Page 11 of Like Fathers, Like Son
“Okay, all good. Now, I’ve brought plenty of accelerant with me, and this place is full of old wooden furniture and stuff, so there’s plenty to burn. What else did I check for first?”
I picked up the large bag, after dad dug out the bottles of firemaking fluid.
“Things that go bang.”
He laughed, patting me on the head.
“Exactly. We like things that go bang, but only when we know they won’t go bang in our faces. Let’s go!”
We made our way through the single floor building, covering everything that might burn with the fluid in the bottles dad held. We also tossed old newspapers around too, which dad dribbled the fluid on, because that would help the fire travel between the furniture items faster.
Once we were ready, dad sent me outside to keep watch, and a moment later he came running from the building with a huge grin on his face.
“Light the paper by the door, kid. I’ve started it further in too.” He never let me set fires deep inside buildings, but I was allowed to set things on fire just inside the door. See, daddy Dory thought he was careless, but he really wasn’t. He was always watching to make sure I was safe.
“That’s it, Blaze. Fucking beautiful, look at that.”
The flames were already starting to lick at the wooden door frame, and from further in the building we could see a glow, as the fire started to take hold. It was an amazing feeling, knowing that we’d made everything burn like that. That we were the ones powerful enough to burn a building to the ground.
“How’s that, kid? Can you hear the flames starting to roar? Isn’t it the most beautiful sound?”
It was. It was magical. I watched as the night sky started to light up around us, with flames and beautiful burning. The smoke in the air catching at the back of my throat, along with that crackling roaring sound, it was all there was. Nothing else existed at that moment, until small flares of darker red flames licked here and there, reminding me of Anneka and her fiery hair.
The fire started to curl around the outside of the doorway, and dad caught my arm, nudging me back a step, as it crept closer to us. While his focus was on me, he missed the one thing we should have been more aware of.The bag. His bag of firemaking kit. It was close enough that the flames were reaching for it. He had the bottles of fluid tucked back in there, but also the canisters for blowtorches. They would definitely go bang!
I lunged out of his grip to try and catch the handle of the bag before the flames reached it, and he yelled out, throwing himself in front of me.
As he turned to chew me out for getting too close, I caught sight of the scariest thing I’d ever seen.
His arm was on fire.
Anneka
I WAS WOKEN BY my dad yelling again, and crept to my door to listen to what was going on.
“They’re making a hell of a racket out there. They’re the worst neighbours we’ve ever had.”
Oh no. I wondered what had happened with Blaze’s family now, to set him off like that. I tiptoed back to my window and checked the back garden, but there was nobody out there, and definitely nothing on fire this time.
Mum and dad’s window faced out to the front of the house, and so did the spare room, so I crept out of my room, checking to make sure my parents weren’t in the hallway, and then through the dark room beside theirs.
At the window, I looked outside to see Blaze’s dads outside. It looked like the dark haired one was helping the blonde one into the car, and Blaze and his mum were…were they crying?
I wanted to find out what was wrong, but I couldn’t get out there without my parents catching me, and I knew I’d be in trouble for even trying, but what could be so awful that they’d be that upset? Was it one of the littler children in the family? Were they sick or injured? I watched as Blaze’s pregnant mum hugged him, waving to his dads as they sped away in their big four wheel drive car.
I carefully pulled the window open, doing my best not to make a sound and alert them. I could just about pick up a few words from them, but it wasn’t much. I definitely heard the words ‘fire’ and ‘burned’. What had happened to them?
They disappeared inside and there was nothing more I could do, but return to my own room, doing my best to ignore the angry muttering coming from my parents’ room.
Once in my own room, I picked up my diary and pen.
Dear Diary
Something went wrong with Blaze’s family tonight. I have no idea what it was, but it looked bad. They were crying, Blaze and his mum, and his dads rushed out in the car like it was an emergency. I heard them mention fire and something being burned. Did Blaze burn down another fence? Or was it worse this time? Is he going to be in trouble for it?
I know he can be creepy at times, and his whole family can be a bit strange, but I really hope they’re all okay. I don’t want anything bad to happen to them. Even if it did set dad off again. He never used to be this angry. Ever since they cut his hours at work, he’s been losing his temper more and more. I miss the way he used to be. Will he ever be like that again?
I didn’t feel like writing any more tonight. Every time I focused on how awful it was becoming at home, it made me too sad to keep writing.
