Page 117 of Conner's Luna

"Abue," I try to be very patient, "I am half-white, first of all, second of all-"

"I ain't racist, Peanut. You can't have children with blue eyes. Simple as that."

I stop talking. My brain just petered out. There is nothing left to think with. Conner being a wolf-person and Trey being my supposed mate and being in the hospital is enough for the time being.Abueladeciding that I can't have children that may have blue eyes has toppled me over the edge of the precipice I've been dangling on.

I give up on logic. Bye, physics and physical limitations of biologic processes. You have been let go. Expect your pink slip in your inbox shortly. We had a wonderful eighteen years together.

I try to imagine telling Conner I can't date him because he has green eyes and myabuelasays I can't have blue-eyed children. "He's a wolf-person," I blurt out, like a complete idiot. Panic immediately floods me. It's the body's natural reaction to a high level of adrenaline rushing through. So is my heart speeding up and the sudden onset of nausea.

Silence reigns. I hear Dad scoff under his breath from his position leaning against the kitchen wall with his arms crossed over his chest and a scowl perma-etched on his face.

"They have more boy babies,"Abuelasays thoughtfully. "I was lucky to have yourPapi."

I pull my cell away from my ear and stare at it. They have more boy babies. Conner is a wolf-person. I can't have blue-eyed babies. Gravity is a silly myth.

"You can't have no baby girls with that boy,"Abuelaamends her earlier declaration. "You his mate?"

I look at Dad helplessly. He nods his head, his jaw clenched tight.

"How do you know about them?" I ask her softly.

"It's in yourbisabuela’sbook," she says matter-of-factly.

"Bisabuela’sbook?" I ask weakly. My great-grandmother has a book?

"Settle in, grandchild-mine. I have a story,"Abuelasays triumphantly. "It's aboutAbuelaCharlotte'sTía, Daryle."

"I have a great-great-aunt Daryle?" I ask her.

Dad's scowl grows worse.

"Did,"Abuelasays. "'Til the sea swallowed her whole."

"She drowned?" I clarify.

"That's what everyone thought,"Abuelasaid quietly. "She threw herself into the ocean because her lover betrayed her, so it's said."

I sit at the kitchen table, my knees collapsing into the chair.

"Disappeared because a Spanishman, a colonel in the army, married another woman. A respectable one,"Abuelapauses. "Then, whenAbuelawas older, must have been twenty years after her mama died,TíaDaryle reappeared. Only she wasn't like herself anymore."

"What was she like?" I breathe.

"LikeMami-Watahad swallowed her up and spat her back out," she says bluntly.

"Mami-Wata, the mythological water goddess?" I say warily.

"Suppose. Call it whatever you like. AllAbuelawould say is Daryle was prettier than every other girl on the island, and her voice was magic,"Abuela’svoice drops. "AbuelaCharlotte wrote down everything she could. Did a lot of reading about it, too. Learned everything she could aboutMami-Watashe could."

"Did you see her?TíaDaryle?"

"I did. I was only a little thing,"Abuelasaid quietly. "Never seen anything likeTíaDaryle. She was so pretty and when she spoke it was like she was casting a spell. Could tempt men with that voice, she could. Maybe she did and I was too young to notice."

"Like the sirens in the Greek myths? The ones who sat on rocks and made sailors go crazy and crash their ships and drown?" I say. Dad sits at the table next to me, glaring at the linoleum top as if it personally offended him.

"Greeks are dumb., short, hairy men,"Abuelasnaps out. "Listen here. The sea claims girls every so often. Not more than once a hundred years or so. Maybe longer stretches even. Those girls become something, for certain.AbuelaCharlotte wasn't that clear. She was about other creatures, though.TíaDaryle told her some. Other things she learned in other places. Wolves were mentioned. And witches, though we already knew about those. Anybody with sense knows there's witches,"Abuelamutters.

She heaves a deep breath. "I loved your mama, child. I did. She was a good woman, but I didn't want yourpapito marry her."

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