The Black Girl Survives in This One: "Black Girl Nature Group" by Maika and Maritza Moulite

Lucky recites the response she’s memorized in the event her parents wanted to give her any last-minute grief.

The more Lucky continues to stare, the more it seems each jutting branch turns toward her, countless gnarled fingers pointed in accusation.

So Patricia had become their buffer, facilitating their months-long game of academic telephone.

“She was supposed to be here with me. But then she had…”
“A christening,” they say in unison, understanding dawning on them.

Each one stares at her with a widening grin, and even though their teeth gleam with what should be welcome, Lucky feels a trickle of warning slither down her spine.

Lucky scans the crowd, and the unease that’s been plaguing her since she started walking the trail alone solidifies like an anchor in her stomach.

She catches the last few snippets of a nearby conversation.

“Rachel, how many times do I have to tell you not to say our acolytes’ names before they’ve had a chance to introduce themselves?”

“Well, if your little moment of fun makes us miss the ceremonial window, I hope you think it’s worth it when our powers are dormant for the next decade,” Lauren says.

Sturdy wooden poles of discarded branches are arranged in a cube with Jazz curled up into a ball in the center of the enclosure on the forest floor.

Lucky tries again and again until her hands are cut, until sweat streams down her face in rivulets, blending with her tears.

She tosses the useless stone aside and leans her forehead against the barrier, shoulders shaking as she tries with all her might to stifle her sobs.

“When they were tying me up, they were talking about the blood moon and meteor shower. I already knew that they converge only once a decade, but apparently it allows them to perform a ritual that helps them maintain power. And I don’t think they’re only talking about the political kind.”

The two women continue to bicker and Lucky tunes them out.

But as they all turn toward her, another sound erupts in the night.