Queen of Two Worlds

By Shakirah Islam-Gatling

Orphan turned Nyumban queen, Malkia discovers that the prophecy that foretold she was the chosen one was real. As an inexperienced queen thrust into a leadership position in a universe she's still learning, Malkia struggles with maturing into her role due to her distrust o

• Language: English
• Publisher: Indy
• Release date: Aug 14, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088212431

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Acknowledgements

Once again, I want to start off giving thanks to God for seeing me through this writing process.

To my husband, Tarik, thank you for holding me accountable. Thank you for being my thought partner, my husband-ger and making dope music to keep me motivated and inspired. You have been my shoulder to lean on and my rock to anchor me. I couldn't have done this without you!

I would like to thank my creative team: Jessica B. Smith, my editor, and Kristin Sacca, my cover artist. Thank you for helping me bring the next phase of my vision to reality.

Last but not least, thank you to everyone who purchased the first book! My family, friends and strangers who became friends; your support and encouragement gave me the push I needed to continue on days when I wanted to give up.

Forever grateful,

Shakirah

Dedication

I dedicate this book to all the women who thought you weren't good enough, who kept yourselves hidden because you were too shy. Who feel like you carry the weight of the world on your shoulders in keeping your families together.

I also dedicate this book to the men who fight battles we don't see. Who work to keep themselves strong and their women stronger because they know queens can move differently than kings.

Love always,

Shakirah

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.

― Jacques-Yves Cousteau

Chapter One

B

eing back on Earth was different. Not only did I feel different, but things around me were different. Phones had transitioned from flip phones with pixelated screens to handheld computers in a matter of months. Unemployment was rampant as the recession had taken its toll on the economy. And with all of this going on, America had a Black president. It was a stark reflection of my life.

To Baba’s dismay, I didn’t make an immediate return to South Carolina. As the gatekeeper between our planets, he was very mindful of how unique our situation was. Lingering in the state where the ground broke apart and where a portal sucked me to another planet was not only risky, it could be deadly. Despite his objections I stayed with my parents in New Jersey to continue our reunion a little bit longer. They listened intently as I beguiled them with stories of Nyumba and the Tumwa. Even hearing myself tell them the story, it sounded unbelievable. Who would believe that a young woman, leaving the club with her best friend, would be shot at and the ground would open up and suck her into another galaxy, a galaxy in which she was the queen of a nation? That alone was beyond believable. And then to add to it, all the unique indigenous people and unheard of animals, plants and food there? Not to mention, I had to defeat the reigning rebel king to save Nyumba from slavery or ultimate destruction. Had I heard anyone else telling this story, I wouldn’t have believed it myself. But I had lived it, and my parents knew that every word that came out of my mouth was true.

Frightened, proud and grateful, their emotions were in a whirlwind. As refreshing as it was to talk to people I could trust and had no stake in my queendom, I couldn’t place so much weight on my parents. More importantly, I had to tie up some more loose ends in my personal life.

The next thing on my agenda would be to rectify the situation with Ayana. She was literally the last person to see me alive. The night we went out to celebrate my promotion and just enjoy ourselves, we were placed in front of a man-child who couldn’t deal with rejection. She watched me survive multiple shots to my chest. As if that wasn’t perplexing enough, she then had to witness me get sucked into the portal from the Sango. When she tried to explain to others what had happened, everyone thought she was high or crazy. If I hadn’t been there, I probably would have too. She didn’t deserve to be left that way. It felt like I’d been pulled in so many directions that I had let go of my friend and that was never my intention.

Years ago, after I had graduated college in 2006, my college friends and I went our separate ways on our life journeys. One of my friends decided to go to grad school in Florida. Another found employment in Philadelphia as a bank teller. We talked frequently but with distance and general adult life our friendship had been confined to those phone calls. Ayana started working at our job just two months before I started. She and her friends had also grown apart due to differing schedules and parenthood. Our friendship started out because of mutual apprehension over our job. After a few months, though, our friendship had grown. She wasn’t just my work friend but my best friend.

Luckily, I kept my address book with her sister’s address. A relic from our time in college. I had to dig through some of my old things to find it. There it was. Nadina Rutherford. 1189 W. 3rd St. Bethlehem, PA. Unfortunately, the cell phone number I had for her was no longer in service. It wasn’t my intention to just show up unannounced, but apparently I had no other choice.

