After I delivered my message to Erica, a week went by. Every day we made another assault. Even if we ran out of ideas, even if we were caught and put on probation for misconduct, we were not going to give up. We were all determined to drive her out no matter what.

Erica looked worse every day. She was tired, avoided people as they passed her in the hallways, and constantly looked over her shoulder during class. She had it coming, but it wasn't enough, it wouldn't be enough until she left.

Two weeks after our talk in the bathroom, something happened that I didn't expect. We were all out on the playground, at a random recess. We were preparing for our assault that day, when we noticed Erica walking towards her usual spot between the trees. On the other side, walking towards her general direction, was a group of boys chatting and laughing. After watching them for a while, I realized it was Rifal and his gang. It seemed to me that they hadn't seen her, and I was about to yell at them to be careful and not to get too close to that homicidal girl, but then I noticed that Rifal was staring at Erica. He was walking with his chest puffed out and his arms fixed on either side. I realized it wasn't an accident, those boys were on their way to confront her.

My skin crawled. I tried to get down to get control of the situation quickly, but it was no use, Erica and the boys collided before I could approach. Then I stopped and looked, ready to react. Everyone around me stopped what they were doing to watch as well. If a spark flew, a horrible conflict would break out.

After colliding, Erica fell flat on her ass. The boys stood there, staring at her.

—Watch out, asshole!— Rifal told her.

Erica didn't say anything, she didn't even look up, she just sat there. Finally the boys surrounded her and continued on their way.

I was dumbfounded, and so was the rest of the level. Rifal's friends patted him on the back, silently congratulating him. Erica, behind them, stood up and walked away.

I remembered her words: "I swear I won't hurt anyone." It was hard to believe, but she was keeping her promise.

I looked around. No one could believe it, that kid had thrown Erica to the ground and walked away unscathed. Throwing himself into a cage full of hungry lions would have been less risky, but Rifal was still with us, in the world of the living.

—That Rifal is crazy!— commented Galica, next to me— Could it be because Erica killed his girlfriend?

I wasn't interested in comparing people's grief, I didn't even care if Rifal felt sad. But I made sure to leave a mental note about how arrogant this guy was.

Regardless of his personal history, he had proven something incredible: Erica would no longer fight back. I made sure to point that out to the others that same day. By that time, our assault team consisted of three quarters of our level, plus several of the thirds levels and some II's and I's. Everyone was scared, everyone was counting on us getting rid of our little demon.

—Erica will no longer defend herself— I said to them— or at least that's what she promised. Even so, proceed with caution. Don't hit her directly, remember that she could explode at any moment.

I don't know how many listened to me, they didn't seem very willing to do so. Conducting assaults through elaborate pranks was tiring and required planning, hierarchy and logistics. Going to hit her was simple, quick and easy, especially if she wasn't going to hit back. People were elated, anxious, as if they wanted to stand up from the meeting and go beat her up right then and there. They had no shortage of reasons.

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The next day, Tuesday, I saw Erica being pushed, shoved and tripped. But she did nothing to defend herself, she didn't even look at the people doing it, she just went on her way every time it happened. And that was hardly what I saw.

On Wednesday I noticed someone spitting on her. Another boy threw a ball at her on purpose. A girl threw water from a bottle at her, and then the same bottle. Erica did nothing. I wondered how much longer she would hold out.

That same day I heard her crying at her desk in class after a boy scared her by popping a balloon behind her head.

—Just go away, stupid— I thought.

I was irritated by her behavior, I was irritated that she just stayed and made everything harder.

Thursday the bullying got a little more serious. One boy grabbed a stick and hit her hard in the back. Erica fell to the floor, but did nothing. Another boy threw a whole bucket of oil on her and then lit a lighter near her. Erica ran away, fearful, while the boy chased her halfway across the courtyard.

I began to fear that someone would kill her and I would be prosecuted by the police, or worse, that I would be blamed and end up in prison.

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Friday finally arrived. As the day began, I wondered if someone would actually kill her. I didn't know if it was possible, Erica had already survived being hit by a truck, plus the shot Solis gave her had healed overnight. At that point, I didn't care. If she died, if she left, it didn't matter to me as long as I didn't see her anymore.

When I arrived at school, I noticed that the morning was gray, the sky full of clouds. There was no rain forecast for that day, but it was going to be cold.

During classes I began to think that nothing would happen, that it would be a day like any other; classes, recess, snacks, talks, an assault on Erica, her silent whining in her stall, more classes, end of the day. I had gotten used to that routine. But during the first break I was approached by Rifal, Solis' widowed boyfriend, with a macabre look on his face.

—Hey, Raquel, I have this idea for today— he said, and showed me a pair of pliers.

He explained his idea to me in a corner where the teachers couldn't hear us. I already had an assault planned for that day, but I liked his idea better, it was quite daring and I wouldn't have to lift a finger. I could enjoy a front row seat as Erica suffered and cried.

