Blood at the Root

by LaDarrion Williams

With a thickness in my throat, I have a storm gathering inside me. I mean, I don’t know what it is, but all I know is that the weight of the world and past sins make my shoulders slump while I hustle my way into town.

Swooosh. He’s gone. Whaaaaat? I’m like them old cartoons when their jaws drop to the floor, because did this nigga just jump into the air and fly off like Superman?

Through the foyer and into the living room, this seems like one of those houses that creak so much, you’d think it’s singing something scary.

They say love is like the sea. Because of its vastness, we really don’t understand it fully. But we know it moves with a rhythm, and it’s deeper than anything in this world. It’s endless, and it always comes back to shore. But how can you love something that’s been away from you for so long?

I sensed her before I even knew what the hell sensing was. Her magic didn’t feel prickly like needles. Naw, hers felt like the sun finding me in the darkest of shadows. It felt like a Spring Fling Fair on a Saturday night where you ride the Ferris wheel. Or dipping into a pool and floating for the first time. Her magic felt like the city lights kissing the belly of the stars, and Christmas morning, waking up to a pine tree swollen with presents. In her own words, her magic was like believing in the impossible again.

Me and Alexis are like the sea and the land. Distant for a while. But always meet at the edge of the world.

On the wall, placed real strategically, are framed awards. Photos. And more awards. But it’s something weird how they’re placed, though. Set like they’re trying to hide something. I know what that’s like. Hiding pain. Hiding hurt.

The way this is set up, I would’ve guessed I stepped into Emerald City. But I’m sure there’s a curtain that’s gonna reveal the fake wizard somewhere, and all of this is just a façade.

Her eyes shut, and she mumbles something that I can’t pick up on. The effect of her magic makes my skin crawl with goose bumps. It feels like that cool blast of fresh air when you walk inside a house from playing outside in the summer heat all day. It’s lemon pound cake. It’s home.

It takes a moment for my brain to realize. I was led here for a reason. I was led here to help this little boy. Help him in a way that nobody helped me when my magic first manifested. This little Black boy deserves better. He don’t deserve to have this stolen from him.

“Baybeh, sometimes you got to get to the root of things. Find out what’s planted deep inside ya that’s rottin’, and you pluck it. Only then can you fill it with good things that’ll spring forth everythin’ you need in this life. The world may be fallin’ down round us, but best believe we gon’ laugh, we gon’ dance, and we gon’ be family. That’s how we’ve been for generations. No matter how much hate, how much pain they throw at us, we always gon’ rise. Resilience is a form of magic…that’s in our blood, chile, and that’s somethin’ they ain’t gon’ neva take away. Ya hear me?”