Erik N'Jadaka Stevens.
Top student in his graduating class at the Naval Academy. The youngest graduate to do so.
Erik excels at M.I.T. studying bioacoustics and sonic warfare. Hounded by Tony Stark to become his protege in Malibu, Erik sets out to f...
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"He's a man in his glory a boy in his dreams And he's living his life in between Tomorrow will answer yesterdays Dreams While today he is living in between
Beware oh brother beware don't you listen to the words The tender lies Beware oh brother beware don't you listen to the words
He rejoices in wedlock with a lover unseen And he's living his life in between He thinks of the sorrow his conscience will bring And he's living his life in between..."
Loggins and Messina – "Pathway to Glory"
Her face was radiant. Even amid sorrow, pain, and fear, Erik's mother smiled when he stepped into the small visitor's room with his grandfather and Uncle Bakari.
"Hey baby boy, come here," Califia said.
Erik's face scrunched up and the tears he tried to will away flowed against his weak struggle to hold them in for her. He wanted to appear brave. Strong. A big boy. He failed, and he ran into her arms and wailed.
"Oh, JaJa... baby, I know, I know."
She rocked him, even as he climbed onto her lap like he was a toddler again, and she babied him with the months of tender affection that he had missed while she was in prison. With no father at home and living with a struggling extended family, Erik's world was a tattered disaster.
"I want you to come home!" he shouted.
He shocked himself with the loss of control that came over him. The heaving shakes in his body and the surge of panic that overcame him made him collapse into her arms. Califia kissed him, stroked his hair, and held him close to her chest. He wiped his eyes when he could look at her. Her hair had been cut short, and it made her face look more powerful. Stress ate away at her weight. She was thinner, but still looked visibly healthy.
