Kwame Crashes the Underworld: Chapter 4

by Craig Kofi Farmer
Twelve-year-old Kwame is struggling to face the death of his beloved grandmother. But a heroic journey through the Ghanaian underworld, filled with mythology and magic, offers him a transformative experience ultimately preparing him for his grandmother’s celebration of life.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapters 5–6, Chapter 7, Chapters 8–9, Chapters 10–11, Chapters 12–15, Chapters 16–18,
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. descent
    a movement downward
    The water around me whirls and churns like cranks in a pulley system. My descent slows, and before long, I’m being pulled upward through the starry water.
    I break the surface…and I’m suddenly lying down on something hard.
  2. humongous
    very large
    There are several doorways etched into the fountain’s walls. Through one of them, I see a sea of glittering yellow sand, with people taking up virtually every square inch of it. Some hang out under humongous oil palm trees. Others play board games on quilts. Most of the crowd has dark brown skin like me.
  3. horde
    a moving crowd
    Out of the corner of my eye, I see something small and quick darting through the crowd. It’s sliding under some of the nearby tents, leaping over people with ease, and running from a horde of mongooses. The blur rounds a tent and comes into view for just a second.
    Woo. Still carrying my grandmother’s dashiki.
  4. clamber
    climb awkwardly, as if by scrambling
    Woo clambers atop a tent and hides from his pursuers. The mongooses continue forward, oblivious to the aboatia’s hiding spot.
  5. oblivious
    lacking conscious awareness of
    Woo clambers atop a tent and hides from his pursuers. The mongooses continue forward, oblivious to the aboatia’s hiding spot.
  6. audacity
    aggressive or outright boldness
    Woo reaches down, snatches a couple of plantains, and flips back onto the top of the tent to devour his newly acquired treats. Then he has the audacity to use my grandmother’s dashiki to dab his mouth before collapsing in bliss.
  7. bliss
    a state of extreme happiness
    Woo reaches down, snatches a couple of plantains, and flips back onto the top of the tent to devour his newly acquired treats. Then he has the audacity to use my grandmother’s dashiki to dab his mouth before collapsing in bliss.
  8. dilate
    become wider
    Woo glances up at the last second, and his large pupils dilate in recognition.
    “Hi, there,” I say, before lunging toward Woo.
  9. plight
    a situation from which extrication is difficult
    No one around me seems to care about my plight; they’re too busy swaying and laughing with perfect rhythm, like they don’t have a worry in the world.
  10. hologram
    a photograph for reproducing a three-dimensional image
    Woo makes an arc toward the next row of tents. The aboatia hooks his wiry tail around what looks like a hockey puck on the ground and hurls it at me. I catch the puck (surprisingly), only for it to erupt in my face.
    VOTE FOR TANO…OR ELSE! A hologram of neon greens, reds, and yellows explodes from the puck, making my eyes ache.
  11. makeshift
    done or made using whatever is available
    The aboatia now has a makeshift pink kaba and slit on, with his long fur twisted in little coils and gold rings.
  12. momentum
    an impelling force or strength
    The ground Woo’s running atop becomes quicksand, stopping the aboatia’s momentum and trapping him in the seemingly never-ending grains.
  13. amend
    set straight or right
    Autumn hesitates, before giving me a crooked smile. “Woo?”
    “Oh, that’s—ah—the name I gave the monkey.”
    Autumn’s eyes get big. “You named him?”
    “Just for convenience purposes!” I quickly amend.
  14. monstrous
    abnormally large
    Woo demolishes the cinnamon dip with one sweeping lick. He then drapes himself over Autumn’s shoulders so it looks like she’s wearing a scarf made of aboatia fur. The aboatia gives a few slow blinks before offering a monstrous yawn.
  15. eerie
    suggestive of the supernatural; mysterious
    I should be celebrating the fact that I got my dashiki back. I should feel triumphant, maybe even join the fun and games happening all around us. But there’s something eerie about it now.
    Where are we, exactly? Did we somehow find a shortcut to Ghana in Cape Fear? Or is this truly…a whole new world?
  16. triad
    three people considered as a unit
    I bump into a triad of girls talking in the doorway. They’re wearing long, colorful dresses. They all have circular pins with their names on them— Augustina, Gertrude, and Ama. And all of them have a title underneath their name that reads, QUEEN MOTHER.
  17. exude
    make apparent by one's mood or behavior
    Ama turns her attention to us. She doesn’t seem much older than me, but her eyes look way, way older—like she’s seen some things. Her dark skin pops under the orange-and-blue dress she’s wearing, and her hair shines in moisturized coils that are nestled together on her head. Her face exudes a regal authority that feels strangely familiar.
  18. regal
    belonging to or befitting a supreme ruler
    Ama turns her attention to us. She doesn’t seem much older than me, but her eyes look way, way older—like she’s seen some things. Her dark skin pops under the orange-and-blue dress she’s wearing, and her hair shines in moisturized coils that are nestled together on her head. Her face exudes a regal authority that feels strangely familiar.
  19. perish
    pass from physical life
    “The children of the Earth shall perish,” Ama mutters to herself. “Whether by the banes of the sea, banes of the farm, or banes of the woods.”
    I blink. “Cryptic.”
  20. bane
    something causing misery or death
    “The children of the Earth shall perish,” Ama mutters to herself. “Whether by the banes of the sea, banes of the farm, or banes of the woods.”
    I blink. “Cryptic.”
  21. cryptic
    having a secret or hidden meaning
    “The children of the Earth shall perish,” Ama mutters to herself. “Whether by the banes of the sea, banes of the farm, or banes of the woods.”
    I blink. “Cryptic.”
  22. myriad
    a large indefinite number
    The girl looks at the dashiki in my hands, and then back up to me. A shadow has fallen over her face, and a myriad of emotions flip through her eyes. She goes from surprised, to happy, to worried…to scared.
  23. deceit
    a misleading falsehood
    Suddenly, I find myself replaying every single one of the stories Grandma used to tell me—stories of gods who wove webs of deceit, and of monsters that went bump in the night. I remember the fake fisherwoman telling me that Grandma was a Queen Mother…and now I’m standing in front of this girl who has a Queen Mother pin.
  24. manifestation
    an appearance in bodily form
    Now this very alive girl in front of me is claiming that she is my very dead grandmother—and the creator of this dashiki.
    Maybe this entire thing is a dream, all in my imagination. My science teacher claimed that dreams were manifestations of the subconscious.
  25. subconscious
    psychic activity just below the level of awareness
    Now this very alive girl in front of me is claiming that she is my very dead grandmother—and the creator of this dashiki.
    Maybe this entire thing is a dream, all in my imagination. My science teacher claimed that dreams were manifestations of the subconscious.
Created on Mon Mar 24 20:56:53 EDT 2025 (updated Fri Apr 11 17:54:26 EDT 2025)

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