when Taiwo told her about Meji. She seemed prepared for it actually, like she'd been waiting for the day to come and had the supplies ready just in case. Cash didn't question her about it, accepting that she and her people did different things because of Hoodoo. No one spoke about it out loud, and he knew that people sometimes visited Wo-Ma for "special" talks in her home with Papa Will. Even her father went off to spend time among the old Choctaw Indian mounds to commune with nature and his own people's spirits.

She didn't tell Cash about seeing her sister, and her prayer the previous night sounded no different from the ones he heard her saying on any occasion when she sought help for a problem. In his mind, he probably thought she was praying for Elijah to get better.

Unfortunately, he didn't.

Day by day, he grew weaker from not taking her milk. After two days, his body became thinner than his brother's and she asked for Wo-Ma's help. By the fifth day, his diapers didn't fit. The sweetgrass, haint blue paint, and spells worked to keep Kehinde out of the house, but it didn't stop her connection to Elijah who didn't even want Taiwo picking him up anymore, his fretful eyes searching for an elusive new mother who abandoned him to the mundane world. Wo-Ma moved back into the house and gave her various spells to cast for her son, but nothing worked on their side of the veil. Elias thrived, getting fatter and happy while Elijah withered down to where she could see gauntness in his cheeks. They tried feeding him cow's milk diluted with water and mixed with honey. The boy ate nothing and didn't want to be touched by people. He cried during his diaper changes and cried whenever he looked around the room for Meji.

"He tasted your sister's milk. She created a bond with him I caint break just yet," Wo-Ma said.

Taiwo's mother sat in the kitchen area and cried, unhappy that she couldn't save her grandchild from her own dead daughter. Seven long, worrisome days had passed.

Cash pretended to stay strong, but each morning he hugged Elijah as if he wouldn't see him again by his noon lunch. He spent most days rushing back and forth from the cabin and the field, barely getting any work done to sustain them as a family. Taiwo told her laundry customers that she was too sick to wash clothes. She worried about their finances dwindling. Papa Will even broached the topic with Wo-Ma of preparing for another death in their family if Elijah didn't get better. He thought she didn't hear him as they whispered in the front room while she rested in her bedroom. Wo-Ma scolded him for saying it and stayed up every night on the front porch meditating and praying. She threw conjuring bones on the kitchen table every morning, seeking answers until she finally found one.

When Taiwo thought she had to give up hope, Wo-Ma took her and the babies outside, washing them thoroughly in a tub. She made them wear all white and packed them into her mule cart and carried them off to her shack. On her kitchen table, unwrapped and hardened from two decades of burial, sat a gray mass.

"That right there wrapped you and Meji in me before your birth. We must take it to your daddy's people…their sacred place where the power is stronger. I'll break the bond there," Wo-Ma said.

She took out her pouch of bones and threw them on her table next to the dried placenta of Taiwo and Kehinde. Pieces of rabbit, raccoon, and chicken bones scattered in a wide arc. Wo-Ma read the bones and Papa Will burned sweetgrass to maintain a connection to the spirit world his wife tried to pick a message from.

"Come, we have to go now. We'll go on the river and not by foot. Meji caint cross the water to get him out in the open before we reach the mounds," Wo-Ma said.

Papa Will tucked some tobacco inside his shirt wrapped in an old kerchief. They left Cash behind to watch over the home he built for Taiwo, and ventured to the river with the babies to catch a flatboat that would carry them upriver to the Indian mounds.

Elias fussed inside the basket Taiwo used for their travel bed while Elijah's gaunt face remained quiet. They arrived at an empty landing in the late afternoon. Papa Will paid a wagon driver passing by to carry them in the sweltering sun a little ways ahead. They soon trudged through a dense meadow where a male Choctaw elder with a weathered, light brown face stood watch, guarding the area. Papa Will passed on the tobacco and a few coins. The elder accepted the offering without a word and led them toward where they wanted to be, like some clandestine meeting in broad daylight. Along the edge of a row of tall, poplar trees, three Choctaw women tended to pulling weeds in a clearing. A sizeable mound of green covered earth rose out of the ground like the curve of a whale's back surrounded by smaller mounds the size of hitched wagons at cardinal points.

Papa Will spoke to the women privately, and they accepted something from him that Taiwo couldn't see and left the clearing silently.

"Feel it?" Wo-Ma asked.

"Yes," Taiwo answered in a reverent tone.

The earth hummed with a sound that no human could hear, but Taiwo and Wo-Ma sensed it on their skin like subtle vibrations itching the flesh. It nipped at them in waves.

"There is a mighty power here. The old ones in this place say the door is here. We need them to close it for her," Wo-Ma whispered. "Put the basket there and keep close to your babies."

