Dezerai 4 Pt 10 By Shak

[shak7]

Chapter 10
Visions and the Spirit World!!!

The hugs and goodbyes were sincere and very emotional. Master Chin and Master Ramirez escorted the family to the airport. The last two days were intense as the council received Shujaa Academy for full International certification and Sharif Davenport as Council member. No one his age has ever sat on the council but as Master Kenny expressed years ago……he was cut from a different cloth. Karmen and Shalitha were treated like royalty after their initiations. Both Master Chin and Master Ramirez reassured them, no one could go through what they experienced the last two days and come out unshaken. In fact the purpose was to shake them so they could better gauge their inner hearts. They passed with flying colors! Karmen and Shalitha had no idea how they passed, but were told the Councils decisions were based on how the women reacted in the end. When Karmen chose not to take the eyes of Mr. Smit she passed her test, even after he gave her every reason to do so. When Shalitha confessed everything to her family then selflessly went to Akusua’s aid and offered her refuge she passed her test. But passing aside the residual damage was extreme and even though Shalitha and Karmen were grateful to have passed their test, the confrontation with their past has left them shaken! The family and friends rallied together to keep them grounded at this difficult time. Sharif made sure everyone in LA was prepared to help in any way they can. Karmen called her mother Tanya as soon as she got back to the hotel after her encounter with Smit. Their conversation went on for an hour as Tanya was relieved to finally be able to deal with her daughter about her suspicions. She had them about Jermaine since Karmen was little. She could not prove it, nor would he admit to anything, but Tanya had strong intuition and it became a major source of tension. Karmen confirmed her mother’s suspicions when she said she’s beginning to remember how her father would touch her inappropriately when she was 4 and 5 years old. She remembers him pulling out his disgusting male member and making her touch it! When she was 12 she remembers blood. She thought she was having her period but was not sure. She remembers the night of Sharifs school play when she was sick and left alone with her father and he gave her some “cold and flu medicine” and she fell asleep. She now suspects he drugged her! She doesn’t remember being molested or raped, just being very sore and the blood when she woke up the next day! Tanya expressed her outrage at that time telling Jermaine she did not think she was starting her period. She suspected he penetrated his daughter. When she examined Karmen and noticed the broken hymen her suspicions were raised! When she confronted Jermaine again he denied it vehemently and beat her terribly, threatening to kill her. It was one of many beatings she was consistently suffering at his hands. She was terrified of him and feared for her life and the life of her children. So she bided her time and looked for an opportunity to leave. Two months after the suspected incident Tanya was able to go to LA, with the children for her mothers and Ms Delesha’s wedding and there she remained! Both Karmen and her mother knew they needed psychotherapy and hoped to uncover the shadowy spots, for she suspected there were other incidents of molestation that she doesn’t remember. They cried together on the phone and Tanya told her to come home safe that she and the family will be waiting.
Shalitha’s journey for healing is just as intense as Karmens and her self disclosure to Sharif and the family was difficult. Especially for her mother Latoya, who spent 10 years watching the drama between her daughter and her father play out the way it did. Kenny had shared some of his research with Latoya, but hearing from Shalitha confirmed their suspicions. It was especially difficult hearing about her alcoholism and her aborted grandchildren and Latoya knew she and Shalitha would need their own therapy. Latoya knew that Shalitha’s drinking started when she sipped from her own tequila supply as a little girl. Latoya was so consumed with business she ignored obvious evidence of Shalitha drinking her tequila. Kenny never touched it, so that left Shalitha and Latoya ignored it, even though she knew someone was drinking it other than her. She felt burdened as she remembered her own mother carelessly leaving her own drugs and alcohol laying around and her siblings indulging freely, eventually becoming addicts. Latoya liked tequila and knew her own potential for abusing alcohol and kept it under tight control for many years, but she never considered her daughter inheriting the same alcoholic gene that her family has! She found herself taking responsibility for this and asked Shalitha for forgiveness. Tears flowed as they talked about Shalitha’s babies and her grandbabies. How she ignored obvious signs in High School, when Shalitha began to party and with partying comes drinking. She knew had she paid closer attention to her daughter that she could have foreseen this before it happened. Shalitha had her mother’s headstrong stubbornness and penchant for wildness. Looking back the signs were obvious! Latoya loved her children, but she was a highly successful business woman and sometime the conflict of interest between parenthood and business can be catastrophic, especially for a mother!
