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The chirps of the night bugs echoed in the distance over the silence of the room, but all I could see was the darkness as I hid behind the door.

Slowly, I heard footsteps approaching the door, and my heart began pounding hard against my ribs.

Scared, I clutched my doll to myself – terrified of what will become of me if the men saw me.

As their footsteps became closer, I stepped back as quietly as I could, not wanting to make any sound, but then, a loud squish came from beneath me, and my heart skipped a beat, as I shot my eyes to the door, and through the little key-hole, I sighted the skin of one of the men, and I knew at once that they were coming for me.

My mouth parted open with a small whim, "Mom! Dad!" as I called out for my parents.

The doorknob was turned, and my eyes popped out in fear, as my lips tore open with a shout, "No!"

"Keji!"

A voice from the distance called out to me, and I peeled my eyelids open to see Enitan's worried gaze on me. Still startled, I looked around myself and realized that I was safe in my bed and in Enitan's warm arms.

"Are you okay?" Enitan asked.

I turned back to him, and he got his answer upon seeing the look I had in my eyes, as he simply pulled me to himself, and wrapped his arms around me in a light cuddle. Unable to fight the pain and fear that the dream had brought back, I wept into his chest.

"You're going to be fine, Keji," He cooed.

As much as I had tried forgetting what had happened, it just keeps coming back. I was just a six-year-old then, but my mind still recollects everything clearly, and occasionally, the nightmares keep coming for me, and along with this, are the pains and hurts of the wound my parent's death had inflicted on me. I would do anything just to forget that night, but no matter what, I just can't.

"I'm trying to," I wept.

Enitan understood this, as he has always done, and he simply kept his arms securely around me. Slowly, I felt the storms in my mind go calm, and I relaxed into the comfort of my best friend's grip.

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"C'mon, you don't seriously want all six flavors, do you?" Enitan asked as we both walked through the premises of Shoprite Mall.

I eyed him. "Aren't you the one who asked me to cheer up?"

"Yes, I did," He admitted, "But going sugar-crazy wasn't what I had in mind."

I laughed. "Well, sorry, but I am going to have the infinite pack," I insisted.

He simply laughed at this, as we walked to the cream stand. After buying my desired pack, we walked back outside and into the huge parking lot of the mall. On getting into the car, I immediately brought out the ice cream and was about to devour it when Enitan spoke up.

"Don't you want appetizers with it?"

I faced him – as my eyes went wide. "Of course I do. How could you treat me out for creams without actual snacking?"

He raised his eyebrow at me. "Oh, alright! Madame, what snacks would you like?"

Holding my head up, I said, "The very best hors d'oeuvres they have to serve, my man."

"Your wish is my command, your majesty," He chuckled as he returned to the building.

Bored, I turned up the radio in the car and began bobbing my head to the tune being played. I was so engrossed in this that I did not notice that my little entertainment had pulled the attention of some nearby guys who also look to be thugs from the way they gathered around the vehicle.

Noticing them, I turned off the radio.

"Yeah, what?" I questioned them.

The men laughed, coordinately, and my lips curled up into a frown. One thing I hate more than rude people are people that make fun of me or what I say.

"I don't remember making a joke, so what's funny?"

Again, they laughed, upsetting me even more. I was about to lash out at them when one spoke up.

"Keji D, right?" He asked.

Without giving me a chance to reply, he continued.

"We are fans," He added.

I raised an eyebrow at this, but then, I pulled my lips into a small smile. "Oh, you are? That's good."

The man moved closer to my side of the car. "As your adored fans, we request that you spend a while with us."

Now, I was getting really confused with their words. "What do you mean?"

Instead of the man, another spoke up – his voice gruffer than his friend's.

"We need to hang out, you know to catch up?"

I eyed him – suspicion reeking through my veins. I knew that something about the men was just wrong, but I couldn't place what it was.

I pulled on a smile – trying to be nice to them. "I am so sorry, but I would not be able to hang with you guys now."

The men exchanged glances and they laughed – coordinately again, but this time, it was more disturbing than the last time.

"Oh, we didn't say you could choose, Keji D," The former man spoke up, as his hand went to his belt line, and my eyes followed his movement, only to land on the unmistakable handle of a gun, and I froze.

They weren't here to chat with me. They were here to kidnap me.

My mind began racing in several directions – thinking of what I could do to save myself from the men without getting myself or any other innocent person in danger. But my thoughts were interrupted when I heard Enitan's voice rip through the air, and my eyes darted away from the man to him.

The man with the gun moved to me, seeing that Enitan was probably going to give him and his gangs a problem with carting away with their prey – me. But, Eni was faster than him, as, within a second, he already had the man down, and swiftly snatched the gun from him, and instantly began raining punches on the poor guy's face.

This attracted the attention of the mall officers and some other shoppers, as a crowd began to form slowly. Seeing that everyone's got their eyes on them, the remaining men ran off leaving Enitan and the one with the gun.

Even though help was already here, Enitan kept punching the man in the face – to the extent I was sure his knuckled would bleed.

"It is okay, sir!" One of the officers said to him, but no, when Enitan gets mad, no one can stop him, no one but me.

So, I yelled, "Enitan, please!"

And, he immediately dropped the man to the ground – his eyes turning to me instantly. He went over with his temper again, Enitan knew, but this time around, the public are going to talk about it, which meant all the tabloids are going to have one name on their headlines tomorrow – Keji Dolapo.

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