Strength

16.1

Amir stops abruptly in front of the couch and turns around to be face to face with her. "No, you wrong."

She smirks. "No, I'm right. When you got out of prison, you were lost. Nai introduced you to me and I literally built you from the ground up. I helped you clear your record, I convinced Naomi to get you that job, it was me who made you look good to your parole officer in the span of 3 months." She pokes her finger into his chest.
"You don't have any of this without Rayne. And what do you do? Go sleep with someone else, someone basic."

"You need to be careful who you talkin' to like that." He glares at her.

"You gon hit me? Do it. Seems like you been itchin' to do it for years now." Rayne shrugs. "But, just know that I ain't never lost a fight."

The two stare at each other long and hard. The woman he knew before was partly gone. It seemed as if a piece of her vanished when he admitted his sins.

   It seemed unfair that no matter how much he strived to be the man his conscience wanted him to be, it would keep taunting him with his failures.

"She didn't mean shit to me. I ended it because I love you."

Rayne moves closer to him. "If you loved me, you would have never slept with her in the first place."

Amir plops down on the couch. "It was a mistake."

"A choice." Rayne corrects him. "It was a choice you made. A horrible one."

"Rayne, babygirl, we can fix it. What you want me to do? I'll do it."

Rayne's tears were coming down like waterworks. Anger was subsiding while pain is just setting in. The man she vowed to love for an eternity betrayed her love in the worst way possible.

"Support your man, they say." Rayne slowly paces around the room. "Be strong. Stand by him. Uplift him." She looks at Amir. "Who the hell is looking out for me?!"

Amir looks up at her, but remains quiet. He wants to console her. He wants to hold her, fearing that this may be his last opportunity to do so. "Not one child, but three. I risked my life for a family, our family."

"I kno—"

"Shut up." Rayne holds up her hand. "You've had many chances to talk. To get some help. To save our marriage. Now?" She lifts up her eyebrows. "You're gonna sit there and listen to what the hell I gotta say."

Amir rubs his hands together nervously, something he rarely does. The last time he did so is when he was sitting in a court room waiting for his sentencing.

In a peculiar way, this felt the same. However, this time, in the court of love and heartbreak, he thought he was going to get the death penalty.

"You are a warrior, but even men of war take off their armour once in a while. I see glimpses of the man underneath—but then you work or drink to cover it up, hide your true self from my eyes." Rayne sighs. "To see you hide when I shared all that I am was my first heartbreak."

    She goes quiet again and Amir is unsure if he should speak. Rayne takes off her blazer and throws it on the chair.

"A felon." Rayne begins to speak again. "My dad was not going for that shit. He thought I'd lost my mind. I defended you, though. Hell, you was my man. But, other than that, I saw potential. For the most part, you've reached it."