Ebun woke up groaning from a severe headache. The headache fairies had multiplied in size once the deadly sound emanating from her alarm clock assaulted her eardrums. Slowly, she opened her eyelids. The first thing she saw was a cobweb dangling from a joist in her room.

Waking up to a cobweb-infested room on the sixth floor of Hostel Pavlov didn't help matters much. It only contributed to her sour mood and throbbing headache as she now managed to get up from her bed. She leaned on to the side table and squinted her eyes to the digital screen of her alarm clock.

It was seven o'clock.

She had time to prepare for her meeting with Sean, a.k.a "the fake excursion." The night before (that is, the same day Mrs. Yekaterina had asked for her favor), Ebun decided to spare no time. Ebun hadn't wasted any time with the post-graduate's case. Still, this particular case felt like it needed intense urgency. Hence, she sent Sean a long paragraph of a text during lunchtime.

Sean seemed to understand the urgency of the matter, and so his reply came nearly a minute later:

"We are going to have a meeting with Mrs. Yekaterina at my apartment tomorrow. Henceforth, we might have to spend more time together to deal with this case. That is You and I. So you should think of a good lie to tell your hostel mistress. I'll come to pick you up with a school bus tomorrow morning."

From the way he'd replied, Ebun could tell that Sean didn't joke with Mrs. Yekaterina. He'd concurred immediately without asking any questions or giving Ebun a task. Ebun had thought that trying to convince Sean about Mr. Kojo and Irina would be a huge task, but Sean believed it immediately. The reality of it warmed Ebun's heart.

Fortunately, when Ebun arrived at the hostel the previous evening, she'd met Viktoriya at the lawn. Hence, they spent the entire evening discussing how to protect Ebun from the claws of Mrs. Mariyah.

"I have another idea!" Victoriya said with a triumphant beam of hope after previously providing twenty unsuccessful ideas. "Since this guy in your gang is coming to pick you up in a school bus tomorrow, we could just tell mum that you are going for an educational excursion. You could pack a few clothes and —"

"That's a good idea, but the thing is, I don't plan on spending the night at his place. At least, I don't want to. You know, I'm kind of scared that he may...hurt me or perhaps, even rape me. It's never occurred to me until now. I mean, this guy in question hates women with an insane passion, " Ebun replied.

Ebun was surprised at herself. Although from what she'd observed from spending a few days with Sean, it seemed like he only hated women that assaulted young boys. If that weren't the case, he wouldn't have women in his abode — the women Ebun had met on her first day at the psycho barracks.

Still, Ebun had a niggling feeling that Sean didn't particularly enjoy being around her very much. Whenever they weren't killing any rapist from the Medical school, Sean was always away, whether he was perhaps, busy hurting women or not. And there was always this hostile attitude Sean had towards her whenever she tried to inquire what he was up to — just for the sake of wanting to know more about him. He didn't want room for friendship between them.

Whyever the hell did they even have to be friends anyway?

Maybe she was overthinking it since this was her second assassination assignment. Or perhaps it was because she had a teeny weeny bit of admiration for Sean and wished for more between them — like a friendship.

Still, she felt it was best to stay away— for the sake of her safety. Moreover, there was no way she could spend more time with Sean than she already was. Yemisi would come back to Russia and create a scene if she learned that Ebun wasn't staying at Hostel Pavlov! Staying with Sean would indeed be bollocks.

"Oh. Hmm, " Viktoriya reasoned. "Okay then. There's an abandoned ladder in the backyard of our hostel. I can position it to the side of your window sill every night. So when you return, you can climb the ladder and enter the hostel through your window. Then the next day, you wake up before everyone else in the hostel and leave through the window. That way, my mum would think that you have truly gone on an excursion."

"Hmm. I think that can work."

"Yeah. Also, the only good thing about the rooms on the sixth floor is that they have the largest windows. So when you climb in, you can pull the ladder into your room. Then stretch it down outside when next you need it."

"Thanks, Vik."

That night when Mrs. Mariyah came back from the market, Viktoriya and Ebun told her about the upcoming excursion. With a skeptical expression on her face, Mrs. Mariyah had said that she would give the matter a thorough thought.

Now, as Ebun hurriedly stuffed some of her clothes into a small leather bag, fake-packing for her "excursion," she tried her hardest to hope that the "thoroughness" of Mrs. Mariyah's thoughts wouldn't produce a negative answer. Even the word had deposited fear in her heart, making her body shudder slightly with tremor.

She took a quick bath and got dressed in her most modest, student-ish outfit – something she would ordinarily never wear — a blue long-sleeved chiffon top on a flowery patterned flared skirt. She'd even slipped on her student ID card to convince Mrs. Mariyah qabout the excursion.

