Page 80 of Some Like It Spicy

“The living must keep living. And I know that when my journey’s over, we’ll meet again.” His mother paused for a beat then asked, “We’re gathering the funds for his send-off service, and your siblings and I were wondering how much you can contribute.”

She didn’t ask if he’d contribute… just how much.

Barry asked, “When is the funeral?”

“It’s soon. It’s very soon,” his mother hedged.

He immediately noticed that she hadn’t given a date. With anyone else, that would’ve been an innocent statement. But this was his family. They belonged to a religious community that demanded that the dead be buried within a week. It had already been four days since Patrick’s death, so they should have a funeral date by now.

He asked, “Am I not supposed to know the date?”

Victoria was quiet for sometime then she quietly said, “Your father wouldn’t want you to come.”

But he’d be okay with taking Barry’s money to pay for it?

Actually, yes. Yes, Patrick would. He was the definition of hypocrisy.

If this was the past, Barry would’ve dropped the subject and quietly asked how much they needed. But today, he just didn’t feel like being a doormat.

He said, “Well, you should find a way to pay for the funeral yourselves. I wouldn’t want my filthy, demonic money soiling your godly send-off service.”

Filthy and demonic were just a few of the choice words Patrick had thrown at Barry when he’d last seen him.

Victoria sucked in a sharp breath, like she couldn’t quite believe what she’d heard. “He’s your father, Barry.”

“He disowned him,” Barry reminded her.

Victoria met his response with a long silence. Then she sighed. “I’ll let you think on it for a while then come back to you. But just remember that God wants us to honor our parents.”

God also wanted parents to show love and compassion to their children and not to provoke them. Where were those verses when Patrick and Victoria were raising Barry?

However, before Barry could snipe back with those words, his mother hung up.

A few minutes later, his phone began to ring with numbers he didn’t recognize. Instinct told him it was either his siblings or members of his father’s church. So, he just put his phone on silent.

It was only once his phone was quiet that reality sank in.

Patrick Hale was dead.

His father was dead.

23

WHY WASN’T BARRY ANSWERING HIS phone? Xolani had been calling him constantly for the last two or so hours to set up their lunch date, yet he hadn’t picked up. All her messages had gone unanswered too.

Maybe he’s busy, the voice in her head offered. Yeah, that was a possible explanation, but it didn’t satisfy her. Barry wasn’t a flake. If he couldn’t take her call, he would’ve at least sent a message.

What was going on?

Lunchtime came and went, but still there was no call or message from him. Because his phone remained unanswered, she decided to go through the EV department’s receptionist. When the receptionist picked up, Xolani asked to speak to Barry.

The receptionist said, “Sorry, he’s not around. He took a leave of absence a few hours ago.”

“He what?” Xolani was surprised. “Why?”

“I don’t know.” The receptionist suggested, “Maybe call him and ask.”

If I could get him on the phone, I wouldn’t have called you. Xolani bit down on the barbed response and instead said, “Okay, thank you.”

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