Taiwo set the basket upon the soft earth and Papa Will lingered near it, his watchful eyes stuck on the largest mound.

Wo-Ma prayed out loud for a long, long time. Her voice carried a beseeching quality, and it echoed across the mounds until she began speaking in tongues, the language of spirits. Papa Will burnt sweetgrass and left the smoking bundle two feet in front of Wo-Ma. Eventually, Wo-Ma's incoherent speech slowed down and sounded like plain English again. She pointed to the twins.

"See here…these my grandbabies. Freshly born and new to this world. My dead daughter, Kehinde, has a hold on one of them and she won't let him go. He's dying. Hear me? Little Elijah. I need your help. You my husband's people…his kinfolk. Will, he's Chahta Lusa…Black Choctaw. His papa come from you…tell them, Will."

Papa Will, who didn't like to talk much, shuffled forward and pulled off his hat. He held Wo-Ma's trembling hand.

"She's tellin' the truth. Aia-ali. I am from this place…this…yakni."

"Show 'em, honey," Wo-Ma said.

Papa Will pulled out a small paring blade and cut his palm open. He knelt down and squeezed his hand in a fist, letting his blood drip onto the ground. The brown dirt absorbed the scarlet liquid until there was nothing visible. Taiwo handed her father a handkerchief, and he bound up the wound.

"See? He yours, and these babies here are yours, too. Meji…Kehinde, she yours…Taiwo is yours. But Kehinde won't leave Elijah be. I need to bury her spirit here, where the barrier is stronger."

Wo-Ma gestured for Taiwo to show Elijah. Her oldest son hovered on the precipice of a cold, untimely death, and her hot tears fell on his face. She wiped them away.

"Wo-Ma, look," Taiwo said.

A flickering blue ball of light swooped down from up high and hovered in front of Wo-Ma. It was the size of Taiwo's good china plate that she cherished, passed down from her great-grandmother.

Papa Will lifted Elias and crept away with him as they had planned, to keep the spirits from mistaking him for Elijah. He left Taiwo to guard her firstborn. She smothered him down in marigold oil and herbs, his sickly expression worrying her more.

A disembodied voice called out from the blue orb that floated before them like a small alien sun.

"Wo-Ma…please…let me have Elijah…"

"No. I love you, Meji, but he caint go to where you are. That's not fair to your sister. You can watch over him, but you caint keep him for yourself. He don't belong to you. I gotta plant you here because you're killing him."

Taiwo held her son against her chest, feeling a new flow of tears running down her cheeks.

"This my baby. He came outta me…you caint just take him Meji!"

The shriek of her voice made Wo-Ma wince and Elijah wiggled in her arms from the sound of pent up rage.

"I want him!" Meji screamed.

The orb of watery blue light surrounded Elijah and ripped him out of Taiwo's arms. The boy's weak body floated out of reach above Taiwo's head. She jumped up several times, trying to grab him.

Wo-Ma settled onto her knees quickly and dug a hole in the ground with her bare hands. She unwrapped the placenta bundle, cut it in half with her own small knife from her conjure bag hooked to her dress belt, and buried it carefully, smoothing the dirt above it. The conjuring spell she spoke with a ferocious tone frightened Taiwo.

The orb froze in place, and Elijah stayed suspended in the air.

"Wo-Ma, noooo!" Kehinde shrieked, her voice shattering the peace of the woods and scaring birds out of the trees.

"Stay…behind the veil…you will not come for Elijah or anyone else again!" Wo-Ma shouted.

She poured an oil from her work bag over the small mound of dirt that held the placenta half that belonged to Kehinde.

A crack of thunder rattled the sunny sky above them and a silvery lightning flash from out of nowhere slashed across the glowing blue ball. Elijah fell down into Taiwo's outstretched arms. He hollered like he had seen too much for his itty bitty age and Taiwo offered him a nipple and he latched on to it and sucked away, his chipmunk cheeks puffing in and out. She cried out with joy.

The pungent odor of sizzling ozone drenched the air and Taiwo witnessed the rippling of the scenery in front of her, as if she'd taken her hand and swiped it across water and the reflection there spiraled out in layers then snapped back to normal like the sudden slamming of a heavy door.

"Don't move yet. We don't want to attract others who may have slipped through," Wo-Ma warned.

Silent and immobile like statues, they remained in place until the scent of the otherworldly had passed.

"Will she stay gone, Wo-Ma?" Taiwo asked.

Wo-Ma nodded confidently.

Taiwo carried Elijah against her breast and fed him all the way back home.

