"Son... please... listen to your mother. Go inside your bedroom and allow us to handle this. We can't afford to lose you if something goes wrong. Please..."
Rosemary broke down in tears. She was genuinely scared of losing her son due to all the heart-aching drama. She already observed his abnormal erratically banging heart rhythm and his alarming perspiration.
"I just want her to tell me why mum..." Brian's whole body shook with so much grief as he slowly took his seat beside his soothing mother.
"I think your husband deserves some answers, Lola." Aunty Martha spat out between clenched jaws. Her frosty glare and her frigid tone were potent enough to asphyxiate Lola.
"What stupid excuse can she give to us, Aunty Martha?"
Clara cried out from where she was standing. Even though she was aware that the contracted virus could not be passed on from standing close to or touching the infected victim, she still gave Lola a reasonable distance.
"She is a cheap slut, a liar, a cheat and now, a sick woman, who is going to die a lonely and miserable death. Let's throw out of this house before she infects us all."
"Will you shut up young lady and allow the elders to decide on what to do?" Aunty Martha's stern voice reverberated in the room.
Rosemary's face contoured at her elder sister's harsh words to Clara. However, she kept mute and waited patiently for Martha to finish her interrogation.
Aunty Martha returned her icy gaze to Lola and said, "We are all waiting for your explanation, Lola. Did you really cheat on your husband by sleeping with your boss? Did you visit Glove Clinic and conduct these tests stated on this document? Or are these papers false?"
Lola shifted on her aching and trembling knees, guilt spelt out in bold letters on her forehead. Tears flowed down her reddened cheek like a torrent and her frail body shook with turmoil and hopelessness.
For the first time after five years of her marriage to Brian, she wished she had died in the accident that stole her memory. The Hart family and all the friends she had made in Westler City were the only memories she had.
"Young woman... don't force me to come over to you and slap the words out of your mouth." Aunty Martha bellowed ferociously pulling Lola out of her excruciating thoughts.
"Can't you see your husband is suffering? Put him out of his misery and tell us the truth. Did you or did you not sleep with your boss?"
"It was a mistake..." Lola's broken voice came out in a whisper.
"I didn't catch that!" Aunty Martha clenched her fist. "Louder!"
Lola sucked in her breath as cold beads of sweat trickled down the back of her neck.
"It was a mistake. He drugged me and forced himself on me."
"Liar!" Clara screeched.
"You worthless whore!" Rosemary shot up to her feet and charged towards Lola. She grabbed Lola by the hair and unleashed several ear-deafening slaps on her face until Uncle Melvin came to Lola's rescue.
"Take it easy, Rosy," Melvin pleaded to his bitterly enraged sister. "She is pregnant and sick. If we all continue to hit her this way, she could die in her hands and we will all go to jail for murder."
"I don't care! I want her dead!" Rosemary raved on and on like a deranged lunatic. "Since she has decided to hurt my son and bring shame to our family, I will kill her with my bare hands."
Sprawled on the floor like a corpse, Lola wailed weakly. Her face was covered with different reddened hand prints. Her disheveled hair was looking like the furs of an electrocuted cat. Her nose and mouth were oozing with fresh blood. In her present pitiful state, death was a gift.
"I'm ...s...s...sorry." Lola hiccuped, rolling to her side and spitting out more blood.
Everyone in the room instinctively avoided her like a plague. They were scared of coming in contact with her blood.
"Brian, you have heard your wife's confession. She is guilty of having extra marital affair and getting herself pregnant and infected. Tell us what you want and we will ensure your wish is executed." Aunty Martha said in a resolute tone.
Brian took in a deep breath and closed his eyes to gather his emotions before speaking in a deadpan voice.
"I want this cheating slut out of my house and out of my life."
"Noooooooooo!" Lola shrieked like a woman in labour, who had just been told that her husband had passed on.
"You heard him... throw this filth out of this house!" Rosemary charged her brother and his son. "And ensure you wash your hands thoroughly after wards."
"Please... Brian... don't do this...I'm sorry...I love you... I did it to save you... Please..."
Lola continued to wail hysterically as Uncle Melvin and his first son, forced her up to her feet and started to drag her out of the house.
"I hate you... I hate you with every bit of my heart." Brain cried with so much bitterness and rage.
"Please..." Lola's voice trailed as the entrance door was slammed shut in her face.
Just then, Chelsea's car pulled over by the driveway of her bestie's home.
"Oh my goodness..." Chelsea had barely turned off the car ignition when she rushed out of the car to meet her distraught friend.
She could see a little crowd of neighbours standing at a distance from where Lola was hysterically banging at the closed door.
Some of these concerned neighbours were murmuring and shaking their heads in sympathy without rendering assistance. Other malicious neighbours were busy taking pictures and making videos of Lola's traumatic experience.
"Lola! Who did this to your face?!" Chelsea's eyes almost popped out of its socket as she stared at her bestie's swollen and disfigured face.
"I'm finished...oh... Chelsea, I'm finished!" Lola wailed even harder.
"Oh God...calm down. Shhh...I'm here for you." Chelsea pulled her away from the door and into her arms.
"B...b...b...brian.... B... Brian... Brian k...knows. E... everyone knows..." Lola hiccuped, shaking vigorously like a dried Autumn leaf on a windy day.
"He does!" Chelsea gasped, her open mouth forming a perfect O. "But...how...who told him...w...where did he... You know what, this is not the right place to discuss this. Let's go over to my house."