The Swan-Pigeon: An Urban Tale

This is the tale of two lovers, who had no clue that life is so much bigger than you. Once upon a time in New York City lived two property owners. Alexander Jefferson and Gloria Odella. They were the supreme of wealthy blacks in the city, who were determined to keep the price of rent affordable in Upper and Lower Eastside of Manhattan. Alexander Jefferson had lost his wife to an island cruise. She fell in love with a local and decided to never come back. However, before that they had a son Xander Jefferson. Gloria Odella had never been married and had one child, a daughter, named Olina. Both Alexander and Gloria began raising their children through the 90’s, until they had a brilliant idea. This is where our story truly begins.

One night, while watching Living Single, Gloria called Alexander and asked him what he thought about a merger of the properties. Gloria had seen the projections and knew that financially this would be the best option. What concerned them the most was that they were getting older and wanted to solidify a lasting plan. That is when they decided to get their children to grow to love each other in hopes of uniting their families in a deeper bond. So each summer they would spend time with each other, but it never really went as planned. Xander was the typical 90’s kid and very original. He believed he was so cool and Olina wasn’t feeling it at all. She would pick on him all the time and say “I hate your block ass head, eww get away from me.” Xander never understood the problem as Olina had no edges and her microbraids were hanging on for dear life. Nevertheless, he wanted to make his Dad proud. Time went by and the parents grew older. It was now 2008, Alexander Jefferson had been diagnosed with cancer and didn’t have much longer. It was Alexander and Gloria’s hope that this summer would be the one to bring their children together.

It was July and every July the Black Property Owners Association had their annual social. 18 to attend and 21 to fall out, the usual. Alexander and Gloria urged their children to attend on their behalf. Xander had grown into a handsome young man known for his slanted eyes and dark skin and Olina grew into her edges and bloomed into a beautiful young woman. Gloria had the best designer in the city make a dress for Olina. The dress was made of Coogi sweater material and the colors of Ivory and Gold. Xander pulled out his suit and bow-tie and made his way to the ball a little early. From across the room, he saw Olina and began to sweat. His heart was pounding and it was at that moment, he knew he was in love. Olina felt the same way, after years of T-Mobile sidekick curves and acting stank, she was too in love. As they danced in a dark corner to Toni Braxton’s “Breathe Again” they knew what they were feeling was real. But, what they didn’t know was that a dark energy was in the room determined to stop the merger.

Sir Salti was an evil man, determined to work with the city to increase the price of rent and send those who couldn’t afford to live in Manhattan to The Bronx. He knew that if the merger was successful between Alexander and Gloria that their properties would keep a lot of middle class citizens around and he was determine to stop it. Sir Salti was of a tall man and had the complexion of a Vanilla Wafer. He had a long beard and often wore striped suits with a cane which had an Emerald attached in the handle. It was well known that Sir Salti dabbled in black magic, or as black people like to say “Root”. He watched from the corner and nobody really took him serious, because he was old. But, he was capable of a lot of things and Olina was about to find out.

Xander and Olina danced the night away to Juvenille, Fifth Ward Weebie and a Go-Go version of Patti Labelle’s “Somebody Loves You”. Xander walked Olina back home and they kissed goodnight. Xander ran home, excited to tell his father the news. However, before Olina could make it inside she saw a homeless person crying for help around the corner. She was a very kind person and would help anybody. She went around the corner and behold, it was Sir Salti. Dressed all in black and his eyes the color of a blood moon. Olina ran, but before she could get very far Sir Salti cursed her and turned her into a Swan-Pigeon. Giving her the elegance of the body of a swan and face of a pigeon. He immediately placed her in a cage and placed her away in one of the secret houses used in the city for the movement of high profile figures.

It got close to midnight and Gloria knew something wasn’t right. Black mothers don’t play, she expected Olina to be back by now. She called over to Alexander’s house and asked was Olina there. Alexander told her that Xander had got back about a few hours ago and said he walked her home. They alerted the authorities, but there was no sign of her. They searched all summer and Gloria’s heart broke every day. Alexander was recovering from cancer and although the merger couldn’t happen, he still wanted to leave his property to his son. He knew that he would need a business acumen to successfully take over for his father. He decided to attend an HBCU in the Carolina’s, he wanted a change of a pace and something to take his mind off of Olina.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch Olina was held hostage with all the others who had been turned into Animals by Sir Salti. He had a maid named Debra, she would make sure all the prisoners were fed. Lucky for them, he allowed them the ability to communicate amongst each other. Olina, after several discussions realized that the many people that had went missing in the neighborhood as she grew up were all prisoners, held hostage by Sir Salti. The City is so busy that when you get lost, people forget about you. Every night at 9pm, if a cop car drove by with its siren blaring she would turn back into a woman. However, she was the only prisoner to do that because her curse hadn’t been permanent yet. She cried and cried as the years went by begging Sir Salti to reveal to her why he was doing this. The year was now 2012 and Gloria was continuing to run her property although her passion had left. Alexander’s cancer had unexpectedly come back and Xander was preparing to graduate in a few weeks and come back home.

