Bealz, Prince Of The SouthSide

25 Monique had spent the entirety of her childhood as a ward of the State of Illinois' Department of Child Care Services. As far back as she could recall, she had been an outcast, a second thought. She filled a space for some, serving as a warm body in a billable bed. She did nothing much else but help to make ends meet for most others, arriving on the doorsteps of strangers with a bill of sale in her pocket. Until Askauri, no one had ever spoken to her about her worth, her true value as more than a commodity or simply someone's fantasy. He told her of unbelievable things, and then he showed them to her, took her to see far off worlds, light-years away and yet nestled right alongside this one. She saw massive and majestic kingdoms and castles and met Black men and women of true power who wielded their magics with love and compassion. She met many others as well, finding that Black folk weren't the Incata's only inhabitants. That there were just...

AMALGAMATED MAN I am colored like an ashen dawn and sprout cotton from atop my head. Dirt, black and rich, crumbles between my toes and pure clean water, a river's worth of salutation full of fishes and exotic life, flows from my heart. Bearing the crest of my many colors; the greens and golds, the reds, yellow, blue, electric blue, indigo cerulean. A rainbow unfurls about my hips, bleeding out and staining brittle parchments inscribed with the secret equations written down in God's secret language. My mouth is a fount of Eternity. All things, great and small, real or indifferent, great plumes of substance, spring from my loins. My legs are tree trunks, my hands the branches. My eyes are gaping holes of flame as I peer into a volcano's throat, matching its primal scream with my own. I bear witness to a panoramic view of gently rolling meadows, soaring mountains and fathomless oceans. Dander falls from my scalp, w...

XXIV Some time later, as they sit close, Bealz can't help but wonder and ask, “Why ain't you just, I don't know, like mama did? Just make you a sword or a gun or something?” “I wish you woulda killed they ass!” he then says vehemently. “Watch your language, son,” Askauri chides. “And I told you, I'm not your mother. Her psychic steels are forged from willful magics unique to her bloodline. I have to prepare, gather my strength.” “Your mother will be fine,” he says. “And by now she shouldn't be alone.” For nearly an hour they had sat amongst the flowers. Bealz had a million questions. He was uncertain how to even ask them. His mind reeled. He didn't think he had ever been this happy in his entire life. Just about every kid that he knew had a story to tell about their dad, and more often their moms, being locked up, gone from their lives for long stretches of time.   Some came back. The hopeful reality o...

21 Askauri didn't know how long he'd slept but he did feel much better, his thoughts were much more clear. He was concerned, however, that he could sense neither Bealz nor Monie. He felt their fading essence, knew that they had passed through the valley of flowers that lay here between the base of the hill and the forest. But now they were gone. It was no surprise to him that Monie had gotten them out or that this is where they had stepped through. The forest served as a transom, a thin place between worlds. It was fairly aligned with the ghost of the forests and plains that once covered the land where Chicago now sat and could often be heard throughout this region mourning the loss of its sister wood on Earth. Considering the journey they had to take, the years of struggle she and Bealz had faced alone, Askauri was thankful that Monique had been able to summon the strength to do what was needed. To bring them here. He had no idea just how inadequat...

17 Jo-Mel slashes the arrow in two with a swift swipe of the katana, snapping its shaft just inches before the tip finds its mark. “No time for that,” she says quite calmly for someone who'd just been fired upon. “You must find and free the boy. This one is dead, but its weavings will still have your son bound.” “You stay right where you are,” Monique Felani says with deadly seriousness. She already has another arrow nocked and aimed at Jo-Mel's head. “I can help. If you allow it.” “Yeah, well, I don't know you like that. Ain't done so well with strangers so far.” Lowering the katana, Jo-Mel says, “Understood. But I'm here at Askauri's behest and you should know that the wilds of the Incata are best navigated by the wit of two women.” Peering closer, Monie says, “I know you...” “Yes,” Jo-Mel says. “And you know that I mean you no harm, Monique Felani.” 18 Bealz is gone. No where to be found amongst the ...

19 Bealz was still wrapped up in Pickle-Me-Jack's webs. He was still trapped in a loop, a snippet of a recent, happy recollection. But the landscape had changed. This was no longer his memory. He no longer recognized it. The sky had grown dark. A huge black storm cloud had suddenly settled in over the valley. It was a huge and terrible thing, shot through with roiling flame and lanced with lightning. He shuddered in fear. It wasn't the storm that frightened him, though. He felt his mother near, felt her shielding him, almost, but couldn't see her. Bealz called out to her, his words carried away on the increasing winds. The ground thrums, he can feel the vibrations buzzing up through the soles of his feet, making his legs and knees wobble. There is something else in the sky. Something fighting for position with the dark cloud. It was somehow darker than the storm, which was wickedly fierce and thunderous. Bealz didn't like to look at it...

17 Jo-Mel slashes the arrow in two with a swift swipe of the katana, snapping its shaft just inches before the tip found its mark. “No time for that,” she says quite calmly for someone who'd just been fired upon. “You must find and free the boy. This one is dead, but its weavings will still have your son bound.” “You stay right where you are,” Monique Felani says with deadly seriousness. She already has another arrow nocked and aimed at Jo-Mel's head. “I can help. If you allow it.” “Yeah, well, I don't know you like that. Ain't done so well with strangers so far.” Lowering the katana, Jo-Mel says, “Understood. But I'm here at Askauri's behest and you should know that the wilds of the Incata are best navigated by the wit of two women.” Peering closer, Monie says, “I know you...” “Yes,” Jo-Mel says. “And you know that I mean you no harm, Monique Felani.” 18 Bealz is gone. No where to be found amongst...