WITNESSING MURDER

It's almost ten, but here I am, still on stage. My two hours of performance have doubled because these monkeys are asking for more, and more, and more. I feel tired. I feel exhausted. I am so drained that I feel like I am fainting the next second. I scan for this senior monkey, Ejay, in the room, but he is nowhere to be found. Where on earth did he go? I need him to come and talk to his men. I need a rest before crying out loud!

"I greet you all!" I decided to help myself since Ejay left me hanging. Instead of answering my greetings, they all stood, clapping their hands. I look at the girls, who have been busy serving drinks and performing their duties, without missing a chance to show how amazed they have been by my performance. I wish I could sing until past midnight. That way, I will steal the time for these hungry men to have their demonic desires quenched. But can I? "I am happy that you are all enjoying the night, and I understand that you want me to continue, but I am so drained. I will take about ten minutes to take a sip of water and come back with, Don't ever leave me, by Gia Wilson!" I slightly bow and turn to head to the backstage, but I am stopped by their voices.

"Your voice isn't broken yet. Sing!" One man shouts somewhere in the middle of the crowd.

"How about we help you sing, beautiful?"

"Nice." A lot of voices shout, and some start coming to the dance floor. In no time, I will be surrounded by a bunch of drunk morons.

I freeze, shaking like leaves in a hurricane.

I thought I was safe. I thought Ejay talked to them about this. So what now? And where the heck is he?

I move my eyes around the room, but he is not there. Did he betray me? But why this soon?

"Relax, princess. We won't bite. Though I must admit, it will take a lot of effort to control myself from such a beauty." One man says this as he moves closer, eyeing me from head to toe. I can feel my whole body shaking with fear. Didn't they hear what Ejay said?

"Come on, baby. Don't keep us waiting. Let us help you shake this fine bum." Another one says, and he forcefully grabs me by the waist, turning me around to face him.

Oh, dear! This Delgado guy? He even has the nerve to smirk at me? I am now trembling. What do I do? Everybody is shocked, including the girls, but nobody is coming to my rescue.

"O..K.a..y." I say, trying to push him away, but he presses himself hard on me. I am even finding it hard to breathe. "I will sing. So can you all go sit down, please?" I plead, but all I get from these lunatics is an annoying outburst of laughter. It's all noisy in the club. There are about ten mad men surrounding me, while the rest are watching, standing, murmuring, and whispering to each other.

"Ooh, she is asking us to leave." The Delgado moron spoke again, and they laughed again. "We get anything we want in here. And don't think that Ejay can love you. The man does not have a heart. He is not even here to help you. So, baby, "he stops to grab me by the hair, pulling me closer to him, and I scream, "You are no special from the rest now. Now move this body. DJ, give us a song." He turns me around roughly so that my back is on him. I scream again as he forces me behind his front, the rest of the men forcing me to bend.

I didn't know when I started crying, but my vision is becoming blurry due to the thick curtain of tears in my eyes. "E.J.A.Y." I don't know where he is, but I shout the monster's name with all the energy left in me. He is the only one who can help me. I have my hands crossed on my chest, fighting their hands from touching me. But what am I against ten men? All my efforts to fight them hit a hard rock. They grab my hands, stretching them straight like they want to crucify me on the cross like Jesus, laughing and shouting things I do not understand because the only thing I want to hear is the voice of Ejay or any savior. I want him to come and blow their brains out for humiliating me this way, and I want him to start with this monkey called Delgado.

But Ejay is not here, and I am too exhausted to fight back. All the energy has left me. I can't fight them anymore. As I close my eyes with shame and a show of defeat, I feel someone pull down my zipper. The dress loosens up way too much for my liking, and the mic drops to the floor, but before I can suffer any more embarrassment and humiliation, a gunshot distracts everyone.

Fear engulfs the entire vast room.

I follow the direction of the sound, like everyone else, and at the entrance stands a very enraged Ejay, burning with anger, with a gun in his hands.

Savior! This time, I honestly consider him one. He walks to where I am, his eyes not blinking. They are now a mixture of gray and red, giving them a murderous look that even the devil himself can't stand. He inches closer, and I fall into his free hand, tears still flowing freely down my cheeks. He zips up my dress, caressing my back to calm me down.

"Bring the man in." He orders someone on the phone, and I look up to see who it is.

In a minute, Ajay walks in with six more bodyguards, dragging with them a man in a suit all drenched in blood. I doubt he is alive. No, actually, he can't be alive. They drop him like garbage on the floor and surround the men who were abusing me earlier. Ejay walks to the Delgado guy, holding me close to him, and I follow suit.

"You seriously thought you could trick me, huh?" His voice is cold and heavy, daring the scared-to-death guy to defend himself. "You and your brainless head thought you could outsmart Ejay? I could have forgiven your maliciousness and your desire for my position." He cocks his gun as Delgado and his men try to take out theirs, but the bodyguards beat them to it. They are surrounded, guns pointed to the backs of their heads. "But for disrespecting and humiliating her despite my very simple and clear warning," he fires one bullet at Delgado, hitting him on the chest, and he screams with pain as he hits the ground. "And for trying to make a fool out of myself," he fires another one almost on the same spot, "rest in hell." He fires a third one at the lifeless body.

And just like that, we now have two lifeless bodies lying on the cold floor. My head started spinning, and just when I thought it was all over, he turned to the rest. "And to you pathetic pests!"

"Please forgive us, boss! We will not try to double-cross you again. We are sorry. It was all his plan." One of them says this, pointing to the dead Delgado.

"Sorry, but your sorry is useless. Ejay does not take risks. Ejay does not forgive betrayal. May your pathetic souls rest in hell!" With that, he showers them all with countless bullets, their bodies falling to the floor one by one.

My head is now aching like hell, and I have to support it with my two hands because it feels too heavy. Ejay grabs the mic on the floor without looking twice at the lifeless bodies on the floor. "I know that you all say I don't have a heart, and true, I don't. So before anyone thinks of betraying me, they better think twice. I am the boss here! I call the shots! Nobody disobeys me! You see this girl right here?" He carefully wraps his hand around my back. "SHE IS OFF THE BID." He speaks as calmly as he can, emphasizing every word. "Nobody touches her! Nobody messes with her! Nobody does anything to her! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, boss!" The chorus comes loud and clear from the crowd.

"Good. If you have a problem with the rules here, speak up. Let me hear you." One by one, everybody cowardly succumbs back to their seats quietly. No one talks. They remain quiet—not even a single movement after they sit. Their eyes are all on their master, who is challenging anyone to open their damn mouth. "The night is over. See you all tomorrow." He throws the mic on the floor and turns to Ajay. "You know what to do with them."

"Yes, boss."

"Are you okay?" He asks me, and I shake my head. I definitely am not. The headache is killing me, and the site of eleven lifeless bodies behind me is another thing I can't handle. Eleven lives lost, just in a blink of an eye? "My head."

"Hold on." He sweeps me off the floor and walks out with me, bridal-style, in his arms. I close my eyes to the pain I am feeling, and as we walk to the door, I can feel almost a thousand eyes on us. I am in too much pain to do a thing, so I just rest in the cold hands that have taken the lives of more than ten people in just a matter of a few minutes. And all because of me!