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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"The creator has a master plan Peace and happiness for every man The creator has a master plan Peace and happiness for every man..."
Pharoah Sanders— "The Creator Has a Master Plan"
"Erik!"
Disa flew into her mother's small house in Culver City. Out of breath and tripping over her feet, she ran into the room her father spent his convalescence. Erik was there, sitting on the bed and holding her father's hand. Shallow breaths moved Ahmad's chest. She rushed over to him and climbed on the bed next to his frail body.
"Daddy."
Ahmad reached for her hand and she clasped it tightly, raising it up to her lips to kiss the shiny sable skin. He couldn't talk, couldn't even grunt. His eyes spoke the words that his missing voice wouldn't allow him to do anymore.
"He held on for you, Disa," Erik said.
"We're going on a plane ride, Daddy. My porch swing is waiting for you. We can sip liquor because Mommy won't be there to fuss over you."
Her words tumbled out as her eyes blurred.
"You and Erik can stay up late and watch old Godzilla movies."
Ahmad grinned. A small trickle of spittle coursed down his lips. Disa wiped it away with her finger.
"There is no God but Allah," she whispered to him.
The prayer of supplication trickled out of her with gentle spaces where she tried to breathe normally to push back on the terror that welled up in her chest. Her father was leaving the world. Right before her eyes. A feeble left hand raised and caressed her cheek with weak assertion. There was so much life still left in his eyes. Ahmad's right hand moved in a wide arc up toward the ceiling, then dropped on Erik's fingers. He lifted Erik's hand and placed it on top of hers. The final breath that flew him to heaven flattened his chest, and the light faded from his eyes.
