Awakening: Book 1 of the Vanquisher Series [GxG]

3a

The heavenly aroma of bean stew permeated the house as Narvari put the food in front of her grandmother. She patted her grandmother’s shoulder.

“Here you go, Anana. I made you your favorite rice with egg and beans stew.” She had outdone herself this time. Narvari grinned.

She settled in one of the dining chairs and quickly dug into her food.

“When did I say that was my favorite?” Anana asked.

Narvari put her hand on her chest in exaggerated disbelief. “You don’t remember? These were your very words this morning, ‘my dear precious granddaughter, can you please make me my favorite rice with egg and bean stew? Thank you very much. You know you are my favorite person in the world and everyone else can go to hell.’”

Anana glared at her while she slowly stirred rice and stew. “You keep talking shit, child, and I will come over there and whoop you little black ass into Sunday.”

Narvari chuckled. She would not even be surprised if Anana suddenly pounced on her. The old woman was well past ninety and yet had no intention of slowing down. Every day, she would often go about the house doing some menial jobs like plucking out weeds and watering her small vegetable garden. When Narvari tried to stop her, she would protest saying that she would get old if she sat down all day and did nothing. Anana had been old all of Narvari’s life so what the hell was she talking about?

There was not a single strand of black hair left on her head and her eyes, though less sharp than before, were still full of life.

Anana silently ate her food. She often said that eating gave her time to think and so she didn’t like to make any conversation as she ate. It was a sentiment Narvari wholeheartedly agreed with.

Later, when they were done with their meal, Narvari returned their plates to the kitchen and washed them. She joined Anana in the living room where they watched a goofy cartoon of a forever-happy yellow sponge and a dark gloomy squid. Although Narvari preferred anime, this show always put a smile on her face. That reminded her of the time she and Jimbaga had a profoundly liberating conversation about the blasphemy of calling ‘anime’ a ‘cartoon.’

Narvari chuckled out loud.

“You’re not going crazy on me, are you?” the old woman suddenly said, eyeing Narvari.

That garnered a peal of laughter from Narvari. This old woman didn’t mince words when it came to speaking her mind. People said she was just like her grandmother in that regard. But honestly, Anana took it to another level.

The amusement in Anana’s eyes dimmed. “There’s something I need to tell you.”

“Okay.” Narvari lowered the volume of the TV before turning her attention to Anana.

“I sent your application to the university.”

It took a second for Anana’s words to register in Narvari’s brain. “You did what?”

“You heard me, child.”

Trying her hardest to keep calm, Narvari asked quietly, “Which school?”

“That school you’ve always wanted to go to in South Africa,” she said.

The University of Cape Town. Narvari bit her lips. “That was a long time ago.” Narvari paused thoughtfully. “How did you even send my application?”