Cash met them at their front door and cried like a baby himself once the healthy color returned to Elijah's cheeks. They all breathed easy, listening to the squalling noise he did, announcing he wanted more milk to drink down into his undernourished belly. Cash kissed Taiwo all over her face and held his son close between feedings.

When they placed the well-fed boys in their bed together, the little ones faced each other and gurgled peacefully.

But Taiwo kept painting the front door and the porch steps with fresh coats of haint blue every two weeks. She kept them coated down in protective oils, too.

Just in case.

3. The Watermelon Man

At six months old, the twins were fat, heavy, and the most adorable babies in Clarksdale. Taiwo was a proud momma and Cash a proud papa.

Hard work during harvest season and nursing hungry boys kept her days hectic. But Cash had her busy in the evening too, wanting to touch and kiss her as much as possible. The babies learned to sleep through the night, so that meant Taiwo had time to be up under her husband hot and sweaty like they did before they had the boys.

Cash started dreaming about opening a juke joint. Taiwo would've preferred a small mercantile attached to their cabin, but Cash doubted they could rely on a steady harvest to support a store's needed goods and buy property at the same time. He also thought it unwise to compete with the white landowner, who also ran his own mercantile operation that kept sharecroppers in debt through overpriced goods and freely given, unrepayable credit.

Taiwo didn't want to wash clothes anymore. She desired more time with her babies and friends.

"You'll have plenty of friends if we put up a juke. Corn liquor is cheap and easy to make and free money is better than borrowed money from a cracka bank," he said.

She worried about the stigma.

Cash's family already hated that he married a Hoodoo woman from a long line of Hoodoo women. His people were stalwart Christians that looked down on her already. Opening a juke would make it seem like she was leading him further astray from the Lord.

No one in his family gave her credit for keeping Cash on the straight and narrow. Before he married her, he'd been on the run for some nefarious dealings in New Orleans. Rumors said he killed a few people over gambling and women. Cash was what the folks were calling a wandering bluesman, and that was sin enough in his mother's eyes. His family accused her of putting a root on him, tricking him to stay under her. Taiwo could only laugh at that. Whatever devilment he got into in his past was already in him. Taiwo tamed him of all that wandering, but let him keep singing. He sang songs of fucking, fighting, and losing good women. Field hollers and spirituals never came out of his mouth anymore. Her husband told bawdy stories with his banjo and looked forward to teaching his sons how to play. As long as he kept the foolishness in the music, she didn't mind.

One early morning Taiwo drank a special herbal mixture that her mother instructed her to drink if she wanted to prevent having more babies too soon. Cash did his best to pull out or use her mouth for his release, but he was a horny man in love with his wife. Taiwo got it in her head that she'd probably end up pregnant come winter when there was nothing to do but wait for spring to arrive again during the long, cold months. The twins were already a handful and she couldn't bear carrying another child so soon like most of her friends did.

She sipped on the concoction, then busied herself making corn cakes. Twins making it to six months could only be celebrated by gifting friends the fried goods from her skillet to share in the abundance of the Ibeji. Mavis stopped by with her newborn, eager to have a taste of the food herself fresh from the stove.

She fried all morning, and after the cooling time, wrapped up several piles of flat circular cakes to deliver. Mavis left after her fill, taking a few extras home to her husband.

Taiwo bundled the twins up in her small wagon next to the three plates of covered corn cakes.

"You takin' them hoecakes now?" Cash asked.

He rinsed his face from a leftover bucket of water on the porch.

"Yeah, I should be back in a few hours. I think it's time for the boys to get some fresh air and let people see them."

"Wo-Ma okay with that? Thought she wanted them kept indoors for a few more months."

"We can't hide them in the house forever. Besides, Elijah has healed up nice and plump again. He's strong and I want them both to get some sun along the way."

Cash stepped from the porch and kissed her forehead.

"Keep 'em in the shade if it gets too warm and rest if you need to."

"I will."

Taiwo clasped the handle of the wagon.

"And don't buy up all that penny candy from Mrs. Morgan if you see her. I know you'll pass by them people selling at the crossroads."

"One little bag…I promise."

"I'll believe it when I see it."

Taiwo tied her sun hat tighter under her neck and blew him a kiss. She tugged on the wagon handle, rolling the babies behind her.

The fall sunshine on her skin felt pleasant. It wasn't too hot for the twins, so she loosened up their swaddling, letting fresh air pour over them. Warm yellow rays added more color to their cheeks. Their eyes stared up at the big blue sky until she moved them closer to the trees as a few mule-drawn wagons rattled by on their way to town. She fanned her face from the gnats that flew under the tree canopies and stopped to check her babies as dust kicked up from the road along with more foot-traffic and carts. Strangers fawned over her children and she kept on her journey.

