Someone is out for her...
It has been five years since the Integration, an event when the vampire world had made its existence known to the human world, and accompanied by the event are the growing reports of missing women dominating the new headlin...
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"Mani!" An oof escaped Imani's lips as her little cousin collided into her with a bear hug that almost crushed her ribs.
What is Aunty Yejide feeding these kids? She grimaced as she hugged him back.
"Hey, Peter," she knelt down to his level once he disengaged from her. A wide grin appeared on the chubby kid's face, showing his missing incisors. "I missed you so much, how are you doing?"
"Fine, Mani!" His grin grew wider than possible.
"Aunty Imani," Aunty Yejide corrected from the foyer where she was putting her coat and shoes away. With her was her husband, Kelvin who had his hair in locs and standing at 6'3". In his hand was their little daughter, Jasmine, whose eyes were half-lidded as if she just woke up from a deep sleep.
Imani, for most part, did not care for the African customary honorifics. Besides, he is my cousin, not my nephew. "Just 'Imani' is fine, Aunty Yejide. Good afternoon and Merry Christmas."
Aunty Yejide's red tinted lips were stretched into a wide smile as she came forward to hug her. "O ma ti ga gan o," she whistled as she took in Imani's full height.
The younger woman subtly rolled her eyes, she was the same height as last Christmas when her dad had driven over to visit Aunty Yejide.
In fact, Imani had always been 5'9 since she clocked 15, crazy right? That was me being sarcastic by the way, was her internal monologue.
The two women disengaged before Imani looked at Kelvin and greeted him. Kelvin was an African American who worked as a chef at a restaurant with a high rating. He and Aunty Yejide had met when her class had gone on a excursion to the restaurant.
Imani could remember when Aunty Yejide had introduced Kelvin to the family. Zuri had developed a bit of crush on him and it was quite funny and squicky for Imani to even think about. They were thirteen back then and he had been their aunt's fiancé back then. Soon enough, Zuri had gotten over her crush but it was still funny to Imani.
Now, Kelvin stood with his smile flashing back at her. Imani returned his smile before leading her Aunty Yejide and her family into the main part of the house where the aroma of jollof rice, fried plantain and
Christmas turkey assaulted their senses.
Imani found her mother under the arch linking the kitchen with the dining area as she carried a roast pan which held the turkey in her hands cladded in kitchen gloves.
"Kemi!" Aunty Yejide squealed in delight at her sister.
Kemi turned her head around and a huge grin broke out on her face as she set the pan down on the table, a few meters from where she was standing, before going over to greet her sister.
"Yejide! Bawo ni?" The rest of their greetings and conversation had switched over to Yoruba which made Imani lose track as they went off in their conversation.
