Author's Notes: Okay, so this is a rather special showcase as it is the first character who is not a part of the Jake Cross saga but instead a part of Eli's. It is in fact, Eli's mother, Leila Nolan. I just wanted to add some more depth to a character who I have spent some time developing on paper but the chapters based on her are actually later on in the story. Plus, it actually solves the unasked question of how to actually pronounce her name!
Disclaimer: By now this is rather unnecessary but, hey, I still don't own DC, which kind of sucks. But at least I don't have to answer the question as to why Superman's power level changes from writer to writer!
AuDC Productions Showcase: Leila Nolan
7 Years
[Once she was seven years old…]
Leila puffed her cheeks at her father's words. Her two older brothers, Bashir and Manu, were going to school once again while she was forced to stay home. She did not understand why. She was smarter than both of them- and Bashir was five years older than her! She could read better, spelt better, and could add big numbers too!
But her father had forbid her from going to school in Ahbyzin which is why she was stuck at home with her mother and younger sister, Sanaa. Her younger brother, Aden, was leaving with their uncle for the day.
"But Baba, I can do it!" Leila protested.
Still, the doctor looked down at his well-educated child and sighed.
"Maybe next year Leila."
Leila's brown eyes watered as her father walked away. Her tiny hands balled into fists as he walked away. Her parents always taught their children within the privacy at home but Leila wanted to know more, to be more. But she was born a girl. Higher education was not bestowed on her as it was her brothers.
"Leila," The girl's head whipped around, her long thick brown braid waving behind her as she did so to look at her mother. "Come Leila. Let's go sit in the back."
Leila did not argue. Arguing is what got her in trouble. Instead she walked to her mother who instinctively knelt down to hug her saddened daughter. Leila cried into her mother's body while the woman attempted to console her.
For Leila Rassan, it was at this moment that she knew she would one day leave this place and go somewhere fairer. Somewhere where she would have a better chance instead of being discriminated for being a girl. A place where she could actually live her dreams.
[Once she was eleven years old…]
"It was great!"
Leila smiled as her friend, Ava, continued to talk about her visit to New York. The girls were currently inside of Leila's bedroom in Leila's home in Al-Qawiya. The two girls were catching up after Ava's family vacation ended days ago and Ava returned to Bialya.
"All the lights and sounds and people!" Ava continued. "It was like Al-Qawiya but so much better! Oh Leila! I wish you could've seen it with me!"
Leila gave her friend a wider smile. "Well when I move to America you can visit me and tell me where to shop at!"
"You're not going to America Leila. You're supposed to marry Jonah!" Ava replied. Her words caused Leila to glare at her friend. "Leila! He's the cutest guy in the entire academy!"
Leila had no intentions of an arranged marriage, especially with some ignoramus like Jonah. The guy was a friend of Amir whose family was closed to Leila's. Of course, the endgame was to make that Jonah gets a high-ranking job in the Bialyan military, most likely the Royal Guards, and Leila would provide to be the great woman behind the great man. Leila's parents were not all too excited about the plan but stated that it was the best plan for their eleven-year-old daughter.
Leila had other plans.
"What would you do in America anyway, huh? All those books can't save you there!" Ava joked lightheartedly.
"I will become the best lawyer in the world," Leila's icy response ended Ava's joviality. "And I will make sure that one day girls will be allowed to work in the office and men will be working in the kitchen."
Ava scoffed. "You say that all the time. That's why you're always in trouble. You don't ever just do what you're told Leila."
"That's not what leaders do. They lead. Not follow." Leila argued.
"And idiots die trying to beat Bialya!" Ava shot back.
Leila scoffed. "I'm smarter than you, dumbass. That's why when I get there, I'll make sure to send you a knitting set for your wedding gift."
Ava simply shook her head. "I don't understand. You're smart. You're beautiful. You have everything! And you want to give it up for what? Just to piss your parents off?" Ava sighed heavily. "You're really something Leila Rassan. You have everything and you throw it away for some stupid dream."
"There's a difference between having everything and having something that matters." Leila stated. "I don't want everything in your world, to be a wife to a husband that does everything for her. That's stupid. I want to be someone important."
"Well," scoffed Ava. "Good luck with that."
"Who needs luck when you have brains and skills?"