Shalitha selflessly spent many hours with Akusua helping her with her pain. In fact they were a help to each other. When Akusua finally headed back to Paris she agreed to move to LA and stay with Shalitha and build a new life. The same was said for Soonji who headed back to the Sea Islands. Her time spent with the Shalitha Sharif and Ilyssa was so enriching she also decided to move to LA and expand on that enrichment. Particularly her time spent with Ilyssa. Ilyssa is from Jamaica and she and Soonji quickly bonded like old friends. It was strange for the family to hear Ilyssa speak patois (pronounced pa-TWAH) as thick and Irie (Irie is Jamaican word for good) as Osoonjee. No one could understand them after a while and both Soonji and Ilyssa liked it that way.
On the final morning in Beijing Sharif and Karmen went to breakfast alone and spent several hours together just sister and brother. It was always interesting when Karmen and Sharif got together. Anyone seeing them would have no idea they were siblings. Karmen took after their father Jermaine; she was 6’3” tall just like him and had his light brown skin color, face, features and body type, while Sharif took after their mother Tanya. He looked just like her in the face, and had her darker caramel complexion. Tanya was 5’10” and Sharif was 5”11” four inches shorter than his sister. He had the same slender athletic build as his mother, but while his height and slender but finely cut musculature came from his mother, his limbs were clearly his father. He had huge hands and feet, long arms and not an ounce of fat on him, which explains why they nicknamed him “The Gibbon” for he was built like a monkey and moved like one! As they discussed their father Jermaine and it was the most difficult conversation they ever had about him. They thought they hated him before but after the revelations of molestation and sexual abuse they found themselves wanting to do serious harm to him. Sharif in particular knew he could not speak to his father. With Jermaines arrogance Sharif suspected he might even be bold enough to admit doing it but would somehow flip it and pin the blame on Karmen! If that were to happen Sharif knew he would physically destroy his father, not hurt him or even kill him, but destroy him! Karmen echoed it saying she wanted nothing to do with him. Just by seeing his smug punk arrogant face would be enough for her to physically take him apart piece by fucking piece and she would enjoy doing it! She admitted to Sharif she was afraid of the memories. If he had done something more foul and heinous than the already foul memories she was uncovering, that may be enough to send her on a crusade of vengeance and execution.
Karmen was especially fearful of the night when the supposed rape took place. It was the night of Sharifs school play, he was nine years old in late March and it was an Easter play. Karmen had the flu that night and had to stay home. Tanya was a member of the PTA and helped with the Easter play, so her presence was required. Jermaine areed to stay at home with Karmen that night and gave her some “nightquil cold and flu” medicine to help her feel better. After Karmen took the medication she remembers nothing else, she went right out! Whatever was in that medicine she was out for several hours. When she awoke the next morning she was sore and could barely move and was bleeding from her vagina. Since she just turned twelve and was still a virgin she had no clue what may have happened. When she told her mother, Tanya examined her. When she found the hyman broke, she went suspected Jermaine immediately, but kept it to herself.
That night when Jermaine came home from work Tanya though fearful of Jermaine confronted him anyway. An argument ensued and he ended up beating her again and this time both children were home and saw it. Jermaine pulled a gun on Tanya and told her he would kill her and the children and himself. Both Karmen and Sharif were terrified; they knew Jermaine had beaten their mother before, but never threatened to shoot her and them! Karmen and Sharif remembered that night as if it was yesterday.
