Beautifully Broken

At first, the news threw me off balance, but I’m starting to realize it’s either Uncle Tom or me. Unfortunately, one of us will have to die for this madness to end.

It hurts, but I’ve come to terms that Damian is right. We have to end this nightmare.

It’s a typical Thursday at the hardware store. I’m checking to see what we need to order for the following week while wondering why Thursdays always feel so long. It’s like two days got shoved into one.

I hear voices from the front of the store, and it sounds like Damian. I slowly make my way up the aisle with the list of stock we have to order.

Sure enough, Damian’s talking with Joshua. When they both look at me, I force a happy smile around my lips.

I hold the piece of paper out to Joshua, “Here’s the order for next week.”

He takes it and then looks at me with sympathy, which confuses the hell out of me. “I’m just telling Alex it’s okay for you to take some time off.”

“Huh?” the word pops from me. Now I’m even more confused.

“Yeah, babe, so we can go to your uncle’s funeral.”

The half-stunned expression drops from my face, and I’m glad Joshua mistakes it for grief.

“You can go now, Nina. I’ll get the Jameson boy to help out after school for the next week.”

Mutely, I nod as Damian takes my hand. He pulls me to his side and then reaches a hand out to Joshua, “Thank you so much for understanding. She’ll be back in a week.”

Joshua shakes Damian’s hand. “Sure thing.”

I feel like a robot as Damian tugs me out of the hardware store and then helps me into the truck. I look down at my hands all the way home, not sure how I feel about going to South Africa.

I understand this has to be done, but the last time I was there, my parents were killed.

Because of Uncle Tom.

When Damian parks the truck in front of the cabin, he opens his door, then says, “We’ll meet Jeff tonight before driving through to the airport. He has the tickets and documents.”

“What about transport once we’re there? What about a place to stay? How will we get close to my uncle? How will we get back? What if we get caught?” The questions pour from me in a desperate attempt to find a reason to stay here… where we’re safe even though I know we have to go.

Damian takes my hand and brings it to his mouth. His words are hot on my skin, “We won’t get caught. I’ve done my homework. South Africa has a high crime rate. Thousands of people die every day, and the killers are never found. I’ll hire a car under our fake names, and we’ll stay at some cheap motel.” He presses another kiss to the back of my fingers. “We’ll be fine. I’ll keep us safe.”

“But… but.” I swallow hard. There’s just no way for me to suppress the fear. “I’m scared.”

“Don’t be,” he whispers. “I know you’d rather stay here, but then you’d be unprotected, and I can’t risk it. We’ll only be there for three days. Remember what I told you? We make people look the other way. Make them not notice you. You can’t look scared, because that will draw attention to us. We’re just two normal people going about our business.” He gives me a reassuring look. “Trust me.”

Trust Damian.

He’s never given me any reason not to.

Slowly, I nod, then he continues, “You’ll be doing all the talking. People will notice my accent, but you will fit right in. I need you to have my back with this one.”

I start to nod my head again as I try to focus on what he’s saying. I swallow down the fear and then frown. “I have to do the talking? What if they ask me something I can’t answer?”

“We’re going to go over every detail on our drive up to Charleston, where Jeff will meet us. We’ll be flying from there. Everything is going to be fine.”

DAMIAN

The flight was fucking long. My legs were starting to cramp. The fact that we’re both exhausted from the flight counts in our favor. We look the same as all the other passengers, sweaty and wrinkled.

The man at customs hardly looks at our passports, and soon we’re waiting for our luggage, which is only one bag. I didn’t bring any weapons because… well, that would be a fucking stupid move on my part.

I got us simple names for this trip. Mike and Sonja Durant. I grab the bag, and then, holding Cara’s hand tightly, we make our way over to Avis car hire.

Cara takes a deep breath as we near the counter and then smiles at the woman behind the counter. “Hi, we’d like to hire a car for a few days.”