A few vendors peppered the way, some selling fish sandwiches and slices of sweet potato pie. She didn't see Mrs. Morgan out with her sugary sweets and kept walking the path that led to her friends.

She noticed an old man with balding grayish-white hair selling watermelon slices. The bright red of the innards dotted with vivid black seeds drew her near. A pile of watermelons sat stacked neatly on the side of the road with an old blanket, keeping them from touching the ground.

"I gots the sweetest, juiciest watermelons you'll ever taste!" he blurted to every passerby.

Taiwo had a taste for something sweet. Most of the vendors stayed out until late afternoon. If she couldn't have candy, then some sweet bites of watermelon would do. The watermelon man sliced chunks for customers who sampled his goods, and their smacking lips convinced Taiwo it was worth buying.

"Hey, pretty lady. Come on over here and try summa this melon. The best you ever had, I can promise you that!"

He sliced a fresh melon in half, and then carefully cut the green rind from the fruit.

The younger man next to him selling green apples looked annoyed. His baskets of fruit didn't attract as much attention from buyers.

"I have errands to run. I'll be by later," she said.

Her feet still carried her over to look at the fruit up close.

"Here, try a piece. I bet I can fit a whole watermelon right in your wagon…oh my, what do we have here? Are those twins?"

Taiwo grinned.

"Yes, my boys."

"Fine looking ones, too," he said, peering down at their chubby faces that peeked out at the fascinating new world.

Taiwo eyed the watermelon.

"Here."

The man handed her a chunk. She popped it into her mouth and it burst with a flavor so sweet and cooling that she gasped with delight. Some of the juice ran down her chin and she wiped it with her fingers.

"So good!' she said.

"Told ya."

"Ain't seen you 'round here before."

"I'm just passing through during the harvest. I heard the folks around here ain't had good watermelon in ages."

"Where you from?"

"Oh, from here and there…everywhere," he said with a sing-song voice.

Taiwo studied his face. Dark brown skin like the tobacco her daddy smoked. Teeth worn down and yellowed. Just enough wrinkles to obscure his true age. His overalls were clean, no trace of dust or dirt, and his shoes were made of sturdy dark leather that looked brand new. Both of his eyes were clouded over with a gray film, and she wondered how well he could see with them. Unlike the other vendors, he didn't have a wagon to move his product. Nor a wide cart he could pull himself.

"Here darlin', have another piece," he said, carving another chunk for her.

"I'll get some on my way back home," she said.

The large knife in his hand made her nervous with his poor eyesight.

"I'll be here waiting for you…and these cute lil boys."

Taiwo pulled her wagon and trudged away from the watermelon man and carried on about her business.

She stopped at her friend Louise's house first and gifted her with the most corn cakes since she had six children and a husband. They chatted for a few minutes and she let Louise hold each twin. Next, she walked over to her childhood friend Ora's home, where she lived with her parents and husband. Ora also had a baby a month older than Elijah and Elias, and the women traded baby tips on keeping rashes at bay and also looking out for constipation.

Her last delivery was to a cousin on her mother's side. Flossy didn't bother waiting to eat the corn cakes. She poured honey over them and feasted on two before her husband and children returned from fishing.

"If I don't eat some now, won't be none left when they get back," Flossy said.

Taiwo visited with her the longest and fed her babies. While she changed wet diapers, they talked about family, the weather, and the harvest party a mutual friend was throwing in a week.

"Girl, I ain't been out dancing in so long," Taiwo sighed.

"Let my oldest Peaches watch the babies and you and Cash come out for a good time. She fifteen and responsible. You can feed them here and come out with me and Dexter for a few hours. Be good to see you out. We'd love to hear Cash play. He still talkin' 'bout opening that juke?"

"He is. But I would rather we open another business."

Flossy ate another corn cake and put the rest inside her oven for safe-keeping. They hugged and Taiwo retraced her steps toward home. The boys slept soundly with the gentle rocking motion of the wagon and the humming she did. She stopped to cover them with another blanket as the air grew cooler.

Most of the vendors had left the crossroads, and the few remaining packed up and rolled away in carts and wagons.

Not the watermelon man.

He stayed soliciting and slicing chunks.

The old man sniffed the air before she approached him.

"I can smell those sweet babies. Such a delicious aroma. Are you ready to buy from me pretty lady?"

Taiwo didn't like what he said. She kept her sons hidden from him.

Cautiously, she moved her wagon further into the road and away from the vendor. He held out a thick slice of watermelon for her to take.

"No, thank you…I don't have any money on me today," she said.

