The Gatekeeper's Staff (TJ Young & The Orishas Book 1) by Antoine Bandele

Author:Antoine Bandele [Bandele, Antoine]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9781951905026
Publisher: Bandele Books
Published: 2021-06-18T16:00:00+00:00

26

The Whispering Tree

Manny already had plans that weekend. First with her crossover team, who were taking on Camp Loa from Haiti on Saturday, and second with some family she had in New Orleans on Sunday. But she promised TJ the moment she returned, and they had free time, they’d start work on finding out more about Dayo’s voice and what she might’ve been trying to tell him.

So for most of the weekend, TJ kept to himself, skimming, reading, and re-skimming Dayo’s notebook as much as he could.

By Sunday, he had nearly finished reading it, although he didn’t understand half of the material, notably the notes left in Yoruba. Dayo’s theories and concepts when it came to Ashe, and the Orishas was well over his mystical reading level. He couldn’t even answer Mr. Du Bois’s “easy” pop quiz last Friday, let alone her musings on the importance of ètùtù.

Mr. Du Bois! TJ thought as he remembered he had indeed ghosted the instructor’s offer for tutoring.

When Ogbon Studies came about on Monday morning, TJ didn’t have to wonder why the man had been giving him thin lips that matched his skinny mustache. The two or three times TJ braved to meet the instructor’s eyes, he immediately regretted it.

TJ couldn’t say he cared all that much about Mr. Du Bois or the big bold fat “D” he received on that morning’s pop quiz. He’d barely even registered the crimson-writing that read, “this is what lack of accountability earns you.” The only two things on TJ’s mind had been his plans with Manny after lunch... and his sister’s notebook hidden under his notes about the different types of offerings to the Orisha, Oya.

He and Manny had seen each other briefly the previous night when she returned. They didn’t talk about much, just light conversation about how she was visiting with her aunt and uncle, who were also diviners—her Aunt under Ifa and her uncle under Candomblé.

“My tia got me these,” she had said, flashing a new pair of burgundy earrings in the shape of coins. “They’re Oya earrings—that’s my Orisha alignment, in case you didn’t know. The earrings aren’t enchanted like the bangle Josh gave you, but they’re mad cute, though, right?”

TJ had wanted to say, “yes, they are very cute.” He even wanted to mention how well they matched her new lip balm, but then he second-guessed himself and just ended up staring.

“There you go again.” Manny pushed him. “Stop makin’ stuff weird, yo.”

Luckily Manny’s cabin leader had called her in, saving him from further embarrassment. And from that night until Monday morning, he studied up on Oya, where he found out that burgundy was her ordained color, and offerings like coins, red wine, and cloth were her favorites.

He and Manny agreed to meet to further investigate the mysteries of stafflore—Dayo’s staff in particular—and how they could commune with the dead. He wanted to give Manny something special for helping him but had no clue what he could offer. They were too young for wine, he had no cloth, and her aunt already gave her some coin earrings.

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