A few days before Xander graduated, the city held a Black Property Owners Meeting. Gloria opted to skype in, but Alexander mustered up enough energy to make it to the meeting. He ended up sitting next to Sir Salti and smelled a familiar fragrance. Many people have a natural odor, it is sometimes how we can recognize people. After all the years of being around Olina, Alexander knew how she smelled. He watched as the meeting went on and realized that Sir Salti was up to something. Sir Salti caught on and left the meeting immediately. Alexander went chasing him and pulled out his phone to call Xander. He told him that he believed Sir Salti had something to do with Olina’s disappearance. Sir Salti was heading to the roof and Alexander followed behind him, but did not see anyone when he got up there. He looked over the ledge and Sir Salti appeared behind him and pushed Alexander off the roof, falling to his death. Sir Salti showed no remorse and merely smirked as the people on the streets screamed in dismay.

Xander opted not to walk due to the news of his Father’s death. Gloria helped him plan the funeral and the property stopped operations for about a week. His father left him a letter, asking him to host a social and find a wife. Meanwhile, Olina and her animal friends had been plotting. Sir Salti had recently had developed a fascination with Popeye’s. They had a new special, plus he saw some eye candy he was trying to push up on for weeks. Olina realized tears and begging wouldn’t be enough after all these years, so she used lust. He left every night at about 9:30pm since his craving developed. This would only give her about 30 minutes to work her methods. As you can only imagine, Olina was so beautiful after all these years. She had been wearing her hair natural since her imprisonment, but her Coogi dress stayed in perfect condition due to the magic. She decided she would flirt with him and make him an offer he couldn’t refuse, her hand in marriage. She began to massage his shoulders while he was checking his twitter feed on the computer. This began to arouse Sir Salti, now keep in mind, he had a spell on himself that he would never appear older than 55. He chose this age, because many people won’t ask too many questions and black doesn’t crack. Anyway, she began to rub his chest and bite his ear and told him that she’d be willing to merge her Mother’s property with him if he set her free. She began to kiss his neck and by this point, it was about to go down in a major way. But, she stopped him and reminded him that she was saving herself for marriage. With a terrible case of the blue balls, Sir Salti made his way to Popeye’s. Unbeknownst to him, Olina had taken the house key and was plotting her escape. Until she remembered that with the sunrise each day, she returned to an animal. She decided it was worth a shot and ran through the underground house tunnel and climbed through a building vent to escape.

The city had looked so different to her now, but it still was the city and the streets always remain the same. Meanwhile, Xander was just leaving a bar on Houston Street (HOUSE-TON), not (WHO’S-TON). Olina by this time was running around the corner and ran right into him at the gas station before the subway entrance. Xander began to break down, he couldn’t believe it was actually Olina. He lifted her in his arms and kissed her passionately. She explained that she couldn’t stay because the spell would turn her back into a Swan-Pigeon by morning. He explained to her that he had planned a social for the next night and wondered if she could try to leave again so he could declare his love for her. He walked her home and gave her his handkerchief when they embraced. She traveled back through the vent and sat in a corner and dreamed and sang about finally being free again. Sir Salti had returned and took a shower to wash the sexual energy off of him from the night. Only one hour was left before sunrise. Sir Salti came down to fix him a bowl of Captain Crunch after his shower. It was at that point he noticed his key was missing. He used magic for everything that he practically forgot about it. Also, he noticed Olina had a special glow on her. He noticed it was the same glow she had back in 2008, when the spell was cast on her. He asked her how her night at been and told her to come over to him. She tucked the handkerchief in her panties and walked over. But, Sir Salti had the sickest peripheral vison in the western hemisphere, plus he was now a Supreme Wicken.

