ReBorn

Prologue-2

“Sssh! Be quiet, it will be over soon... Eddie, just stay with us—we’ll protect you,” Odele whispered.

Shaken, Eddie broke free from her grasp, staring at his sisters in stunned disbelief. His awareness shifted and his vision blurred; like a blind man, he lost sight of them. Their fear was so palpable it filled his senses until he could taste the bile in his throat. There’s a monster in my house and I have to protect them from it, he thought with childlike rationale. Wrenching free from Odele’s grasp he ran from the room toward the sound without a backward glance, determined to find his mother. He was sure she needed his immediate protection. Heart hammering in his chest, Eddie stood in the hallway, listening keenly for the monster... the same monster he’d imagined dwelling in the recesses of his closet. Hearing a thud coming from his parents’ room, he walked woodenly toward the sound. With each step, he readied himself to face the monster, fully expecting it to jump out and confront him at any given moment.... that is, until he came face to face with it. Turning the knob silently, he entered the room, hoping to launch a surprise attack. His eyes as large as saucers, Eddie’s knees weakened and his bowels turned to water as the monster came into full view.

To his horror the monster, and his father, were the same person, almost. The monster must have transformed into his father; this disheveled man-beast standing before him was barely recognizable to the boy. Eddie had never seen his father in his present condition, his hair mussed; cheeks flushed beet red and eyes bloodshot from rage, reeling toward him angrily at the audacity of someone entering the room.

Turning in the direction of the door, Logan demanded, “What do you want, boy? Get the hell outta here—I’m talking to your Mama!”

Jumping back in fright, Eddie’s gaze fastened on the naked form on the floor as the realization washed over him that the bruised, disfigured woman was in fact his beloved mother.

“Do you hear me boy?”

Eddie could not miss the underlying tone, insinuating imminent danger, but still he remained. No monster was going to get his mother. “Uh-uh monster-Daddy you’re not talking. . . . Mommy’s hurt! I’m here to save her!”

Logan’s lips curled in disgust, the veins in his neck pulsing dangerously. “Save her? Save her? Why boy . . . I’m the only one that can save her! I’m gonna beat all hell out of her. Save her? Even God couldn’t save her from being a w***e!”

Although he didn’t understand the barrage of insults, the word w***e was stored in his memory to be retrieved later, when he could fully understand its meaning. This event would forever change Eddie; without his knowledge or permission, his view of marriage and relationships would always remain scarred by his father’s accusations and his mother’s actions. No matter how much Eddie loved his mother, women were w****s. This

event affected his ability to love, trust, and respect a woman. Despite what he saw unfold, he always remembered what he heard and what followed. Unable to reconcile the scene that played out before him, Eddie saw his father as the embodiment of The Shadow, pure evil, a monster. As though a spell had been broken, he mutely ran toward the monster disguised as his father, fists flailing wildly, intent on stopping this attack against his mother. Bravely he stood up against his father, receiving Logan’s wrath in order to save his mother from the savagery of his rage.

No longer able to hide in their rooms after their brother’s departure, Odele and Sofia followed closely in his wake. To their surprise, he ran to attack their father as they entered the room. Hearing his sisters’ screams of horror, Eddie was momentarily confused, glancing around cautiously, he fully expected another monster to show itself. Seeing no other choice, the young boy fought wildly, trying with all his might to physically disable his monster-father and interrupt the attack against his mother.

Blinded by anger and rage, Logan regarded his son’s assault as a personal affront and struck out at him like an adversary, instead of his own child. At first, he willfully ignored the cries and pleas from his wife, and daughters, to have mercy and stop his attack on his son. For once and for all he intended to stop short after he taught him to stay out of grown folks’ business. Just as Logan had almost come to his senses, in an attempt to save Eddie, Odele jumped on his back, scratching his face and pulling his hair. “Leave him alone!” she screamed maniacally. For the first time in her life Odele’s loyalty had been challenged—and she chose Eddie. At the same time, Carrie twisted her body free and started biting and scratching Logan, demanding Eddie’s release.

Determined not to be defeated, Logan fell back into the wall, knocking the wind from Odele and causing her to slide from his back. Swinging around wildly, he kicked Carrie, a satisfied smirk lighting his face when she doubled over becoming motionless. Turning his full attention toward his son, completely unsympathetic, Logan’s face contorted grotesquely as he released a guttural scream of rage. Terrified, Eddie felt his bladder release even before Logan’s hand connected with his jaw. Logan, gaping in stunned silence, watched his son sail across the room, his small frame smashing headfirst into the wall. Sanity returned immediately and with painful clarity his scream of rage becoming shrieks of grief and remorse. In a span of milliseconds, Eddie’s eyes filled with tears of shame because he had not been able to help his mother. He could even hear her screaming his name. The last thing he saw was Sofia still standing at the door unable to choose anyone but Logan. His mother’s screams distracted him and drowned out the monster so he never saw it coming. Without warning, he felt his neck snap forward as his head hit the wall. Letting go, he sought the solace of unconsciousness and the company of the Shadow killer.

Later in life when he became a man, he would recall that night—not because of the beating . . . but because of what came after. Logan’s blow had knocked Eddie unconscious, resulting in a concussion that left him hanging onto life in a semi-coma for over a week.

During his recovery, his mother explained that while he’d been in a coma she and Odele had remained by his side, sitting near his bed for days, watching over him. Because of her fear of hospitals after the loss of her first child, Carrie insisted that Eddie stay at the Norton’s home. Louise Norton was his mother’s closest friend; she and her husband, Thomas, had come to their rescue after the assault by Logan. Eddie’s mother told him that for four days he never moved a muscle. Each day Odele would hold his hand and whisper that she needed him to wake up so he could protect her. The doctor had closely monitored him and encouraged them to continue to speak to him. On the fifth day, just as the doctor left the room, Eddie cried out like an infant, curling his body into a fetal position. Carrie knew then that she had to ignore Dr. Washington’s directions. She had lost one son; she did not intend to lose two. Grabbing the frail boy, she pulled his body out of the fetal position, using all of her strength despite her own injuries, demanding that he wake up and fight back. Even as his body resisted and tried to maintain its curled position, his mother pulled and tugged until she forced him to uncurl by placing her body over his; pleading with God to give her son back to her. She begged His forgiveness, assuring Him that she would guard this child whose life was hanging on a thread because he had tried to protect her.

As Eddie listened to his mother describe the events after his accident, he was never able to explain to her that although God had replied, it was not her prayers, but his and Odele’s, that were answered. At the same time that Carrie was petitioning God, so was Odele. The request was simple: “God, please send him back so I can protect him, that’s all... just protect him.” And when Eddie felt God smile and sensed His nod. In his mind he heard, I am Jehovah Aloha! I will protect you. Death tried to snatch him, but through grace, he had just been reborn.... Eddie awoke. Leaning his head back he looked upward, uttering “Jehovah Rohi. . . .“The Lord is my shepherd!”