Page 8 of Like Fathers, Like Son
5
Blaze
Itwasmagnificent!It was my best fire yet. Daddy Gray was going to be so proud. I carefully squirted the petrol all over the wood as far up as I could reach. He’d taught me how to make sure I didn’t cover myself in it at the same time, because that would be ‘very bad’ as he liked to say.
I picked up the battery powered firelighter, and lit it at one end, then ran the length of the fence, lighting it in several more spots. It was beautiful, watching the flames as they started to spread across the areas where the petrol had soaked in. From there, the rest of the wood started to burn too.
I could hear the shouty man again, but I didn’t care about his words. The flames were too bright and alive, and magical, and I couldn’t stop watching them as they ate up the fence that caused all the arguments. This would put a stop to it making everyone mad!
The heat from the fence was so intense, that I could feel it making my cheeks sting, but I didn’t want to back away from its heat.
“Jesus Christ!” Someone grabbed me and pulled me back away from the fence, separating me from that connection I felt with the fire I’d created. The way it warmed me, and welcomed me closer.
“Blaze, what the hell did you do?!” It was daddy Dory holding onto me, and mum was standing in the doorway, both hands up at her mouth, her head shaking back and forth, but it was daddy Gray I was watching.
He was standing closer to the fence than we were, and he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He must have been so hot standing so close, but he seemed to be in a daze as he watched it burn.
Icy cold water suddenly started spraying over the fence, or what was left of it, and daddy Gray let out a string of curses, and fell back a few steps.
“What are you doing?!” He yelled at the man on the other side, the evil man who was trying to douse the flames I’d given life. He was killing them.Killing my fire.
“Stop him, daddy, stop him! He’s killing it!” Daddy Dory groaned, and pulled me further back, even as I fought him, trying to get back to my beautiful magical fire.
“Dammit, Gray, look what he did!”
“Yeah, it was perfect until that fucker started putting it out like that. What an asshole. He should have let the whole thing burn.” He patted my shoulder. “That was nice work, kid. Epic flames.”
“For fuck’s sake, Gray! This is exactly what I’m talking about! You don’t praise him for this, because it’s a fucking crime! You don’t say well done when your kid destroys someone else’s property! If they call the cops, we’re fucked!”
Daddy Dory started marching me back into the house, with daddy Gray behind him, muttering about ‘killing the ethereal light’. The garden had been lit up with my ‘epic flames’ as daddy Gray called them, but by the time we were back in the house, the garden was unnaturally dark after that much brightness.
“Dammit, Gray. This is bad, this is so bad!” Mum was freaking out, pulling at her messy blonde hair as she peered out through the door. The mean man next door was yelling again, so daddy Gray kicked the door closed.
“Admittedly, this is a bit of a fuck up,”daddy Gray said finally, and both mum and daddy Dory started yelling at him. He held both hands up.
“Blaze, son. I’m so proud of the amazing fire you made out there. It was fucking stunning,yes, yes, I’m getting to that part. The thing is, kid, you can’t go setting fires in your own garden. This is shit we do at carefully scouted locations, and only when we know we can get away with it. There’s no hiding this one. That bastard next door is going to-”
A heavy fist pounded on the front door, and daddy Gray sighed. “He’s going to dothat. Dory, I swear to god, you’re gonna let me punch him this time, right?”
Mum pushed past all of us and closed the door, shutting us out from the hallway as she went to answer the door to the mean man.
“Will he hurt mum?”
My dads looked at each other, and daddy Dory pushed me in daddy Gray’s direction.
“Make it clear he can’t do this again, Gray. I’m going out there to back Wilma up.”
As soon as daddy Dory left the room, daddy Gray crouched in front of me, and made me look at him, because I was starting to feel like I’d messed up, and I was scared I might cry.
“Hey, look at me, kid. It’s okay, you hear me? We still love you, no matter what mistakes you might make, especially when those mistakes happen because we failed you. Dory’s right for once, but don’t tell him because he’s already too smug. This wasn’t the right course of action, but I understand that it felt right at the time. We’re so alike, kiddo, we really are. I would have done exactly what you did, but as enticing as it is to make things burn, we must always remember our three rules. Remember those?”
I nodded, feeling a lump in my throat, because I’d forgotten the rules, hadn’t I? All I’d cared about was getting rid of the fence so I could see Anneka. Daddy Gray brushed his thumbs under my eyes.
“It’s okay, honestly, kid. Don’t get sad about it. Don’t be afraid. Can you tell me the three rules, so I know you remember them?”
I nodded again, and took a deep breath.
“Never where people might get hurt, never anywhere we might get caught, and never without you there to keep me safe.”