[Once she was twenty years old…]
She had done it. She had made it to the United States of America. It had cost her much. It started with her family who loved her dearly. She was forced to cut her hair to pose as a boy when she snuck into the country that she grew up believing to be the enemy; Qurac. She endured many grueling nights with low rations with the rest of the refugees that illegally boarded a plane and took off for Saudi Arabia. From there, it was just a few scholastic tests and she was onwards to America.
At fifteen, Leila Rassan was met with a lot of adversary in Gotham City. She was forced to stay with friends and families while attending a class to gain her GED. She worked at a café in East End as a waitress. But the biggest thing she had to face was stating her homeland. With the role that Bialya played in the Gulf War (Bialya sided with Iran since the Iran-Iraq War), people within America was not too keen about Bialyans living under their noses. Leila was smart enough to show her ID from Saudi Arabia which got her by. She had not expected this much hatred for her home country, or any country for that matter. But they hated Bialya, and for that, she was now from Saudi Arabia.
Oh, and her name was now really hard to read for some reason.
It was simple: Lee-la Rah-san. For some reason when her teachers read it they say "Lay-la Ray-sun".
None of that mattered though as she packed her faithful Chevrolet Cavalier. Her hair had grown just beyond her shoulders and she had hardened tenfold living in Gotham City. The city had been her home for five years and now she was moving away. She was moving away from her home again.
"I can't believe you're leaving me Lee!" Leila rolled her eyes but smiled. Her roommate for much of her time here, Maria, stood by Leila's blue car with a pout on her beautiful face.
Maria Reyes was a vision of beauty. Her porcelain skin was unblemished, somehow retaining its complexion despite Maria's love to go to the beach. The woman had the figure of a curvy model with luscious chocolate curls fit for one of those shampoo commercials. The young woman made the tank-top and sweatpants she was wearing look more like the fashion statement of the nineties.
"New Camford is not that far away. Just visit when you're sober enough to drive." Leila responded.
The Mexican-decent scoffed. "I'm not drunk now. But New Camford's lame! It's in Connecticut for crying out loud! And Ivy Town's worse!"
"I don't think there's much difference." Leila said. "And I've been accepted to the University of Connecticut in Ivy Town. I have to go."
"Please just call it 'Ivy Town' like a normal person." chided Maria. "And what am I supposed to do now that my main girl is in New Camford?"
Leila did not respond as another woman approached them. The African-American woman was tying her dreadlocks with a rubber band, her eyes settled on Leila.
"Alright sis, I got my car packed and I'm gonna follow you," Carla Jackson said before grinning. "I can't believe you got in! Break that glass ceiling!"
When Leila arrived, the term "glass ceiling" was one that confused her. The Jezebel Mall had glass ceilings that no one attempted to break through. Now Leila realizes that she had been attempting to break the "glass ceiling" all her life. It had been the goal she had set for herself from day one and now she was going to do it.
Maria waved a hand. "My girl Lee is the smartest woman of all time. Trust me, they had to accept her."
"Maria, are you drunk?" Carla asked, Maria mimicking her in a high-pitch voice. "Mature. Well Leila, how about we get this show on the road? I wanna see the new place."
Leila shrugged. "It's nothing fancy. A two-bedroom apartment in New Camford. You can visit now and not sleep a hole on my couch."
"Our sofa." corrected Maria.
"It'll be mine soon," Leila voiced with a smile. "I'm going to miss you two so much. You have been like family to me, something I haven't had since coming to America. So thank you."
"Well you are screwing her brother so…" Maria teased. Leila rolled her eyes and held a hand up towards Maria's face. "Come on Lee! It's so on your face! You're going to be here when Miles comes back and be like 'Miles I so missed you' and he'll all be like-"
"Shut up Maria." Carla interrupted, though she was smiling a bit. "Miles and Lee will be together once he returns from the army. We all know that they loved each other!"
Leila felt her face heat up. She never thought about Malcolm Jackson as her future husband. In fact, she did not want a relationship with anyone since coming to the United States. But he had slowly broken her down until it had to be him. His physically intimidating figure was a reminder of how men wanted to look in her home country while his soft nature and natural need to protect Leila and his younger sister Carla was more than admirable.
"Hey Lee," Maria got Leila's attention. "How about before you go off to the boring state of Connecticut, we have one more trip to Metropolis? Carly's paying!"