Once she came over, he grabbed and yanked her dress above her head. He pulled the golden handkerchief from her panties and sniffed it. He automatically knew who it belonged to. By now, he knew she had escaped and that the love between them must be very strong to last after years of not seeing each other. In true mastermind fashion, he would now explain the spell he placed on her and his plan moving forward. He explained to her that he had placed a spell on her called “The Vow of Intention”. This meant that if the person who loves you falls in love with someone else and makes a public declaration, you will remain a Swan-Pigeon. He reminded her that there would be no sirens the next night because most law enforcement would on the West Side for the social. He then called Debra into the room, she had been gone the last few weeks due to health issues. He used his cane and began to spin Debra around in a circle, through magic he had turned Debra into Olina. He said Debra would go to the social tomorrow night and once Xander announced a public declaration, she would remain a Swan-Pigeon.

The next night came and Sir Salti and Debra prepared to leave for the social. But, surprisingly Sir Salti placed her in a cage and brought her along. He wanted her to see this heartbreak for herself. He placed the cage at the top of the auditorium. Many different property daughters came into the social. It was a non-stop twerk fest as people showed up in Impala’s, Honda’s and Range Rover’s. If its one thing Xander could do, it was throw a party. It was his first social since his Father’s death and he wanted it to be good. However, all he could think about was seeing Olina. As Ying Yang Twins “Whistle While You Twerk” played in the distance. Olina appeared, but it was actually Debra. Sir Salti watched in the distance, his plan was coming together and he would soon be the leading property owner in the city. Xander asked the DJ to play something slow. As “Bedroom Boom” by Ying Yang Twins ft. Avant played in the distance, Xander declared his love for Olina. The real Olina was in a cage and kept chirping so much until a drunk person at the party opened the cage. Upon the declaration, the magic wore off and Debra was revealed. Olina flew from the Auditorium to the nearest Popeye’s parking lot. The crowd looked shocked, but ‘She Gotta Donk” had just come on and people were trying to twerk something. So they simply put the pictures on IG for likes. Meanwhile, Xander ran and followed Olina to where she had fallen. Sir Salti revealed himself and patronized Xander for his efforts to save Olina. Xander stood tall and prepared to fight for his love and life. Sir Salti told Xander that he didn’t want these problems. They began to fight and Xander got Sir Salti in the jaw, but Sir Salti double-backed and knocked and Xander clean in his eye. He then took a broken Heineken bottle and cut Xander in the back of the head. Sir Salti stood over him and reminded him that he could still back down. Xander stood up and as ran towards each for one final strike, he grabbed Sir Salti’s cane and smashed the Emerald on the sidewalk. As Sir Salti reached for him, his bones became dust. And blew away with the wind. All the people who can been captured ascended into the sky to the afterlife. But, a beautiful woman appeared in the green smoke from the Emerald. It was his Mother, Salina. Xander had always thought she abandoned him. She revealed that Sir Salti was her brother and they were a part of a coven. Their lot in life was to spread joy and peace to the world. One day, a couple years after Xander was born she tried to go to Sir Salti and convince him to leave the dark magic alone and embrace the good. He got angry, slit her throat and harvested her power. He placed her spirit within the Emerald and used the power to spread his evilness. Xander felt a sigh of relief and disappointment that he had now known the truth. It was at this point, Salina took the remaining power and placed in it Xander’s Gold Ring with a Sapphire Gem. He now had power and it was up to him to decide what to do with it. Salina then said her goodbyes, but not before casting a spell to bring Olina back to life. Olina glowed and came back to life as Salina ascending into the sky to watch over them both.

They ran to Gloria’s house, she had not seen her daughter in over four years. The door swung open and the tears began to flow from her eye’s God had answered her prayers and her daughter was home. They planned a huge wedding, it seemed like the whole city came out. Xander decided to go back to his Alma Mater for Graduate School in the fall. He realized he truly wanted to help people rehabilitate their lives for the good. Odina opened up a small bakery in the city. They successfully merged their properties and their love continued to grow each day. Happily ever after? Who knows? But, I think they will be fine. It is said that when Xander has his hair cut low, you can see the scar from the bottle. It’s been said too that he doesn’t wear the ring in public, but it actually exist. But, that’s just hearsay and people always have something to say. Now you know the story of Xander and Olina, they aren’t much different from you. They’ve been through the struggle and had their love tested, its true. Maybe it will make you appreciate the things in life you do. Remember to spread love, because what you put out will always come back to you.

By: Xavier J. Thompson