Chapter 65
Choosing Battles
Koruna helped her up as they walked to their class, “What did you want to tell me?”
“I am not a bad person. My mother sent me here because I refused to put on make-up and marry the man she has chosen for me. I cut my hair because I wanted to hurt her as much as she hurt me but that didn’t go so well.” She smiled sadly.
Koruna remembered her first impression of her, she knew there was something else Rika was hiding but it wasn’t in her place to point that out. She had no idea why she was telling this to her, she had seemed so hostile from the start and now her attitude had completely changed. She did not know what to make of it but decided to go with the flow.
“Why are you telling me this?”
“Some people grabbed me and scared me just now, I don’t know who they were but they left when they heard a sound outside. I don’t have the strength to defend myself, I guess I am saying please help me in here, I would do anything you want, just protect me at least until we leave here.” Rika begged desperately, it was easy because of what she just went through. The tears came quickly and her body was still shaking, Koruna could fill up the blanks on what had happened.
Rika looked sincere, “I know, I would understand if you say no… I had to try.”
“What makes you think I have the power to protect you?”
“They wouldn’t try what they just did with you. It is obvious especially with how you handled yourself.” Rika wiped the tears from her eyes.
“Look, I can’t promise you anything but I wouldn’t stand by and watch you get hurt if I can help it. Is that good enough?”
“It’ll do.” She gave her a small smile.
They got to the class and each of them was strapped to a chair, headphones were put and a video was played for everyone to watch, it looked simple enough but Koruna wondered why they had to strap them to a chair to watch a video on courtesy and morals. She found R’ao who frowned at the clip playing and looked at Koruna, their eyes met. R’ao was trying desperately to say something to Koruna but he didn’t want to alert the enforcers.
R’ao knew what this was, it was a simple brainwashing technique that advertisers used back in the day. It was also part of the ways his father had tried to get him into order in his earlier years but his mind was too strong for it. He wanted to tell Koruna to focus on anything else that wasn’t the clip, underlying the video was an almost inaudible message that kept playing. None of them could hear it but it was there for the subconscious part of the brain.
R’ao had an idea of how he could distract Koruna without alerting the enforcers.
“Koruna, remember the first night I was in your room?”
Koruna frowned and blushed, It was abrupt for R’ao to refer to that night he climbed in through her window. She thought about it and was trying to figure out if there was a secret message in there somewhere. She looked back at R’ao but the enforcers were already alerted to the sound of R’ao’s voice. They ensured that each of them focused on the clip playing.
The class ended and they moved to another session. This was more physical, relaxing the mind as well as the body. The instructor called it Yoga but it was different from what they knew as Yoga. They had grouped them in threes, Koruna was amongst two other boys. The cat one and the one that started fighting on their first day here, they did as they were told until they were asked to hold hands.
“I don’t want to.” The cat boy said.
“Do you think any of us want to? We have to or our brains would be fried. Now, stop being a pussy and bring your hand.” The other boy said.
“Being called a pussy is a compliment, that thing manages to push out a new life, take in new ones and bleed out every month yet still manages to live in the same world with people like you. A penis on the other hand is good for one thing or two things, maybe three things.” Koruna smirked.
“Uggghhhhh… you are one of those.” The other boy groaned.
“One of what?” Koruna raised her brow in question.
“The woman cult.”
“There is a woman cult?” Koruna asked.
The boy stared at Koruna as if she was trying to fool him, when he saw that she was serious he sighed, “They believe that women are superior to men and therefore, should occupy at least equal numbers to the men at Nige’s parliament.”
Koruna nodded in understanding, “Do they call themselves a cult or is that what you and others like you call them.”
“Others like me?”
“Yes.”
“What do you mean others like me?”
“Same thing you meant when you said I was one of those.”
He smirked and looked at Koruna anew, “I answered you, didn’t I?”
“Since I am superior and what not, I have declared that you don’t deserve an answer.”
The cat boy chuckled lowly,
“Okay, let’s hold hands.”
“It is unrealistic to expect men and women to be treated equally.” The other boy continued.
“I agree.” Koruna answered, he looked at her surprised.
“You agree?” He asked.
“Yes, women should be worshipped.” Koruna gave him a mischievous smile.
The boy laughed and shook his head, “I walked into that one. I do want to know what you think.”
“Men, women… it doesn’t really make any difference to me. The person matters, rather than equality… I believe generally in equity. If equal numbers of women are qualified to sit on the parliament, why not? But when there are not equal numbers of qualified women, it doesn’t mean I would want a woman there regardless. This is not the problem, is it? The issue here is that men are preferred and it’s not a matter of qualification and capacity, it’s just simply a boy’s club.”
