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Dila packed her scattered braids together with her left hand and held them with a rubber band she picked from my desk. She smiled at me in a ‘you know nothing’ manner. She took the yoga position as she continued,

“I met Gloria on my first day on campus. I was on the lookout for where to buy cigarettes when I caught sight of her walking towards me; she was smoking my brand; White London was what I smoked those days. I walked up to her and she gave me a stick before she agreed to show me where she bought it. That single show of nicety is the fate that made us friends. I didn’t have any friend before then so it was a bit difficult to adapt at first, but after sharing and igniting each other’s cigarettes on several occasions we became an inseparable peer. I started spending the night in her hostel when I realized that she was in my department but was one year ahead of me; she gave me extra tutorials on courses I didn’t understand. We became sisters, even closer than Anita and I. I still miss her sometimes. She was everything like me except that she was prettier. We were both nonchalant ladies.”

I was beginning to get bored and was eager to know the final paragraph in Gloria’s chapter, “So what happened to her?” I asked inquisitively.

“Are you going for a date or something? Why the rush?” she snapped,

“To know how I killed her? Is that it?” she blurted,

“No” I replied calmly,

“Then sit the fuck down and pay attention” she shouted, pointing her finger at me repeatedly with every word she spoke. I have never seen her that furious before, it was obvious she had been curbing the lion within her all along. I was terrified. She reached for her bag, lit a stick of cigarette from the pack she brought out, took a long drag and puffed it towards the ceiling.

“I am sorry. I didn’t mean to shout at you; I just lost my cool,” She apologized. I didn’t say a word and that simply angered her the more,

“Olufemi, I said I am sorry. Am I talking to myself?”

“Okay, no problem. We are good. You have my undivided attention,” I stuttered. She took another drag and narrated further,

“I was returning from night class during our first year second semester examination period when I saw Gloria fighting with two girls outside her hostel. The two girls actually overpowered her. One held her down while the other punched her silly as she struggled with them. Impatiently, I dropped my bag, rushed towards them and sent my fist into the head of the puncher, she screamed ‘Jesus’ and dropped to the floor. With her alliance broken the other girl took to her heels. Gloria rushed inside and returned with a UTC knife. She aimed to stab the weak girl on the floor but I was quick to stop her,

“Are you mad? Do you really intend to kill her?” I questioned her foolishness. She fumed on as she struggled to get herself out of my grip, I let her go and she went back inside. I walked few steps backwards to retrieve my bag and emptied what was left of the water I had taken to night class on the wounded girl,

“Get out of here” I ordered her. She stood up, said “thank you” and stumbled consecutively as she ran.

That night was the beginning of another phase in my existence. Gloria divulged that she belonged to a secret cult, and explained that the girls that attacked her were members of a rival cult. She begged me to stop coming to her hostel for that period as she couldn’t guarantee my safety around her. I declined, I remember I said,

“If I can’t be there when you need me, then I am not your friend. You should thank me for saving your life instead of trying to get rid of me.”

She tried to talk me out of staying, I didn’t yield. I made her realize that I didn’t need her protection by telling her my most appalling secret,

“I have killed a man before, have you?” I asked her. She tried to hide her surprise but her hands gave her away, she made a spontaneous fist at her amazement.

“Tonight would have been my first kill if you hadn’t stopped me” she replied nervously.

“Are you prepared for the aftermath of being a murderer?”

“No” she whimpered.

I hugged her and counseled, “Good, don’t ever consider it.”

Few minutes later I complained about the pain I felt on my hand from my Mohammed Ali heroic knockout victory. She offered to massage it for me. She was so tender with her touch and very caring with her words. I kissed her while she was at it. She smiled at me and reciprocated the act. Hence we made out and when we woke the next morning she called me ‘my princess’. I fell in love with Gloria afterwards, we did everything together.

After three weeks of intense pondering I became a member of her cult group, The Black Angels. I was given the necessary orientation. We punished male students and lecturers that sexually harass and disrespect girls on campus. I rose through the ranks and was crowned the Chief Inflictor by the Black Queen who is the highest ranked. I was tasked with the responsibility of deciding what type of punishment best suit an offense. There was a group of five girls called the Black Bangers, they rape rapists. I never raped anyone but I injected water into the veins of so many erect penises of such offenders. I enjoy the pain I inflicted on them. I once squeezed my lecturer’s testicles for touching my ass when I had to submit my assignment directly to his office; I held my pen to his neck and made him beg for his life. Everyone who knew me was cautious of me. I wore a frown at all times, only Gloria could make me smile without sweating it.

