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There was a week more to go until exams were over and I wished the week would go by fast enough. Lisa reassured me that she’d spoken to Charles but he hadn’t contacted me yet and I couldn’t bring myself to even pick up the phone to call him. I was still thinking of what I could possibly do that would get to Ryan in one way or the other. I’d just about had enough of him. I was pulled out of my thoughts when a loud gas came from my right.
''What's wrong?'' I glanced at Alison who had her eyes on her phone.
''Oh my God! Trust me, you want to see this.” She grinned.
I rolled my eyes and sighed before I grabbed the phone from her and focused on what was on the screen.
“Oh my G!!” I exclaimed.
Half of the class turned to look at me and I slouched lower in my seat as if that could get rid of the attention and make me invisible.
“Nothing to see here,” Alison chuckled nervously as she gave me a warning look.
Slowly, the rest of the class focused on what they were doing.
“Where did you get these?” I whispered to Alison.
“Someone posted these pictures with a private account on WhatsApp and added nearly twenty students. After that, it spread like wildfire on other social media, no one knows who sent them but it’s very clear who is in these pictures.”
My eyes widened as I scanned through about five very incriminating pictures of Mr. David caught in compromising positions with different girls. The background was the school environment, some in his office so the girls were definitely students but their faces were hidden while his was exposed. Someone had planned this and leaked the photos.
“I always suspected that man had something more to do with some of the girls on campus but this is evidence against him. There’s no way he can deny these pictures.”
The following day, Mr. David was hand-cuffed by the cops and taken out of the Campus. I watched from the window of my hostel and couldn’t deny the feeling of satisfaction I got watching him leave. He got what he deserved, especially after what he did to Lisa and several other girls. I was curious about who had leaked those pictures though so I asked Lisa about it.
“Are you kidding? I wish I had thought of something like that,” She scoffed. “Now that I think about it though, I really wish I could’ve spoken up or done something. Whoever did this was brave enough to do what many of us didn’t have the courage to do. Many more girls would have fallen victim to him. I heard he’d already started making his move on Maya.”
I thought about Maya, the innocent-looking girl who seemed to be smitten by him. I was sure that if she truly knew what kind of scum he was, she wouldn’t have found him to be so charming. Now the news was all over campus and his true nature was revealed.
“You know what, I’ve been thinking,” She had a serious look in her eyes. “This thing with you and Ryan, you need to put a stop to it. I think I see what he’s doing. Back then, when the incident happened between you two, you never reported him and now, he’s playing on your fear of him to still keep you quiet. It’s like he’s dominating you.”
“I couldn’t bring myself to do it, I just wanted to forget. I was lucky that I didn’t have any complication health-wise but I shut down after that. It was one mental breakdown after another and I couldn’t even attend school with other students so I asked to be home-tutored for my final year. My parents tried to get me to report the incident but I didn’t know how to track him down, truthfully I didn’t even want to face him. I never saw him again after that day until I came to study here.
I found it ironical that just when I was ready to move past it all, he showed up again.”
“I know what it’s like to be silent and tormented by fear. I was scared of what Mr. David could do to me if I exposed what he did. I was also scared of what people would think if they found out. I felt ashamed and used. It was like a heavy burden on my shoulders each day, I just wanted to end it all. But you can do something about this Monica it doesn’t have to be the same for you. This is like your second chance to take charge of your life.”
“I’ve been thinking the same thing too but aren’t you the one who warned me about him being dangerous? I mean we’ve both seen what he did on campus.”
“I think you’ve already discovered that first-hand. But what’s the worst he could do, what hasn’t he already done?” She shrugged.
“Do you have any ideas? I’ve been thinking of what his weaknesses are and so far I’ve found none.”
“How about this…” Her eyes lit up. “THE REDs thrives on secrecy right?”
“Yes…” I nodded.
“But what if they are exposed for who they truly are? Mr David carried out all his nasty practices in private but look what happened once it got out in public.”
“THE REDS is a deadly and dangerous group though.” I reasoned with her.
Her expression dropped. “Do you think it may be too dangerous?”
“Not as long as we remain completely anonymous.” I smiled as the idea began to form in my mind.
“So, we’re on to something?” She grinned at me.
“We’re definitely on to something.”
The stage was set and now all we had to do was perform.
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