Day 44

Steve Hollison sits at the gambling table and watches his empty wallet.

He has been drinking and gambling for almost two hours, and he is aware that he has lost a sizeable amount of money.

He is wearing a blue shirt, and he cannot even remember where he put his coat and tie. He looks at the expensive Rolex watch around his wrist and begins to remove it. Jonathan Afful steps forward and grabs Steve by the arm.

"C'mon, man! Are you gonna gamble with your watch too?" he asks indignantly.

"Fuck off, Jon, you giver of bad and dangerous advice!" Steve growls.

Jonathan looks at the croupier and speaks tightly.

"He's out, pal. He's not gambling anymore."

The croupier nods grimly and turns to the other players.

"Fuck you, Jon!" Steve growls angrily. "Who appointed you my father, you son-of-a-bitch?"

Afful holds Steve's arm and drags him away from the gambling table. He steers him to an empty table and pushes him down. The Club is full, already in the night mood. Waitresses wearing only G-Strings and high-heels move among the patrons with fixed smiles on their faces.

Voluptuous women are dancing naked in glass booths, and a buxom dark-haired American singer is performing an off-key edition of Whitney Houston's I'll Always Love You.

A waitress bends over to take their orders, and Steve orders more drinks.

"Pull yourself together, man! You're getting pretty plastered here!" Afful says grimly.

Steve glares at him.

"And what's wrong with that, man? Of course, I'm getting plastered! What else is there to do?"

"Losing your wife is not the end of the world, bro."

"Fuck you, dickhead!" Steve says angrily. "Effe wasn't a mere wife I've lost! I messed up big time! And too late, I realize that I can't fucking live without her! I love her, man, I love her so much! And I miss her!"

"I know you do, man! And losing her to that Chris bastard is a croc, no doubt. Guy turns out to be our boss, and fires both of us! I got served with my divorce documents too, bro. I lost my job too, Steve! But life goes on! I more than love Eyram, but hey, she's gone, probably to screw that white buffoon of a doctor, but that's life, man! You wanna do something to take your mind off the pain? Come with me upstairs and meet those beauties! They'll blow your mind away."

Steve screams at his friend.

"Fuck you, Jon! Fuck you to hell! I don't wanna bang anyone! I just want Effe, do you hear me? I want my Effe back!"

Some bouncers approach their table and look at them with raised eyebrows.

"Everything cool here?" one asks.

"Yes, we're cool here," Afful replies gently.

"Then let your buddy keep his voice down, sir. He's distracting other customers."

"Yeah, cool. We're good."

The bouncers move away. Afful orders lamb chops and a drink. When they are served, they drink and eat in silence. Steve looks at his friend and sighs miserably.

"We messed up, bro," he says, almost tearfully.

"Yep. We messed up big time. You should be lucky you're not in prison. That guy could've nailed you," Afful says with a hint of sadness.

"Guess he was scared. I told him Effe asked me to poison his system. Probably doesn't wanna send me to prison and risk Effe being implicated."

"I don't think that's true, man. I have sources. I have been told that dude let the cops arrest some crooked cops, one Chief Inspector Danso Cuger and a Sergeant McBaiden. They're now in police cells, man. That boy can let you disappear. Hell, he's rich enough and powerful enough to order your execution, and you would've died. I think he wants you here to punish you."

"Punish me? How?"

"He's gonna marry Effe, and have kids with her. I don't think you can stand that."

Steve's face crumbles with abject dejection and misery. He shakes his head numbly, and his pain is like a living entity.

"No, I can't take that! That will kill me!"

"So, what you gonna do? As for me, I have a little saved up. Been talking to one of the Chinese guys. Heard there are great avenues and openings in China. Next month I'm headed for China. Avenues are open for doctors also. You can come along, bro, and let's chart new courses."

"I don't know, bro. I feel like I need to fight for Effe, you know, see if I can have her back."

"Forget it. I see the way she looks at that bastard. It's the same way my Papa used to look at my Mama, and she messed him up big time, cheating on him left, right and centre. Growing up, I promised myself I ain't ever gonna look at a woman like that, ever! It is the look of stupid love, bro. She never looked at you that way. Believe me, her heart is gone. You've lost her, forever."

