Chapter 8 Solitary Birth
The rest of the day at the workshop passed like a dream. Manny barely remembered finishing the clutch repair, his hands moving on autopilot while his mind kept replaying the little boy’s eyes opening, the mother’s tears, and the growing crowd shouting his name. By closing time, Mr. Segun told him to go home early.
“You’re bringing too much attention,” the older man said quietly. “I don’t need police or church people disturbing my business.”
Manny didn’t argue,he just walked back to his room with heavy steps, the glowing cracks under his skin still burning like fresh brands and every time he passed someone on the street, they either stared or quickly looked away,a few whispered prayers and one woman even crossed the road to avoid him.
He collapsed onto the thin mattress the moment he locked his door,the heat in his body refused to settle,and then, without warning, the memories dragged him under.
He was back in Kirikiri.
Solitary confinement. Three months into his sentence.
But his cell was even smaller than his current room, barely enough space to lie even down straight. No window. Just a thick metal door with a small slot for food. The smell of piss, shit, and despair never left. They had thrown him in there after he beat up a warder who tried to extort him. Twenty-three hours a day in darkness. One hour outside in a tiny concrete yard where the sun felt like punishment.
Day after day, the walls are closing in.
Manny remembered sitting on the cold floor, back against the wall, knees drawn to his chest. He had started talking to himself by then. Sometimes cursing and sometimes crying because the guilt had finally caught up to him properly in that hole.
He saw the burning compound again. Not like a memory but like it was happening right in front of him. The children’s screaming. The mother was rolling on the ground with fire on her body. He had laughed that night.
Now, in the darkness, he couldn’t escape it.
On the forty-seventh night of solitary, he broke completely.
He remembered falling on his knees, forehead pressed against the dirty floor, tears and mucus mixing on his face as his voice was hoarse from shouting earlier.
“God… if You are there… kill me. Just kill me. I can't carry this thing again. The blood… the blood is too much. I am a monster. Finish me.”
He stayed like that for hours, shaking, whispering every evil thing he had ever done. The rapes he allowed. The boys he ordered beaten. The families destroyed for territory. The pride. The stupidity. The power that made him feel like a god until it all came crashing down.
At some point past midnight, something shifted in the cell.
The air grew thick. Heavy. Not cold but hot. Like the temperature had risen ten degrees in seconds. Manny lifted his head, confused and terrified,as a soft orange glow appeared on the wall in front of him. Then on his own arms.
The first cracks.
They started as small thin lines of fire under his skin.He screamed and scratched it, but they only spread faster. Pain tore through his chest like something was being born inside him.
Then the Voice came for the first time.
You have called and I have answered.
It wasn’t loud but it was inside him. Ancient. Tired. Angry. Holy.
Manny had curled into a ball on the floor, sobbing like a child. “Who are you? What do you want?”
Justice. The kind this world has refused to give. You were broken here for a reason, Emmanuel. Forged in pain, I will use you to clean what men have spoiled.
He had begged,had cursed, prayed to Jesus, to his ancestors, to anything that would listen. But the fire kept spreading. The Voice kept speaking,and by morning, the glowing cracks had faded, but something had permanently entered him.
He came out of a solitary different. Quieter. Harder. The other inmates noticed,the warders. But nobody understood what had really happened in that dark cell.
Manny jerked awake on his mattress in Ajegunle, gasping. Sweat soaked his shirt. The scars on his arms were glowing brighter again, reacting to the memory.
Before he could steady himself, his door burst open.
Chinedu stumbled inside, breathing hard,his face was swollen fresh bruises around his left eye and a cut on his lip. Two rough-looking guys were behind him, pushing him forward.
“See your brother!” one of them shouted. “This fool owe us money from the last deal. Fifty thousand. He says you will pay.”
Manny stood up slowly. “Chinedu, what is this?”
His brother wouldn’t meet his eyes. “I just needed small money to turn around and these people aren't understanding.”
The taller guy pulled out a small pistol and pointed it casually at Chinedu’s head. “Pay now or we will show you the street is not a playground.”
The heat in Manny’s body exploded. The glowing cracks flared so bright they were visible through his shirt. The Voice roared in his head, demanding release.
Manny stepped forward, eyes locked on the armed man,his voice came out low and dangerous, carrying a hint of that terrible power even though he tried to hold it back.
“Put the gun down.”
The man hesitated as his hand started shaking. Black veins appeared faintly on his neck. For a second, Manny felt the power pushing hard, wanting to force confessions, wanting to burn.
But he fought it. He didn’t let the full Godspark out.
Instead, he grabbed the man’s wrist with surprising strength and twisted. The gun dropped. The second guy tried to rush him, but Manny shoved him hard against the wall, prison muscle still very much alive.
“Get out,” Manny growled. “If you touch my brother again, I will do worse than what you saw in that alley video. Much worse.”
The two men scrambled out, cursing and terrified,they had seen the glow and they had felt something unnatural in the room.
Chinedu stood there shaking, staring at Manny like he was seeing a stranger.
“What… what are you now?” his brother whispered.
Manny looked down at his glowing arms, chest heaving,the power was getting harder to control. Every time he used even a little, it demanded more.
He had protected his brother without burning anyone this time.
But he could feel it, the fire inside him was disappointed.
And it was learning.
