Pigeon Pea has a LOT of questions about their family and ancestors, so one afternoon, Aunty (who has a sweetheart named June) entrusts them with a magic cowrie shell that whisks Pigeon Pea back in time and across continents to visit with their great-great-great-great-great-great grandmothers and others from their West African and Kalinago heritage. One stop is at a “celebration of love” that appears to be the wedding of a queer couple; another introduces them to the orishas, deities of the Yoruba people, who “[transform] however they need.” One has a beard and is wearing a dress.
The deities tell Pigeon Pea that the orishas are part of “so many hearts that love you,” a “sacred line of connection” that is “with you wherever you are.”
Pigeon Pea is then called back home, but feels the orishas’ presence while sitting down for a meal with their loving family. A story of family and heritage, both queer and otherwise.
