I couldn't settle. No matter how tight Noles' arms were around me, no matter how steady his breathing stayed in my ear, my spirit wouldn't rest. His body was warm, solid, anchoring but my mind kept drifting, slipping between the edges of sleep like something didn't want me to go all the way under. It felt wrong to sleep. Like I was being warned.
I shifted, damp with sweat, my nightgown sticking to my back. Noles' hand tightened instinctively around my waist, pulling me closer, like he could feel me slipping somewhere he couldn't reach. When sleep came, it came heavy with a dream. It wasn't soft or merciful.
The air went cold at my ankles unnatural, like somebody opened a door in a house with no wind. I was standing in front of a house. Mid-sized. Wooden. Crooked like it had been leaning for years and finally gave up trying to stand straight. It sat off the edge of an old bayou, the kind where the water didn't moveunless something disturbed it. Moss hung low from the trees, brushing the roof like fingers that had been there too long. The yard was swallowed by weeds. The porch sagged. Windows dark.
No life, But inside I could hear voices. I moved without walking, pulled forward like the house had a hold on me. The floorboards creaked beneath my feet as I stepped inside, the air thick and sour, heavy with fear and old anger. The hallway stretched longer than it should have, walls closing in as I moved toward a door at the end.
The voices sharpened.
Nash.
Filesha.
And their mama.
They were arguing, frantic, venomous. "We get the money," Nash said, pacing, his voice sharp and desperate. "After we make the exchange, we get the fuck on. They gon' be too distracted to notice us slippin out. That's the best option we got. We meet up in an hour and do the exchange." I stepped closer.
That's when I saw Juliana. Standing beside Filesha, small, still, eyes too big for her face. She looked confused. Like she didn't understand why the air felt wrong. Mozele turned on Nash so fast the room seemed to shake. "You just like your damn daddy," she roared. "Weak behind pussy. This the second time pussy damn near cost this family every fuckin thing and it never end up being worth the nut."
Her voice echoed off the walls, vibrating through my chest.
The argument exploded after that. Voices overlapping with accusations. Fear dressed up as anger. The house started to groan.
The walls bent.
The ceiling dipped.
The floor rolled like water under my feet.
Juliana moved She pulled free from Filesha's hand suddenly, like something told her to run. "Juliana!" Filesha screamed. It was too late.
Juliana bolted down the hallway, her little feet slapping against the wood, panic finally catching up to her body. They chased her but not fast enough. The hallway stretched, warped, like it was protecting her and betraying her at the same time.
She hit the stairs. I watched it happen in slow motion. Her foot slipped. Her body pitched forward. Her scream cut off halfway down. The sound of her hitting the bottom echoed once. Then there was Silence. A silence so loud it pressed against my ears. Filesha reached her first, dropping to her knees, shaking hands checking for breath. I watched her face collapse as realization hit. She looked back up the stairs, tears filling her eyes, and shook her head. Nash froze and Mozele didn't move at all.
Time stopped. The house held its breath. And I felt something rip through me. A scream tore out of my chest and I woke up. It felt like someone had thrown cold water on me. I shot upright, drenched in sweat, heart slamming so hard I thought it would break my ribs. My sheets were soaked. My hair clung to my neck. My hands shook.
"Noles " I gasped. He was already standing over me. He was fully dressed and his eyes were bloodshot red. "Get up, Yi," he said quietly almost hoarse "We gotta go." My throat closed. "What?" I whispered. "They found Juliana," he said, voice flat, hollow. "In the back of an abandoned car. About an hour ago."
The room spun. My ears rang. The dream collapsed in on itself, folding into reality so clean it made me dizzy. I pressed my hand to my mouth, a sob choking its way out of me. "Oh God," I whispered , rocking forward. "Mon Dieu, please..."
Noles reached for me, steadying me as my body started to shake. I had asked for sight. I had prayed for discernment. And the ancestors had answered. But nobody ever tells you that sight doesn't come with protection.
Sometimes it comes with prophecy.
Sometimes it comes with blood.
And sometimes It comes too late.
I clung to Noles as the weight of it crushed down on me, knowing deep in my spirit that this death was not just an ending. It was a turning and nothing, would ever be the same again.
NOLES
We sat around in Mama and Pops' living room like a house full of ghosts that hadn't figured out they was dead yet. The Tv was off and the air thick enough to choke on. Two days passed
That's how long Juliana had been gone from the world. Two days since they found her little body laid out in the back of a car where she ain't belong. Two days since time stopped makin sense. Two days since I realized grief don't come loud for everybody, sometimes it just sits down next to you and don't say shit.
Mama paced back and forth with her phone pressed to her ear, voice low, clipped, businesslike. Same tone she used when one of us fucked up bad as kids and she was tryin not to beat somebody ass. Pops sat in his recliner starin straight ahead like the TV was on, jaw locked, hands folded tight in his lap. He hadn't said ten words since the call came in.