Ebun was all set, so she hurried down the stairs and got to the dining table on the first floor. She brought her hand closer to her face to check the time on the screen of her wristwatch.

7:50 am.

That said a lot. She'd descended through six floors with steep staircases within a short time. Sean would arrive in ten minutes. Ebun still had time for breakfast. In the dining room, Mrs. Mariyah was placing some earthenware carefully on the dining table.

Then slowly, Mrs. Mariyah looked up at Ebun as she approached the table. Mrs. Mariyah had a bad back, so it had taken almost two minutes for her to straighten and acknowledge Ebun's presence fully. Then Mrs. Mariyah studied her appearance.

"Yoo say yoo are going for eskursion today, right?"

"Yes, ma'am, " Ebun nodded graciously while she dropped a tea bag into a cup of steaming hot water.

"Hmm, " Mrs. Mariyah reasoned. "Take pictures of yourself during ze eskcursion."

Ebun had almost said "huh?!" out loud but was thankful she had restrained herself. The request had taken Ebun by surprise, but then she realized how simple it was. Hence she was even more grateful that Mrs. Mariyah hadn't demanded much from her or fired her with questions that she hadn't planned answers to. Maybe Mrs. Mariyah was allowing her on the excursion because Ebun had been a good girl lately by going to school and managing to come home on time.

So Ebun nodded obediently and settled on the breakfast table. Mrs. Mariyah extended a plate of steak to Ebun. Ebun dug her fork and began to eat. Ebun hadn't devoured much of the steak when Mrs. Mariyah asked her a question.

"Vhere are you going to for ze eskursion?"

It was a simple question, but for a blatant liar like Ebun, who hadn't formulated an answer to that question long before it was asked, it was so difficult that the effect of its toughness had made a chunk of the steak go down the wrong windpipe.

"Eboon? Are you okay? Drink some vater!" Mrs. Mariyah panicked, offering a glass of water on watching Ebun cough so violently.

"I'm sorry about that, ma'am, " Ebun cleared her throat after gulping down some water from the glass cup. "Err... I am going to the archeological site for dental fossils of dinosaurs, " Ebun blurted out.

Ebun didn't know how that response sounded and wished she'd taken more time to think instead of spewing out a mumble jumble of nonsense.

"Eh?" Mrs. Mariyah questioned.

Mrs. Mariyah wasn't very educated, but she had a good knowledge of bones, thanks to Viktoriya. Hence, she was confused about why a dentistry student was studying the teeth of extinct animals. More so, did dinosaurs only die in one place? Did they only die in Russia? Why was there a specific site where fossils of dinosaurs could be found? Weren't fossils usually scattered across several countries?

Mrs. Mariyah would have loved to investigate further if it weren't for the loud honking of a minivan from outside of Hostel Pavlov.

8:00 am. Sean was here.

"I have to go now, ma'am. The school bus is here!" Ebun said brightly. She'd never been more thankful for an interruption as life-saving as that.

Ebun gripped her small leather bag and dashed out of the hostel. When Mrs. Mariyah yelled at Ebun to take pictures for the second time, Ebun simply waved in response.

***

Mrs. Yekaterina had just walked into the headquarters of the psycho barracks — Minutes after Sean had driven Ebun with the school bus. She looked even paler than yesterday. Dark circles with a splash of reddish veins had coagulated beneath her eyes, becoming more vivid.

Had she cried this much, or had she been punched in the eye? Ebun wondered as she watched Mrs. Yekaterina settled down on the small armchair next to where she and Sean had sat.

"Did you come with the pictures as I asked of yesterday?" Sean demanded, getting straight to the point. No "good morning," No "I'm sorry about your daughter."

Ebun didn't like the way Sean treated the matter as though it were business. Mrs. Yekaterina had been a special ally to their previous murder operation, so she deserved some respect — even though the school in which she lectured was dependent on Sean and his league for justice to its notorious crimes.

Mrs. Yekaterina nodded, sniffing. Immediately, she raised her bright red handbag from the ground and balanced it on her lap as she began to dig in. Soon, she brought out a small bunch of photographs and handed them to Sean with shaky hands.

Ebun leaned closer to have a look as soon as Sean retrieved the photographs. They were gory photos of Irina, Mrs. Yekaterina's daughter. In the pictures were deep, bloody cuts on different parts of Irina's half-naked body — the sides of her back, the nape of her neck, and a rough scratch on the thin skin above her vagina.

