Omar was silent. His mouth a grim line, his eyes cold.

My mouth was dry. I rested my head against the car window and stared blankly out. It was early morning, and rush hour traffic was peaking. I had already come down, and I felt deflated, my palms clammy and cold. All I wanted was a bottle of ice water, a shower and my bed. Our bed.

I didn’t feel tired. I knew that if Omar wanted to talk, I would. I would tell him exactly how I felt. I would be honest with him. I would tell him that I no longer wanted to marry him. I would tell him that I felt that he could do better. I would tell him that I felt like a failure. I would…

His handphone rang.

It was in his trouser pocket and he gestured for me to get it.

I slid my hand into it and I felt his thigh stiffen. He was angry, more angry than I had ever seen him before.

I licked my dry lips and clicked the green button.

Hello. My voice croaked.

Del, is that you? It was Sumi. She was curt. Jesus, Del, I have been trying to call you for hours! Where are you? Where’s Omar?

He’s driving.

Omar looked over at me, mouthing silently. Who is it?

Am at the police station in Jalan Hang Tuah. Come now! Marina’s been arrested.

Shit! Okay. I’ll tell him. We’ll be there soon.

What now? Omar muttered.

It’s Marina, she’s been arrested. I sighed and looked out the window. I straightened my seat and sat up. My heart started beating faster and that familiar thrill of adrenaline-charged anger willed me to sit up straight and grit my teeth.

I turned to Omar and said: I will talk to you about what happened, but right now, now I need coffee. My friend has been arrested and I need to help her.

By the time they got to the police station, Fairman was already there, standing beside Sumi, who glared openly at Del.

Omar took stock of the situation and asked, “What happened?”

“There was a raid at a gay bar along Changkat Bukit Bintang last night and Marina was picked up,” Sumi said.

“What for?” Omar asked.

“Section 28?” Del replied.

“That’s right.”

“And how do you know this?” Omar snapped at Del.

“It’s okay,” Sumi interjected quickly, soothingly. “There’s nothing we can do now anyway. She’s in the lock-up till Monday.”

“Seriously?” Del moaned.

“It’s a Saturday, nothing gets processed till Monday,” Omar cut in curtly.

“We should know this, right? From the good ol’ days…” Fairman quipped with a laugh, trying to break the tension.

Omar turned sharply on his heels and started walking. “Right, let’s go!” he said over his shoulder.