Handing my mother a transmitter, I informed my parents I would be in touch with them with this device from now on. Then I hopped in my new car and made my way from West Orange to Pennsylvania. My time away didn’t erase my memory of how to get around but I did need to MapQuest the directions to the exact house. I found myself getting lost in the scenery on Interstate-78. The contrast of modern brick buildings and open farmland was soothing and I got lost in the landscape. It was a needed distraction to what lies at the end of this journey. I fought to remain optimistic. Hoping Ayana would, in fact, be there at her sister’s. Praying that she wouldn’t freak out or worse, be angry and curse me out on sight. I glanced over at the cows in the distance, grazing on grass along uneven mounds of Earth and wished everything could be so simple.

After maneuvering through narrow streets and steep hills, I finally arrived at my destination. I pulled up across the street, nestled between a silver Toyota and an enormous black Cadillac Escalade. Nervously, I sat in the car, rubbing my hands into the dingy gray cloth seats. My attention switched from the colonial style townhouse and the collection of Little Trees car fresheners hanging from the rearview mirror. The neighborhood was quiet. Not a person in sight. Just mild traffic passing down the street. At least I wouldn’t have to worry about a scene if something went wrong. Finally, I mustered the strength to get out of the car.

As I crossed the street, a few cars drove by causing me to jog to the sidewalk. The closer I got to the door, the more I could hear noise from inside. There was the distinct sound of children playing and stumbling behind those walls followed by a woman yelling out for them to sit down. I stood on the porch amused. My finger pressed against the circular doorbell intently. The chime of the bell caused the dog to bark incessantly, which led to more commotion behind the door.

Yaya, get the door! I heard in the background.

I got it! the voice yelled back. Who is it?

Avon, I joked.

The sound of the metal turning made me smile in anticipation. The door cracked open. Then Ayana peaked her head from behind the door. A frown draped across her brow.

Wha? She stopped as her eyes recognized my face. Without hesitation she screamed and slammed the door. Then just as quickly as she closed it, she opened the door again and yelled, Oh my God, girl!

She flew out of the house and threw her arms around me. Relieved, I hugged my friend back. Her sobs ringing in my ear forced me to let down my guard as I found myself tearing up as well.

Girl, get in this house! she demanded as she wiped her face.

As Ayana closed the door, her sister emerged from the kitchen which was directly down the hall.

Well, who is it? she asked, and came to a halt when she saw it was me.

I hadn’t seen Nadina since Ayana’s birthday party in New York two years ago. She and her sister were both short, but at this point Nadina had put on some weight, giving a chubbiness to her face. Her eyes grew wide as they rested upon me. Clearly, she knew the story of what happened.

What the hell? Where the hell have you been? she bolted out.

Hey Dina, I smiled. I’ve been around.

"Around? You disappear for a year. They called my sister crazy because of you. And you around?" her tone had changed instantly.

She had immediately become more confrontational, prompting Ayana to approach her.

Dina, chill.

What ‘chu mean chill? What kinda friend does that?

I remained silent. It didn’t make sense to argue with her, especially not in her house. Nadina was the oldest of their father’s kids and didn’t grow up in the house with Ayana and her brothers, which made her even more protective of her baby sister. Suddenly the children rushed out from the living room. Two boys, one about five years old and the other, about two ran towards me as if they had known me my whole life. A bright smile glowed on my face as they both hugged each leg. The smaller one, still in diapers, smiled at me sweetly as his older brother began interrogating me.

Who are you? Are you mommy’s friend or auntie’s friend? the older boy asked.

Delighted, I laughed.

I’m auntie’s friend.

Hmph. Some friend, Nadina snapped.

Enough, Ayana clapped back.

She walked towards us and helped her nephews release their hold of me. This is Yaya’s friend, KiKi. We used to work together. Her tone grew a bit somber as she recollected our last interaction together.

Y’all come here, their mother called. Go back in there with your sister. Both boys, who were noticeably fairer skinned, looked at me once more before running back into the living room. Their curly afros bouncing as they darted off.

I didn’t mean to just show up, but when I called the number didn’t work, I explained.

"It’s fine. Nadina has something to do anyway, so we can go upstairs. Right?" She looked at her sister for confirmation.

