Chapter 2: Gods…Pftt
2008
“Guys it’s time for dinner”, the middle-aged but cherry-sounding female said with a tray in her hands. Her voice bellowed all over the house, and though on any normal day it’d be answered by “I need a minute ma”, a day when dinner meant ‘time to break your fast’, no one could wait any longer. The thunderous footsteps of kids and teens alike running down the stairs could be easily mistaken for the stampede that took the life of Mufasa; and before you could say “The Lion King”, eight of the ten chairs around the dining table were already occupied by starving kids. Laying the tray of food on the table she continued, “No one touch anything yet, there’s more where that came from” she smiled at the assembly of children that looked way to weary to smile back.
First, she brought in a bowl of a variety of fruits. First, ripe-looking apples unapologetically mingling with the pears and bananas that courted each other side by side. Then another tray, but unlike the one before it that proudly showcased an okay-looking turkey, this one had bowls of ice-cream, yoghurt and one glass of a chocolate milkshake, flattering the kids at first glance. Lastly, she brought in a cooler of what definitely was the main course. The aroma of perfectly cooked Jollof rice was so persistent, you could almost tell it’s taste through its appeal to your nose.
“Okay, that’s about it” she smiled, gradually taking her seat beside one empty chair to her left. “Now before we eat, I want to say to all those who genuinely fasted…” she said, glancing at a couple kids, “I appreciate your effort. Mary, Makayla, Taylor and Abdul, you’re the youngest of everybody but you stayed true to your words and you made it.” She glanced at the wall clock to her right, “6am to 6pm. Couldn’t be any prouder of you all” she smiled, blowing air kisses to the under-thirteen kids who desperately wanted something in their stomachs.
“And as for you guys…”, she continued, her smile still on her face but her tone of voice swiftly changing, “…how exactly were a bunch of eleven and twelve-year-old’s able to ‘out-fast’ your grown asses. Yes, I know you bought stuff from Michael. I was once your ages to. But unlike you guys, I was way slicker with it. Whatever you’re doing now, I did thousands of times, years before any one of you were even born” she beamed a smile even harder. “I just hope that next time, instead of trying to turn it into a competition that you will obviously lose, you just stay true yourselves and your stomachs. Is that okay? Jon? Jay? Rob? Elly?”
“Yes Auntie.” They all chorused in discontinuous rhythm. Well…three of them chorused
“Good. Now that we’ve gotten all that sorted out—”
“Yes” Abdul smiled, reaching for a bowl of ice-cream.
“Hold your horses there cowboy” The fair-skinned woman said, holding his hands before they could wander any further. “Aren’t you forgetting something?” She asked, her blue eyes piercing through his murky ones.
“Oh. Oh yes”, He drew his hand back. “We’re supposed to pray first.”
“Good”, she remarked. “Jacob, would you do the honors?” she innocently asked the dark, still boy a couple seats down her right. The murmurs and discomfort of everybody seated was too audible to unhear.
“What?” he replied with his thin hands folded in front of his chest and his dark eyes looking unshakingly at his aunt.
“You heard me the first-time son. You do the honors. Go ahead and pray for us” She repeated without a slight change in emotions.
“I’ll pray” Abdul harmlessly volunteered.
“Well I didn’t ask you Abdul”, she said staring at him, the smile on her face slowly fading off. “I asked Jacob” she turned back to him, not caring about the indifferent look latched onto his face. “So go ahead Jacob, we’re all hungry and waiting. Pray.”
“Why?” He asked, his hands still folded in front of him. “Abdul wants to pray anyways, why do I have to be the one? Why do we even have to pray in the first place?”
“Because we’re all fasting. And like we all know, before you break your fast, you pray.”
“I’m not fasting Auntie” he said, still looking at her dead in the eyes. “Damn that’s the only reason I ate. Not because I was hungry, just because I wasn’t fasting.”
“Jacob, I don’t know where this new energy is coming from, but you of all people should know that everyone’s got needs, and everyone’s got wants. That’s one of the many reasons we fast. Depending on The Supreme Ones to—“
“Who’s depending on the supreme ones, you?” He said, sitting up from his slumped back position. “All of you?” he continued. “Well that’s rich, but I sure am not depending on a set of ‘sovereign beings’ that really don’t fucking exist” He mocked.
“Jacob! You will not speak like that”, she said, starting to sound a lot more pissed off.
“I didn’t do anything aunt Mia.”
“Just pray. How difficult is it to just put your hands together and pray? That’s all I’m asking Jacob” she said, audibly getting angrier with every passing second.
