Songs for this chapter are:

2 steppin' - John Givez

The Tower - Carole and Tuesday

Uptown - Andy Mineo

Discrete - Nobigdyl, Ty Brasel

Ebun

A few weeks later, Ebun was discharged from receiving medical care. It was a miracle that she survived that fatal incident. Tears had been shed, sentiments had been felt, regrets and vain wishes had been made. Now was the time for action.

At least that was what she felt deep within her soul and now that she was in a room alone with her two sisters, Yemisi and Demi with the both of them holding notepads, pen, and pencils in other hands, she knew some steps were about to be taken.

Whatever it was, so long as it made her feel the motivation she needed to be vengeful, so long as it aided her intentions and desires, she was in for it. The room was dimly lit. She sat on the mattress whilst her sisters sat on the couch.

"Are you ready to answer my questions?" Yemisi asked.

"I've been ready for the longest time, " Ebun's desperation etched in the way she had answered the question. It worried Yemisi. She turned towards Demi. "Are you ready? You have to put every detail into—"

"We are ready sis. Just start already, " Demi cut in.

Apparently, Yemisi was an emotional wreck but has been doing her best to keep her tears beneath her eyes unlike everyone else and now that it was time for her to question her younger sister, she was hesitant to say a word to her. It was only in that moment that the gravity of what had happened began to weigh heavily on her mind. It couldn't have any truer than it was at that moment.

"Okay. So, Ebun... I will need you to describe each of the rapists you saw on that day. I will need you to be explicit and detailed about your descriptions too so Demi can create the perfect sketch. Can you do that for me?"

"Yes I can, " Ebun answered after swallowing. She knew it going to be torturous for her to go back to the happenings of that terrible day but she knew that reliving that memory in this situation would only be beneficial to her. She wasn't just narrating for chatting's sake. She was giving out information that would help her fight back.

"Thank you, " Yemisi squeezed Ebun's hand for a good moment. "So...tell me everything. How many were they?"

"They were six in number, " Ebun answered after a small minute of silence. "I could see the faces of the five other guys but the leader of the guys wore a white mask that revealed his eyes only but I never got to see the color of his eyes because I was already so close to fainting when it got to his turn to rape me. The leader was a tall guy. He was the tallest amongst the five other guys and his body build was stronger than the other guys. He wore a black turtle neck shirt on black denim so I couldn't see much of his skin at all but I think he's a dark-skinned guy."

Ebun paused to give Demi the time to sketch what she had just managed to describe but the facial expression that Demi wore as she stared at her sketchpad showed that she was having a hard time doing that and she had to voice it out. "What do you mean by his body build was a lot stronger than the remaining five?" she asked.

"Well...the other guys were sort of lanky and average-sized but the leader of the rapists had moderately thick biceps. They weren't as big as a gym coach's or an athlete's but they weren't the kind of muscles a teenage boy would have. I don't know if he's a teenager though but he didn't sound like a full-grown adult either. His voice had this slight boyishness to it."

"What's his name?" Yemisi asked.

"I don't know his name."

Demi started to get busier with her sketchpad, bringing to life the information she'd received in her best way. After some minutes, she showed Ebun the page of the sketch pad. "Does this drawing look a bit like him?"

Ebun looked closely. She drew a full image of the guy since he had no specific facial description. Ebun was impressed. "Yes, it looks a lot like him. You got the mask right too."

"That's a relief, " Yemisi remarked as she eyed the sketch. "Can you tell me about the other five?" she turned towards Ebun as she asked that question.

"The first one to rape me was a guy named Gilbert.  The lead rapist called his gang members by their names once it was their turn to rape me, " Yemisi blinked her tears back in the hardest way as soon as she heard that. It was getting tougher for her not to cry. "Gilbert had this unhealthy yellow complexion. More like he was sallow-faced. He was bald and was almost the same height as the leader but looked a little malnourished and a lot thinner. He had round yellow eyes like he was suffering from jaundice and his fingernails were short and...oh yes! His right hand had this wild-fire scald scar. His strength didn't match his looks. He looked weak but he raped me like a beast."

There was a silence from Yemisi. Demi continued to sketch. Ebun remained mute for a minute too, absorbing her anger and the memories from that day. The bastard had raped her like he was on drugs. She could remember how big he was and how the veins popped so vividly as he thrust so deeply into her, that she could feel her stomach do a backflip.

She clutched a handful of the bedsheet, trying so hard not to scream or cry but Demi saved her from that struggle once she showed her the sketch of Gilbert. It was perfect too.

"The second guy was Gordon. He was cross-eyed. The iris on his left eye was blank like he was suffering from a cataract that had completely blinded that eye. He was one-eyed and of average height. He had a ridiculous haircut that didn't suit the structure of his face. It was a gumbie haircut. His head was oval-shaped. His height was a bit below average."

At that point, Yemisi was beginning to wonder why their names started with the letter 'G' as she jotted every detail down on her notepad.