“I had no idea they were arguing about me” Karmen confessed. “I used to tune them out when they argued and I was afraid of Daddy. Mom always said to stay out of it, that it was grown folks business. But I hated Daddy when he started beating her. In fact I didn’t even want to stay at home with him that night! And now that I look back, it’s clear that I hated him for years and was always afraid of him. I now think he had been molesing me for years. My memories are foggy though, but I think I remember him making me touch him when I was a little gir….!” Karmen’s voice choked with that as hot tears burned her eyes. She shook and her mouth quivered as vengeful fire burned her soul. She looked at Sharif who had his own hot tears streaming down his face.
“I loved him….he was a hero to me!” Sharif cleared his throat and wiped his eyes. “Like you I didn’t know what they were arguing about. But when he pulled that gun on Mom and threatened to kill all of us, I was scared of him. I had no idea what happened to you and Mom didn’t even tell me until after we got to LA!”
“Same here” Karmen answered. “But when she finally tried to talk to me about it, I couldn’t handle it. I refused to believe her and would never even think about it. But looking back, it’s not that I didn’t believe her, I just blocked everything out, like selective amnesia. Now-w” Karmens voice shook as more hot tears poured down her face. “These memories are coming back and I’m not sure I can handle them!” She looked at Sharif…..“I’m afraid Sharif….I’m afraid I will go after him and kill him! You know me better than anyone, you know I will go Terminator on his ass and leave no traces!”
Sharif took his sisters hand….“You’ll have to stand in line, but unlike you I will leave traces, I will feed pieces of him to himself and make him swallow it! He will watch me, dismantle himself….piece by piece by piece!”
It was strange hearing Sharif talk like this, he was always the calm one, the peaceful one! He was like a Buddha in the flesh. But then Sharif shook his head to regain his senses.
“We can’t think like this K….there’s too much at stake to let our sick father make us a sick as he is. He’s not worth it, we have family, we have the businesses. I have Shujaa, I have Ilyssa and my girls you have your law practice, and you have Shali. You need each other especially now, after what you’ve both been through. You love her and she loves you; you’re good together don’t destroy it over him. We’ll get through this together…we will always have each other and we have Mom and Grandma and both families. Besides we have a father, a real father and his name is Kenny Davenport, the only real father we ever had and the only real father we ever needed!”
“Amen” Karmen nodded…..“Amen!”
They promised each other not to go on a crusade against Jermaine, but to go into therapy with their mother Tanya; all three of them together. They also suspected their Grandmother Dezerai would also want in on the therapy; for it was Tanya leaving LA in the first place that started the problems. Grandmother Dezerai knew a good therapist and told them she would set up a series of sessions.
They were scheduled to depart from Beijing that evening back to the US, as the time for departure neared, Karmen headed her brothers words and sought out Shalitha and they were inseparable. On the plane they sat in joining seats and talked about their experiences in their initiation. They both cried together and poured their hearts out to each other. But Karmen said something to Shalitha that took their relationship to another level. She admitted she knew about the first pregnancy in High School. Shalitha's enemy Candace from High School hated her and found out from Tina the gossip who found out from Shalitha’s so-called best friend in High School Phyllis. Candace told Karmen just to spite Shalitha. But when Karmen heard the news instead of being thrilled to hear it was incensed that Candace would gossip about it. She threatened Candace and told her if she found out she or Tina the gossip said anything else she would kick both of their asses. They were scared of Karmen and she never heard it mentioned again. Shalitha looked at Karmen stunned.
“You told them that?”
“Yes” Karmen answered.
“Why? You hated me so much over the years; and this was right after breaking your jaw at the playoff game…..why would you come to bat for me like that?” Shalitha stared at her.
“I don’t know” Karmen answered truthfully. “I just know she pissed me off when she said it and I knew they would spread the word all over LA. I couldn’t let them do that to you. Besides I knew you were partying and drinking at that time and I was scared for you.”
“Scared for me?” Shalitha's mouth was open.
Karmen looked at her and shrugged….. “I know I was a bundle of contradictions……..still am!!!”
“Not to me you are!” Shalitha smiled at her and kissed her…..“thank you!”
They snuggled close and held each other lovingly.
“You never even told my parents or any member of the family did you?”