“We’ll all I’m saying, is I don’t give a shit auntie. If you want to pray, be my guest. But I genuinely… genuinely, do not give a fuck.” More murmurs and whispers from the other kids began to ensue. “What? What?” He looked around the dining table and noticed all the uncomfortable faces that were trying to avoid his fervent stare. “Did I say something wrong? Did I offend them? Okay.” He looked up at the roof and said without the slightest hint of remorse in his tone, “Do something about it. Come on The Supreme Ones, I offended you. Said something you didn’t like, so do something about it. Strike me dead, send a warrior to cut off my head or something. Come on” He swiftly got up from his chair, still looking ferociously at the roof. “Do something!” he shouted, jolting everybody seated into complete consciousness.
After a couple seconds of nothing but silence, he scoffed and sat back down on his seat. “Would you look at that auntie, nothing. Maybe they just don’t care anymore. So why the hell should I?”
“Jacob you forget that you’re still breathing just because of…”
“Forget? Like He forgot my mother Auntie, your close friend?”
“Damn, not this again” Javani muttered under her breath.
“Like He forgot that your parents were locked in the house with a looming fire outbreak while you were out partying?” He looked at him
“Like He forgot your mother was kidnapped by terrorists Abdul?”
“Like— “
“Don’t even start with me Jacob” Robert said, having absolutely none of it.
Jacob smirked, and then sent one last jab. “Like he forgot your law-abiding husband during a robbery Aunt Mia?” He said, looking at her, still no remorse in his voice. “So, to answer you, no. I didn’t forget. Never did actually. But clearly, they do. And I stopped depending on them years ago. I’ll work for what I truly deserve, and I promise you, when I do claim back what’s rightfully mine, that’s a hundred percent Jacob, and zero percent The Supreme Ones.” He stood up from his chair, tucked it back in and walked away saying, “I’ve lost my fucking appetite.”
Chapter 3: MY FAULTPresent Day"Lisa come on, don't let go. Don't let go" he pleaded as tears ran down his sandy face. "I'll pull you up on three. One, two, three. Ahhhhhh" he screamed, using the last piece of decent energy his battered body could muster. All to no avail. "Come on. Don't— Help! Somebody help! Please" he screamed, his cracked voice echoing throughout the canyon. "Please" he whispered, trying to clean the tears off his face, but only succeeding in getting specks of sand all over himself. "Baby" she finally spoke up, her feet dangling treacherously under her. "It's okay" she sniffed, trying to conceal her tears. "It'll be fine. We'll be fine. Just let me go.""What?""You can't hold me up forever" she mustered a weak smile. "Just let go.""Are you crazy? No. No. We can do this. On three. One, two, three. Ahhhhhh!" As he pulled this time, the scar under his belly scratched the rough floor, making him grunt in pain and causing his grip to gradually loosen. "No no no no n
Chapter 4: Snow Black"You have now reached your destination", the ever-emotionless Google map voice chimed to an end."Yeah, no Shit" Robert said, sounding audibly frustrated. "After four wrong turns and five Cul-de-sac's, I've finally reached my destination ayy?" He said, eyeing the tall, murky building and it's inconspicuous wooden door a couple meters to the side of the road. He slipped his phone back into his dark jeans and walked closer to the building, eyeing and noticing as many details as he possibly could, and there weren't exactly many of them. The dark, tinted windows plastered across its cream-colored walls. The worn-out wooden door staring him peephole to eyeball, and the disturbing doormat that read, "You can come in now. I’ve been waiting.”Robert cleared his throat, adjusted his afro, and gently knocked on the tattered door. "Hello? Is anyone…" before he could even get the words out of his mouth, the rectangular peephole slid open, and a set of indistinct eyes peeped
Chapter 5: I WANT TO KNOW. CAN YOU SHOW ME“It’s really very surprising Robert. I’ve actually been waiting for you for a while now. You’re the last piece we’ve all been waiting to meet.”“Okay, first off, I don’t know what the fuck you’re talking about. Secondly, if you could stop the thing you’re doing with the lights… however you’re doing it” he pointed to the flashing light bulb over him, “…yeah I’d really, really appreciate it. And thirdly, what exactly do you mean by “’we’ve’ been waiting”? Who’s we?”"Here" she said, pointing to the book on the table that definitely didn't catch the eye till this moment. She picked it up and flipped it open. Elizabeth Garner and Taylor Carlyle, your sisters… foster sisters, attended her funeral. They were the first ones here, and the first of the eight of you guys to be cleared on what's actually going on here.""What do you mean by 'what's actually going…""Makayla Fackler was here two years ago, similar predicament. Only difference is she aske
