How It All Goes Down
When we first meet Shorty, he's stuck under a pile of rubble from an earthquake. Yikes. We'd best get used to it, though, since this is where he is during the entire story. He has a little time on his hands (now there's an understatement, for you), so he decides to tell us his life story.
He starts way back on the night he was born, and tells us that he was supposed to be born in blood and darkness. Or at least that's what a houngan (read: psychic) told his mom. Sure enough, he and his twin sister were born right in the middle of the revolution, which everyone agreed made them magical.
Meanwhile, back in the 1790s, a slave named Toussaint is fighting his own revolution. He's buddied up with a bunch of other Haitian slaves to fight for freedom from the French government. They overthrow their masters pretty quickly. Next step? Getting their friends out of jail or freed from other masters who aren't cooperating.
Most people are running around wild, getting ready to burn the entire town to teach the slave-owners a lesson. Not Toussaint, though; he sees the bigger picture and wants justice, not revenge. Before we know it, he's leading the troops. He has a magical stone (pwen) for luck.
Fast-forward a few hundred years, and Shorty is still stuck, awaiting rescue. He tells us that he and his twin sister performed magic tricks for the people, courtesy of the local gangster, Dread. Pretty soon, though, their dad found out about it and blew a gasket. A few days later, a rival gang named Boston killed their dad and kidnapped his sister. Right then, Shorty promised his mom he'd never stop looking until he found Marguerite.
He joins Dread's gang, Route 9, and learns the ropes from Biggie. They promise to take care of his mom and get him an education. One day, police hunt down Dread, right in front of Shorty. They are going to steam-roll Shorty with their tanks, but Dread risks his own neck to save the kid, giving Shorty his lucky pwen right before he dies. It's supposed to have the soul of someone, and we soon learn it has Toussaint's in it.
Back in the day, Toussaint is fighting more battles and gaining more prestige. Some enemy ships come to Haiti to take the slaves and their crops back to France. Luckily, Toussaint gets wind of the plan before they can. He swims out to their ships in the harbor and discovers ammunition on board, so he knows they aren't there for a friendly visit. The next day, he fights the troops and outwits them.
Things are heating up between Route 9 and Boston. Shorty comes up with a plan to take the Bostons down by blowing up a car. He and Biggie go through with it, but soon after, Biggie dies from wounds. He lets Shorty in on a little secret first, though: Boston didn't kill Shorty's dad; Biggie did after Dread told him to. Shorty is torn up. He can't believe Biggie and Dread lied to him about Boston.
He's taken to the hospital since he was shot in the throw-down with Boston. Things go from bad to worse when his mom visits and reveals another secret: His sister died the night his dad was murdered. She only told him Marguerite was still alive so he'd have hope. He's angry and tells her to leave—after she does, the earthquake hits.
Things aren't looking so hot for Toussaint either. He beat the French, then the English, but then the French came back… with his son Isaac. They use Isaac to tell his dad that the new General is trustworthy and wants to make a deal. Poor Isaac doesn't even know he's double-crossing his old man. When Toussaint meets with the General, he's captured and shipped back to France, where he spends his final days alone in his prison cell. Hey, at least the slaves are free now.
Time is running out for Shorty. He knows he's been trapped under the wreckage for a couple of days and doesn't know how much longer he can survive. Suddenly, rescuers find him. They pull him out of the rubble, where his mom is waiting. Crying and screaming, she runs to him, glad that he is safe. He hugs her, and is finally out of the darkness and in the light.