People who take the law into their own hands often find that they are holding something far too heavy to handle.

- Rikkard Ambrose

"Mr. Kojo, " Ebun called from behind the broad-shouldered man softly.

She didn't fail to notice how his back had stiffened upon hearing a sound come from Mrs. Yekaterina's office. Still, he'd deciphered that that wasn't the voice or accent of Mrs. Yekaterina. She probably would have called him "Meester Khojo."

So slowly, he turned, his eyes narrowed the fraction of an inch. Ebun saw his shoulders sink in relief on seeing that it was a student who had called his name. Although Mr. Kojo had never seen this particular student before, he figured that she was perhaps, a fresher telling from the unconventional way she'd dressed.

So with a small friendly smile, he asked:

"Yes, how may I help you. Besides, why are you in school on a Sunday?"

To murder you, of course! 

Ebun's jaw worked as she gazed at Mr. Kojo, hoping that her stare would drill holes into those dark, sea-colored eyes of his. Then she remembered that Mr. Kojo had asked a question and was staring back at her, waiting for her answer. Funny how rage made common things slip away from your mind.

With a smile, Ebun managed to remain calm and not blurt out her original answer as she replied: "I'm here to collect my test script for animal dentistry, and I was wondering if you could step into the office for a moment." she motioned towards the door of Mrs. Yekaterina's office politely.

She noticed his chest swell up in trepidation. "Is she... Mrs. Yekateri..."

"Oh. No, no, no. Mrs. Yekaterina is not in her office right now, " Ebun answered Mr. Kojo's unfinished question with her best imitation of a nervous smile. "Are you terrified of her?" Ebun asked teasingly with a smile that now morphed from vain nervousness to a nefarious one.

"Oh. No."

"Very well then. I need you to assist me in looking for the test scripts on Mrs. Yekaterina's desk. I had my boyfriend accompany me into the office to help me in search of the scripts, but it was foolish of me to have thought that my boyfriend would know his way around the office, " Ebun said about Sean.

Ebun figured it was best to let Mr. Kojo know beforehand that she wasn't the only one in Mr. Yekaterina's office. It was best to prepare Mr. Kojo for Sean's presence. If he stepped in and met Sean upon concluding that only Ebun was present at the office, he would be confused, and soon, the pennies would start to drop, and he would realize that he was in danger.

On a lighter note, Ebun realized that lately, she referred to Sean as her boyfriend more than often. It wouldn't be bad if he actually were... Heat rose to her cheeks quickly and cut the thought off abruptly. This was a serious matter, and she couldn't get carried away!

"You are a janitor, so I figured you would know a few things about Mrs. Yekaterina's office — as well as the other offices of the staff since you clean them quite often. You wouldn't mind helping me in this little search, right?"

"S-sure, I won't."

"Come on in then, " Ebun gestured. Mr. Kojo moved his feet slowly as though there were a mound of feces on the floor and was afraid of stepping on it.

The low level of alacrity in which he moved irritated Ebun, but on the brighter side, it had given Ebun sufficient time to roll out a piece from the ducktape that she kept in the pocket of her hoodie. Also, when she looked into the office, she saw that Sean was pretending to be searching the desk for the test scripts frantically.  Ebun grinned wickedly with a tinge of pride. Sean was the best partner one could ever have in a crime operation.

As Ebun let him walk into the office, she walked carefully from behind and tried to lock the door as quickly as she could with the right key from Mrs. Yekaterina's bundle.

Damn! Blast it! Why won't the goddamn door lock?!

Then she looked into the doorknob a bit attentively and realized that the door didn't have a bolt. No bolt? Ebun's eyebrows rose in confusion. How come she hadn't noticed earlier? And how had she and Sean been able to hide in the office all the morning without getting interrupted?

Then she remembered.

They had only been able to close the door — not lock it. Why, then, did Mrs. Yekaterina give Sean the keys to her office if they weren't going to be of any use? Then Ebun figured that Mrs. Yekaterina had probably forgotten something.

Something...

Ebun looked more closely into the doorknob and only realized now how faulty the handle looked. Mr. Kojo, the dratted son of a bitch! He'd broken the door on the day he'd raped Irina. That had to be the why the door didn't have a bolt.

Enough thinking about the door, Ebun! The windows are already closed, and the curtains are drawn close, so don't worry too much. Just focus and do something quickly before the bastard realizes that he's trapped!

