Lucky Blue Smith: How About Two?

15. 'No More Book'

Within a week of visitations their mother is released from hospital. Nate, Dolly and Deneo are all excited having their mother back home, although they are equally anxious about the healing process. Hopefully being back home doesn't trigger a relapse, and the treatment will soon show itself bona fide.

 Deneo, unfortunately, has great demons to battle: Maya and Austin keep scaring her with gruesome images of their mother dying. To make matters worse, they tell her that Lucky's presence in Deneo's life will hasten the death. There is a causal connection in the spiritual realm, Austin testifies. Maya, giving her more details, says: "Your mother won't live to see your fame." The reason, he says, is because the mother is to live as close to frugal as possible to amass rewards in the impending Kingdom of Heaven. Deneo accepts this since her mother did retire early to be versed in the Lord's Word and to do His works on Earth, whatever her circumstances allowed. 

"If Lucky's presence in my life hastens my mother's death, there's no two-way about it, I'm never speaking to Lucky again," Deneo says simmering under her breath. She can't help but hate how gullible she is. 

This has to be a ploy. Austin and Maya hate the idea of seeing me happy and prosperous.

"Turn your attention to writing about God, this is what your talents are supposed to be used for."

"Ultimately, but not always," she snubs.

"It's always for you, you are God's 'Chosen' in this period. You did biblical numerology, you researched into astrology and read the omens; you know what God has in store for you."

"Yeah, but I thought that God loved me."

"You are special to him."

"Bastard. You can't even say it."

"You wouldn't believe me if I did."

"You're too racist to love a black girl."

"That black girl is a special vessel of God. The LORD loves all his children," he starts, "but not in the same way," he adds in a mockingly black South African accent.

"You're evil."

"Get her over it!" Austin barks at Maya, exasperated with Deneo's perpetual whining. At this point Deneo's mind travels to a time when she was young. At church they were laying hands on people that wanted to be ordained to do special work for God. Dolly was held by the hand by her mother and told not to go forward. Deneo, who was by her friends at the time saw this and ran ahead. She manoeuvred through the crowd and was swiftly prayed for before her mother could stop it. 

"Your mother could have saved you," Maya taunts reading her thoughts. "You made your bed, now lie on it, you b*tch. Be a vessel of God and write about the Christ. Leave Lucky alone, he's not even into you."

"So if I do, she lives?" Deneo poses looking at Austin to blindside a cocky Maya.

"WHAT?" He crackles confused.

"If I, write about you, and Maya, instead of Lucky, does my mother live?"

"No," Austin slips, seeming careless.

"She won't? Hayi khe, f*ck you God. 

"I will not stand for your in-sol, in-sul, in-sool- You know the word b*tch..."

"Figure it out yourself, flat *ss!" Deneo hisses. Then there's a knock on the door. 

It's her sister with a plate of food in hand. She came by hearing some shouts from the room. Deneo thanks her, admitting her row with the two. Dolly goes in the room with her and the sisters chat before Deneo eats and goes to wash the dishes, checks up on her mother and then hits the sack. 

Late at night Austin and Maya scare Deneo further: about her mother allegedly being close to death. They say the death will be easy if Deneo writes a story about GOD and The Christ. That it will be delayed too, if she follows their orders. Towards the evening on Monday Lucky calls Deneo, and she is violently perturbed. She knows it's a life-or-death decision whether to answer or not. She doesn't. 

Two days later Lucky calls again, and again Deneo doesn't answer. She receives another couple of calls from a long unknown number, and she doesn't answer these as well, thinking it might be him again or Nara. 

Days go by and then Deneo receives an email. It's from Lucky. She reads: 

Hi Deneo. I hope you're well? I've been trying to get hold of you for days now. Please contact me. Through any means. I wanted to get your okay on the final product of the inserts we made over the trip there. You also need to file a copyright registration application, and once that is through, we can talk about selling through Amazon. We're almost there dear. Please don't give up! Warm Regards, LBS. 

Deneo cries. She has no idea what to tell him. She wants to get his input on what she should do, but how, when speaking to him is the very thing that gets her into trouble? 

Deneo can't tell Dolly either. This would be terrifying to her as it is to Deneo. And in any case Dolly works nowadays. She has just been hired by a record label as a consultant specialising in PR communications. Deneo is glad about her sister getting the job since it's her first after she graduated in early 2019, but because of work Dolly is gone most of the day, and when she does get back, she's too tired to talk.

Deneo does all she can to ensure her mother is in good health. And the treatment seems to be working well on her: their mother is getting better by the day. But this does not stop Deneo's paranoia. Every day, she looks into her mother's sweet face and smiles, trying to spend as much time with her as possible, and without hinting at any trouble on her side. 

But the images, the taunting... 

Deneo also misses Lucky. She sets up a Google account with a pseudonym and thus secretly goes through the archives of reels and pictures of him on Instagram and TikTok almost every day - repeating mostly. Although this is not the same as seeing him face-to-face, getting to touch him, and look into his eyes... It must be enough.

God, she must admit, has dealt her an ill fate.