Chapter 6: VIEWS"Yeah I got a question" Robert said, picking himself off the floor. "What the fuck was that?" He said, staring blankly at her."That was the answer to all of your questions. Most of them at least" she corrected, with the most expressionless look on her face."What in the… no no no it's a dream. It's all a dream, and I'm going to wake up sooner or later" he said massaging his head. "Wake up" he slapped himself. "Wake up. Please wake up" he said still hurting what he thought was his unconscious self. "You know Robert, dreams are a product of what has happened, what might happen, or what is yet to come to pass. So, either way, you're kind of stuck with me… and with this" she said running her tender fingers slowly on the wooden box. "Come on now Banter, it's your consignment" she smiled. "What?" He turned back to her. "I'm not taking that shit. I have no interest whatsoever in being a superhero.""Do you think this is a marvel or DC movie or something? You think you’re
Chapter 7: If You’re Reading This…“Come on Robert, you can do this. Two, Zero, Zero, zero”, he mumbled to himself, inputting the code into the space made for it on the box. “Yeah. That’s got to be the right one. Right?” He tried opening the box, but still, it was locked tighter than the wardrobe a black mother would hide candy. “Fuck!” he yelled, throwing the box from his bed to the thin walls of his apartment, echoing with a loud thud. “Robert!” His upstairs neighbor yelled. “Sorry Miss Crawford. It won’t happen again”, he shakily said, walking towards the box and picking it up as carefully as he could. “It better not. You know what happened the last time.”“Yes Ma’am, and I’m sorry” he repeated, sounding a little more frustrated now. Now, he began to pay more attention to the details of the mysterious ‘pandora-like’ box. Its indecisive patterns had to tell a message, right? Slowly caressing the box with his hands, he tried the more mental approach to opening this rather annoyin
Chapter 8: LOVE AT…“Robert, do you have even the slightest clue on the kind of deep shit you put me through? Standing in front of such a prospective investor and not being able to say a thing? I have never been so infuriated in my entire life.”“Including the time when your bride…”“Yes, including the time when my bride left me at the altar. Thank you for bringing up that painful and unnecessary piece of information Trevor.”“Welcome” He answered, taking a sip of the hot cocoa he had wrapped around his fingers. “Sir I honestly…”“Have a legitimate excuse this time? Is that what you want to say? Do you know how long I had to stall for you, and still, you didn’t show up? I…” he held himself back, trying not to get excessively angry now. “I had to talk about politics Robert. Goddamned politics!” he slammed his hand on the long table in front of him, jolting both Rob and Trevor. “I have never been so disgusted with myself in my entire life.”“Including the time when you…”“Don’t even da
Chapter 9: Pandora’s Box“You’ve got to be fucking with me. I hate my life”, He said standing on the wrong end of a bungalow’s prison-like gate, the spaces between the bars giving him enough room to peep through. “You have now reached your…”“Shut up, would you?” he said, switching off his phone and slipping it into his jean pocket. He assessed the gate, trying to calculate how far and high he would need to job to get over it. Could’ve just knocked or rattled the padlock to get attention from whoever was in the house though. “I mean, it’s doable but I haven’t parkoured in a long long time.” He added, stretching out and watching the passerby’s around to see if anyone was paying too much attention the stunt he was about to pull. Turns out when your weekend’s cut short and you’re back in town attending meetings, filing reports and going for appointments, nobody really gives a shit. “Ok then, let’s give it a shot, shall we?” He took off his backpack and flung it over the gate, landing w
Chapter 10: Family is DeadThe Jeers and cheers engulfing the betting center were way too loud to unhear or avoid. If it wasn’t two grown ass men arguing at one side of the room, it was a hopeless, middle-aged one, praying to every single god he knew so they would help him out. "What the fuck is he doing man. He's gonna lose the race if he keeps riding like that." The impatient gambler said, banging his table. "Calm down Mike, he's gonna make it work okay?""Does his horse have athlete's foot or something? Get your head in the game Nine" He screamed, getting up from his table and barking at the television"Trust me. He's gonna make it work.""How the hell would you know Javani? You saw him win already?""Well I wouldn't say that? But I bet three hundred on his ass, so he'd better win" he said, adjusting his face cap."Ladies and gentlemen, this is one of the most one-sided races I've ever seen. Dean Drury in number three is leading by a longshot" the commentator said in an ever-enthu