Ebun turned a few degrees to her left and spotted a small stool. Perfect!  As swiftly as a pesky rat, she carried the chair and wedged it against the door. Then she turned to Mr. Kojo was still standing erect as a statue at the center of the office. Sean was still standing by the desk, arranging the files he'd pulled apart in chronological order.

"I'm sorry for wasting your time, Mr. Kojo, " Ebun cleared her throat. "I had to ensure to lock the door. I'm sure you know it's inappropriate for students to be in a lecturer's office — especially on a day like today."

"Err... Yes, I know. That's why I will like for you to tell me your name as quickly as possible so I can proceed to help you search for the test scripts because your boyfriend..." he hesitated as he momentarily fixed his gaze on Sean with an expression that reflected anxiety. "Your boyfriend seems to be having quite the difficulty in finding the scripts, as you said earlier."

My name. He's asking for my name. Ebun pondered. There was no way on earth that she would divulge her name to the damned bastard. If God forbid he managed to escape his impending doom, then there were no two ways about it. Ebun would be in trouble.

Then Ebun realized that the possibility of that happening wasn't very likely. It was a 99:1 ratio. She had to focus on what time frame would be most appropriate for her to stab Mr. Kojo without him screaming or making a move to escape.

Then, inspiration struck her as soon as her thoughts began to wander in that direction. Clearing her throat, she stepped a few inches closer to Mr. Kojo and said in a sultry tone:

"Could you move closer, please? I'm quite ashamed of the way my boyfriend pronounces my name, " Ebun turned towards Sean momentarily. The corner of Sean's lips twitched in a way to control himself from snickering.  In his face read the words, 'what the hell is that lie?' But Ebun knew better than to be distracted, so she continued, "And... I'd like for you to pronounce my name in the right way. If only you would bring your ear closer, please?"

"Err..." the color from Mr. Kojo's face had drained entirely now. He looked so innocent at that moment that Ebun found it painstakingly difficult to believe that this timid man had been capable of brutally raping Irina. "Yes, I guess I can. Also, it would be an honor to be able to pronounce your name correctly."

Then he moved closer, inclining his head to the level of Ebun's height. Now the distance between them was almost invisible. It probably would have even been difficult for a feather to slide through.

As Ebun brought her lips closer to his ear in a motion to whisper, she slid her hands skilfully into the pocket of her hoodie and brought out a polished pocket-sized knife. Then, she wrapped her free arm around Mr. Kojo's broad back — to safeguard her victim and prevent him from escaping until the blade was implanted deeply into his innards. Ebun felt Mr. Kojo's spine stiffen from the soft touch of her fingers as though to ask, 'are you supposed to be wrapping your hand around my back when your boyfriend is right here?'

With an evil smirk plastered on Ebun's scarred lips, she inserted the blade of the knife deeply into the part of Mr. Kojo's white shirt that was just above his belt region. Seeing that the force in which she'd injected the knife was compelling enough, oodles of blood instantly began to ooze out of Mr. Kojo's abdomen.

Ebun pulled out the knife with the same force in which she'd inserted it. Then she raised the knife into the air, watching the crimson red blood drip from the sharp edge of the knife. Mr. Kojo fell to the ground with a muffled groan as he clutched the side of his stomach that had just been stabbed — as though to prevent more blood from gushing out.

The action, however, was counterproductive. The blood poured out even more, dripping through the holes in his fingers. His eyes were so widened that they could have popped out of their sockets. He was still shocked with what had just happened.

Ebun moved closer to her cornered victim and squatted. She held the knife in one hand and used her free hand to plaster the rolled-out ducktape onto Mr. Kojo's lips to prevent noise from further escaping his mouth.

"Does this bloodied sight look familiar to you?" she asked, bringing the stained knife closer to the janitor who was now fidgeting. "Maybe I should be more specific since perhaps, you've seen more than enough blood from raping innocent girls. But do you remember sometimes last week, a particular sexual encounter of yours with a little girl in this office?"

To Ebun's utmost surprise, Mr. Kojo did what an average criminal would never do: he nodded in response, effortlessly admitting to his raping Irina. Sweat was trickling down his forehead now as he writhed in pain, too destabilized to remove the ducktape from his lips.