Nadina was not pleased. Her mouth was scrunched up as her brown eyes shrunk to slithers while she stared at me with consternation. Instead of arguing she simply kept her gaze on me as my friend and I went upstairs. Ayana’s room had been the exercise room before it was bestowed to her. A treadmill with workout equipment on it sat across from her full-size bed. A modern dresser rested adjacent to her bed. The room was a decent size but insipid.

Almost simultaneously as she closed the door, Ayana began scolding me as her sister had downstairs.

Heffa, where the hell have you been! she yelled. Do you know what I’ve been through since that happened? I thought your parents had you killed for insurance money or something.

Her shift in tone caught me off guard. I hadn’t had a chance to sit down before she began scolding me. I didn’t blame her, though. It was a crappy thing to do; disappear without a trace and not even explain why. But how was I supposed to explain something like that to her?

"I’m so sorry. I never meant for any of what happened to happen. I don’t know what else to say, you know. It’s like one minute we’re hanging out and the next thing I know somebody’s tryna shoot me. And he does. And I think I’m hungover in some hospital, but I wake up to everyone talking this ‘your highness’ stuff and ya know, they’re talking about I’m an alien and I have to fight this guy who wants to kill me because my parents killed his parents but he also wants to force me to have a baby with him. And if I don’t he might try to kill more people, so I just had to do this because it would make everything else better. It’s hard to explain," I rambled.

She paused for a moment, taking in all the information. Her eyebrows extended as if trying to see the truth. My heart was racing, feeling free of the burden of holding that in all this time. I needed her to believe me. I needed her to forgive me. I needed her to see that I was all right. Anxiously I waited for what seemed like an eternity for her to say something in response.

You’re a what? she exclaimed.

You heard me.

The breath expelled out of her body, deflating her sturdy stature. We both took a seat on her bed. Her eyes shifted back and forth. She took a deep breath, gripping the edge of her bed. Shaking her head, she began chuckling to herself.

Oh, so it got weirder after the bullet thing, she exhaled.

I scoffed, Yeah, a lot weirder.

Are you sure? she prodded, looking into my eyes intently.

I gave her the look and she knew I wasn’t joking. She looked distraught. Her eyebrows furrowed. Kicking my shoes off, I crossed my legs on the bed to get comfortable. Perching my chin in the palm of my hand as my elbow rested on my leg, I stared at my friend trying to get a read on her. I didn’t want this to turn into a therapy session so instead, I tried to gear the subject away from me and said, You seem to be doing a lot better now.

"Well, I had to. What was I gonna do, stay there and keep going to work like nothin’ happened? I couldn’t stay there after that. I knew something was off, but I thought you got kidnapped or something. Reporters came to my house asking me questions that I didn’t have answers to. Your mom was talking all this, ‘when you’re ready to come back you’ll come back’. ‘Maybe you just got scared because of blah, blah, blah.’ And I’m like what?

Like, what does she know and ain’t tellin’ me? And I couldn’t explain it. You disappeared. They looking at me like I’m crazy. Like I’m doing E or something. Like no, I’m not hallucinating. The ground was shaking. She left. Then I’m like you know what, I’m done. I’m done with the whole thing. I’m partying too much, I just need to fall back and grow up or something.

At this I couldn’t help but chuckle. It took me dying for Ayana to grow up. Her mother had tried to motivate her to get serious about her future the whole time I’d known them. In my opinion, her mom just wanted her to move out so she could have privacy and it really had nothing to do with Ayana herself.

Man, Yana, I said, shaking my head and feeling so much guilt. I swear I’m sorry you went through that because of me. I was just as surprised as you. Especially when I found out my parents knew this whole time.

Are you serious?

"Well, they didn’t know know, but they knew something was different about me and never said anything," I explained.

Dang, that’s so crazy, she said. All this time, you’re really an alien. That bullet just bounced off you like it was nothing. You look like you’re doing better too.

Oh, I didn’t tell you? I’m a queen. Like servants, guards, tell everyone what to do, queen.

Stop playin’!

I nodded. It was the first time I was genuinely excited about my role instead of apprehensive. The words felt awkward to say as they passed my lips but as I heard myself, I realized I really was excited about some aspects of my title. It wasn’t all bad.

Both of our heads jerked towards the door when we heard the slightest sound in that direction. Then Ayana suggested, Let’s get out of here so we can talk. My sister nosy as hell.

We decided to take a walk around the neighborhood. We both figured it would be easier than trying to find somewhere to go. Rushing down the stairs, Ayana let her sister know we’d be right back and darted out before she could ask us too many questions.