The grin on the old man's face faltered. He sniffed the air once more and his nostrils twitched like a feral animal smelling the subtle whiff of prey.

"Well, I'm sure you'll be by here again with those babies. Why don't you take a whole one home with you?"

"That's a kind offer, but I'm not sure when I'll be back again."

She kept moving until she passed him. He pointed the knife at her.

"I have no problem with you paying me later. I'll be here for awhile. Good business in these parts. Maybe…maybe you could let me hold one of them babies, huh? They are so cute…and fat."

He ogled Elias. She pretended not to hear him, as if the people leaving the area further ahead distracted her.

Pulling the wagon faster, she quickly forged on. Once she had some safe distance between herself and the watermelon man, she breathed a little easier and her chest didn't feel so tight. She glanced over her shoulder and didn't see anyone following her.

Her shoulders relaxed the closer she came to familiar landmarks. She closed in on their plot of sharecropping land.

"Taiwo!"

The anger in the voice calling to her from the dense trees near the right side of the road didn't stop her from moving. Papa Will taught her about answering strange voices she didn't know. If she looked, whatever called her would know she was the owner of the name. If she answered, it would follow her home. Or worse.

She walked faster.

The wagon shook the boys awake, and they babbled at her.

The dark nature of that faceless voice propelled her to go even faster.

She reached her home and carefully lifted her children. Entering the safety of the cabin spilled relief throughout her rigid body. She kissed the boys and fed them in her rocking chair while watching for any signs of trouble through the window.

Cash walked in from the bedroom and looked at the kitchen table.

"No candy?" he teased.

She shook her head.

"What's the matter? You look spooked."

"An old man selling watermelons scared me."

"How?"

"He acted strange…well, he said something strange, and it bothered me. He said he could smell my babies. But I wasn't close enough for him to do that. The boys were covered up. I hadn't even got close enough for him to know I was there. He made me feel uncomfortable… I could feel the badness in my stomach and chest."

Cash rubbed his chin and concern crossed over his features. He sat down and spoke with a steady voice.

"Did you show him the twins?" Cash asked.

"He saw part of their faces."

"Ben came by here right after you left. He dropped off some tools and told me about a baby that was stolen over in Rolling Fork four days ago. A mother turned her back on a man selling pecans for a minute and her baby was gone from her yard. Next time you go out, I'm coming with you."

Taiwo nodded.

A few days passed by and Taiwo rode with Cash on their wagon to see his parents. She didn't want to be around them and their critical gaze, but Cash didn't want to leave her alone at the cabin with the boys.

Taiwo held the twins on her lap, and the couple enjoyed the outing. They made plans to look for land to buy soon. Cash sang to her and her cheeks warmed up from the salacious nature of the lyrics. Her belly ached from laughing at the humorous way he changed the sound of his voice to sing falsetto like a woman. The babies grinned every time she giggled.

Blinking twice, she nudged Cash's arm.

The watermelon man sat on the side of the road not too far from the crossroads. Another stack of bright green melons enticed buyers, and he used his sharp knife to cut the fruit samples.

"Pretty lady. I see you're back."

His cloudy eyes focused in on the twins. His nose twitched.

"Brought those babies, too," he said.

"That's him," she whispered to Cash.

The watermelon man lifted a chunk of dripping sweetness that trailed a line of juice, looking like pale pink blood on his arm. His body appeared smaller and more hunched over than the last time Taiwo met him.

"We don't want none," Cash said.

He snapped the reins, and their mule, Esther, skedaddled along, pulling them away.

They tried to ignore the sighting of the old man and continued on with their day, but uneasiness chilled their once pleasant mood.

Another week passed and a trip home from church with Wo-Ma and Papa Will in their wagon brought them face-to-face with the watermelon man again. This time, he was about two hundred yards from their home and held one melon in his left hand and the knife in his right.

None of them acknowledged the man, simply passed him right by without a sound, even as he called to them about purchasing his fruit.

"That's who I told you about, Wo-Ma," Taiwo said inside her kitchen.

Her parents drank coffee with Cash, and she fretted over how long it would take for the watermelon man to find their cabin. Cash's forehead crinkled.

"He more different from before. Even smaller…older," Cash said.

"It's a trickster. Not even human, Cash. It used the watermelon Taiwo ate to stick to her. It won't leave until it gets what it wants. There's something about those babies that attracts things that shouldn't be around us," Wo-Ma said.

"What can we do? I done tried every root I know to cast it away from me, but it keeps coming closer," Taiwo asked.

"Give him what he wants. Give him the twins," Papa Will said.

Taiwo balked and stared at her father liked he'd gone mad. Papa Will patted her hand.