We were in a club one night to fish out an offender when I met Derrick. I was smoking at the bar when he walked up to me and asked for a dance with me. I gave him a frown and told him to walk away.

He sipped his drink and said to me, “Your beauty is so endearing even your frown is attractive; you’d have to do better to make me walk away.” I ignored him and he kept talking until Gloria came around and told him the same thing I had said earlier but with more emphasis. He smiled and screamed at the top of his voice so we could hear him as the music played loudly,

“Are you two together? Because if you are, I’d love to be part of the team; a threesome wouldn’t hurt.” Gloria and I winked at each other; earlier that night when we made out we discussed what it would look like having a guy pleasure us.

“Feel free to join us then,” I approved. He introduced himself and explained that he was visiting a friend. We went home that night and made out, he wanted sex but we denied him. We simply made him touch, kiss and suck us in the right places. Gloria was fair enough to give him a blow job and that made me very jealous. He kept coming back until I got tired of his presence, Gloria on the other hand enjoyed every moment of the sexual adventure. He soon returned to his base and I noticed Gloria often mutters his name when we make out. It hurt me bad, we began to drift apart. There was a time she was absent in school for two weeks. Rumours had it that she visited him on his campus but I chose not to believe. She returned to me and we patched things together. Even though we still get together often, she appeared to be happy without me.”

Dila paused for a moment, opened the fridge and helped herself with a sachet of water before continuing,

“To cut the long story short, Gloria got pregnant for Derrick. She had fallen in love with him. I was hurt, but I became terribly pained when I found out that he was Anita’s boyfriend, they were students of the same university. I was angry because of the knowledge that the same guy who had impregnated my girlfriend was also a cheat, deceiving my younger sister. I was determined to make him suffer; I wanted him to pay the price for his promiscuity. I travelled to their campus on a certain night and met him lying in the pool of his own blood with his penis chopped off and shoved in his mouth. Someone got to him before I could. He lived in a flat he shared with his friend Emmy who wasn’t present when I slipped in; they had the compound to themselves. Anita walked in while I was still trying to figure out who could have done it, perhaps Gloria, I thought to myself. I tried to explain to Anita that I didn’t kill him but she didn’t listen, she dragged me out of his room like she did when I shot dad. Emmy walked in while we were trying to sneak away, I couldn’t have allowed him tell the world what he was about to see, no one would believe I didn’t do it and I couldn’t afford to bring Anita into the whole mess, so I stabbed him on his neck and we left him to die. I returned to my school and Gloria has been missing ever since. Olufemi, I did what I needed to do, I hope you can understand.”

She paused and then said, “Please tell me you understand me, Olufemi.” I wasn’t sure of what to say, I just kept quiet.

“Olufemi, do you still love me?” she enquired,

“Dila, if you didn’t kill Derrick who did?” I countered. Her head dropped before answering in a sad and disappointed tone,

“Anita! It was Anita who killed him.”

Dila’s pronunciation of Anita left my mouth aghast. I tried to make some sense out of it but I only ended up getting myself confused. I wanted to know more,

“How did you find out Anita killed Derrick?”

“I heard it from an eyewitness.”

“Who?”

Silent took charge of the room. Dila leaned forward from her sitting position and held my hand. I waited nervously for her to reveal who the murderer was, but after several moments of waiting she didn’t disclose. She finally stood up as she prepared to leave and said,

“This is a secret I have carried with me for two years now. Saying any further will be putting my witness’ life in jeopardy. I also have to protect my sister. There are no justifications for the things I have done, I know. I can’t force myself on you, yet I can’t stop loving you. You are my breath of fresh air. And yes, there is one more thing you need to know, my eyewitness said Emmy survived the stab. Anita doesn’t know this; I hope you can keep a secret.”

“So who is the eyewitness? I questioned.

Dila exited the room without replying me. She hasn’t stop texting me ever since, asking “Are we still in a relationship? Am I still your Sunshine?”

I am yet to find the right words to reply her.

THE END

Written by Femi Fragile

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