Carla rolled her eyes. "Girl bye. I'm not paying for a booty call."
"Right because Martin will be there, right?" Maria teased her longtime friend. When Carla scoffed at the response, the young woman looked at Leila. "C'mon Lee. We're going to Metropolis and we're having the best girls' day out ever. And I'm not taking 'no' for an answer!"
Leila just smiled. "Let's go Maria."
[Soon she'll be thirty years old…]
Leila sighed heavily as she stared down at the work on the small table in front of her. Work had been anything but easy recently and she was beginning to hate waking up to go to work. Despite being as brilliant as she was, Leila was hardly ever used in court by her firm. She was always the one doing the paperwork- like now. She didn't complain though. It paid the bills and left her plenty to spend.
Leila leaned back against her chair. Tomorrow was her birthday, the big 3-0. She was sure that Malcolm had something planned. He always did. Her mind wandered if Carla would show up or not. Malcolm was more than annoyed with his younger sister's choice of a boyfriend, Mallory's father Josh. The Bialyan-born had not spoken to Maria since Josh (who was dating Maria at the time) hooked up with Carla. It put a rift between the friends and, from what Leila knew, Maria moved down south. This led Leila to always think that Malcolm would somehow get into contact with her long-lost friend for her birthday. It was just the kind of surprise that would make it, well, his.
A small figure caught Leila's attention. The person made her forget about work or how figuring out whatever Malcolm was planning. That person was her son of two years, Elias. The boy had been busy playing with his toy cars in the kitchen, knowing better to bother his busy mother. But he being present always took her focus away from her main objective.
"Elias," the mother called to her son. He gazed upon her with his brown eyes that always seemed to shine. "What are you doing?"
He didn't answer, just smiling. The reaction garnered a laugh from Leila. She loved Elias. There were so many things that she wanted to show and teach him, and yet, there were always more things that she wanted to protect him from. The woman was certain that this is what her parents once felt- a strong need to protect her from things even if they knew that she would one day go out and see/do those things. But Eli was lucky enough to be born a boy, not a girl. The things that he could not do now, he would be one day strong enough, fast enough, or smart enough to do so without any gender-wall blocking him.
Standing up, Leila walked over to her son and hoisted him up into her arms. Laughing at his wide grin, she affectionately rubbed her nose along his.
"Mama's little man," she cooed at him. "How about we go get ready for your dad, hmm? We can make him get us cake and ice cream."
"Cake!" the boy excitedly repeated, his small arms waving into the air.
Leila giggled. "Yes Elias, cake."
"And here," Leila sucked in a quick breath, trying not to scream at the deep voice behind her. "I thought you were actually working."
There were two things that Leila had never come to understand. They were 1) Nick's magic tricks and 2) how Malcolm, who clearly topped the scales at around two hundred and fifty pounds, could manage to sneak up on her without making a sound.
But there Malcolm Jackson stood at 6'4" with his deceptively built form. The man approached the pair with his eyes locked onto his son.
"Hey Little Man," Miles spoke while offering his large hand for his son to slap. "Are you ready to celebrate your mom's birthday? We have a big surprise for her."
"Sup-pwise!" Eli responded as he swung and hit his father's hand as hard as he could, giggling with mirth at the hand-five.
"Alright, let's get a move on." Malcolm stated. He then lowered his head and kissed Leila on her forehead. "Come on Lee. We have people waiting on us."
Leila's brows furrowed. "And where do you think you're taking me and my son, Miles?"
"Don't worry. I promise you'll love it. And if you don't, then it was Nick's idea and you can finally kick his butt like we both know you could." assured Malcolm. "Besides, I wouldn't piss off the Bialyan Warrior on her birthday. That's suicide."
Leila just smiled. In truth, she knew that there was nothing physically she could do to harm Malcolm. She even theorized that if she could she wouldn't. Her conscience would not let her do so, which was odd to her. Living in Gotham City made her full aware of what inner-city wars were all about, more so than living in Bialya had. She had seen men and women beaten, bloodied, and even killed on the streets of East Gotham. Yet she could never will herself to physically harm Malcolm without feeling a bit squeamish inside.
"Mama!" Eli called out, his small arms reaching out towards her.
Leila blinked out of her thoughts and slowly took her son from his father, a smile lighting up her face. She had left her family in Bialya and her friends in Gotham City but this one little person in her arms and his father seemed to make up for all of that.
