"Mama!"
Hadi turned around to see her daughter with her sister in her arms. "Mama look at her!"
She wanted to tell Simisola to put the baby down. Simisola bought the baby to her mother, Hadi looked at the baby's face. She was dark brown child and her eyes were closed. "She's sleeping." said Hadi. "Sola put Mokiri--"
"Mama she's not breathing!" stressed Simisola. "I woke her, I ticked her feet, she's not moving."
Hadi grabbed her child from Simisola. She took her to the table. She patted the baby's face. "Mokiri!" she shook the baby. "la tadae dhalik yakun!"
Hadi was trying to keep back her tears. Her face turned ugly. "Get--Get the pump at the drawer!"
"Mama that won't--"
"Get the pump! Goddamn it!" Hadi ordered. Simisola searched the drawers of the kitchen. Hadi tried to get Mokiri to breathe. She couldn't press the child's chest. What if she cracked it?
What if it was cracked already?
"Did you do this?" Hadi whined. "qult lak la taleab mieaha. 'ala takun hawlaha. 'iinaha hashatun!"
"kayf taqul dhalika!" Now Simisola was on the verge of tears. Hadi lifted the baby up, holding the baby's head. Hadi shook Mokiri again. "allah la yueaqibuni!" she screamed.
Hadi dropped to her knees hugging Mokiri close. "Uriduk bialkhariji!"
"Mama you don't know--"
"I know my own tongue don't I? Aihsul ealaa allaenati!" Hadi put Mokiri down on the hard wood floor. Hadi got up and grabbed the lamp in the sitting area.
Simisola shielded herself as her mother beat her arms with the bottom of the lamp. "Mama!"
"I hate you!" In her head, her oldest daughter had killed--murdered her second child. She swung the lamp at her, "kulu ma 'afealuh min 'ajlik wahadha ma tafealuh bi."
This wasn't the first time Mokiri had stop breathing. Simisola understood too much, and to herself. Maybe she didn't understand at all. "ma bikam!" She managed to stop the lamp. Her mother jerked on the lamp wanting to hit her again.
Just in time, the front door unlocked.
Ubayd ran in the house and caught his sister getting beat. "Finally!" he grinned. Yawa came behind him and raced to his daughter. He slapped his wife and lifted his daughter in his arms. "I'm sick of this shit!" Yawa took Simisola, who was crying over his shoulder, to her room.
Ubayd walked up to his mother. She crumpled down to the floor in tears. "laqad matat maratan 'ukhraa!"
Ubayd looked at the pot of chicken soup on the stove. At least he hopped it was chicken soup. "I joined the basketball team…" he squeezed his lips together. His mother looked at him.
.
.
.
I felt hot. Burning as if I was just dragged to hell. I could hear Aril calling me. My eyes wouldn't open? No. I couldn't blink. "Are you vampire?" Aril shouted. "Mokiri get up!" he hit my checks over and over.
Why couldn't I blink?
It is almost as if dust scatters before my eyes. The world is clearer. I twist my head to Aril and blink. "Did you trade your soul?"
"No…" I gather my breath. "Somebody. Elsewhere!"
"There you go again!" Aril slaps me with all his might. "What is wrong with you?"
"I saw…" I struggled to get up. "I saw somebody." I grab my cheek. "Fuck you!"
"Amen!"
My eyes grow. "Are you talking in my sleep!"
"What!" Why is he more offended than I am? "What are you doing to me?"
"Mokiri!" Aril grits his teeth. "Calm down!"
"Are you talking in my sleep. I saw a white man in my dreams."
"Nigga look at me!" his chest hits mine. "Sit down!"
What?
I am so confused. "I saw a white man."
"you like white niggas? With or without eyeliner."
"What?" I'm tired of saying what! "Is there a library in the estate?"
"Yeah… it's a big ass house…"
"Take me there!" I grab his arms. "No… act sick during dinner. I'll bring you some books."
"Why can't I go?"
"You can't walk alone."
.
.
.
The next morning, Aril took me down to the dinning hall for breakfast. I saw at the table, I had no friends. I can't find Shabana anywhere in the room.