"We trick him into thinking he's got the twins. It cain't see good, but it can smell an ant fart."

Wo-Ma and Cash laughed. Taiwo didn't crack a smile.

"He's one of the little people," Papa Will said. "They steal babies and then leave you with one that looks like yours behind. Only that new baby ain't right. It'll suck the life outta you because it ain't a real baby. Just misery."

Papa Will looked at Wo-Ma and winked, then gestured for them all to move in closer around the kitchen table.

"This what we do," Papa Will whispered.

"I hope this works," Cash said.

"It has to," Taiwo answered.

She held onto the squirming bundle in her arms.

"Even if he caint see for shit, he can sure tell a piglet from a baby by how that thing is making noise."

Taiwo glanced at the suckling pig in her arms, wrapped in her children's baby blanket.

"Papa Will said to treat them just like I would Elijah and Elias. Go about my business and let that man see me doing it."

"I should come with you."

"No…you caint. You gotta stay with Elijah and Elias. He'll know we're up to something if you show up. I can do this, Cash."

The second piglet that was also dressed in the twin's baby clothes and a blanket grunted and squirmed underneath the abnormal covering for its smelly skin. For two weeks, they didn't wash any of the children's spare clothing, so their scent would permeate the cotton. Then they dressed and carried the piglets around the house and outside as if they were the babies. Taiwo washed clothes with the piglets by her side. Cash chopped wood and worked on repairs around the cabin to prepare for winter, singing them songs he made up like he did his real babies.

The time came to venture out and lay the scheme on the watermelon man.

Taiwo kissed Cash goodbye, and he pretended to kiss the piglets. Earlier, she let the fat sow in her pen feed them. The trip wouldn't take long. She just had to be seen by the old man taking her children out for errands.

She pulled the wagon and hummed, trying to act normal. She stopped to peer at the piglets, acting like she was checking on their comfort. With each squeal, she pretended they babbled to her, and she cooed and kissed their pink snouts.

Mavis and her husband passed her by on the road.

"Where you headed Taiwo?" Mavis asked.

"Taking the boys for a walk," she said, dashing past them.

Mavis glanced into the wagon but Taiwo didn't give her a chance to ask about seeing the babies. The wagon wheels groaned from the sudden movement.

Her eyes darted from side to side as she sang a lullaby to pass the time. Eventually she glimpsed the figure of the watermelon man squatted on the ground further down the road, shielded by the low-hanging branch of a tupelo tree.

He had no more watermelons. Only the knife in his hand. He scraped it against the dirt between his legs.

"Pretty lady, I'm all outta melons today…and patience, too," he said.

Taiwo stayed calm. His appearance had become sinister, the cloudy eyes sunken in on his face and the aged yellow teeth more prominent in his mouth. Longer. Sharper at the tips. The clothing on his body became ill-fitting and tattered. There were no more shoes on his feet and the flesh of his toes looked like hard ashy stones. Even the tone of his voice had become harsh and scratchy to the ear.

"I'm not buying anything today. I have people to see," Taiwo blurted.

She strolled past him with the wagon and paused for a second, peering into the faces of her piglet children.

"You boys are being so good for me," she said, making sure the old man heard her.

Following Papa Will's instructions, she traveled far from her home to search for foxgloves flowers. Wo-Ma never allowed them to grow around their homes. The small purple bell shapes attracted magical beings, and she was positive that the old man came from the bulk that thrived among the brush area near the crossroads.

It didn't take long for her to find a thick overgrowth.

She tugged on the wagon handle and pulled the piglets into the center of the flowers.

"I'm so sorry," she murmured to the animals.

Lifting her skirt, she walked away from the wagon and acted like she had to urinate behind some trees. Hidden away, she closed her eyes tight and hugged her legs into her chest with her back jammed against the bark.

Soon, both piglets squealed in terror…then silence.

Taiwo waited longer before she emerged from her hiding place. Fear gripped her throat, and she held her breath. From across the way, she could see the disheveled blankets in the wagon. She crept closer.

The piglets were gone.

Taiwo ran back home without looking back.

Cash gripped his shotgun inside the cabin. Elijah and Elias slept soundly in their crib. When Taiwo burst through the door, he jumped up from a chair placed in front of it.

"He took 'em! The pigs…they gone!"

Cash nodded and hugged her with one arm.

"Now we wait until tomorrow," he said.

They slept with their boys between them on the bed. Neither of them could sleep a wink. Every sound outside became cause for alarm. A loon wailing hitched their breath. Crickets suddenly going quiet, their wings no longer rubbing together to chirp mating calls chilled their blood. The baying of a loose hound dog roaming the field wrenched them away from much needed rest.