Karmen shook her head no…….“I just couldn’t, don’t ask me why?”
“That’s all I need to hear” Shalitha sighed.
Karmen spoke…..“Before you proclaim my divine selflessness, don’t forget you told Master Kenny to take me to the father daughter program at school and you asked him to treat me like a daughter.”
Shalitha looked at Karmen and shrugged…..
“Go figure…..we hated each other, yet did things like this to help each other. Like you said we were a bundle of contradictions….still are” Shalitha sighed.
They looked at each other again and kissed, laying their heads together and talked, then slept, then talked, then slept, then talked some more. When they finally arrived at LAX the whole family was waiting…..EVERYONE!!! Both Grandmothers Delesha and Dezerai; both mothers Latoya and Tanya; Tanisha was there and shock of all shock Hakeem was there with his wife Ziyal. Kenny Jr. was also there. Karmen was thrilled when she saw Stacy and Shauna there. And of course all the children were there. Hugs were everywhere and for both Shalitha and Karmen, it was overwhelming for such an outpouring of love. Shalitha in particular felt like she betrayed all of them and they made her feel like a queen. They headed over to the Grandmothers who had a celebration with good food and good music, cards and gifts and congratulations. They partied the rest of the day and into the night and for the Shalitha and Karmen this was the beginning of a healing that was long overdue. But little did they realize the real healing had not yet begun.
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A week had passed since returning from Beijing and a lot has changed. First Akusua moved to LA and was staying with Shalitha and her Mother Latoya. They had a large home and plenty of room. Since her exile she felt alone in Paris, even though she had friends none of them were connected to her family and the situation in Sudan. When she was first contacted by Sharif and Ilyssa they talked about the similarities of her situation with Shalitha; she already had a close bond to Shalitha and when she learned of her situation she was excited about going to China. But after spending two days together, their bond deepened exponentially. Shalitha invited her to move to LA and stay with her and Akusua readily accepted. Over the years they had become like sisters and she saw this as an answer to prayer. She loved family and Shalitha was all the family she had left after Sudan. Four days after Akusua’s arrival Soonji came to LA from the Sea Islands. She was ready for a change in her life. She moved back to the Sea Islands after graduating from Morehouse School of Medicine, but her career never got off the ground the way she had hoped. The limited financial resources of St. Helena made it difficult for her to practice the kind of medicine she had hoped. She was ready to stretch her wings, so the chance to move to LA was attractive. But most importantly was her chance to work closely with Ilyssa who was ready to get her PhD in Bio-Medical Engineering, now that her daughters were entering their teen years. Both women were from the islands and had known the naturopathic approach that island life points to. But with their education they felt good about opening up an exciting new genre in the medical field. There was a certain feeling of destiny in their association and both Soonji and Ilyssa were excited to partner in their own clinic. In addition Latoya had business contacts for investors, so they could finance it. Over the next several months the family was able to secure investors and set it up and it was not long before they were showing signs of growth! Soonji and Ilyssa were excited about the future and were a great team. But just as things often does fate it seems intervenes changing the fortunes of all. It was a Friday night when Ilyssa had a dream that Soonji’s mother was in Haiti. There was nothing strange about that except that she had the same dream 3 nights in a row. The next day at the clinic she mentioned it to Soonji who looked at her surprised….because she also had the same dream 3 nights in a row. Soonji called her family in St. Helena after the 3rd dream to find out what was going on. What she found out was that her mother suddenly went to Haiti without warning or provocation. Her mother had not been back to Haiti since being taken out as a little girl to escape the Duvalier regime. The family was not clear as to why she went only saying she told them she had business there. But Soonji sensed someone did know why but was not saying. Soonji and Ilyssa talked about the dream. Each time they dreamed it they would see the same thing…. Soonji’s mother stood in front of two houses and had to choose between them. One house had dark shadows outside but was lighted inside, while the other house was lighted outside and had dark shadows inside. In each dream she had trouble choosing. One night she would choose the house with darkness outside and could not find her way in. On the other night she would choose the house with darkness inside and could not find her way out. Both houses were actually the same house and it was very old and worn. Soonji and Ilyssa assumed the dream was a message so they decided if they had the same dream again they would go to Haiti to find her mother. That night both of them had the same dream with Soonji’s mother choosing the house with shadows inside and getting lost unable to find her way out. They booked a flight to Haiti for that weekend, Sharif insisted on going with them. Soonji was not comfortable with either of them going since she had only been to Haiti once as a teenager and was not sure what to expect. When they arrived at Port-Au-Prince it was hot and humid. Soonji had family members already living there but she barely knew them. Soonji’s mother whose name is Karima was 53 having birthed Soonji at 20. She was a strong woman and like Soonji had gone to college. She had an RN licensed and worked in Charleston as a Registered Nurse. Soonji’s love of medicine and service came from her mother. She was able to contact her family in Haiti to tell her mother they would be in town for 2 days. When they arrived, they were met at the airport by a cousin whose name is Phillip (pronounced feh-LEEP) as they drove through Port-Au-Prince; he told them their suspicions are correct that Karima came for more reasons than to just business.