Someone taps a glass that alerts the dinning room. "May I have your attention?" I look up to the far right east of the room. "I have an announcement to make. Today is Nathan Underwoods's birthday." the white woman with bright blue eyes claps. The rest of the room gets loud as well. "Nathan has gone through 17 baptisms. He was once a zombie but now he is together in his new body." She's so smiley. "That's not all. Nathan Underwood has been selected to stay at the Smiley Residence!" she holds out her arm to the entrance and a man with three legs walks in. I thought my heart was going to stop. "That don't look like a new body." mutters a man beside me.
"What happened?" I ask aloud.
"You new?" the stranger asks. "I'm Timothy."
I'm not a slave. "Mokiri Gains."
"Damn, is she dead?" he narrows his eyes. "What--" goddamn it. "No, I'm Mokiri! This is my body."
"Uh…" he looks at me sternly. "You white?"
"No! I'm a nigga! This body is--"
"Nathan will be getting his new body today. After he lives and this is his family. We should wish Nathan a safe trip." says the woman.
"OH! OH! MISS DUFFY. Can I hug him!" yells a woman with powder in her hair and swollen lips. Her afro is dead, it's stringy and dry. Her skin is slightly crack around the cheeks and eye.
Nathan stands next to the woman and opens his arms for a hug. "Sheila…" there is a double voice behind him. "Come here." Sheila runs to Nathan and jumps in his arms. "Imma miss you!" I blink. "I loved the way you bit me. How we stuck off and you fucked me in the laundry room. Don't live me Nathan!"
What in God's name and crown?
"I love you… Sheila." His smile is nasty. He bites her neck, eyes growing big as he slurps her black blood. Sheila gags, "Forever!" Nathan lets go and bites her face. Sheila wiggles her fingers. "In his name!"
"Mine." states Nathan. "They drunk." says Timothy beside me. "You ever had blood?"
"Uh… no."
"Why is so hard for you to talk to me?" LORD. "Am I bothering you?"
"No… what--what do you want?"
"Are you drunk?"
"No!"
"Then say that! Don't yell at me!" Timothy hits my arm. "What the fuck."
"Oh now, you offended! You finna talk to me--" Timothy starts getting out of his sit and he balls up his hands. "Act like you can't talk to no motherfuckin' body, bitch imma show you!"
"I didn't do anything!" I get up from my sit. Bad call. "Swing nigga!"
"Timothy!"
"What!" he faces Aril standing towards the wall. "IS he doing it again?"
The white woman walks over. "Timothy Baker. If you keep attacking people I'll put you outside!" she threatens.
"Oh…" Timothy sits back in the chair calmly. "I'm sorry miss Duffy. I didn't get my cup this morning."
"You don't have blood?" she asks.
"No ma'am."
She clicks her tongue. "come on." Timothy gets up and follows Miss Duffy elsewhere. He turns back and sneers at me with fangs. "Imma bite yo ass."
"Mokiri!"
"Huh!"
"Sit down…" why can't I pay attention? Why can't I listen? What the fuck was that?
The trays were already sitting there and I finally get to undercover mine. We are having strawberries with a side of pancakes in black molasses. I have a few sugar packages and decide to open one and sprinkle it over my pancakes.
The workers are different and I was asked to go with a group to the TV room or Theater room. Today, Daniela Dorsey told us to watch Abner. The theme song came on and the episode started with a woman eating… cow shit.
So, Abner is a cow and he walks over the woman. He says stop doing that are you senile?
This episode is special because it has subtitles. That's what miss Dorsey said.
[Abner] Why are you eating shit?
[Shahij] I don't have anything else to eat. I have no money.
So I thought. This epsiode was going to teach love and kindness. Feed the homeless.
Abner shoves this man in cow shit and drags him to a well.
[Abner] This is water.
[Shahij] I can't swim.
[Abner] You don't need to swim.
Next Abner drags the man to a food stall with many fake breads on it. It written on the stall that is it a bread stall.
Abner takes a bread off the stall. He eats the bread and the stall owner begs him not to. So we get an up close and personal view of Abner snarling and the man running away.
[Abner] Why are you stupid?
[Shahij] I'm not stupid.
