Dave had lied to him when he said they would be at the apartment least twenty to a half hour tops; they had remained stuck there more than an hour since. Howard looked at his watch and to his consternation saw the time had gone way past nine. Only on few occasions did he stay out late, seldom when he was already home and something serious compelled him to venture outside again. It came as a surprise too that all this while April had not bothered calling to know where he was or whatever was keeping him. Besides them playing cool with each other, he felt somewhat disappointed that not once had his phone rang the whole time he had watched Dave and the hot-looking blonde submit to the black man who referred to himself Olu Shango.
Howard found himself a chair and sat there mulling over the event he had witnessed while Dave ate the woman's pussy to her satisfaction, then set about putting the room in neat order while the blonde joined Shango in the bathroom. Howard watched his friend change the sheets like only a hotel maid would. He appeared just as content and happy with his actions, even whistled a tune while he tidied up the room. Howard realised he was seeing a distinct part of his friend he had never been made aware of before. He thought back to the video of Jenny getting fucked and blended that with everything he had observed here at the apartment and could not believe the strange relationship they shared and how it had somehow seeped into his own marriage. He could picture April being seduced and persuaded by Jenny to do whatever she wanted of her. It made him somewhat guilty to assume if only he had been paying attention to April's needs all this time then perhaps none of this ever would have occurred.
Howard was lost to his day-dreaming he barely knew when Shango and the blonde woman exited the bathroom, both of them dripping water as they entered the room. The woman was muttering something in hush tone to Shango and it got him laughing aloud. The woman ran a towel down over his arms and torso. She fell to her knees and proceeded to do the same to his legs.
Dave finished with his chores came from around the bed and bowed his head at Shango like a humble English servant would.
"I've wiped off all cum stains and changed the sheets and pillows, Master Shango," he said.
Shango grunted in response. Dave went into the bathroom and was there for a couple of minutes before stepping out, having washing his face and hands.
"Will I be needed for anything else?" he asked.
"Yes, slave. You know the rules. You were late by four minutes, and that translates to a hundred bucks, boy."
Dave swallowed. At that point, Howard could not hold back anymore and shot to his feet.
"What the fuck is this, a shakedown?" he blurted.
Shango glanced at him with cold malice that had Dave not then rushed over and shielded Howard with his backside there was every chance Shango might have lunged at him.
"I'm very sorry for my friend, Master," Dave apologised. "Please offer your forgiveness. He's just coming into this newly. He knows nothing about your reverence."
Shango did not appear appeased. Even Howard at that moment felt a gnawing drop in his stomach, knowing he had said something he should not have. The blonde vamp rose to her feet and it was her who captured Shango's attention by leading him to the bed.
"Please come to bed, Master," she flicked her tongue at him. "I have more of my skills that I want you to see."
Shango snapped his finger at Dave and said, "We're done here, slave. Take your pet dog with you; I'll be hearing from you tomorrow, right?"
"Yes, Master, thank you for your benevolence," Dave ratted off while shoving Howard back towards the way they had come. "I'll wire you the money as promised. Good night, Master Shango."
Shango already had lost interest in them and was at the moment being attended to by the blonde. Dave and Howard made it to the living room and from there out of the apartment.
They said nothing to each other as they walked out of the building. Howard was a little disoriented when they emerged onto the sidewalk that he almost forgot where Dave had parked his car until he hurried alongside him towards where he had left it. Dave unlocked the car doors and got inside. Howard stopped to look back at the apartment building they had just left as if hoping he would remember it if ever he drove by it in the daytime.
"Get in," said Dave from within.
Howard opened the door and slid inside. His initial thought was that Dave was upset with his outburst at the apartment, but instead he was sporting a grin on his face as Howard snapped his seatbelt into place.
"Fun night, was not it?" Dave said before starting the car.
"If you say so," was all Howard could offer to say. He was too tired and numb to think of anything else. All that was on his mind was to return home to April and his son. Dave left his friend to himself while he drove, preferring to let Howard stew in his thoughts. He could just imagine he had a thousand questions clustered in his mind that he wanted to let loose. Except for his outburst, Howard had surprised him the way he had maintained steady silence the whole time they were in the apartment. Dave had worried that he might end up bolting out of the room, especially when the time came that he went to clean master Shango's cock. Dave could not help feel a profound respect for his buddy; he knew though he had more work to ingeniously apply on him.
The neighbourhood was as quiet as a cemetery when they returned home. Dave pulled over on the curb in front of Howard's driveway. It was then that Howard was able to find his tongue after unclipping his seatbelt.
"What the hell was all that that I saw back there, Dave?" he enunciated each word as he turned to his friend who responded with a shrug. "You've gone insane, you know that? Was I suddenly lost in the Twilight Zone with everything I saw happen back at that room?"
"Well, first things first, what did you see, Howard?"
"Didn't you actually suck that black man's cock back there? Tell me I was not seeing things."
"No, you weren't. And that was not any typical black man. His name's Olu Shango. To mere mortals like myself and Jenny and plenty of people out there, he's known as Master Shango."
"What is he, some sort of god or something?" He meant it sarcastically but his friend didn't get that.
"If you want to put it that way, sort of, yeah."
"Don't tell me he's fucked Jenny too."
"He has, but it's been a long while. He's from Nigeria. You saw the way he banged that blonde chick right? Tell me you won't want to see something like that every day? Imagine if you had him fucking April?"
Howard wanted to say something but Dave's words jarred him to a halt and almost knocked air from his lungs.
"You can't be fucking serious," he said.
"Of course, I'm serious. Look, I know what you saw was way too heavy for you to handle. But don't worry about it; there's a lot more you need to know about. We'll talk later when you're feel better. I'd better get to running home; Jenny's going to want to hear about what happened tonight."
Howard climbed out of the car, but stopped to make one last confer with his friend.
"Dave, look, this whole thing that you and Jenny have got April hooked on . . . I know you're trying to do it to me too. And I don't know for whatever reason, but I'd really like you to count me out of it."
They said good night to each other and Dave turned his car around and drove home while Howard walked to his front door and let himself inside. The house as quiet as outside. He went into the kitchen and finished a glass of water before going upstairs.
He opened the bedroom door quietly, not wanting to stir April awake. He shut the door behind him but he took two steps then stopped when suddenly her bedside lamp came on and there she was sitting upright on the bed; her book lay face down on her thigh. Neither of them said anything for a few seconds.
"Hey," he said. "You're awake."
"Isn't that obvious?"
"I didn't want you waiting up for me."
"You've been gone quite long," she said. "Must have had yourself some fun."
"You've no idea," he said.
He got out of his clothes then came to bed in his shorts. April closed her book and dropped it on her cabinet then switched off her lamp just as Howard huddled under the covers on his side. Neither said good night to each other; neither turned over to embrace the other. The silence was like a vacuum. Howard hated it but felt helpless to do anything about it.
"April," he called out tentatively, almost not expecting any response but was surprised when she did.
"Yeah?"
"I don't want you spending time with Jenny anymore."
A beat of silence, then, "Why?"
"I just don't want you to. Will you do that?"
"No."
Howard figured she would say that. There was nothing left to be said. He slipped into dreamland, but not before seeing himself back at the apartment room with the black man known as Master Shango fucking the blonde chick.
Except this time, the blonde woman was actually April.