Sean's grip tightened on the photograph, nearly squeezing it into a fold. His jaw clenched, and Ebun noticed the muscle of his fingers grow taut. Who wouldn't be boiling with anger after taking a glance at those photos? Even a misogynist like Sean would be! — or maybe he wouldn't since he was a misogynist and perhaps pretended to show emotions just because he had to at the sight of such nightmarish photos. On the other hand, Ebun genuinely felt heartbroken. Moisture gathered in her eyes before she could even get to finish looking at all the photographs.

This pretty little girl didn't deserve this intense amount of pain. I hope she survives this incident.

"My God... How is she doing at the hospital, ma'am?" Ebun asked as a tear uncontrollably slipped down her right eye.

"Ze doctor has dressed most of ze wounds. But she's lost a lot of blood, and ze wounds von't heal fast if she doesn't get a blood transplant. I will go in search of a blood donor today. If I don't find one, I vill just buy a blood bank."

"I wish you all the best with that, ma'am. I pray that Irina will recover."

Sean didn't take his eyes off the photographs. His jaw remained clenched and his finger muscles taut. "Now I know the kind of pain that we must make Mr. Kojo suffer, " He growled.

Then he turned to look at Mrs. Yekaterina. "Tell us everything you know about Mr. Kojo. I want to know who he is — down to how he eats. Spare no detail about him."

"Ahem, " Mrs. Yekaterina cleared her throat and adjusted her seating position to portray more seriousness. "Mr. Kojo ees a black man. I vould say hees skeen ees ze exact color of a chocolate bar. In fact, Eet's hees skeen that makes heem so popular — especially among ze stoodents. You know how silly these stoodents can be when they see a black person. They start asking them eef they live with lions and apes in Afreeca. Also, hee's very friendly with ze stoodents and accommodates them a bit too much. A long time ago, I even heard small rumor talks about Mr. Kojo gifting some of ze stoodents candies and expensive sweets from expensive stores in Moscow."

"Did you just say sweets and candies?" Sean chuckled slightly. "Are the students kids?"

"I don't think that's the question you should be asking right now, " Ebun chipped in. "Mr. Kojo might have indeed lured some of those poor students with those sweets and candies because I see students obsess over junk food in school. It's crazy, but I agree with Mrs. Yekaterina. Those students act like babies.

Although it could be more than just the candies that's doing the trick. It could also be his charisma, his crafty use of words, his smile or even the endless promises he makes to his victims while giving them the junk food and afterward. The question we should be asking is, were those students all girls? That way, his intentions would be clearer to us."

"As if it's not fucking obvious. Who else would receive candies from Mr. Kojo if it weren't girls?" Sean remarked savagely at Ebun.

"What?" Ebun laughed sardonically.

Sometimes, she couldn't stand the guts of this misogynistic, chauvinistic asshole! Did the boys have stomachs that were candy-intolerant? What made them unable to receive candies as gifts? Mr. Kojo could have been after the boys too! There are several other hurtful things he could have done to the boys! Mr. Kojo could also have been a predator to both the boys and the girls! He could have assaulted both genders!

She wanted to hurl those words at Sean but considered Mrs. Yekaterina's presence. This was a serious discussion. Having a petty argument would be disrespectful to her, so she swallowed her responses.

"I'm not very certain, " Mrs. Yekaterina answered Ebun. "But ven I heard ze rumor, I heard eet from some girls vho looked jealous of ze other stoodents zat got sveets ahnd candies from Mr. Kojo."

"Oh. Then those students were girls for sure. Girls are usually jealous of each other. The girls who didn't get the sweets probably had a secret crush on Mr. Kojo, " Ebun analyzed. "I feel bad for the girls that received the candies. He must have raped them effortlessly, knowing that even if the girls dared to tell anyone of what happened, no one would believe them since Mr. Kojo is a very nice man and is loved by many."

"Exactly, " Mrs. Yekaterina agreed.

"Do you think he did the same thing with your daughter?"

"Err..." Mrs. Yekaterina squinted her eyes. At that moment, she looked like a raccoon especially with the way the dark circles under her eyes became more visible. "Zat vas my feerst time bringing my daughter vith me to ze school, so zere's no vay Mr. Kojo gave her sweets before zat time."

"Hmm, " Sean grunted. "Do you think Mr. Kojo did it to get back at you for something you did to him? It could be something you didn't regard as offensive, but perhaps, he took offense. You know he comes to clean your office regularly. It might have been a casual remark you made or something. Try to remember, " Sean urged her.