"Oh, so you raped that blameless little girl, " Ebun clenched her teeth as she gazed intently into Mr. Kojo's eyes that were now glassy. "I can only imagine the number of 'Irinas' you've raped in this school. I can only try to visualize the thick pools of blood that you must have caused several girls to drown in. And I can assure you that you are not going to die the easy way today."

"Pls is ys rls ms I wsl nsvr rp eni wsmsn snymsr!"

As she watched Mr. Kojo struggle to say sensible words through the bound of the ducktape, an idea came to her, so she removed the ducktape harshly from his lips.

"What were you saying?" Ebun asked, cornering her prey even more closely than before. 

"I-I said th-that If you release me, I will never rape any woman anymore! Ouch!" He pressed his fingers harder into his abdomen, wincing in agony. By now, the blood had spread to the other lower regions of his shirt.

Now he was behaving like a criminal.

"Oh? That's pretty interesting, " Ebun raised an eyebrow. Then she took a deep, forlorn breath in a way to make Mr. Kojo think that she was considering letting him live. Then she said with a sigh. "Do you swear on your honor as a gentleman to never assault anyone of the opposite sex if I release you?"

Honor as a gentleman? What stupid honor? Was this bastard any gentleman at all? Ebun laughed internally at her utterances. If this assassination of a thing didn't work out for her eventually, she could work as a playwright because she was undoubtedly good at far-fetched exaggerations.

"Y-yes! I swear!"

"Ah," Ebun nodded. "Perfect, Mr. Kojo."

Ebun rose and stepped away from the corner of the office where Mr. Kojo laid. Then she moved in a backward motion towards the door and in a slow motion, she pulled out the revolver from the back pocket of her jeans. As silently as she could, she spun the cylinder of the revolver since she'd loaded the gun with bullets a few hours ago.

When Ebun got the door, she studied Mr. Kojo for a moment. He looked hopeful. He was thinking she was going to open the door. Then with a scowl on her face, Ebun pulled out the gun and positioned herself correctly; the way Sean had taught her.

Then she pulled the trigger.

What? An assaulting, child-raping bastard was suddenly deciding to change his ways because a knife had been wedged into his stomach, and he expected her to go along with it? What a joke! She wasn't stupid.

After shooting, Ebun believed she'd killed Mr. Kojo, of course! After all, the firing of the gun had been within earshot — till she saw Mr. Kojo shift himself against the wall instead of dying from the piercing effect of the bullet. Her heart raced madly as she looked more carefully and stepped closer. Then she saw that the metallic bullet she'd fired had landed on the floor instead of Mr. Kojo's chest.

Ebun had missed her target!

Sean, who was now sitting on the swivel chair behind the desk, supervising the assassination as he'd promised, was now trembling with anxiety. Why did Ebun have to move so far away from her victim if she wasn't going to shoot perfectly? Now, Ebun would have to fire the revolver again, meaning that another gunshot would ring loudly through the air — which would put their safety at severe risk. 

Anyone who was nearby and had heard the first gunshot would probably have thought the sound had come from somewhere distant or would perhaps assume that the noise hadn't originated from a gun. But now that Ebun would have to fire the weapon again, whoever had heard it would be sure that it was a gunshot and would either try to cower or find out where the sound had come from.

Panic was slowly beginning to well up in the depths of Ebun's stomach. What had she done wrong? She cross-checked the state of the revolver to see if she'd spun the cylinder correctly and if the loaded chamber had aligned with the barrel. All seemed well. That she could tell because she'd spent days learning how to set up and load a revolver.

Then, Ebun remembered what she'd been so scared of back at the opium den: She'd worried that she wouldn't be able to shoot accurately from a long distance, especially with the way her hand usually fidgeted around the gun. Ebun had also feared that she hadn't had enough time to get used to holding a gun.

You are already holding the gun anyway, and you must kill Mr. Kojo! You have to! Girl, you are supposed to be a ruthless assassin. That's why you accepted Sean's crazy offer by coming to Russia! This is all you've dreamed of your entire life! Now that you get the opportunity to do it well don't be scared!

Ebun reminded herself. Then she swallowed, took a deep breath and gathered courage. Luckily, Mr. Kojo was still sitting on the floor as he failed to prop himself to his feet. Ebun circled her fingers firmly around the revolver and wore an intimidating look on her face like a shield.

Your legs, Ebun! Spread them apart!

