I take a look at Shane. She seems ready to ride the hot seat. Her hands are handcuffed, and her head is lowered. Her chin is almost touching her chest and she’s visibly pouting. Eyes closed, eyebrows furrowed like she’s trying hard to find a way to escape this. But there’s no way, not now. Our hands are tied, literally, and we have three armed-to-the-teeth guys all around us, and our friends and my wife are hostages, and there’s no way, not now, and we have to wait for the right occasion. I hope Carmen knows what she’s doing. I pray she does.

”Hush
Its okay
Dry your eye
Dry your eye
Soulmate dry your eye
Dry your eye
Soulmate dry your eye
Cause soulmates never die…”

“Tell me about loyalty, Carmen. Are you loyal to your partner? Are you a faithful woman?”, Sanders asks, with a falsely casual tone. He’s staring at her, attentively, waiting for the right answer from – it’s clear, at this point – his favorite victim.

Carmen’s dark eyes are endless pools of a perfectly hidden rage.

“Yes”, she replies in her clear, silky voice, “Yes, I am faithful to her. Always been. And she’s not simply my partner, she’s my wife”.

Jack Sanders waves his hand in the air as if there is a fly annoying him.

“I don’t believe in gay marriages, but I am sure you’re telling the truth”, he replies dryly.

“But that’s not the point, you know. The point is: is Shane loyal to you? Is she faithful?”, he inquires rhetorically, knowing well what the answer is.

Carmen purses her lips together and stares at nothing for a while.

“She is a loyal person. Actually she’s the most loyal person I’ve ever had the chance to meet”, Carmen replies, quietly and seriously, and the smack comes before I can predict or do – what can I do? What can we do? How am I going to solve this? – anything.

Sanders hits Carmen’s cheek strongly, with the open palm of his right hand and Carmen’s face turns to a side, abruptly. But she doesn’t give him the satisfaction of a moan or a tear. I see Shane shifting forward in a feline, silent way and I grab the hem of her shirt with my handcuffed hands, pulling her towards me. Her back clashes against my chest and we both move a step back. I don’t need her dead.