The dizzy spell passed quickly, and Rashid took a deep, frenzied breath, then turned away from the sight and began walking away without hurry.

“Rash, wait, dear God! Please, Rash, wait!” her wailing voice came from behind him, but he did not pause.

He walked on and savagely fought the agony in his chest, pushing the tears away, telling himself this was nothing he should cry about. Thunder rumbled in the sky ominously, and a cold blast of wind cooled his face. It was going to rain, he thought absent-mindedly.

He made it past the front gate and walked down towards the car where Randy and Yao Kolo were waiting anxiously.

“Hey, pard, you okay?” Randy asked as he met his friend.

“Let’s get out of here,” Rashid said.

They saw the agony on his face and heard the torture in his voice.

“Shit!” Yao Kolo said with despair. “Shit! Shit!”

“Rash?” Randy said and tried to hold him.

Rashid looked up suddenly, and his handsome face fell apart.

The sheer torture was written all across his features and it was evident he was doing all he could to stop from crying because his eyes were very wet.

“Get me out of here, please,” he said calmly.

“Rash!” Aku’s stringent voice shattered the night behind them as another roll of thunder blasted across the sky. “Wait, please, wait!”

Yao and Randy looked at each other with shock as Aku came out, running blindly towards them. She had slipped into a fluffy bathrobe, but her feet were bare, and her wet hair was plastered to her cheeks.

Rashid had opened the back door of the car, but she pushed past him and slammed the door shut, then she stood in front of him with tears falling down her cheeks like diamonds as she looked at his crushed face.

“Rash, I’m so sorry! Would never want you to see that in a million years! I was hurt and disappointed, Rash! I couldn’t take the pain of the betrayal, knowing you cheated on me with a prostitute!”

“You’ve been sleeping with him all along?” he asked quietly, and when the horror spread all across her face, and her lips trembled, and stark dismay swept through her features, he knew the question had destroyed her, and knew she had not cheated on him until now.

“Rash!” she groaned in agony as she shook her head, causing her tears to fall harder. “He’s always been on me, even when he was abroad, always begging me to forgive him and give him another chance! I never so much as allowed him to touch my finger! Tonight, your betrayal killed my soul, Rash. I wanted to do anything to take away the pain. I never planned this, I beg of you. My love, I was vulnerable, in acute pain, drank too much, and let my inhibitions go! Please, believe me, that’s the truth! Look, I messed up, but I’ve never been unfaithful to you!”

“I understand,” Rashid said calmly. “I understand, Aku. It is alright. I’m not blaming you.”

He reached for the car door again.

“Wait, Rash, stop it, stop it, please!” she said in anguish and pushed the door shut again. “I’m wrong here! You being unfaithful doesn’t mean I should also do the same! I don’t know what came over me, Rash, please. I felt so cheap and unwanted, so crushed! The Lord knows I couldn’t take the pain! Rash, I couldn’t take the pain! I’m sorry, please! Forgive me!”

Rashid pushed his hands into his pocket and took a step from her, and he looked calmly at her tortured face.

“Look, Aku, I came to find you and beg you to forgive me. It was my fault, you know. I should have found a way to tell you about Ella Silk without compromising any other persons. But I didn’t think anything bad went on, or that she could set me up like that. I came to work things out between us because I thought you were in pain, and I could not forgive myself for giving you pain. However, it has all worked out, so please, can I leave?”

“Worked out?” she murmured; her voice confused. “What do you mean by that?”

“You and Stephen discovered each other again in the midst of the crisis,” he said sadly. “You two just had sex. That seals it for me rather comprehensively.”

“Stop it!” she screamed suddenly and thumped his chest with both fists as her tears fell again. “I told you why! I told you why, Rash! And I still feel the pain of your betrayal, and it is still driving me crazy, insane, because I love you so! I still love you, please! And the look on your face back there will haunt me forever! Why did you do it? Why did you destroy this relationship we had? Answer me! Why, Rash, why? Why did you have to sleep with that whore?”

Rashid sighed deeply and spoke in that same emotionless, soft, calm voice.

“You can think what you want of me. Your opinion of me doesn’t bother me anymore,” he said, his voice almost gentle. “I came to tell you that the whore set me up, but it doesn’t matter anymore. You made your choice, and I respect that.”

He moved past her, or tried to, but she put her hands on his chest and pushed him almost violently against the car, then she pushed her agonized face next to his, her expression fierce.

“What do you mean I made my choice?” she hissed in a tortured voice.

“I told you over and over in the past that the only thing I cannot forgive is unfaithfulness,” he said calmly. “Stay with Stephen. Apparently, he still loves you and still wants you back.”

“You bastard, Rash!” she cried with horror and began hitting him across the face violently as she wept bitterly. “Bastard! You bastard! You were unfaithful! Yes, you slept with that prostitute! You did it first! How dare you judge me now!”

“I’m not judging you. I’m just telling you this is done for me because I can’t ever forgive you for this. I won’t even if I can. Because, truth be known, anytime I see your face I’ll only remember you sitting on his bloody balls, and shit like that is stressful.”

“Oh, stop this, Aku!” Yao Kolo screamed and grabbed her shoulders, then he pulled her back from Rashid.

“Let me go! Yao, let me go, you bastard!” she screamed and struggled wildly.

Randy noticed that some people were coming out of their houses now, drawn by her screams. He remembered the warning of the security men, and knew there would be trouble if Aku was not controlled.

He moved forward and grabbed Aku by the shoulders angrily.

“Cut out the crap, Aku!” he barked with disgust. “Rash has been my best friend all these years before he met you, and he will never cheat on you! That damn girl set him up!!”

“Randy!” Rashid said quickly. “Stop it now! No need for that anymore!”

“What?” Aku whispered with confusion as she looked at Randy. “You also believe she set him up? That ridiculous assertion will never wash with me!”

“Guys!” Rashid cut in sharply. “Cut it out, would you? It doesn’t matter anymore! Let it be!”

Randy and Yao looked at their friend, then at each other.

Yao sighed and patted Aku on the shoulder.

“You’re amazing, Aku. You had a fight with your fiancé, and the next hour you fuck your ex-boyfriend? What normal girl does that? Shame on you, Aku!”

Aku was trembling as she reached out blindly to hold Rashid, who had the car door open again and was trying to get in.

“Rash, my love, please, please, don’t leave me like this!” she whimpered in anguish. “I’m so confused! I’m dying in here! Let’s go home and talk, I beg of you! I can’t take this torture anymore! What you just saw doesn’t mean a thing, please!”