Jabari

by Serena Simpson

  “Me either, I’m an orphan. I’m too old to adopt. Most people want babies, not teens.” She shrugged at this point it wasn’t a big deal. “How do I make that shot?”

  He moved her body around until she got used to the unnatural stance. She threw and missed and then did it again. It took her ten tries before the first ball went in.

  “I never did that before.” She tried again and missed but made it the third time. “This is what you mean by practice.”

  “It is. The more you do, the better you will get.”

  “Does that work for everything?”

  “Most things. Sometimes we want to practice things we were never meant to do.”

  “That’s easy for you to say because you’re a man. When you’re a woman, no one wants you to succeed, even other women.”

  “Do you know who Brandi?”

  She shook her head. “We all know Miss Brandi.”

  “She reminds me of the females on Rios IV. They are defenders. Everyone there is born into a caste system. The defenders do what the name implies. They defend the planet.”

  “Like the military?”

  “Yes.”

  “What about the men?”

  “There are very few male defenders.”

  “Huh?”

  “The women have protected that planet from the dawn of time. They don’t do it by wishing they could or hoping to make the basket. They practice every day making themselves stronger. The males on that planet are strong, but no one fights with the determination and the skill of a defender. You’re gender may make a difference to others, but it should only remind you of how capable you are.”

  “Are you real?”

  “Yes.”

  “You can leave now.” She looked down then peeked up. “You’re still here.”

  “Do you want me to leave?”

  “I don’t know. Don’t you want to leave? Most adults don’t hang around me.”

  “Why?”

  She shrugged her shoulders and scuffed her shoes on the floor.

  “I’m not smart, and I’m not strong.”

  He laughed making her flinch. She turned to walk off.

  “Wait.”

  “You laughed.”

  “Because they underestimate you.”

  “What do you mean?”

  He took a seat on the court and stretched out his long legs waiting for her to sit. She moved away from him and then sat.

  “They think since you are quiet and angry that you don’t know what’s happening around you. They also believe because your form is slight that you’re not strong.

  “When I was younger I was the weakest, the thinnest and the hungriest of all my brothers. When food was allocated, the Scientists gave me very little. I was expected to die.”

  “Every day my brothers and I were physically challenged. Their genetics gave them natural strength. Mines did not. I was always behind, but I had a talent they did not. I recovered from whatever was done to me. There was one test where we had to climb a wall while we were being shot at with… It is a long object that looks like a sword, but it has no hilt.

  “If we were hit just right, it would pin us to the wall. Then they would wait for our bodies to do the rest. The object would cut through our shoulder blades until we fell.”

  He moved his t-shirt to the side and showed her a dark mark on each shoulder.

  “We were forbidden to take the blades out. My brothers were strong enough to keep climbing even if they were pinned. I wasn’t. Each time it happened, I was ripped to pieces. I kept trying. This happened for years, but I never gave up. The last time I endure that torture I was pinned against the wall.”

  He stopped to look at her allowing her to see the pain in his eyes. It was more than the pain of having his body torn apart time after time. It was the realization that he was the weakest link the reason that one day is brothers would die. Then there were the taunts of the Scientists that he wasn’t fit to call himself Created.

  “I still remember raising my hand over my head and reaching for the next set of hand holds. I dragged my body upwards forcing the blades further down into my shoulders. I could stop, but I knew I wouldn’t. I refused to look down, not even to see if the blades were coming out of the wall. That’s when I reached for the next handhold. Then I was on the top of the wall, and my brothers were pulling those blades out of my shoulders. We never endured that test again.”

  “How do you know you will be successful?”

  “You don’t. That's why they call it life.”

  “My name is Lisa.”

  “Hi Lisa, my name is Jabari.”

  “Why did you come over here? Most people stay away from me; they act like I’m trouble.”

  “I liked what I saw. If you ever want to be trained as an assassin let me know.”

  She threw her head back and laughed. “No really, you could be talking to them.”

  “I told him he had nothing to contribute to the youth here. In reality, I was protecting myself at his expense.”

  “Hi, Ms. Derry.” Brandi stared her down. “Hi, Ms. Brandi.”

  “Hi Lisa, how’s school going?”

  “It’s going.” She shrugged and picked up her ball. “I got to go, they are looking for me.”

  They watched as she ran across the gym towards the side door.

  “Thank you.”

  “For what?” He stood and walked closer to her.

  “I’ve been trying to get through to her for over two years. You got her to talk in a few minutes.”

  “Human’s share traits that are universal.”

  She looked at him. There were times he made her feel like he was different. Maybe he was born in a different country, but this feeling was more than that.

  “Why did you follow me? Wait don’t answer that.” She never pegged herself as a coward. There had never been a male she wanted to get to know as much as she wanted to get to know him.

  “The doctors think I’m dying, you should know that.”

  “I know.”

  She lifted her head and pointed her chin. Her light brown eyes looked him over judging him. He took his hand and ran it through her braids. The unfamiliar texture ticked the palm of his hand relaxing him for a moment. The thought of her laid out on his bed with her hair spread around her head and her brown skin shining with the pleasure he was giving her played in front of his eyes before he killed the dream.

