BURN for Better or Worse (COMPLETED)

Chapter 65

RANDALL… 

Neo dragged me out to the gate in search of the witch he claims is trespassing and the most bizarre thing is that the woman is Nqaba’s mother. I am in no place to clash with him, I don’t know anything just that my daughter saw someone today, someone we couldn’t see. Neo hasn’t stop prattling about how the person will be exposed soon in due time. 

Liyana is sleeping in her room, Amara is with her. Today has been a long day, I don’t ever want to go through whatever happened today, ever again. Neo hasn’t stopped reading the bible, I find it strange. I find him strange, the serious face and the whispered prayers he keeps sending to God. 

I need a stiff drink or I won’t stop fidgeting, maybe a smoke too. Amara thinks I have stopped which I did at some point in time, but life becomes so tough that the only thing that helps is smoking my problems away. What am I saying? The problems hardly dissipate from a blow of a cigarette. 

“Neo let’s step outside for a minute.” He leers up at me from the couch, his face crunches as if disgusted by the very reason I want us to go outside. I will leave him here if he won’t follow me. 

“You’re going to spend time with the devil, aren’t you?” He says, cocking his brows at me.  

“What are you talking about?” 

“You want to smoke?” Should I be offended by the condescending tone? 

“Are you coming or not?” I’m already irritated by the urge to smoke and he is unknowingly adding to the aggravation.  

“Me hemma is in the house Uze, you can’t smoke around her.” (My queen.) 

Why can’t Neo be normal and agree like normal people? 

“You will find me in the back yard if you change your mind, I want to hear everything about that Barbra woman.” I leave him with his bible and saunter out to the back yard, the sun is about two hours from setting.

 Making myself comfortable on one of the outdoor chairs, I lit the cigarette. Each drag should come with a calmness, yet I don’t find it so I take more drags, the puff generates a cloud of smoke. My eyes follow it twirling skyward as if it is taking my troubles to the heavens. 

“You know that could kill you?” I narrow my eyes to the large figure before me, Nqaba is standing grimace on his face

“I would die a happy man,” I answer, his mouth forms a questionable downward smile as he plods closer to the benches. “I have loved and been loved, is it not what men live for? If you have had that in life, then there is nothing else to look forward to.” 

“Family is everything I agree, but when you die you take their souls with you. They die too and although they move on, your ghost will always lurk around them.” He retorts and reaches his hand to take the cigarette from me, I didn’t know he smokes. 

“Anything else I should know about you?” I ask, watching him struggle with the cigarette, he’s not really a smoker. Very nearly fooled me there. 

“I almost lost my son today, I need something to get that image out of my head.” His voice cracks and yet there is so much agony resonating in it. His hand is shaking out of agitation, so I sit next to him, although I don’t know how I will comfort him. 

“I’ve been alone my whole life, when Thandiwe left me loneliness became a part of my life. I embraced it, but it terrified me. I have always been afraid of it and now Thandiwe and Zulu’s lives are not guaranteed. I can’t lose them Randall.” He sucks in more puffs from the cigarette, he should take more because that’s the only thing that is going to comfort him. I’m not good with this consoling thing, it’s easy with Amara because she’s my wife, she makes it easy for me.