"The third guy was Gafar. He was bald like the second guy, Gordon but had hairy side runs and a goatee. He looked like the oldest amongst the six but I wasn't sure if I could conclude that since I couldn't see the face behind the masked guy. He was excessively dark-skinned with a flat nose and dry, chapped, brown lips. It reeked of smoke too. The fourth guy was Geoffrey. He had a somewhat faulty left leg. I already lost my stamina and was gradually losing consciousness at this point but I was able to notice that one leg looked shorter than the other. I also noticed him limp when he moved closer to me..."

Ebun drifted away from reality again, wishing she could have just broken the faulty leg into half especially when he descended on her. She really could have twisted his bones till it made a swift, snapping sound but when she realized she still had the opportunity to do it, she mustered the willpower to continue talking.

"He was also dark-skinned and had a low cut with sunken, tiny eyes, a sharp nose, and big limps."

"Ugly people doing ugly things, " Demi commented with subtle anger as she sketched on. She wondered why those beasts had dared to have their way with her sister. From the descriptions given, they were questionable creatures.

"The fifth guy was Gaius. He was the only one who was hesitant from what I observed. I'm not even sure if he raped me but he was forced to mount my body which he did. He had a curly afro. He was light-skinned. He had a pointed nose and pink lips. He was lanky."

Ebun had expected to break down in the middle of her narration but the anger fueled her to keep going on instead. The desire to destroy them was stronger than anything else. She imagined numerous ways to end their lives via the most dangerous mannerism of murder.

"Why was it only one of them that wore a mask though?" Yemisi asked.

"He challenged me to catch him if I could meaning that the remaining five would be easy for me to catch. To me, it's like he used the five as bait. He wants to be my major target." Ebun answered.

"I don't think that is the case. The remaining five boys are not dumbheads. They must have made him promise to protect them before indulging in the act with him. So catching the remaining five wouldn't be as easy. Telling from the way they spilled their semen release on your body to make it obvious that you were raped, it's going to be very tough for us to find them. They didn't hide anything about the act but I know they would hide themselves well. We might not even find them in Nigeria if we begin to search for them. That's how difficult it's going to be."

"But we have to find them to find the leader though, " Demi said. "And it might take us years since we don't even know the name of the leader but I have a feeling that the guy who didn't want to rape her would be easy for us to catch. He might want to turn himself in later on."

"I don't think so. If you observe closely, it's really strange how their names all start with the letter 'G'. It's questionable and can even be affiliated to something occultic. Maybe they all swore an oath to remain loyal to their cult. Before the guy attempts to turn himself in and rat everyone else to the police, his gang members would have killed him."

"Hm. That's true, " Demi furrowed her eyebrows. "Ebun, can you tell me a little about the corridor guy? Is he a student at your school?"

"No. Apart from the fact that I've never seen him on the school premises during school hours, I've never seen him wear the school uniform either. His haircut was never decent either and part of our school regulations is keeping a clean haircut but it's clear that he asked those guys to rape me."

"Would you like to change your school?" Yemisi asked. Her heart was aching so much just by watching her sister answer all these questions.

"No. I believe I can find something that might reveal some kind of information or even a secret."

"Should we report this case to your principal? Because I don't know what you mean by that. We already have tangible evidence that you were raped. The results from the rape kit tests were accurate."

"The principal doesn't need to be involved. They are not students of the school so the principal wouldn't be able to do anything," Ebun confessed then turned towards Demi. "Remember you asked me what I wanted a few weeks ago but I couldn't answer because I broke into tears. I think I can answer the question now. I want to revenge."'

"Ebun..." Demi scoffed. "What I meant when I told David that you're stronger than he thinks you are was the fact that you can rise again and overcome this traumatic experience. I meant that you can still do great despite what life has put you through at this tender age."

"And what will happen to the six guys while I'm 'doing great in life? They will walk scot-free on the surface of this earth without getting punished or paying hugely for their sins? How will my doing great in life serve as the best revenge to them? They don't care what I become out of life. They want me to catch them and that's what I want to do."

"But that's the more reason why you should focus on yourself and seek ways to heal. Those bloody misogynists will be very glad to see you bitter and thirsty for revenge. It will prove to them that you're an object to be trampled upon and you've been greatly affected by what they did to you because you just can't move on from it but if you become a successful woman, they will hate to see it. You can't give them the pleasure of thinking they've crushed you for good."

Tears ran down Ebun's eyes as she heard these things. Her heart pounded so painfully that she had to squeeze the thin, flat skin of her chest. How can she live that kind of life? A life of suppressed desire for vengeance?

"That's—"

"You won't seek revenge, " Yemisi interrupted authoritatively. "You are twelve years old and you will live like a twelve-year-old. You will continue to go to school and focus on your studies and not endanger yourself. I will handle the case and look for the six guys. You will do nothing but live like a student."

Ebun fell on her knees and started to cry so much and scream on top of her lungs as her face morphed into delicate designs of raw pain, groaning and pounding the floor with her fists. She was weak and frustrated. Angered that this had to happen to her and there was nothing she could do about it. At that moment, she felt very less of herself. Stifled, restrained, suppressed, suffocated to the very last fiber of her soul.

She was trapped forever to bear the painful weight of suppressed vengeance that had become her heart's newest burden.