  She licked her bottom lip. He curled his hands into his palms to keep his fingers from tracing her bow-shaped lips.

  “Brandi, we’re going out back for a picnic. Come watch your money at work.”

  “Ignore Leona. That was her way of saying they will always watch over me.”

  “I think she and I will get along.” He held out his hand.

  She stared at it for a long time before she finally placed hers in it. Don’t do this Brandi. Her sense of reason and fair play told her. It was stupid, dumb, and she knew it. It was also her last chance to maybe love or get her heart broken. Her life wasn’t over yet, and she refused to live like it was. She snuck a look at Jabari. He was a lot of male, but she was up to the challenge. A laugh echoed around her head. She was lying to herself but so what.

  They walked through the back door of the gym. It yard was filled with people who hadn’t come to the game but were there for the picnic. Her eyes lit up as she watched the community she grew up in, come together to have fun.

  “Ms. Brandi, what do you want?” One of the kids called out to her.

  “I would love a drink.”

  “We don’t have anything good like beer, but I’ll bring you a soda.” Male laughter surrounded her as he went to get her the drink.

  “I love these kids. Some of them aren’t friendly, and others have lived a hard life, but if you sit back and watch them, they will amaze you.” They found a seat on the bleachers.

  Her purse shifted almost falling to the ground.

  “What the heck?”

  “What’s in your
purse?”

  “Nothing. Wait, there was a gift outside my door.” She pulled it out. The brightly lit paper attracting her.

  She opened the box to find a delicate creature in her purse.

  “Oh, how cute.” She took a finger to rub its head.

  “Don’t touch it!”

  It grabbed her finger and bit. She screamed and shook her hand flinging it and forth before it lost its grip.

  Jabari stood up and grabbed her hauling her over his shoulder as he ran.

  Screams from the kids echoed in her ears. She didn’t know if they were screaming at him, or if they were screaming at the cute little creature that was growing into a monster.

  Chapter Five

  “What happened? Why did you run?” Jabari wasn’t the running type. Her mind supplied in case she didn’t realize that. One look out of the back window shook the hold she had on her panic. Whatever she stroked was following them and getting bigger by the minute.

  “That is a firebird from Venua and its coming after you. The minute it got your blood, you became its target.”

  “Wait, wait… stop wait! Is this a game? Some kind of L.A.R.P.?”

  He turned to look at her as if she was speaking a different language.

  “You don’t get to look at me like I’m the one losing my mind. Are you listening?” Her voice raised. He would be the kind of male who made her want to scream.

  “No, I’m having one of my brothers clean up behind us, so there won’t be a report on the news and scared humans shaking in their shoes.”

  “That’s good.” She nodded her head. This was just a game. It wasn’t real. She believed that for all of two minutes until the firebird smacked into the Rolls making it shake.

  “Go faster.”

  He floored the car taking them to an area that was deserted. They came to a hill, and he took it over the edge. She screamed because there was nothing else to do. The bird hit the car again making it roll.

  “What do we do now?” The car landed on the roof. She hung suspended with her neck in a crooked position. Her body would not be forgiving about this.

  “I fight the bird, and you stay in the car.”

  “Were you dropped on your head as a child?”

  “All right, you fight, and I’ll stay in the car.”

  “You were dropped.”

  He reached over and undid her seatbelt making sure she didn’t fall and hit the roof.

  “It will kill you.”

  “It can try.”

  His beautiful ice blue eyes sparkled with diamonds as his pearly whites became longer and sharper. He let himself out of the seat and turned to kick the windshield out. His body grew as he made his way out the car.

  She sucked her bottom lip between her teeth and bit hard, looking for clarity or sanity. Neither came.

  Her eyes grew wider as she watched him change. He stood taller and thicker, but it was the hair that covered his body that amazed her. His golden hair hung from his shoulder over his chest and back like chain mail that would keep him safe. His pants clung to his waist as the seams tried to contain his ever-growing muscles.

  She shook her head now wasn’t the time to get to get distracted by his strong chest or tight ass. Instead, she focused on the fact that he wasn’t human. Two months ago. She would have freaked out. Now she was dying, and her world view was much wider. She wanted to believe that the world, the universe was bigger than her.

  The firebird that reminded her an awful lot of a dragon picture she had seen once was charging the car. Jabari was up and running towards it. They met in a collision that sent vibrations through their bones. The firebird tried to get its claws on Jabari’s chest, but it became caught in his tightly woven hair. It picked him up and shook trying to dislodge its claw.

  Jabari pitched his body backward taking the firebird with him. They both hit the ground and separated. The bird came at him again its mouth opened as it spewed fire making Jabari move faster than she had ever seen someone move. He escaped being burned alive and maneuvered himself behind the bird. Its tail caught his leg and sent him flying. While he was still lying on the ground, it flew at him.

  Brandi yelled, but he didn’t move. She crawled out of the car and picked up the only thing she had, her purse. With a scream that floated through the open area, she ran towards them.