[Abner] You are stupid and I will show you just how stupid you are.
[Shahij] But I'm not stupid. Stupid is something that you touch.
[Abner] Well, I'm touching you.
The scene changes to a man and woman sitting at a table. They have soup and bread.
Abner and Shahij come through the door. Like a literal door.
The stage isn't a stage. It's the background camera visible plus the back door.
Let say this, it's the frame of the door that they walk through. They go through the frame and Abner points at the couple sitting by a glass table with their soups.
[Abner] Steal from them.
[Shahij] I can't steal.
[Abner] Then you are stupid.
The scene changes again and the two are near a pond.
[Abner] Drink from this pond
[Shahij] I can't drink from the pond.
Abner slams shahij's face in the water.
[Abner] DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!
It looks so fake but the tv glitches and Shahij is begging for his life. Half his body is in the pond and the pond is red with two skeletons in it.
[Abner] I SAID DRINK
[Shahij] I'm dying!
You get this ugly view of Abner looking at Shahij drown in the pond full of blood. A snake comes out of Abner's mouth.
He talks with the snake snapping at the camera.
[Abner] ǝɔɐɟ ʎɯ uo ǝɹoɟǝq spoɓ ɹǝɥʇo ou ǝʌɐɥ ʇʅɐɥs noɥꓕ
[Abner] DRINK! DRINK! DRINK!
[Abner] ·ʎɹǝʌɐʅs ɟo puɐʅ ǝɥʇ ɟo ʇno ʻʇdʎɓƎ ɟo ʇno noʎ ʇɥɓnoɹq oɥʍ ʻpoꓨ ɹnoʎ pɹoꓶ ǝɥʇ ɯɐ I
[Shahij] I DON'T WANNA DIE!
I am still. It's scary but I feel like I wanna vomit.
[Abner] Let me help you breathe
The cow smiles towards the camera. The snake tongue travels down Shahij's throat, the man is thrashing in the water.
Once again, looking from Shahij's point of view.
[Abner] sǝsooɥɔ poꓨ ɹnoʎ pɹoꓶ ǝɥʇ ɓuᴉʞ ǝɥʇ noʎ ɹǝʌo ʇuᴉoddɐ oʇ ǝɹns ǝq ˌʻsn punoɹɐ suoᴉʇɐu ǝɥʇ ʅʅɐ ǝʞᴉʅ sn ɹǝʌo ɓuᴉʞ ɐ ʇǝs sn ʇǝꓶˌ ʻʎɐs noʎ puɐ ʻʇᴉ uᴉ pǝʅʇʇǝs puɐ ʇᴉ ɟo uoᴉssǝssod uǝʞɐʇ ǝʌɐɥ puɐ noʎ ɓuᴉʌᴉɓ sᴉ poꓨ ɹnoʎ pɹoꓶ ǝɥʇ puɐʅ ǝɥʇ ɹǝʇuǝ noʎ uǝɥM
Appointed?
[Abner] sn ɹǝʌo ɓuᴉʞ ɐ ʇǝs sn ʇǝꓶ
[Abner] sn ɹǝʌo ɓuᴉʞ ɐ ʇǝs sn ʇǝꓶ
[Abner] sn ɹǝʌo ɓuᴉʞ ɐ ʇǝs sn ʇǝꓶ
[Abner] sn ɹǝʌo ɓuᴉʞ ɐ ʇǝs sn ʇǝꓶ
[Abner] sn ɹǝʌo ɓuᴉʞ ɐ ʇǝs sn ʇǝꓶ
[Abner] sn ɹǝʌo ɓuᴉʞ ɐ ʇǝs sn ʇǝꓶ
[Abner] sn ɹǝʌo ɓuᴉʞ ɐ ʇǝs sn ʇǝꓶ
A crocodile comes out the pond. And it talks. It's voice like guttered water.
[Crocodile] Did you hear?
The tv jumps. The crocodile mauls Shahij. It's him in the pond. And the skeletons stand in it. They lift their arms to the sky as blood pours out the corner of their mouths.
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
[Abner] ¡ʎɐʍɐ ʎɐʇS
I think the carpet was blue.