"Hmm. No, But..." Mrs. Yekaterina gazed aimlessly, then her eyes shone brightly for a moment, beholding a memory. "I think I now remember a time ven I must have offended heem. Eet vas a veek after I had heard zat rumor. I came late for my lecture on zeez particular dey. Ven I stepped in, I saw Mr. Kojo, chatting and laughing loudly vith my stoodents as though he vere one of them. He'd even distributed sweets to one of them. I vas displeased to see such disorderliness going on in my class.

So I yelled at heem and told heem to get back to hees duty as a janitor. Mr. Kojo apologized frantically before leaving. I didn't theenk he vas offended by zat, though. I thought he vas mature enough to reason. Zen I ahksed ze stoodents to return ze sweets they'd received from Mr. Kojo. Ven I counted all ze candies on my desks, zere vere about twenty-five in number."

"Oh!" Ebun said with a new, burning rage. "So the bastard got angry that you disrupted the commencement of his strategic actions and got back at you by raping your daughter. The nerve of this bastard!" Ebun seethed. "It's even so dehumanizing that these innocent girls get molested over a cheap nylon of candy.

"Let's plan on how to kill Mr. Kojo. No criminal in their sane mind would go back to the environment where they have just committed a crime. So, where does he live?" Sean asked, rubbing his palms together.

"Err... I'm not sure about that. Although, I know zat all ze auxeeleeary staff of First Moscow Uneeverseety live in a staff's quarters. Ze quarters ees three streets away from ze school."

"How about we think in another direction?" Ebun quipped in calmly. How about we think as Mr. Kojo would think? We aren't dealing with "every criminal" here, " Ebun said in reference to Sean's lazy statement.

"I'm sure this is not the first girl he's raped. I don't think he will run away or cease coming to the school. Mr. Kojo has been able to get away with his previous crimes because he knows he has a good reputation with many people in the school. Mr. Kojo knows he has silenced his victims forever. Hence, he will come to school on Sunday like the nice guy that everyone thinks he is. He will come to clean your office as usual like nothing ever happened."

"We are talking about a little girl here, " Sean argued. "And from what you told me, Mrs. Yekaterina happened to walk into her office when Mr. Kojo was running away. She saw it happen. People will believe Mrs. Yekaterina if she said he raped her daughter. That's why he ran away fearfully. Because she has more authority and is not an average teenage student, it will even be an opportunity for other victims to share their stories. Thus, Mr. Kojo will not come to school on Sunday. Stop talking like you know more than I do, " Sean's jaw worked with irritation.

"I'm afraid, I agree vit Sean, " Mrs. Yekaterina said shyly, afraid to hurt Ebun.

Ebun felt like sinking into oblivion. She would rather shrink than admit she'd just lost to Sean.

"I don't think Mr. Kojo will want to stay at the staff quarters either. Because he knows you know that he lives there, " Sean reasoned further.

"He'd probably sleep at a hotel then, " Mrs. Yekaterina said.

"Hmm. But how do we know which hotel precisely?" Sean asked, then provided the answer to his question immediately. "One of my gang members function for a hotel that is notorious for accommodating fraudsters and criminals alike. The hotel rents out rooms at meager prices but offers uptight security — against criminals. Yet, those felons somehow end up lodging in that hotel. So my guy works for the hotel by catching them. I can ask him to help us check the hotel's guest list."

"Mr. Kojo might have used an alias, though, " Ebun managed to talk after Sean had shut her out. She wanted to prove that she could give an intelligent contribution.

"That's why pictures exist, " Sean fired.

Ebun couldn't take it anymore. Sean was too cold. She didn't care anymore. Why did he ask her to come to Russia if he would belittle her all in the name of "training?" It was a transactional affair, and she deserved some respect. Hence, Ebun momentarily ceased to care about Mrs. Yekaterina's reaction and walked out of the small living room. Then she went out to the open field to cry.

And cry, she did. Ebun spent so much time crying outside that she didn't get to know what Sean's conclusion was on the whole matter — the probable whereabouts of Mr. Kojo. She didn't get to know about his alternative options —What he would do if Mr. Kojo were not in that hotel or if Mr. Kojo hadn't even lodged into any hotel in the first place.

Instead, she cried to her heart's content over everything — including the day she was raped six years ago.

***

It was a snowy night — which was strange because it never snowed in June. But this was Moscow —a city situated in one of the coldest countries of the world. Hence, anything could happen. Victoriya's idea had worked adequately. Although Ebun hadn't arrived at the hostel late the previous day since she was pissed at Sean and eventually had to leave the barracks early, She still had to make use of the ladder because she'd gone on an "excursion."

Thankfully, Mrs. Mariyah had left the hostel at the hour she arrived.