He looked at Koruna and groaned, “Men are naturally stronger than women, it just speaks to fact that they should have more responsibility.”
“Strong in what sense?”
“Physically, mentally and even emotionally.”
“Why do you think so? Apart from the physically, why else do you think generally men are stronger.” Koruna asked.
“Please… Is it not obvious?”
“You need to take a walk in the Flames, your mind is so closed it’s amusing. Your father probably raised you to believe that men should not cry, men shouldn’t go into the kitchen, men should never defer to women and all that man cult notions.” Koruna said with a smirk.
“Man cult?”
“Why not? If you can use a word as you please, I can as well or is that not allowed? Cult.”
“Cult?” The other boy asked in disbelief.
“Yeah, it suits you.”
“If we were outside, I would have taught you a lesson you won’t forget in a hurry.”
“What is stopping you from teaching me now?”
The boy spared a glance at R’ao’s side, he had taken R’ao had someone who was stronger than he was and therefore he wouldn’t want to risk offending him.
“Ahhhh… You recognize his strength but not mine. What if I promise that he won’t interfere? Just me and you, I wonder though, how do you intend to teach me a lesson?” Koruna grinned dangerously.
“Fuck you to death.” He said with confidence.
Koruna groaned at his response, predictable and boring just like she had expected. Koruna didn’t care about politics or political movements, she was too focused on surviving to even consider or thing about the representation of women. She didn’t really care, but she was familiar with men like Cult, “What is it with people and using sex as a way to exert dominance? Is that all you have got? It is disappointing I have to say. It almost makes me want to ignore you but once in a while, I think people need some reminder that they cannot say what they want to say just because they can. I will make you call me Runa by the time I am done with you.”
Koruna paused to see if she would have an intense pain at the mention of Runa, nothing came and she sighed with relief. The pain was tied to her name as a response, she smiled proudly. R’ao knew that there was trouble when he saw her smile, he looked at the boy in her circle and couldn’t recognize him.
“Please, no interference. Cult here thinks he can teach me my place as long as you don’t do anything.” Koruna smiled at him sweetly again.
R’ao nodded and the other boy smiled in victory, the cat boy sighed and moved away to give them some space. The instructor stopped and joined other students in watching Koruna and the other boy.
Koruna didn’t bother standing, she just sat on the floor and watched as the boy stood up, he seemed unsure of himself at first but when he saw the attention on them, he had to push through, and he didn’t think that the girl would call his bluff. He bent and tried to touch Koruna, then he noticed something was wrong, he saw that she had his leg tangled somehow with hers. He tried to loosen the hold she had but there was no budging. He was confused and it looked like she was doing this effortlessly which further infuriated him as he tried to reach Koruna but he couldn’t get to her from his position. Koruna looked up at him with a smile, “Performance issues?”
R’ao smiled proudly at the hold she had on him, it was the same technique he had used on her but on the ground she had more power. He didn’t teach her but somehow, she managed to know how he did it, he relaxed as he watched the boy fumble. Koruna had no mercy on him as she continued to mock him.
Koruna yawned, “Anytime now. I await for you to fuck me to death.”
“C’mon, you are not even trying. Aren’t you a man? Big strong man?” Koruna tightened her hold, the boy gasped out in pain. He had begun to sweat in places he did not think it was possible to sweat, people were laughing at him but for some reason he wasn’t as embarrassed as he thought he would be, he didn’t know why he bothered fighting, he had seen the way she sacrificed herself to hurt an orange, of course she wasn’t an ordinary person. There were always an exception to the norm, just because she somehow managed to win him doesn’t mean that every other woman is the same. He sighed and murmured Runa.
“What is it? I couldn’t hear you.” Koruna giggled.
“Runa.” Immediately he said it, he screamed out as he felt an intense pain on his head.
Koruna released him as she looked at him worriedly, when she said the name nothing happened. She had assumed that it was because it wasn’t her full name. She looked at R’ao in question but he seemed just as stumped as he was.
Abriel stepped into the class, she was dressed like an enforcer but without the mask, the cane and her limping, “Dear Koruna, predictable as always.”
“I don’t understand.” She looked at her confused.
“You will soon but until then have a good night’s rest.” Abriel smiled sweetly as her and pressed a button on the remote in her hands.
Koruna screamed out in pain, it felt like her head would explode. She grunted and glared at Abriel until she went unconscious with a single thought ringing in her head, she was going to murder the bitch in different ways.