Oh right! As soon as she remembered to position herself in the correct posture while holding then, she spread her legs a few inches apart. Sighing satisfactorily, Ebun also tried to position her back in a certain way to maintain the correct and rigid hold on the weapon.

How did Sean ask me to position my back the other time? Ebun tried to remember, biting her lower lip anxiously.  In a straight posture? Or slightly bent? Wait... Hold on... Am I supposed to crouch my back? This spinal matter, unlike the positioning of the limbs, seemed to take Ebun quite some time to decipher.

Sean knew that if he remained mute, he was going to explode from the anxiety that he felt just from watching Ebun rough-handle the revolver. It didn't look like she was going to shoot the janitor anytime soon. Why waste time in such a colossal way? What would have happened if Mr. Kojo had been able to get on his feet? He certainly would have escaped a long time ago! So as he moaned, he took a deep breath and instructed Ebun in a steady tone. At least he'd tried to keep his voice controlled, but he was angrier than he'd thought:

"Mr. Kojo is no fucking mannequin! Move closer and end his life already!"

Ebun could not believe how dumb she'd been in the last few minutes. Now that Sean had told her the obvious thing to do, she was suddenly frightened — for a different reason. Sean wasn't supposed to tell her what to do, especially at a crucial time like this. If it were to be another criminal, he would have taken advantage of Ebun's foolishness and managed to attack Ebun or escape.

But as she looked at Mr. Kojo, who was still on the floor, groaning noiselessly in pain, Ebun realized that stabbing Mr. Kojo first had been a great decision. That was only the reason why she was still this lucky. So her fear rolled away, knowing that Mr. Kojo would be unable to attack her now.

So she moved closer and cornered her victim once again. Then she fired the gun thrice in one swift control of the trigger. Dots of blood spattered onto her face and the pink wall nearby. This time when Ebun looked to see if the bullets had hit the intended target, a shiver ran down her spine as she saw three gory holes pierced into the forehead, right eye, and neck of Mr. Kojo, more crimson fluid dripping in overflow from the respective parts of his corpse.

It was as though the blood in Mr. Kojo's body parts had competed to outflow one another because now, the blood from his abdomen didn't gush out as much as the blood from his forehead, right eye, and neck.

Ebun's first murder had been pretty...interesting. She could only hope that what awaited her in the future would equally be interesting. Later on, Ebun began to wish she'd taken the saying, "be careful what you wish for" seriously.

****
"We have to get out of here as soon as possible!" Sean said in a shaky tone that surprised him.

Ebun and Sean had managed to clean the spatter stains from the walls of Mrs. Yekaterina's office — to eliminate every possible trace of the assassination. Now, Sean had opened up the trunk so he could fit Mr. Kojo's body into the container. But his tall, lean body had been painstakingly heavy.

Sean had never thought that in his entire life, a day would come when he would be so scared — especially since this university was among the numerous domains in which he could assign anyone from his barracks to kill a criminal.

So why else did he have to be scared? As soon as he asked the question, the probable answer popped into his mind, and for a moment, he froze. He would rather nibble on a naked wire than admit that he was scared for Ebun and was concerned about her welfare.

She'd done a fair job in assassinating Mr. Kojo. He just feared that she'd fired the gun too many times, and someone had probably heard the continuous shooting.

"Let's try to lift the body one more time, " Sean encouraged, tightening the gloves around his fingers. Ebun did the same. "One, Two, Three..."

Now they had successfully been able to lift Mr. Kojo's behemoth of a body from the ground with Ebun placing her arms under his unmoving limbs and Sean propping Mr. Kojo's head to be in alignment with Ebun's movements so they could collectively put the corpse into the trunk.

But suddenly, Ebun froze upon hearing the sound of the door squeak slightly. Mr. Kojo's limp legs were still in her hand. Had she been paranoid and had had an auditory hallucination based on how she was feeling or had the door actually made a sound? She looked at Sean and noticed that he'd also tensed. He even looked pale. Her anxiety intensified. She hadn't been the only one.

Slowly, she looked up and saw that a small ray of light had now peeped into the room even though she'd wedged a stool against the door. Lo and behold, before she could miss the sight, Ebun saw a figure rush past the office window quickly — as though the person didn't want to be caught spying.

Then Ebun looked down. Mr. Kojo's corpse... The spatter of blood was still on her face. Now, her heart beat out of its regular rhythm. 

They had been caught, and for some reason, Ebun was sure that it was a student that had spied on them.