“She is spending time with my father, your great uncle on your father’s side. He is also a practitioner of Voudun, the same one practiced by your grandfather before he died.”
“Tell us more about Voudun” Sharif asked.
Phillip began to explain the history of Voudun (Voodoo), but Soonji soon cut him off.
“Do not give him de generic history of Voudun; he can go to a book for day; give him specifics when it come to our family.”
Phillip looked at her and Soonji stared him right back.
“Oui” he then proceeded to talk about how Soonji’s Grandfather no longer accepted the old models of Voudun. He felt the rituals and the dolls and sacrificing of animals was wrong. He no longer wanted to call on forces who craved blood to enlist their help.
“My Grandfather was an educated man and studied world religions and the slave trade” Soonji cut in! “As a young man him was one of dee first Haitians to be given a scholarship to study in de United States. He was wit students from de Dominican Republic to study theology at Wheaton College in Wheaton, Illinois. After graduating he studied at Morehouse School of religion. After dat he spent time in Brazil and studied Catholicism and de Santeria. He was in his mid 30s when he returned to Haiti an in ‘54’ he meet an marry my Grandmother. He was a seeker of truth and could not accept Haiti as pure evil, but felt we lost de way with animal sacrifice and calling on forces we knew nuteeng about to do our evil bidding. Love is de best religion he would always say. No animal sacrifice, no dolls, no rituals…..just love your brother as yourself! But de Duvalier regime began exterminating our people; my grandfather fought back and was killed. Grandmother who was also part of the rebel forces was pregnant wif my mother and was taken out before she get killed. She move to de Sea Islands and be dere evah since.”
“So why your mother come here?” Ilyssa came in.
“She will tell you herself” Phillip pointed to a run-down group of buildings in an impoverished section of Port-au-Prince. They stopped in front of an old worn looking house that looks like it has not been lived in for years! Soonji and Ilyssa’s mouthed dropped it was the house in their dreams! They parked the car and Phillip led them inside and made bird calls. A man appeared at the top of some old stairs. He looked at Phillip who nodded; he then looked back into a room and nodded. Immediately a dignified dark skinned woman of 53 appeared with a short salt and pepper afro, dressed in a tie-dye dress, it was Karima Soonji’s mother. She and Soonji smiled at each other and she came down the stairs to greet everyone. After they hugged and introductions were made Karima spoke.
“You should not have come and to bring guest is not wise!”
“We knew you was here Mama…..me and Ilyssa had dee same vision 4 days in a row! It was you and dis house!”
Karima was thoughtful….
“It must be dee bom-back root! After we prepare it I knew I open myself back up to de forces I long ago ignored. I did not tink it would have effect wit you and your friends.”
She looked at Ilyssa and Sharif. “I apologize for dis…..I can help wif…..”
“We do not come to be free of dee visions!” Ilyssa spoke with thick patois, “but to seek you out an know dee truff!!!”
Karima looked at Soonji questioningly.
