Chapter 4: Adonis and Sunni

I must be dying; my life flashed before my eyes, Adonis thought as he looked back on his memories.

So many young black men all seem to have the same story, but I was lucky enough to have a father in mine. Even though we grew up on the "Northside" of Tulsa, Oklahoma, it always felt like home to me. My father was a preacher, so kids at school automatically thought I was soft, which got me into many fights. Which I lost most of, there were a couple of wins ever so often.

Coming home with a black eye, my father would lecture me. "How can you fight your brothers over mere words. Our ancestors fought too hard for us for you to try to strike down one of your brothers.

I never really understood what my father meant as a child. "Brotha's? But I only have two sisters." I thought.

It wasn't until later in high school that I found out what he meant. One of my classmates with whom I had an altercation was unjustly shot by the police. The same old story that seemed distant until it happened to someone you know.

I felt so stupid over the beef we had. I felt like that easily could have been me. It was at that moment that I decided I wanted to be a lawyer. Adonis thought as he looked at the young man in the hospital bed.

Later o,n we ended up becoming the best of friends and even went to Morehouse university together. I was a rough ki,d but I had a strict father who kept my head in the books. It all came easy to m. II always could remember everything I read.

Life changes fast once you have to take care of your best friend at a party because he drank too much. But that was when I met her. The sunflower that stood out from the rest.

Natasha is a woman who is not afraid to speak her mind. Her voice just melts my heart. Adonis thought the first time seeing her looking back on his memories.

She was a strong-willed woman who spoke her mind often but never when I'm around. She gets soft spoken especially when we make eye contact.

I was always attracted to strong women. After all, I considered myself a strong man. My father once said to m,e "A weak man wants a submissive woman. A strong man wants a strong woman that is submissive to him." That is when I learned to be a man worthy of submission. Only then will I find my queen, and I did in Natasha.

Adonis, though,t looking back at their wedding ceremony

Adonis' vision started to change into a place he did not recognize. He was in a tent looking down at a map that he couldn't understand till a man in uniform rushed in his ten,t breathing heavily.

"General Sunni, we have won. We have successfully captured the last territory in your campaign. Your tragedy worked out perfectly. Sir, do you know what this means?"

Adonis smiled at the man, which he couldn't control, and a voice came out that wasn't his.

"Of course I do. We now have an empire that rivals Mali's in their prime. The time now is mine today is the start of my dynasty, the Sunni Dynasty. This side of the mother will come to fear and respect the Songhai Empire.

"Throughout the territories, they have been calling you Sunni Ali ber mea-" The man said but getting cut off by Sunni/Adonis.

Sunni/Adonis turns around and laughs to himself. "I wanted to ignore it till I heard of our Victory. Today I will accept it. Ber…. Ali Ber meaning, "The Grea.t Ali"