—Very well, you can try— I conceded.

Rifal got his buddies ready, and at the second break we went to the corner under the trees where Erica was reading. Belatedly I realized that this was the most brutal assault we had ever made on her. It was no longer about dead birds or stripping her of her clothes, but there was no turning back. Besides, I wanted to see her, I wanted her to scream and bleed, for the screams of pain that Ocko could not scream.

In the blink of an eye we surrounded her. She immediately closed the book and stood up, but the boys jumped on her and grabbed her before she could stand at all. They grabbed her by the arms and legs.

—Hey, what are you doing?!— she exclaimed.

I looked to the side, to the courtyard. I noticed that most of our classmates had seen us and were looking around curiously. Then I turned to Rifal, he had taken his pliers out of his pocket and held it up for Erica to see. She couldn't get free of the boys holding her without throwing them into the air. By her own rules, she was trapped.

—This is for my girlfriend!— Rifal shouted.

He brought the pliers close to Erica's mouth, but she kept it closed. They opened her lips, but failed to force her jaw. Then one grabbed her nose to cut off her breathing. Erica tried to breathe through her teeth, but the fingers of the boys trying to open her mouth covered the corners of her mouth and prevented her from inhaling. In the end she had no choice but to open her mouth to take a breath of air, at which point Rifal introduced the pliers.

—Hooooo!— she exclaimed.

—Don't move— Rifal shouted at her— It's just a tooth! It's nothing compared to what you did to Solis!

I couldn't see much, because Rifal's arms were covering Erica's mouth. She was squirming, but she couldn't escape. Suddenly Rifal tightened his grip on the pliers. Erica began to cry.

—I've got her!— exclaimed Rifal.

But just then, an arm grabbed him by the wrist and squeezed it. The pliers came loose and fell, while Rifal began to scream. Erica put a hand to her cheek. I realized too late that she had forced her way out at the last moment.

—You attacked him!— I shouted.

Rifal was screaming in pain so loudly that I think it was heard halfway across the school. I noticed that the others around me started to get closer.

—Why do you have to do this? I just want to finish the school year!— Erica protested, still with her hand on her cheek.

—What did you do to Rifal?!— exclaimed one of the boys.

I looked at the widowed boyfriend. His wrist was shattered, wrinkled as if it were aluminum paper. A piece of bone was sticking out of a hole in his arm. Blood dripped and stained the floor; Rifal screamed like a newborn baby. Seeing him like that, deformed, took me back for moments to when I held Ocko in my arms with his neck twisted. It paralyzed me.

I noticed one of the guys grabbed Erica by the neck before she could escape, and held her against the tree trunk to punch her in the face. Then he punched her, and again. It didn't look like he was going to stop. Erica started blocking his punches with her palms. I listened to her trying to explain herself, but I didn't process her words, I was fixated on Rifal's wrist.

The rest of the guys were tending to his wounded arm, but soon they joined their partner in hitting Erica in revenge. I noticed that, as Rifal screamed, our teammates on the courtyard began to close in. In a few seconds ten appeared, and then twenty, and suddenly we were surrounded by students, all ready to fight Erica.

She tried to get out of the crowd. People jumped on her and held her legs to keep her from leaving, but she managed to drag them away. She was trying to run away. Even though everyone was attacking her, she didn't want to do any more damage.

Then I looked at Rifal, his wrist crushed. His hand was barely hanging on to some veins and a piece of skin. I realized that Erica could be very patient, but like all people, she had a limit. Then I noticed the crowd trying to grind her to a pulp, and it suddenly occurred to me that maybe pushing her that hard wasn't such a good idea.

I rushed toward the center of the fight. I tried to talk to them and separate them, but no one would listen to me; my skinny arms couldn't take one body from another. Almost a quarter of the school was there, about 250 people, all screaming angrily, focused on Erica, not me. There was nothing I could do.

Suddenly Erica stopped. People were kicking and punching her, whipping her head, smashing her stomach, jumping on her. They were furious, sick of being afraid of her, but for her sake I had to stop them. I took flight and launched myself into the crowd. I pushed my way to the center. If I stood in front of Erica, everyone would see me. There was still a chance.

It was hard work, but little by little I made my way. Push after push, step by step. That way I made it to the center, where several boys and girls were crushing Erica, kicking her all over her body. She covered herself with arms and legs, she was bleeding.

—Wait!— I shouted, but no one heard me.

I looked at her: her face was red from the pressure. She was crying her eyes out. For a moment it seemed to me that she would let us go quietly, that she just needed to run away and everything would be fine for the day. Maybe she would even get fed up with us and finally leave school for good. Suddenly, however, her face changed. From anguish and sobs, she scowled, gritted her teeth and opened her eyes wide, searching for her enemies. Finally she let out a cry of anger.

Erica was a bomb, and at that moment she exploded.