It was a sunny Saturday but the streets remained mostly bare. Everyone was still in their homes or out driving to and fro. We strolled casually down the sidewalk. The warmth in the air filled our lungs along with the smell of flowers and freshly cut grass. Assured no one would hear our conversation, we picked up where we left off.

So, you’re like a real full-blown alien? she asked.

Yeah, apparently, I replied in a cavalier tone.

Does your finger glow? she beamed.

What? No, I chuckled.

We laughed. She put her arms around my shoulders, rocking me jovially. I shook my head at her sarcasm. I missed her dry humor. Ayana may get annoyed easily but she was never one to hold grudges or dwell on situations too long. Which was refreshing because I was the complete opposite. Although I didn’t have a glowing finger, I decided to share the skill I had acquired while being away.

But I can make the ground move, I bragged.

This excited her tremendously. She asked for a demonstration to which I had to disappoint her by telling her I could only do it on my planet. In true form, Ayana didn’t believe me. It was a bit anticlimactic to discover her friend was an alien but had no way of seeing my capabilities. Other than the shooting incident the year before, which was astonishing, she had no other way to see the benefits of my unique situation. In her sober state, she wanted to see what else I could do.

Deciding to change the topic, we began talking about Ayana’s new job as an office assistant at a private consulting firm. She didn’t like this job either. However, our ordeal humbled her and she’d grown more patient with people. She reached out to old friends. First on social media, then over the phone. Making sure they were all right. She had met someone. A man named Tyree. He was older than us; he was thirty years old to be exact. They met at the shop in the office building where they worked. He worked for a construction company. They had only been talking for four months but I’d never seen her appear so genuinely elated while talking about a suitor. In our conversation, we acknowledged how brave each other was for overcoming our situations. Even though I hadn’t met anyone worth dating in my travels, I was happy for her.

We found ourselves at a local playground. A young mother was there with two children. A toddler running around on the smaller jungle gym and a baby nestled in his stroller. We sat on a bench on the opposite side of the playground so the larger jungle gym could block us. The longer we sat, the more attune I became to the vibration in my body. At first, I thought it was because the walk had taken a toll on my muscles and they were recovering—considering the fact I had lounged around my parents’ house for weeks. Then I realized this feeling was similar to what I felt on the battlefield.

Ayana continued to tell me about Tyree, the young man who she’d started seeing. As she proceeded to talk about the pros and cons of her new relationship, the feeling inside me became more astute.

Cutting her off, I asked, You want proof I can move the ground?

Surprised, she stopped immediately and said, Yeah, but you said...

Pointing low, my eyes shifted between the mom across from us and some pebbles on the ground. Confident that her focus was on her baby, I pointed my palms to the pebbles. They began trembling frantically. It wasn’t as easy as back on planet Sayari. They lifted off the ground slightly before I grew exhausted and dropped them.

Throwing her arms around me, she voiced in muffled excitement, Oh my god, girl. You’re like a whole alien.

I know, I beamed. Just don’t say anything, okay? Not even to your sister.

I’m no snitch, girl, trust. Her tone was definitive. Astonished, she asked me to show her again, so I obliged.

I wasn’t sure why my powers worked here, but I didn’t care. I could do it.

Winters in the South are seldom met with bitter cold and snow. Instead, the chill in the air is relaxing. Snuggled in my knitted blanket, I sat in the rocking chair on the rickety wooden porch watching the grass blow in the wind. Pink, yellow, orange and touches of blue fought over control of the sky as the sun set in the distance. The silence was serene. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, basking in the tranquility. As I opened them my mood shifted. Despite living with Baba for months, I wasn’t used to it. Even in my large, empty fortress, there was something that allowed me to feel safe and at peace despite the quiet loneliness. But here, in this tiny shed with no walls or guards, I felt exposed like a wound.

Baba and I had become quite close. He was always ready with a joke or anecdote that had me laughing to tears. When he wasn’t being sarcastic, however, he was all about his business. He rose at sun-up and didn’t rest until sun-down. Such was the case on this December evening. As I reclined in the white rocking chair, daydreaming of heading West to the mountains, he was out tending to the crops. In the winter, he focused on more root crops that, although needed less care, consumed Baba’s attention. This left me with more downtime.

It had been months since I’d even thought of returning to Sayari. My newly appointed general, Shafeer, was becoming increasingly concerned over my extended stay