𝑬𝑵𝑫 𝑶𝑭 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑳𝑰𝑵𝑬, 𝘀𝗵𝘂𝗿𝗶 𝘂𝗱𝗮𝗸𝘂

Prologue

The feeling of loss and the pain it brought wasn't new to Kimora. She'd felt it all before. Way sooner than any child should have to.

The first time being, when her mother passed and the second when her father was killed.

At the young age of 7, she became an orphan.

The whole town knew her parents had died, and not a single person had come to retrieve her or offer help after the paramedics had left her on the street at her fathers' crime scene.

People believed Kimora was cursed, it was the only explanation for a bottom lip that was purple on the inside. They accused her of being the reason her mother died, and now with the unexpected death of her father, the town believed it to be true. The little girl was bad luck.

The night after her fathers' death, Kimora walked herself home. Everything was the way they'd left it before they went out to the market to shop.

The little girl who had no family and no friends to comfort her clambered into her parents' bed and cried. She mourned her mother and now her father and she wept even harder at the fact that she was now all alone.

When Kimora woke up the next day it was late into the afternoon, She'd slept for 13 whole hours. Meaning it had been 16 hours since her father died.

The whole ordeal was too much for her to process, one minute they were standing in front of a vendor stall, with Kimora chatting away to her father about school. Then the next there was shouting and she was being pushed to the ground as three bullets shot through the air.

Chaos surrounded them and people ran as Kimora screamed for her father and crawled towards him.

His body was being trampled. She was being trampled. Yet, all she could think of was getting to him. But, when the crowd cleared and she reached him, he was already dead.

Just like that.

Which leaves her here.

Hungry, and filthy, with swollen eyes that threatened to spill even more tears as she thought of her predicament.

Kimora got out of her parents' bed and made her way to the kitchen. It was of course empty, because her father had gotten shot before they could buy anything.

Kimora shut the fridge and stared at it intently as her stomach grumbled.

"Are you hungry?"

Kimora jumped as the strong voice filled the room. She turned to find the source and froze when her eyes fell on the man seated only 10 feet away from her.

He wore a fancy traditional African print garb, which was far different from the shorts and stretched out shirts men wore in her town in Jamaica.

Kimora didn't speak as she assessed the man.

He was darkskin with a greying beard and greying hair. He didn't look evil. But that didn't make her feel any better. A random man in her house would still make her be cautious.

"It's alright, I'm a friend." The man spoke calmly. He spoke with a thick accent, similar to the one her father had. He got up and carefully approached Kimora, so he didn't startle her.

"Are you here to kill me?" She questioned, trying to stabilize her voice as best as she could. But she was scared, so very scared and tired and hopeless.

"No child, I am here to bring you home." The older man spoke, stopping in front of her. He kneeled down to her level before using his thumb to drag down his bottom lip.

It was purple, just like hers.

Kimora's eyes widened, that couldn't be possible. Her father explained to her many times that she'd just been born with a purple inner lip. He told her that she was probably the only person in the world with that feature and she believed him.

"How?" Kimora asked curiously, and the man smiled softly at her.

"Do you know where you're from?" He questioned, letting go of his lip.

"Here. In Jamaica." Kimora answered, like it was obvious.

The man shook his head, "You were born here, but your father was born in a different country. You belong to a different country, And it is no longer safe for you to be here. It hasn't been for a long time."

Kimora's eyebrows furrowed,

"Then where will I go?"

"You will come home, and we will take care of you."

Kimora panicked, she hated it in her hometown because she was an outcast, but this place held all the memories of her parents.

The man could see the panic on her face and hesitantly held her little hand.

"We can always come back and visit, but we must go now before people start looking for you."

Kimora didn't have much of a choice as she nodded. The man stood up and held her hand as he led her out of the house. Bald headed women stood on each side of the door making Kimora tense up.

"Don't worry those are just my guards they are friendly." He says, as the little girl grips his hand a little tighter.

He looks to the women and speaks in a language Kimora's never heard before.

One of the women reply and the only word Kimora can understand from her mouth is "King."

She looks up at the man beside her, he is dressed pretty fancy. But don't kings usually wear crowns? He doesn't have one.

"You are a king?" Kimora asks disbelieving.

The man chuckles "Yes child I am a king, but you can just call me T'Chaka."

And from that day forward Kimora's life was changed.

————
𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘶𝘦 𝘪'𝘮 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘰 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘣𝘰𝘰𝘬, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘰! 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘮𝘦 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘴. 𝘕𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘚𝘩𝘶𝘳𝘪 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘒𝘪𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘢 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪'𝘮 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘹𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵.

(unedited)

11/22/22