But today was a different day — far different than Ebun could have ever imagined. Right from the hour that Ebun had left the hostel early, Sean had taken her to St. Petersburg, an approximately three-hour drive from the barracks, to shop for weapons — weapons she'd never seen in her life.

Ebun wondered why Sean had to buy that many weapons because of Mr. Kojo. Wasn't he supposed to have them? With the number of people he must have killed? She could have easily asked him if she still wasn't so pissed at him. If it weren't for Mrs. Yekaterina's sake, she would have avoided him even.

Sean had acquired pistols for a Russian Roulette to pickaxes and metal thistles. Now, it was quarter past nine pm, and Sean had offered to walk Ebun back to Hostel Pavlov. Ebun refused several times, but he'd insisted.

Now, they sauntered on a snow-sprinkled alleyway. A streetlight standing from afar twitched too often. Ebun walked a bit too quickly, determined not to stride the path alongside Sean. But Sean was tall for a reason, so with each step she took to be ahead, Sean walked an extra three steps.

"What the hell are you doing? This isn't something you would ever do. You don't even fancy the idea of us seeing each other without prior planning. So why are you following me around like a kid?" Ebun stopped in her tracks, breathing out with exhaustion.

He didn't say a word. He only looked at Ebun, his dark eyes swirling with unreadable emotions that promised to hale her in. The streetlight from afar twitched again. The light from the bulb went off. The alleyway was pitch black for a moment.

"I just wanted to apologize about yesterday. I'm sorry, " Sean said in a voice so soft that it seared through Ebun's mind like a hazy dream.

What? Did I hear right? Sean? Apologizing? Why did he wait for the light to go off before he apologized? Can't he say it to my face? Does he hate me that much? Pfft. This asshole!

The light came on again.

Ebun was about to ask him to repeat his apology, but the light from a distance blinded her from the corner of her eye. The light had been so disturbingly bright that she had to turn towards the direction from which it shone to know why it was piercing her vision so violently.

She turned. It was a man holding a torchlight. He was walking faster, seemingly approaching Ebun. Ebun squinted her eyes above the white ray from the brightly lit torchlight to see the dark figure as he came closer.

Ebun failed to decipher who it was, but the figure spoke, and the voice was familiar — far too familiar than Ebun would have wished for it to be.

"What are you doing out on the streets at this hour of the night, miss? You are strange, I must say. You were supposed to be studying at school when you told me to drive you to that busy street in Moscow. What are you up to, young woman?" the man asked in that jolly sing-song voice.

Then Ebun remembered. It was the jolly Caribbean Taxi Driver from Dolotov Park! What the hell! So that's why he'd been the most eager taxi driver to give her a ride! The sneaky goose had lied that he wanted to give her a ride because they were both dark-skinned and had felt the spirit of oneness between them. But he had done that to know where she was going. That's why he insisted so much on driving her into that street on that day. His smile held so much poison on that day, and she'd failed to observe it!

Shit. Ebun swallowed thickly. She felt slightly hurt and betrayed. This man had to be one of the people that Yemisi must have asked to keep an eye on Ebun before she left Russia for Nigeria. There was no way she could have guessed that this man would be one of those people. So Ebun hated her sister's guts at that moment — for doing this to her. Ebun had to be extra careful now.

Stop wasting time, Ebun! He is asking you a question, and if you fail to give an appropriate answer, he's going to contact your sister, and by tomorrow, you will be on your way to Nigeria before you can process what is going on. That's the end of your revenge mission!

Ebun cleared her throat, and before she could give her decision a second thought, she moved closer to Sean. It's a good thing you walked me home, Sean. Now your presence is essential. As though Sean sensed what she was about to do, he took a step back.

Ebun grinned jocosely, mouthing curses at Sean between her teeth. Then she moved closer to Sean and pulled him. Before Sean could push her away, she wrapped her arms around his slightly robust buttocks, grabbing a cheek of his derriere in her arm. Then, she rested her head against his broad chest and smiled at Mr. Dolotov Park.

Mr. Dolotov Park lowered his torchlight to have a proper look. If it weren't for the darkness, Ebun would have been sure that his face had paled.

Then, Ebun smiled, wider than she ever had in her entire life as she said, "I was going to his house on that day. That's why I told you to keep the change — something I would never do. I wanted to protect your eyes from the nasty things that teenagers like me do these days — you know, sucking dicks in public and all of that. I cherish my man too much. That's why I make outlandish escapades — both in broad daylight and at odd hours of the night, "

Ebun pinched Sean's buttocks harder for the fun of it and moved closer, snuggling against his chest as she then gave her concluding answer:

"This man right here is my boyfriend."