“Grandmother?” Rafa called into the windowless room where Gogo rested. Kujaguo slumped further on Rafa’s shoulder. Rafa shifted his weight onto his outside leg to bear the burden as his youngest son, Diogo, came up alongside him.
“Oh good, you’re now here.” Gogo’s voice drifted out of the black like thick smoke.
Rafa set Kujaguo to the ground, bracing him against the wall.
“Light this.” Gogo offered a stub of candle.
Diogo hurried to retrieve it for his father.
Rafa dripped wax onto the earthen floor and set the candle. It emitted a sour tallow smell and faint glow. “Here Grandmother, feel here.” Rafa guided Gogo’s knobby fingers to Kujaguo’s head bandage.
Gogo ran her fingertips along the blood-soiled cloth, squinting her cloudy eyes in the dim light.
Diogo stood by, ready to help.
