There was a moment's silence.
"I told you never to do that again!"
He heard the sound of another slap.
"Whore, bitch!
That's the only language you understand!" There was a pause, then "Rina!"
The hidden sound of fear was in the voice.
Amru Singh thought it sounded much like the trainer of the tiger who steps into the cage only to find his kitten has become a full-grown cat.
"What are you doing?
Put down that shoe!"
Then there was a half-pitched scream and the sound of a body falling, tumbling erratically down the long, steep stair well.
And for the first time in the memory of anyone there, Amru Singh left a party before the last guest had departed.
Rina was standing at the railing, her face ashen, looking down the stair well.
Her sharp-pointed high-heeled shoe was still in her hand.
He took the shoe from her fingers and bending down, slipped it on her foot.
"I never even touched her!"
"I know," Amru Singh said quietly.
She collapsed suddenly against him.
He could feel the wild, frightened beating of her heart against his chest.
"She slipped and fell over the railing!"
"Don't say anything to anyone!" he whispered commandingly. "Leave the talking to me!"
Then the door behind them opened and two departing guests came out into the hall.
Amru Singh turned toward them, his hand pressing Rina's face against his chest so that she could scarcely breathe, let alone speak.
"There's been an accident," he said calmly.
"Call a doctor."
He felt Rina begin to cry against his shoulder.
He looked down at the shining blond head. A strange satisfied look came into his dark, deep-set eyes.
His portent had come true.
The evil goddess, Kali, had struck.
But this time, she was not to receive the innocent as a further sacrifice to her power, no matter how carefully she had contrived to plant the guilt.
12.
Rina was standing on her head, the length of her body against the wall, when Jacques entered the apartment.
He stood there for a moment, looking at her slim body, sheathed in the tight black leotard, her hair shining as it spilled over on the floor.
"What are you doing?" he asked politely.
She smiled an upside-down smile at him. "Standing on my head."
"I can see that," he answered. "But why?"
"Amru Singh says it is very good for the brain.
The blood washes the brain and a new perspective is given to the world.
He is right, too. You just don't know how different everything looks upside down."
"Did Amru Singh also tell you how one goes about kissing a girl who is standing on her head?" he asked with a smile.
"No," she answered. A mischievous smile came over her face. "I thought of that myself!" She arched her back quickly and moved her legs.
He laughed aloud.
There was no mistaking the invitation of the Y she made against the wall.
He bent forward quickly, placing his head between her outstretched legs, and kissed her.
She collapsed on the floor in laughter.
"It is good to hear you laugh," he said. "You did not laugh much at first."
"I wasn't happy at first."
"And you are happy now?" he asked.
The laughter was still in her eyes as she looked up at him.
"Very happy."
She was a very different person from the dazed girl he had seen that night several months ago.