‘Is dis ting true?”
“Yes Mama! We need to speak wit you about de visions, we tink it has someting to do wif why you come back here.”
Karima looked at Phillip and her uncle Francois, she spoke in French and they left.
“I tell dem we meet up later for food!” she spoke to Ilyssa and Sharif. “Come out in de back….. we talk dere.”
Once seated Karima asked about the dream; Soonji shared it all, telling her about the shadowy house both outside and in and her mother having to make the choice, but getting lost each time a choice was made.
Karima breathed softly, “Dis house is de house of your Great-Grandpapa and Grandmama! As you know dey stop de practice of voudun, but dere be other forces at war in dis land. Dis house is very old and was originally a plantation house built by de French before de Haitian revolution. De family was Catholic; but de slaves practiced some Santeria, some Voudun and some Catholic. As you know dere are dark forces as well as light in all of de religions of dee world! Our family became dark in all three. We had Catholics who lived here helping the French fight our people, we had Santeria who were involved in de drug trades of de Americas, and we had Voudun who sacrificed to the dark forces. And each hated de other and our family hurt and kill each other. My Great Grandpapa was a dark Voudun but after he was killed, my Papa, you’re Grandpapa wanted to change dat. He go to school in de US and when he return he tried to merge Catholic wit Santeria wit Voudun, but his quest was not successful. When he saw evil in all of us, he become disillusioned! And de darkness in our family would not let him practice wit a righteous heart so he stopped. Once the Duvalier regime began hunting us down, he and Mama fought in de underground. When he lost his life my Mama your Grandmama got me and your uncle Amir out of Haiti to de Sea Islands. She loved your grandfather and dey wanted education for us and dat is why we went to school.”
She looked at Sharif and Ilyssa intently.
“My family lost its soul as far back as de Haitian revolution with Toussaint back in de 1790s. It was our righteous battle that freed us from de French, but some of us converted to Catholicism and fought on de side of the da French, while others went Santeria and Voudun. No matter what we became it was our Darkness dat made us enemies to each other! You came here because of a dream, so do I. After I make de bom-back brew I started dreaming over and over again. De message of my dream was always de same, our family have lost our souls! I came here hoping together we could find it. I came to speak with Francois and Phillip who also had similar dreams. We hoped maybe to find answers together!”
“Have you Mama?” Soonji asked.
“No”…she sighed….. “an now hearing bout your dream, maybe we cannot….especially here!”
Ilyssa took Karima’s hand….“Our visions say de answers you seek cannot be found here or in dis house, or in your family lines….it will only bring more shadows that you will get lost in.”
“But did not de visions say I must make de choice” Karima asked?
“If I am hearing the visions correctly” Sharif spoke up “The choice of either or is both wrong…..Catholic, Voudun, and Santeria….maybe it’s like our family in America with Christianity or Islam. We have chosen to not be either one, but to seek the truth they offer and not the allegiance they demand.”
Karima looked at Sharif, “The day before you came, I dreamt I had a plate of food in front of me. It had good healthy food on half of it and foul rancid food on de other half.”
Soonji took her mother’s hand….“Maybe it’s time we finish what you started after you watch Grandpapa die. We educate ourselves to de truff and build from dere!”
The rest of the afternoon the sharing went on that vein and by the evening Karima had decided she had seen enough and would meet with Francois and Phillip and other family members one more day then head back to St. Helena. But the best thing that came out of their trip was a word of wisdom and caution from Karima…….
“Dere are unseen forces in dis world for good and for evil. We may not know who dey are but dey sure know us! If we wan to connect wif de good, we must first be good! Our family knew dat at one time……den lost it a long time ago……we must never again lose it!”
Phillip and Francois had breakfast with everyone in the morning and everyone agreed to teach the youth the truth and work to usher in a new generations of Haitians in the Josette family, in honor of the vision of Soonji’s grandparents, while Karima and Soonji will continue to do the same in the states. The dreams stopped for Ilyssa and Soonji after that, and when they got back to the states they noticed that they felt more centered more focused. They began having daily meditations together and it created a bond of sisterhood between them that was to pay off in more ways than they could imagine.
