The Lion King - The Bonds of Trust

Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Taking a Stand

As Bolah continued to drag Shani back to the house, the young woman's eyes flashed and she had soon gotten a vision. The vision she had received was of a pregnant lioness trapped in a poacher's trap and the poacher pointing a gun at her, preparing to shoot her!

Fearing for the poor lion, Shani started to struggle against her Aunt's grip.

Bolah snapped at her, trying to keep a hold of her niece, "You little witch! Stop fighting me!"

Once she heard the sounds of a lion's cry, Shani gave out a loud grunt and ripped away from her Aunt's grip, running to the lioness before it was too late. Bolah shouted while trying to run after her,

"Shani! Get back here! Do as I say!"

But Shani didn't bother listening, and continued running towards the cries of the lioness. She ran past the mango tree and towards the tall grassy field a few feet away from the village to see the pregnant lioness hanging in another tree inside of a net. She was a rather tan lioness, with dark ear rims, red eyes, and light-colored paws.

Catching a glimpse of Shani pulling out a dagger, she started crying out louder and struggled even more in the net.

Shani said to try to calm the poor lioness, "Sh-Sh-Shh! It's okay! I'm not here to hurt you."

And the young African woman started using her dagger to cut through the net to free the lioness. As soon as she made a big enough hole, the pregnant lioness jumped out of the net and Shani said,

"You're free now! Go!"

The pregnant lioness catched her breathe and said, "Thank you, my dear."

Shani's eyes widened in shock as she saw the lioness talk to her. She said to herself, looking at her mother's necklace,

"My mother's necklace. I-It really works!"

But she was soon snapped out of her thoughts as she heard big footsteps coming towards her and the pregnant lioness. Taking quick action, she gasped and said to the lioness,

"Go! Run and stay hidden!"

The pregnant lioness nodded to her and took off running, hiding within the tall grass. As soon as she was out of sight, out came the poacher. He was a light-skinned man with dark green eyes, black hair tied into a pony tail, and a stubbly beard and mustache. He was wearing an orange shirt with rolled up sleeves, a brown vest, brown gloves, brown pants, black boots, and a belt where he carried a hunting knife and a gun.

He looked to Shani and shouted, "You! You just released my prize! My fortune!"

Shani looked to him and said with anger, "She is not a prize, and she was never yours to begin with!"

He said as he whined, and turned to her with anger,

"I was going to make a fur coat out of her! And sell it for millions of dollars! I could of been rich! But YOU! You took it away from me!"

Soon enough, Aunt Bolah came running to them and asked nervously to the poacher,

"What's going on here?! Is there a problem here sir?"

The poacher asked, "Do you know her?"

Bolah answered in mock politeness, "Why, yes. This troubled girl is my niece."

The poacher said angrily, "Well, she just released my prized lion from my grasp! All my money! My future! IT'S GONE!"

Bolah said lying through her teeth, trying to pull Shani away,

"I apologize to you, sir. For you see, my troubled niece has been in the sun for much too long, and she needs her medicine. So, I'll be taking her home now and we'll be out of your way. Come along, Shani."

Shani argued, "No! Aunt Bolah, I had to help her. He was going to kill a pregnant lioness."

The poacher mocked, "Oh, so this is what it is? A little black girl coming to the rescue of an animal in need?"

Shani asked with a glare, "Excuse me?"

The poacher sneered,

"That's all you black people are ever good for! First you act all friendly toward us, and then when the time comes, you steal right from under our noses!"

Bolah had shocked expression on her face and a small crowd of villagers along with Tamur started coming out of their homes to watch the scene as Shani snapped,

"How dare you! Don't you ever take the name of Africans in vain!"

The poacher shouted, "You stole my property!"

Shani fired back,

"You mistreat this poor lion and her baby, the same way you mistreat my people! You speak of wanting justice, yet you are cruel to living things that are most in need of your help! It's because of people like you that animals in Africa are becoming endangered!"

The poacher snapped, "SILENCE!"

Shani shouted in anger, "JUSTICE!"

Both the poacher, Bolah, and the crowd of villagers looked back in shock as Shani stood her ground.

Bolah said nervously while trying to drag Shani away,

"Shani, that's enough. Now, apologize to this man for costing him his money."

But instead of an apology, Shani spat directly in the face of the poacher.

Bolah and the villagers gasped in shock seeing the young woman defend herself. Seeing the look of anger on the poacher's face, Bolah said nervously, grabbing Shani and pulling her away,

"Okay well, we'll just be on our way. I apologize to you again, sir. Have a good day!"

And with that, Bolah dragged Shani back to the house as everyone else in the village looked on in wonder and Tamur looked to Shani with worry written all over his face. Once they got back into the house, Bolah shoved her inside, knocking her to the ground and shouted with anger,

"You little treacherous witch! You embarrassed me in front of that man! In front of the entire village!"

Shani asked with shock and anger, "I embarrassed you?!"

Bolah said, continuing to berate her,

"I was right about you! You are just like your mother! And your father was such a fool! I let those two win, and look what's become of it! They're both dead and they left me a sorry excuse of a woman to take in?! How could they do this to me?!"

With the rage building up inside of her, Shani finally snapped,

"Aunt Bolah! SHUT UP!"

Stunned, Bolah stopped for a moment, and asked in anger, "What did you just say?"

Having had enough of her abuse, Shani shouted to her with anger,

"You heard me! I am sick and tired of you treating me like dirt! Day to day! Constantly berating me, and beating me if I do anything wrong! And what's worse? You insulting my parent's name like they're nothing!"

Bolah argued, "They are nothing! You're nothing!"

Shani fired back,

"No! You were wrong about my parents, Bolah! You were wrong about me! I'm not taking this anymore! I am not going to stand here and listen to you talk bad about me and my family!"

She then said, coming close to her Aunt Bolah,

"My mother's no witch, Bolah. YOU ARE! She loved me, and cared for me like any other mother should. And the love that she had for my father was a true love that you could never understand. My parents were right in kicking you out of the tribe! They didn't want me surrounded by a MONSTER LIKE YOU!!"

Enraged, Bolah slapped Shani hard in face, knocking her to the ground while shouting,

"SHUT UP! YOU UNGRATEFUL BRAT!"

Shani looked up in shock as she covered her cheek. Bolah then shouted to her,

"I let you live in my house! I let you sleep in a bed! I took you in when no one else would, and this is how you thank me?! I don't need you! If you don't like it here, then why don't you leave?!"

With emotions running high, Shani turned from her aunt and ran into her room. Slamming the door shut, she ran towards her bed and broke down in tears. After many years of physical and emotional abuse, she had finally stood up for herself. She had stood up for her family. She didn't want to stay here any longer, especially with that monster she calls an aunt. After sobbing for quite a while, Shani sat up from her bed and said with tears falling down her face,

"You know what? For once, my Aunt Bolah is right. What am I doing here? This isn't my home. This isn't where I belong. I was destined for better things than this. For years, I've been doing all I could to survive my Aunt Bolah, dreaming that someday, I could leave this place and go back to my real home, and rebuild it into what it was. And perhaps, find my place in the circle of life."

She then said with determination,

"Well, no more. As soon as tomorrow hits... I'm going home."

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Hey guys! Here's chapter 2! Enjoy!