"How about you get your shoes on so we're not late and CeeCee won't be pissed at me?" Malcolm asked, referring to his younger sister with his childhood nickname for her.
"Yes," Leila said. "Let's go."
[Soon she'll be sixty years old…]
The woman took in a deep breath. Her eyes never left the casket in front of her. Malcolm, her Miles, had been murdered while trying to protect the city from the wickedness of human nature. She had mustered up the courage to even have a memorial service for him, her former disability to see Malcolm harmed flaring up by the seconds. But she sat there for one reason and one reason only.
Elias.
Her oldest son sat with anger apparent on his face, tears silently streaking down his cheeks. She had tried to embrace him only to be denied. She had tried to speak to him only to be ignored. Eli's anger and frustrations were understandable as the teenager held a deep contempt for vigilantes for some odd reason. To find out that Malcolm was one and killed while on vigilant duties were two things that caused Eli to seemingly hate Leila more.
Leila exhaled slowly. Her relationship with Malcolm had slowly declined due to his godforsaken need to help everyone. He just had to go save the city from whatever "war" that he claimed it was in. Leila was not a very selfish woman. She had siblings that forced her to share all throughout her childhood and a needy roommate in her adult years. But she refused to share Malcolm with the city of New Camford. What was worse was how in-love with the job that Malcolm was. It was as if he was addicted to either the action or the deeds performed. Leila was done with war. But Malcolm wasn't and Eli would probably never know that.
"Lily, are you alright?" Her current husband, Robert Nolan, asked her.
There were many differences between Malcolm and Robert, some easily seen and some not. For starters, Robert's thin six-foot frame was almost dwarfed when next to Malcolm. Not to mention that Malcolm was a dark-skinned African-American with brown eyes while Robert was a bald (previous black) blue-eyed Caucasian man. They were easily distinguishable in looks alone.
But there were other discrepancies there. It came with their home cities. Robert was from Metropolis and knew that bad things would happen but he always had faith that something or someone would solve those problems. He looked up to Superman. Malcolm was from Gotham City. He saw devils around him all the time, some attempting to help him while others attempting to kill him. He was tentative of the myth known as Batman. Their approach to help people reflected this as well. Robert was a neurosurgeon who also did clinical hours without masks. Malcolm donned a mask and stopped those committing crimes.
Of course, the biggest difference was going from being "Lee" to "Lily." At times, Leila was still biting her tongue to keep her from chiding Robert for the Americanized nickname.
"I'm fine," Leila spoke clearly. "I am just worried about Elias."
"Should I speak to him? Stay with him tonight at the apartment?" Robert asked quietly to avoid Eli from hearing.
Leila actually winced at the terrible suggestion. Eli wanted nothing to do with Robert and Robert being alone with an emotional Elias Jackson was a recipe for a large disaster. Of course, Robert meant well though, one of the kindest men she had ever met. Eli, however, was a teenager who could not give a damn about how nice the man was or how rich he was… Robert was the guy that stole Eli's mother's heart.
"No," Leila answered. "I'll check in on him."
Robert gave her a firm look. "You don't have to do this on your own Lily. I'm here."
Ironically, those were the same words Leila told Eli after hearing of Malcolm's death. Eli had declined her support outright without a second thought.
"I know." Leila said while secretly denying her own words. Elias was her oldest son. She had spent so many days just being with him, holding him, playing with him, laughing with him. He was her family. He was her Bialya in America. And now he wanted nothing to do with her just like she wanted nothing to do with Bialya.
Leila allowed Robert to pull her into an embrace while looking over at Eli. Eli would probably never remember those days when he would ask Leila to read to him because he couldn't "understand the words" or nights when he would patiently wait for Leila to be done with work so they could watch TV. She had tried to spend time with Eli to no avail- even with Malcolm advocating for her. Nothing worked then and nothing was working now.
Leila momentarily thought about her past. Was it worth it? Was giving up everything she had in Bialya worth coming to America just to still be discriminated against? All, for what? Money? A successful career as a corporate lawyer? Was money and so-called "freedom" really enough for her to bury her first love while her oldest son hated every breath she breathed?
She wondered what her seven-year-old self would feel if she knew what would become of them…
[Once she was seven years old.]