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In the meantime Karmen and Shalitha were going through therapy, Shalitha with Latoya and her brother Kenny Jr. and Karmen with Sharif and her Mother Tanya. They were making progress and saw signs of healing and growth. Shalitha actually began forgiving herself for the loss of her children and her treatment of her father. Her regret remained, but the pain of guilt no longer dominated her. She accepted the fact she was young and foolish like all of us are and sometimes the choices we make in our youth can have painful consequences. But they were choices made in her youth and she was learning to let them remain in her youth. In addition her time spent with Akusua played as great a role in her healing as the therapy and the love of her family. Soon Akusua joined in with the therapy and had to come to grips with her role in the destruction of her village and the death of her family. Like Shalitha she began to accept she was young and easily manipulated, but the massacre was not her doing, she was a pawn in someone else’s game. She kept a close eye on the situation in the Sudan, but with the death of all her family she could not see herself returning and with the situation still volatile it was not wise. She had a new family in LA who welcomed her with open arms and hearts. And those open arms included Shalitha’s baby brother Kenny Jr. who was enamored with her from day one and from the looks of it, she him. Akusua remains cautious, but Kenny Jr. has expressed his love and a bond seems to be growing between them. Then there was Karmen….if anyone has played the largest part in Shalitha’s healing it is Karmen. Who would have thought that they of all people they could play; not just a role in each other’s healing, but the greater role!?!?!?! Her own journey was just as arduous as Shalitha's. She finally uncovered the hidden memories and they were as vile and sick as she imagined. She vacillated between wanting to destroy her father and letting it go. She knew forgiving him may never happen, so it is better she let it go, but Karmen was not the letting it go type. But to confront her Father Jermaine and knowing his response would only make her want to destroy him again. She, her mother Tanya and brother Sharif made the decision to no longer have any contact with him ever again for the health of all concerned. But her anger was a beast that was tough to conquer. Which is why her relationship with Shalitha became extraordinary; they did not have anymore fights, nor did they have sex anymore. Their focus on healing was priority, that and growing the law firm. Their vow to only have sex once a year remained in effect and they moved happily along with their non-sexual relationship and everything appeared fine….that is until the family reunion! It was the day of the reunion that sex became for them and the family more than just sex!
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It was a warm August day the Washington/Davenport annual family reunion in Griffith Park was wonderful for the whole family. The food, the music, the card games and the sport competitions minus the ass kicking had everybody stuffed and happy! At 5pm they decided to pack it up; Tanisha and Tanya were taking the mothers, Latoya and Hakeem and Ziyal to a John Legend concert, the young folks were headed to the Hip Hop club. But Karmen and Shalitha had a big domestic violence case and wanted to go home and go over material. It was Shalitha's first trial as the lead prosecutor since she got back and began practicing law in the state of California, so Karmen wanted to go over the material with her to make sure she was strong before the trial in 4 days. Sharif was taking the girls and Hakeem's son to Mama Dees to spend the night with the grandmothers. Soonji and Ilyssa packed up and headed in, they had no desire for a concert as a quiet evening with a glass of wine, a fat spliff and easy conversation appealed to them. Kenny Jr. and Akusua wanted to test out this new Reggae club in the Marina. So with everybody off on their own Saturday night good time, no one had any idea what was about to happen.
