Page 107 of Waiting for Ru
Jasim put his arm around him. “Are you okay?”
“Has it gone?”
“Not yet.”
There was another scream and Ru pressed himself harder against Jasim. There were lots of bangs and explosions, people shouting and yelling, then finally the loud noises stopped and it was just music. Ru risked a glance and saw two people covered in blood were embracing.
“That’s the end,” Jasim said.
Ru sat up on the seat. “I have no idea what that was about.”
Jasim laughed. “Nor do I.”
He pushed to his feet. Ru followed him out of the screening room.
“I don’t think I like horror films,” Ru said.
“Was it horror?”
Ru widened his eyes. “There was a monster in it.”
“I think that was just an alien.”
“Justan alien? God, I hope I never meet one.”
“We’d be okay if we had those proton adjusters.”
Ru stopped walking. “Youdoknow what it was about, you fibber.”
Jasim smiled. “I really don’t. Want a drink? Something to eat? There are restaurants in the complex.”
“Really?”
Jasim nodded.
“I could eat something.”
They ended up in a pizza place and sat at a table by the wall, Ru with his back to the door. Ru thought pizza was best because he knew he liked it and it was quick. They had a forty-minute drive back and he needed to be up early tomorrow.
“I’m starving,” Ru admitted as the waitress went off with their food and drinks order. “I only had time for a sandwich before I had to leave. I put my bike in the field so I could cycle back. I thought it might look odd if anyone saw me walking in.”
“Thank you for being so careful. I know this looks paranoid and I think maybe I should tell you a bit more about why I need to be cautious.”
“Okay.” Ru pressed his knee against Jasim’s under the table.
“My father told me that if he discovered I’d come out as gay, he’d kill himself.”
The breath caught in Ru’s throat.
“Once he had, then my brothers would kill me and whoever I’d been with.”
Ru knew he was gaping at him. Tears sprang into his eyes and he blinked.
“Jesus, Mary and Joseph,” Ru whispered. “What a fecking awful thing to say.”
Jasim nodded.
Ru thought about it. “Why don’t you tell everyone that? Why don’t you make sure everyone knows what he said? Wouldn’t that stop him doing anything? Because your brothers would get arrested and—”
Jasim brushed his fingers over Ru’s lips. “I thought of that. But my brothers would never be arrested. They wouldn’t kill me themselves.”
“But the authorities would know they were responsible.”
“Unless they were out of Saudi Arabia, it’s unlikely they could be touched. They…”
Jasim’s gaze was fixed over Ru’s shoulder and all the colour had gone from his face.Oh shit.Ru assumed the worst had happened and that Jasim had seen someone he knew. He didn’t dare turn around. Ru knew his face would be a giveaway. Had Jasim’s brother tracked him here?
“We’re just having a meal,” Ru whispered. “We’re doing nothing wrong. Say I was being bullied and you were trying to get to the heart of it.”
He wasn’t sure that Jasim had even heard what he’d said. Then two men were standing by the table and Ru didn’t know what to do.
