All Chapters of Romeo and Julius: Chapter 11 - Chapter 20

Twenty hours had passed and there was a dead silence in both sides of the villages. After Reverend Busang had rebuked the villagers everyone went their separate ways to digest his words. It seemed that his words had hit home and some of the villagers were regretting their evil deeds. They were asking themselves the reason for their fighting. They were from a same nation for heaven's sake. Who told them that there was supposed to be a single ruler for the whole Zulu nation? The Reverend had knocked sense into their minds. Even their forefathers had different house heads for different clan. So, who they were to go against that tradition. They gave themselves the time to mourn their loses.  Romeo and Julius' bodies were taken to the mob. Both villages were mourning the death of their future chiefs whose lives had been cut short by their act of impulsiveness. That made them to remember their shortcomings. The royal poet for the Khumalo clan touched the hearts of many with these wor

  Romeo was still lying in bed, trying to recall the lastest events that occurred in past few days including the day he landed in a hospital bed. He remembered talking to Julius. "What do they mean Julius is dead but we spoke only a few hours ago?" he asked himself. To him it felt real that he had a real talk with Julius. He told him that he should go back and fix the whole situation. He told him that one of then must go back and finish where they left off. "Go back and finish where we left off", he repeated those words    He felt like his mind was going to blow off. His pillow was becoming wet as he she'd tears while he was facing the wall. How can something that felt so good ended up so bad? " So, it is real that there is life after death" he thought to himself. He dozed off and fell asleep while he was in deep thoughts. In his sleep he saw Julius standing on the other side of the river. He was waving goodbye to him with his smile that always

Romeo was doing well in hospital but the nolstalgic memories and melancholy got the better of him. He became lonely and wished he too was dead when Julius died. He felt like Julius took a part of him and died with it. He was no longer feeling himself. He eventually slipped into depression. He was not coping at all. All he could do was to face the wall and cry. All that was happening was in his life was overwhelming. He just wanted to be normal like other boys in the village. His was put on medication for depression. And it was advised that he should be kept for a while since the doctors were fearing for his life. Reverend Busang asked the doctor to keep him there until the rage of the villagers cooled down.    The social workers were sent to the villages to look at the situation at the homes of the boys. They asked the kings to give them a chance that hold a meeting with the villagers. They organised everything so that they could address the villagers about

  By the time King Khumalo was on his mission to appeasing the ancestors, Romeo's condition was deteriorating. The traditional healer instructed that the boy should be re- introduced to his forefathers for they did not recognise him because of the way he turned out to be. Being a gay was really a curse, according to the traditional healer. So, in order for them to do right by their forefathers, Romeo's father had to slaughter a goat to wash the curse and appease them at the same time. Romeo's father did as he was instructed. He re-introduced his son to his ancestors. A necklace sewn out of goat' skin was tied around Romeo's neck. He was made to sleep on a goat' s hide. As for his health condition, he was becoming weak and had no interest in daily activities. He did not wash himself and sometimes could not even eat his food. His relatives and those who were close to him believed that his weakness was the way of being tamed by the ancestors. They said it was the sign that

Romeo's bed was empty and it was  made up as if he did not sleep on it at all. They looked around hoping to find him sitting on a chair next to his bed. The chair was empty too. How can a house be locked inside when there was no one in the room? They kept asking each other. After they searched the whole house, his mother looked up to the roof. She saw something that shocked her. Her stomach got cramps and she could not move. Her heart was beating very fast and the knees were weak. She could not believe what she was seeing. Her son was sitting on top of the wardrobe and his head was hanging down. She called him and he did not respond. The young men climbed to reach out to him. When they reached him they found a rope around his neck. Apparently he hanged himself standing on top of the wardrobe. Then he tied the rope in the roof. After he tied it around his neck, he folded his legs so that the rope could strangle him.  He was cold and his upper body was s