Kal glared at me with such intensity that I imagined that even if a mosquito was to land on his eyeball there and then, he still wouldn’t blink. I could only look into his eyes for but a second or two before I had to look away again.

“Fei hua!” he growled

“What?” I asked feigning shock

“That’s a Fay-fay d’pian.”

“I…”

“You gorram coward, you’re ruttin’ lying to me”

“I’m not…”

Impatient, Kal pushed me against the wall and demanded the truth from me, pressing his right arm hard against my upper chest

“Listen to me! I’m gonna find him one way or another, but I think you’ll find its better to be on my good side and point me in the right direction”

Kal was, believe it or not, a good guy. Passionate, granted, but a good guy nevertheless. But that day was not one to test his patience; I learnt that it was better to be on his good side than his bad

“I… I don’t want you to make a mistake” I admitted

“I won’t”

I didn’t know if he meant he would try and control himself if he finds the guy responsible or that he just wouldn’t consider beating the living hell out of him “a mistake”.

Whether I agreed with Kal or not wasn’t the issue, I wasn’t about to put the wellbeing of a criminal ahead of my own. Even if I wanted to, I couldn’t stop Kal. Honestly I didn’t know if I wanted to. He probably was right, if the person got away, then there was a good possibility they would never be brought to justice, and the more I thought about that possibility, the more I felt the responsibility to point Kal in the right direction.

“Okay, okay” I surrendered, “he’s down there”. I nodded my head towards the opposite end of the corridor that lead to my room.

Kal stared into my eyes until I’m sure he was confidant enough that the words I spoke to him were the truth. He stepped back and muttered a “right” before turning and making for the location I had given him.

“Kal, wait” I uttered to him hastily.

“You can’t talk me out of this” he called back irritated.

“No, but I can help”

He turned back to face me.