It began in the most unlikely of places……St. Helena Island. Karima had moved on from her pilgrimage back to Haiti and found herself immersed in the religious and spiritual study of ancient cultures. She was given her father’s old books and writings which had been preserved by Francois. Her fathers research fascinated her. She read her father’s journals and his research material as well as the life of Siddhartha the Buddha in India, Zen Buddhism in China, Ibn Arabi and Islamic Sufism, Egyptian Coptic’s and Gnostic Christianity, as well as the ancient and hidden history of the Voudun. She was fascinated by the parallels, similarities and paradoxes of each. But over the last week she began dreaming again and this time instead of running to find the answers she decided to spend time in quiet meditation and reflection. It was in meditation that she remembered the Som-Bak root. It was very similar to the Bom-Bak root except where the Bom-Bak opens you up to remember and re-experience the past, the Som-Bak opens you up to dreams about the future. It was a rare and complex root and more dangerous than the Bom-Bak root. They both have a psychotropic compound that stimulates the imagination. But it goes deeper than just stimulating the creative centers of the brain, it plunges deeper into the nervous system inflames it, at least temporarily, so that the person experiences the emotions; thirst enhances, hunger becomes greater, sexual desire increases. But here is where the Haitians took it to another place. The rituals worked with the root connected unseen forces with it and the user became a living conduit to re-experience the past or experience the future. By re-experience we mean to feel it and see it! In this respect Som-Bak was far more risky than Bom-Bak. In Bom-Bak you saw and experienced what has happened. In Som-Bak it has yet to happen, so if the user had an evil heart or emotional instability, the Som-Bak’s psychotropic energies creates a realistic future that the user secretly desires or fears or obsesses over. If you have enemies you may see and feel their demise, if you have unhealthy attractions you may experience its unhealthy fulfillment. For that reason the Bom-Bak and in particular the Som-Bak roots are not only rare, but the secrets of its preparation and usage is protected by the priesthood in the islands. No books dared be written on it, and it was only passed down from mouth to ear, by only a select few. Only the Priest and the Monks were allowed it’s secrets and usage because their training was supposed to detach them from the perils of undisciplined emotions. Karima’s father as a Voudun priest knew how to prepare it and he taught her mother who taught her. With her success with the Bom-Bak root, she felt confident that emotionally she had reached a point of settling and maturity that there would be no danger in preparing the Som-Bak root. So she decided to prepare some for herself, to enhance her dreams and bring clarity. It took her several weeks to finish it and during that time the dreams continued. The dreams were always about seeing possibilities for a better life. Sometimes she would dream she could live in the air above the chaos on the ground. Other dreams she could move under water without swimming and breathe fresh air. It signaled to her that life no longer could overwhelm and drown her. In one dream she was living in the future and wanted to bring Soonji with her but did not know how. She felt all of these dreams had meaning and it was her hope the Som-Bak elixir could enlighten her! It was a Saturday night in August when she sat lotus style on a mat in her home after taking the Som-Bak root and went into meditation…it was the same day as the family reunion in LA! The roots normally take a good half an hour to take hold of the nervous system, but when it does it holds the person there for a good hour then gradually scales back over the next 2 hours. If the root is improperly prepared it does nothing but taste bad. If even one part is done improperly it no longer works, which is why only the priest and monks are trained to prepare it. It can only be monitored by an elder trained in the roots to make sure the user is safe. Karima sat cross-legged for the first half an hour with no change, but when it finally took effect, it took effect! She quickly she went from quiet almost boring meditation to visions of Soonji. It was always Karima’s hope Soonji would one day marry and have children. She began to see Soonji in love and living the life she wanted as a doctor with the man of her dreams and many children. She always wanted Grandchildren and her vision of Grandchildren and Soonji in love was now in living color. She began to talk to Soonji telling her to open her heart to love. For years she felt Soonji was too closed and needed to open her heart so a man could love her. Soonji was a 33 year old woman and her window for having a husband and children was not as wide as it used to be. Perhaps she needed a little boost and nothing can boost better than a Som-Bak root ritual. She talked with Soonji in her vision and Soonji admitted she was in love. Karima encouraged her to let go and love. As her mother she just wanted her daughter to be in love and married; it was an honorable vision, but in spite of her noble vision for her daughter, she was in error as she opened Pandora’s Box! She began to tell her daughter to let go and feel free to love. She saw Soonji in her vision letting go and Karima dug in deeper. She willed her to feel love and to open her heart to love and all its possibilities. The spirit world is not limited by time and space so the effects easily transferred to Soonji 3,000 miles away and awakened a part of herself that she deliberately kept under wraps for many years.

To be continued