By the crack of dawn, Taiwo could catnap while Cash stayed alert for signs of the trickster.

She fed the babies early and her parents arrived to lend their support. They would watch the children while Cash and Taiwo fetched the wagon.

"Don't take the shotgun, it'll attract attention," Papa Will said.

Cash lifted his axe from under the cabin and clasped Taiwo's hand.

"You musn't speak at all, not until you finish the task at the river," Wo-Ma said.

The couple set off with the sun on their backs. Taiwo sucked in a nervous breath as they arrived at the place where she left the wagon off-road. Two lumpy bundles rested under the blankets that had been empty before. Cash pointed toward the river and Taiwo carefully pulled the wagon handle.

What rested under the blankets squirmed and elicited throaty warbles trying to imitate the sounds of the piglets. Taiwo's hands shook once they reached the water's edge. She took a small bag of salt from the rucksack she carried and sprinkled it in a large circle around the wagon.

Cash signaled for her to step aside.

He reached down and pulled back the faded blanket.

The abomination in the wagon brought Taiwo to her knees. Even Cash retched. She vomited on the ground and held her nose, the stench so overpowering that her eyes welled up with tears. More bile rose in her throat and she nearly screamed before Cash slammed his hand over her mouth. They couldn't let on that the creatures lying in the wagon weren't their babies.

The putrid odor reminded her of rotted meat and burning sulfur. Twisted bloody flesh made a vile mockery of anything that God had created on earth. Skinless with black worm-like protrusions pulsing all over them, the offerings in the wagon in no way resembled living pigs. More like something had vaguely assembled inside-out beings from scraps of diseased tissue they thought could pass for babies. The worst part was the lifeless, silvery eyes bulging out of the sockets on stalks like slugs seeking moisture.

Taiwo shook Cash's arm and pointed into the wagon.

The creatures changed.

A slow blooming of pink skin crawled across the lumpish muscles and wiggling sinew whose foul odor lessened in the air. The transformation from bloody cryptids into sprightly piglets astonished them. Had they arrived later than they did, no one would've been able to convince them of the deceit.

Cash raised the axe and butchered them.

He hissed when a splash of fluid from a piglet dripped down his arm. It sizzled and blistered with yellow pus oozing from it, and he cried out in pain. Taiwo snatched the kerchief she wore off her head and drenched it in cool river water. She wiped down his arm, but the piglet's blood scorched down into the second layer of skin. Cash inhaled his pain and continued chopping up the bodies, careful to avoid any more pig liquid from touching him or Taiwo.

His work complete, Cash collected kindling, covering the decimated creatures. He lit a match.

The bodies blazed. Taiwo covered her nose and stood back from the dark gray smoke that turned an ominous sanguine color. The red fumes rose high and drifted across the water.

Cash pushed the wagon into the river, and its contents flowed downstream before sinking from sight.

Taiwo let out a loud gasp and moaned into Cash's chest as he held her close. The pain in his arm increased, and he grimaced. She ripped a piece of her skirt off and wrapped the wound. Afterward, she reached into her bag again and pulled out a silver dollar. She planted it in the center of the salt circle and buried it with dirt and more salt. She settled the debt to the old man for eating his watermelon. Taiwo spoke an incantation over it to seal the circle.

"Let's go home…get back to our real babies," Cash said through gritted teeth.

Life went on.

Cash's wounds never healed properly and turned into slippery black keloids that remained as a testament to the watermelon man's attempt to ruin their lives.

Elijah and Elias grew bigger, learned to crawl, and that brought on more challenges to keep up with them. Taiwo's conjuring powers and Cash's watchful eye in the world protected them.

When the twins turned a year old, a great flood swept through Clarksdale. A heavy rainstorm planted its watery arms above them and gathered the power of two mighty tributaries that swelled up the river beds and poured out onto the fertile fields. Many people drowned. The churning, muddy waters damaged homes and washed others away forever.

Taiwo and Cash barely had enough time to gather the children and her parents before the roar of water rushed through the plantation land. They used two wagons to transport people, a few chickens, and their pigs. Papa Will kept them somewhat prepared by reading the weather and water level signs early, forcing them to move inland toward higher ground when others doubted the severity of the storm.

Days later, when the waters receded, they returned to salvage what they could. Taiwo found her wooden Ibeji figures stuck in mud outside their home.

Luckily, the cabin remained despite the water damage inside. Cash figured that the trees and brush helped protect their home from being dragged into oblivion. It would need some rebuilding and fortifying, but at least they had a roof over their heads.

