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I finally finished reading Midnight, A Moment of Silence by Sister Souljah. In a way it makes teenage love, sex, pregnancy, and marriage romantic. Almost glorified. Something that almost every woman would want. But that’s just a small portion of the larger pie. It is complex and multilayered as all things in life are. As an adult, I see the cracks in this love triangle.
Midnight. Handsome, self-assured, wise beyond his years, independent and charming. He credits all of his success to his faith and see’s himself as more righteous than all the other dudes in the hood, but ends up in the same place, facing the same fate. He ends up in prison just like all the dudes he feels he is better than. So does it really matter your character if you are stuck in a volatile and hopeless element? No matter how hard you try, some dude from the block is always trying to cut you down at the knees.
Something about him seems noble. At 16 years old he provides for his mother, sister, and two wives, but has no formal education. As cool as it sounds, how did he slips through the cracks?
Although I don’t know much about child marriage and the cultural and religious bend towards it in the Islamic faith I find it uncomfortable to see/read how Akemi and Chiasa share him so peacefully. What kind of love is that? I am jealous of i. I want it. Yet it’s something I am afraid of because it can make you beam the light of a million stars or erupt with the force and violence of a volcano.
Midnight, a young man of principle, a young man of action, a yoiung man of integrity. The fact that his name is derived from the deep dark hue that is his skin is alluring. But he’s also scary. Everything you ever wanted, yet mysterious enough to give you pause.
He credits his knowledge and abilities to his father. I call him “The Missing Sudanese.” Did we ever find out his whereabouts? It isn’t conclusive if he is alive or dead. Why don’t they communicate with any of their family back home? Is he somehow providing for them from afar? So many questions. So so much further to go in this story.
I like that Midnight is being moved into a new direction. A rebirth if you will. His dealings with The General are very Robert Langdon-esque. I wouldn’t be surprised if The Missing Sudanese had bad business with HWO and went into hiding or he himself is actual human capital who is paying off his dent to The General.
Midnight is every girl’s dream and every man’s nightmare.
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