"Did you know that yvrìdio exists?" Joey, my eleven-year-old younger brother said as he was seated beside me at the front passenger side of our rented van on the way to my Mom's hometown.
"Yvrìdio?" I asked.
"It's a name for a humans that could actually be impregnated by monsters or WERES. According to the book I read, Yvrìdio is the rarest hybrid among werewolf and vampire breeds. And it also said that most Yvrìdios are females and the most sought-after among all were's," Joey explained.
"Okay, so all females huh? And why is that?"
"Because they are fertile. Their bodies were built to take any were's baby. Grandma told me a few hours ago."
"That's the stupidest story I've ever heard."
Jordan, the second brother said and rolled his eyes. He was eighteen now and was in charge of taking good care of Joey. Knowing he was short-tempered, I volunteered to take good care of my sick baby brother.
For the last 48 hours, he's been telling about legends of animal shifters. I would have loved to stay back home and go partying with my friends but no, Grandma invited us to stay at her farm for a week since it was vacation and my little adorable brother wanted to go. He has been diagnosed with heart disease that's why and I'm making sure he's alright.
"Who are you calling stupid?" Grandma snipped from behind Jordan, the end of her cane dangerously close to his back.
"Goodness, gracious Vina. Your second-born son gets worse the longer I get to know him."
No joke, we just met our grandmother an hour ago and I'm blown away by her interesting personality even though it has been a long time since the last time I saw her.
Jordan let out another loud and frustrated groan, purposely making it known that he was utterly miserable. He doesn't want to come. He wanted to hangout with his girlfriend and visit some country.
"Gran, that story you made... Is there a sequel?" I asked. When I was ten, I remembered Granda telling me about the legends of were-animals.
Gran snapped her gaze towards me as if Jordan just passed me the magic baton of stupidness. Gran's brows pulled together forming a deep crease on her forehead and she doesn't respond right away. Like a block of ice, she's frozen and staring intently at me as if a math equation was written on my forehead.
"Umm. Is there something wrong?" I asked softly and her eyes flicker to me in question.
"Uhh...mom, what are the signs of a stroke, cause I think Gran might be having one again." Jordan pushed off his seat to lean over and grab moms shoulder lightly to get her attention away from the printed directions.
Like a switch was turned on, Gran raised her arms up and flapped it in the air like she's about to fly out the car and needed to build up the force.
"That was not some made up story. Why the hell would I give you kids false information? That's why I was asking why did you come here? Vina shouldn't let you come here too."
"Grandma, I want to relax too. I have been coming here since I was a little girl. Why not now? Don't you remember?
Okay...Now, I think she has some Alzheimer. She tended to forget everything.
I saw mom mutter a curse.
"What the Fu-?" Jordan was mid-curse before mom cut him off.
A few days ago, we received a call from home. A social worker from a hospital out of state informed our mom that her mom had a mild stroke while doing farm jobs.
According to the social worker who contacted us, post-stroke Gran was paralyzed on her left side and had to go through rehabilitation to regain the functioning of her affected side. She was not a great patient apparently, often noncompliant with doctor's orders, and had fired her 24-hour stay-at-home nurse after two weeks of returning home.
Jordan and I knew our Grandma but Joey used to talk to him on the phone. She would tell Joey a lot of stories that I also knew, excluding the Yvrìdio. The last time I saw her was when I was ten and after that, mom never let me visit her again.
So when mom told us to pack up for a week's long trip, we were nothing less than shocked. All of us had plans--plans that were now cancelled. As much as we didn't want to go, mom had to.
The doctor told Mom that she needed a new environment to calm her down so that's why we are going to the said Forest with Grandma.
Mom displayed no one of worry or sadness while hearing the news about her mother, which struck me as odd. She looked more upset over the fact that she'd have to see her again. This made my siblings and I believe that mom had a bad relationship with her family and that's why she never talks about them.
When we arrived at the airport, the two saw each other for the first time in years. A little gray-haired woman with a can of Dr. Pepper and a pink straw pressed between her lips. She stood with several chaffers with signs, waiting for their clients. When she recognized our mom she pulled out a white sheet of paper that read,
"Estranged Daughter and Grandkids".
Our mouths dropped to the floor upon seeing that and mom looked like she would hop back on the plane and leave.
People stared at her and us when we walked towards her. It took three hours instead of one hour for us to get out of the airport because Granny started yelling at Mom for not contacting her for years and not letting her see her grandchildren.
When their arguing turned to yelling, a bulky security man and his bomb-sniffing dogs headed our direction and scored us out of the airport.
After that I doubt we will be allowed to fly out of the state.
"Who knows, I could have stuffed my ass and you can't do anything about it", Granny had said to security when the German Shepherd started to sniff too close to her butt.
The whole thing was chaotic. I didn't even have time to feel embarrassed.
Mom told them Granny was delusional and forgot to take her meds. We literally had to help Mom haul her into the RV to get her to leave. It wasn't easy considering she uses her cane like a hatchet.
Despite her odd personality, Granny was quite the entertainer. Every second with her was a crazy surprise. Mom may not enjoy her but I knew we would. During the drive, I've gathered a few insightful facts about Gran. Gran is spontaneous.
For example, while Mom was talking about our itinerary for the week, Gran let us all know she loves to eat red King Crabs. The crabs that grow up to 11 inches and 5 ft. pair of legs.
Like all old people, they like talking about the days of their youth.
Gran talked on and on about her dirty dancing years, much to Mom's horror. Joey and I thought it was hilarious. Gran said a few things that would have made a delinquent teen run back to church.
At one point mom had to stop her from talking.
"Mother! Can you please stop talking? Oh, my gawd." Mom said clutching the steering wheel hard enough to whiten her knuckles. "You are corrupting my children."
"They'll be corrupted eventually. Heck, they could already be! With all the TV they watch! You kids watch Fifty Shades behind your mother's back, right?" She flicked her finger at Jordan sitting in the front passenger seat who had his phone inches away from his face.
At an elderly age, she had the energy of a five-year-old. If it wasn't for the limp she has because of her arthritis, I bet she still had the strength to run a marathon. Another unique fact about her is that she curses like a sailor. Anything can come out of her mouth both figuratively and literally.