Taiwo gazed at the broken doorway and water-logged porch. A new coating of haint blue was needed. She clutched the Ibeji figures as the twins sat on a dry blanket covering the porch. Stroking the wood, she fretted a little. The figure representing Elias had a tiny nick on the neck. Her finger worried the marking and a sliver of wood splintered and cut her skin. She bled. Sucking on her finger, she glanced at Elias, who crawled across the porch trying to get to Cash, who checked the walls outside. Her youngest grabbed Cash's leg and pulled himself up to stand on his own feet.

Taiwo looked at the wooden figure again.

"Taiwo, hey! Taiwo! Cash!"

Mavis and her husband Roy rolled in on their creaky, mule-drawn wagon.

"We came to check on y'all," Mavis said.

Mavis held her deep brown baby girl Annie on her lap. A yellow bonnet covered the baby's curly hair, and her bright eyes were as big as her smile.

"Hey Annie, you sure is pretty," Taiwo said.

She lifted the girl from her friend's arms and carried her over to the porch where she plopped her rump on the top damp step. Mavis joined her and Elijah crawled over to Taiwo and hoisted himself up by her shoulder. He reached for Annie's bonnet and the baby girl squealed in delight.

Cash held Elias and spoke to Roy, and Taiwo chatted with Mavis. Elijah and Annie gurgled and babbled together as the sun rose higher, drying the water left on the land. Eventually Taiwo lifted the Ibeji figures and took them back inside the house, placing them above the fireplace where they belonged. She didn't bother to wipe the mud off, wanting to keep the memory of the flood on them so she would know her babies survived when some didn't.

Mavis and Roy headed out back to their place. They were part of the blessed few who still had a home to return to.

Taiwo and Cash held their children and watched their friends' wagon get pulled slowly by their stubborn mule.

A breeze blew across her hair, and the stale scent of foreboding returned. Cash bounced Elijah in his arms and Taiwo held Elias close to her bosom. A new flood would come again one day in the future. Not one made from a gathering of waters out of the river, but from a different place. It seeped into her marrow. Taunting her.

A battle was coming.

All Taiwo could do was stay vigilant and love on her babies. Lean on her husband.

She prayed that whatever wickedness came their way, God, her conjuring skills, and calls to their ancestors could withstand it.

It had to. It just had to.

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Author's Note:

1. My story title "A Gathering of Waters" is the Anishinaabeg translation for the word "Mississippi" which they named the Mississippi River after.

2. Ibeji is the term for "Divine Twins" in the Yoruba Orisha Pantheon from southwest Nigeria (Naija!). Their colors are associated with red and blue because they are said to have been born of Shango (the Orisha of thunder, lightning, and fire = red), and Yemayá (The Goddess of the primal waters, nurturing, and protective= blue.)

3. Clarksdale, Mississippi is widely known as the birthplace of the Blues and has its well-known supernatural Black American folk tales and myths about blues singer Robert Johnson and his deal with the devil at the crossroads.

4. There are real Indian mounds throughout Mississippi that are sacred to the original Indigenous Mississippians. Black folks descended from Choctaw people would be known as Chahta Lusa, Chahta = Choctaw and Lusa = Black.

5. Hoodoo (which I practice) is not the same as Voodoo (Vodun), but they both have their roots (like Santeria, Obeah, Lucumi, Candomble etc) under the umbrella of African spiritualist traditions. Enslaved Africans carried their belief systems throughout the Black diaspora. Wherever they landed, they transformed, and synthesized with other African Traditional Religions (ATR) from the other west African cultures they were forced into bondage with, often hiding their old "gods" under new names and new ways of worship. This is why Wo-Ma and Taiwo in my story can have some ancestral memories of the Ibeji passed down to them, but they use Hoodoo methods to work their conjuring after nearly two hundred years of Black people being in America.

6. The banjo is an African instrument carried over from enslavement into the Caribbean and America. Please don't think white Americans invented it. They didn't. It's used so often in country music (that Black people created too) that folks think it's a European instrument. Originally made from gourds, it has been a staple in blues music until we started using more guitars.

7. I will be writing more fics in this world. I want to get another quick one out before I see the "Sinners" movie a few days after it comes out. My fics in this new fandom will be called the "Ibeji Series".

#I LOVE THIS YOUR HONOR #i love how you're filling in the gaps of the twins' backstory based on what we're given in the film #the character of taiwo is just so beautifully written and i love how much care and detail you put into her #i love the idea of twins running on her side of the family #also the cultural backgrounds of taiwo's parents and how they use their traditional knowledge to help the babies #the segment where kehinde's spirit shows up is probably my favorite part but all of this is was just such a pleasure to read #also little annie cameo!#we love to see it 🤩#thank you for sharing with the class #sinners

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