Steve drinks, and slowly tears fall down his cheeks as Afful's words hit him, and make him realize that indeed, he might have lost Effe forever. After a while, he fumbles out his phone and dials. It rings several times without an answer.

He doesn't give up. He calls again and again until finally, she answers.

"Hello, Steve."

"Effe, honey. Just wanted to know. Is there any chance for us, ever, at all? If I decide to fight for you, will I eventually win you over?"

There is a very long pause, and Steve starts to entertain hopes; at least she is thinking about it.

"I respected you, Steve. This is not about Elaine or any other woman you cheated on me with. I gave you my all, and I didn't know the difference between admiration, and love. Seems what I had for you wasn't really love, Steve. What I feel now, for Chris, is forever. I may not marry him, but it's over for you and me."

"Oh, Effe! Forever?"

"Forever, yes. We're friends, Steve. Nothing else. I'm sorry."

"I'm sorry too, Effe! For breaking the heart of an angel like you. Forgive me, forgive me," he cries, and tears fall down his cheeks.

"I'm not holding anything against you, Steve. Good night."

The line goes dead. Steve sits still. He looks at his phone for a long time, and he cries silently. Afful does not speak. He waits it out, eating lamb chops and drinking. When he has finished off his meal, he empties his glass.

"Well?"

Steve takes out a hankie and wipes his face.

"Seems we're headed for China, bro," he says with a great sigh. "Let's go chart new courses."

Afful nods and smiles ruefully.

"What about Elaine? Heard from her? Is she still mad in the brain?"

"Not mad, man, come off it. Yeah, heard Effe went to see her at the asylum, and she healed quickly. She's now reunited with the baby, but she doesn't want to see me ever again. Says she hates me. Wasn't going to see her anyway. I hate her more than she does me. She wrecked my marriage, man."

Afful shakes his head and gives a silly chuckle.

"Oh, yeah, I remember! She was naked and was chasing you and screaming 'bang me, Steve, make me pregnant', and then you tripped, fell and landed on top of her. Right?"

"Fuck you," Steve says with a little grin.

Afful laughs heartily and stands up.

"Well, that's pretty wrapped up then. Eyram got her divorce and doesn't want to see me. I don't give a f**k anymore. Damn, there are millions of meats in the world waiting to be hammered. As for my son, well, she can keep him. The little brat even looks too much like her, anyway. Maybe he's not even mine. Maybe I went somewhere, and some man's juice got stuck on my dick and I impregnated Eyram with it. What do you think?"

Steve looks darkly at Afful, and his face takes on a very pained expression that makes Afful regret the joke.

"You fucking dickhead! What was that for?"

Afful claps Steve on the shoulder.

"Sorry, bro. Maybe I'm just telling you it's time to get a damn circumcision, bro. This royal line thing is fucking stupid, if you ask me. If you go to China and use your kote boto to take one man's juice and dump it into another woman, charley, they would Kung Fu your damn ass! Get a damn circumcision, bro!"

"Yeah. First sensible thing you've spewed out all evening, Jon," Steve says with a chuckle. "I've booked an appointment for it. Getting off the foreskin this weekend."

"Yoo! What the dilly-yoo! That's massive! That means you will be out of action for some time, bro, as the wound heals. Let's have a pre-cutting dick celebration. Wanna join me upstairs for some thighs? You might as well get used to China meat."

"I don't need any woman now, bro," Steve says calmly.

He orders more drinks. Afful shakes his head and walks away.

He ascends the stairs to the landing above where a door opens and two prostitutes emerge out of a door and walk toward him. He grabs the breasts of one whilst kissing the other one fervently. They giggle and grab his crotch. He grabs one's buttocks and squeezes hard, and then he fondles the other one between the legs.

He looks down over the balustrade and sees that Steve is crying bitterly again, and he is holding a picture of Effe. Afful shakes his head sadly and follows the prostitutes into a room.

"Steve! You dickhead. See what you're missing!"

He watches as the prostitutes slowly undress, and then they fall on the bed and strike sexy poses at him. Afful flies out of his clothes and, naked, walks towards the bed.

The women reach out for him and start caressing him. He positions himself between the spread legs of one of them and reaches out for the breasts of the other.

"Oh, the sweet things I have to do to heal my broken heart!"