  “You want me; you SOB!” She wouldn’t allow that thing to hurt him. There was no way she would let something that started off looking cute and cuddly take away her… Her Jabari.

  She hit it over the wings with her purse. The bird didn’t seem to register her, even as a nuisance. Not knowing what else to do, she climbed the protruding scales on its back until she reached the head.

  “You leave him alone, you… Scaly gray and white monster.” She hit it in the head until she saw Jabari open his eyes. He said something she couldn’t hear.

  That’s when she realized just how close to the mouth of the beast, she was.

  Its wings flapped as its head turned towards her. Was there glee in its eyes? She clung to a large protrusion from its back. This wasn’t how she planned to die and yeah; she had the whole thing planned out.

  “Goodbye life, I’m sorry Fie, I never meant to leave you. If only I had met you earlier Jabari.”

  “As if I would let you go.”

  She looked behind her to find him climbing the same scales. The bird circled trying to shake him off.

  “Firebirds have one easy to access weakness. It’s on their backs between their scales. Hold on tight.” His claws went into the birds back, yellow blood squirted up. He dug in deeper, and the bird faltered until it headed toward the ground still trying to shake them loose.

  His blood covered his scales, and her hand slipped.

  Brandi fell. She should scream, but all she could think about was if the scales on its back was the easy way to kill it, what was the hard way? It was better than thinking about the fact that she was about to go splat.

  Her life had been good. She accomplished a lot. It would have been a better life if she had made love to Jabari. That became number one on her bucket list. Make love to Jabari before I die.

  The fall didn’t hurt as much as she thought it would. Mostly because she was in Jabari’s arms, and he took the brunt of it. The bird was on the ground writhing in pain, and he was still holding her staring at her like he expected her to die in his arms any minute.

  Well, she couldn’t have that. She threw her arms around him. Her lips fused to his. There was no telling whose mouth opened first. His tongue was in her mouth caressing hers. She came alive as sensations rolled over her. A sigh of pleasure came out before she was kissing him back.

  “Shouldn’t you finish killing the bird before you kiss the female?”

  She opened her eyes to see his brothers gathered around.

  “I don’t want to kill it yet. I want answers.” He placed her on the ground. “You, stay. Remember where we left off.” He strode away and damn his ass looked good.

  “I’m not a dog you know.” She stayed. Moving seemed to make her head spin.

  *~*~*~*

  Jabari tied the bird up, and they threw it in the back of a huge truck. Now she was sitting in their living room wearing a t-shirt that was swimming on her. His joggers were too big, so she was pretending the tee was a dress. The tension inside of her was growing. The longer she thought of what happened, the stronger her desire to run for the door.

  Why hadn’t Jabari killed her when his secret came out? Were his brother’s alien creatures? They had to be. Was Quinn an alien also or were they feeding off her? Was that what they were going to do to her?

  “Brandi are you sure you don’t want to eat or drink anything?” Quinn came into the living room with a smile on her face.

  “No.” Brandi shook her head. She stopped and licked her lips before looking up at Quinn. “I really need to go my cat will be waiting for me.”

  “What kind of cat do you have?”

  “He’s a tuxedo cat. Y
ou would love him. The minute I looked down at his little face, I was lost.” She felt guilty. Ever since she learned her possible diagnosis, she had avoided Quinn. It didn’t feel right to burden her with the news. Although the real person she was avoiding her was Jabari. That hadn’t work out so well.

  “It’s in the cage. I plan to question it when it wakes up.” Jabari walked into the room still covered with yellow blood. “I probably should change.”

  Brandi flinched before she nodded her head but kept her lips shut. She wasn’t sure what to make of Jabari. He stopped the creature trying to kill her. He had treated her like a princess the night before, and that scored big with her. When you were trying to make it in a world men wanted to claim as their own you learned quickly that being a female would be used against you.

  “I could take an Uber home.”

  “I’ll take you home.” His words sounded deadly.

  Her heart tripped maybe her death was coming sooner than she thought.

  Chapter Six

  Look at her, she deserved an award. She had embraced all her courage and gotten into the car with Jabari after he insisted that he would take her home. Now they were in the parking lot under her building. What she went through was becoming more and more real. Strange how when she went through it; she was fearless, just doing what needed to be done.

  Now she wanted to hide or get into the tub and allow her body to shake until she finally readjusted her grasp on reality. Jabari told her that his brothers did damage control so no one at the center would remember what happened. That was a relief, but it also underlined how different the two of them were. Why was he even here with her?

  “What happens next?”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t play with me. Do I become a meal for you and your family? Maybe you will put me in a cocoon and suck my blood slowly over months extending my life. Will you plant offspring in my stomach to eat its way through me, killing me?” She had seen all of those in movies, so it could happen.

  “Why did you charge the firebird to save my life?”

  What was he talking about? Did he think she could just sit there and watch an alien kill him? Oh… He was an alien trying to kill her. True, but she couldn’t do it; her heart wouldn’t let that be all right.