“I’m going to give you a choice, one that I have never given another girl before. The reason I’m giving you this choice is that when the men see you, it would be more profitable for my organization if you didn’t look like a drugged-up whore.” He lifted the bottle. “What I have in here is very addictive. Most of the girls beg for it after only one dose. It completely numbs them out of the experience.” He looked back at me and added, “But that’s not why we give it to them. My organization couldn’t care less if they are feeling anything or not. It’s to keep the girls in line. To keep them from running away or trying to fight back. Do you understand what I’m saying to you?”
At this point, I was in shock. I was having a hard time processing what he was saying, but I knew that having that needle stuck in my arm was not going to help me in anyway. To appease him for the moment, I offered a quite, “Yes, sir.”
He slid off the chair and kneeled down beside me. “I’m giving you the choice. Do you want to be numb, or will you be good on your own? Think hard about this decision. I won’t be asking it again anytime soon.”
My mind went into overdrive thinking about the different possibilities. If I was high on whatever that was, I wouldn’t have to know the horrors that awaited me, and if I remained clearheaded, I would be totally conscious for it all. It came down to a simple question. Did I want to live through this and remember what happened to me?
The answer was yes. I wanted to be coherent enough to come up with a plan of escape. I wanted to remember my kidnappers so that one day I could describe them to the police. The possibility of saving myself was more important.
“What is your answer, little one? Do you want reality or the dream version?” he mocked.
Before I answered him, I had some questions of my own. “Why are you giving me this choice? What will I have to do in return?”
Javier again sat back in his chair and sighed. “As I said,I believe you will get twice as much if you’re completely pure. I think the idea of buying a slave that is not a walking corpse would be more appealing to our buyers. For the answer to your second question, all you have to do is behave and listen.” He looked me in the eye. “I don’t want to have to worry about you running away every time I turn around. I want you to be a good girl and stay out of trouble.” He stood up. “So have you made your decision?”
I couldn’t look at him. A part of me was breaking from having to say these next words. “I’ll be good for you. I’ll listen. Please don’t give me the drug.”
Javier laughed, leaned in, and patted me on the head. “I knew you were a smart girl.”
He put the vial back in his pocket. “Now, we really must be going. I’ll put your gag and blindfold back on and then we’ll finish our journey.”
Trying to show him that I was going to comply with our contract, I didn’t protest this time and stayed completely still as he placed the gag back in my mouth and blindfolded me.
“Such a good girl.” He ran his fingers down my arms, and I fought off the shiver. “I knew from the moment I saw you that you were going to be a good one. Now, let’s get moving.”
He picked me up and carried me back outside. We walked for a while, and then he sat me down on the ground. He was whistling a tune as I heard the sound of an opening car trunk. Then he picked me up and placed me inside. I made a mental note that we were no longer in the van, but what must have been a sedan, though I didn’t know why the transportation had changed.
“Be a good girl. We’ll be there before you know it,” he said as he closed the trunk with a slam.
How did I get here? My breathing was so loud, it was almost like an echo.
Why me? The blindfold on my eyes was soaked with tears.
I was no one special, nobody of importance.
I could barely breathe, and I was panicking. Sweat beaded on my forehead, and I felt like I was choking on my own air.
Oh, God! I suddenly felt like I was going to throw up, but the gag in my mouth reminded me that I would choke if I did. God, Maddy, breathe, breathe!
I managed to calm myself a little, though constant tears still streamed under the blindfold and down my face. I was petrified. I had to keep fighting the darkness.
Where was I?
Where was I going?
Who were these people?
My arms were bound tightly behind my back, and I could feel the rope cutting into my skin at my wrists. Every time the car hit a bump, my shoulder hit the solid floor of the trunk, but that was the least of my worries. Right now, I welcomed the pain. It meant I was still alive. I tried to curl myself into a tighter ball, but there wasn’t enough room, and my head was rubbing against the bottom of the trunk. I managed to shift the blindfold a little, but I still couldn’t see anything except specks of light from where the rust had eaten through the metal.
How did this happen?
I wanted to turn back time; I wanted to go home.
I wanted my mom.
Okay, I needed to get my head clear. Javier had said that we would be wherever we were going in no time, so I needed to stop panicking so I could think straight. Because my hands were tied, and my eyes were pretty much covered, I focused my thoughts on using my other senses.
I could smell the exhaust. I could hear the roar of the engine. The air was hot, thick, and stale. I wiggled my fingers around and brushed against something soft. Thinking it was a blanket, I leaned my body into it, trying to get more comfortable. Then it moved.
Terrified, I yelped and tried to move as far away as I could.
Was there someone in here with me? Did they plan on hurting me?
Panic was overtaking me again. My mind began to run through all types of scenarios about what lay in the dark beside me.
I was shaking violently when I felt someone touch my fingers. I screamed into the gag, butI doubted anybody could hear me above the noise of the car, and I didn’t want them to, but I couldn’t think straight. I desperately wanted to see, and I tried shaking my head to remove the blindfold, but I only succeeded in slamming it into the side of the car.
I was going into shock. I was shaking and trembling uncontrollably and gasping for air. My head was spinning. If I didn’t stop, I was going to have a panic attack. I closed my eyes and tried to think of better times. I was not here. This was a bad dream. I was home in my bed. My mom was going to come in at any moment and wake me up.
I tried taking slow deep breaths. I needed to calm down. In and out, counting to ten, one hundred, one thousand. Oh, who am I kidding? No technique is going to help this situation.
To keep myself sane, I thought about my father. He’d always told me not to panic in difficult situations. I could hear him saying, “A cool head will prevail every time.” I silently prayed that I would be able to tell him that I loved him and thank him for the advice.
When I was calm enough to think clearer, I noticed I still felt the fingers.
Tentatively, I moved one of my thumbs up and down one of the fingers. To my shock, the finger moved as well. It was a small gesture, but it almost felt calming, and we continued. It was our only means of communication. I realized the fingers were much longer than mine were, and I imagined they might belong to a male, but there was no way to be sure.
My body continued to calm until the adrenaline was no longer coursing through my veins, and the desperation of the situation took over.
I sobbed and screamed into my gag. Had Aimee made it out? Was she safe? How would she ever find me now that I’d been moved? Should I have taken the drug? Did I really want to remember this if I even made it out alive?
After what could have been minutes or hours, I noticed that the person was desperately trying to grab my fingers. This stranger was attempting to calm my fears. I was suddenly so glad that I wasn’t alone. I wanted this person’s com
fort and trusted them just from this touch
Moving back, I leaned into the warmth and comfort this person provided. I felt the rise and fall of a chest and heard a deep sigh. We were now providing comfort for one another, and together we rode to our destination.
I didn’t know how much time had passed, but I ached all over after being thrown around the trunk so much, and I was exhausted. We slowed down and someone hit the brakes hard. I rolled into the person behind me. The next thing I knew, the trunk opened. It wasn’t until I saw the rays of the sun through my blindfold that I realized it was daytime.
How long had we been in here?
“Mira, Mira,” a voice mocked. “Look at the lovebirds,” he said with a thick Spanish accent.
Several other men must have come over to laugh at us, but they were abruptly interrupted by Javier’s stern. “Para le. No estan chinagondo.”
Whatever he said shut them up immediately, and I was soon lifted out of the trunk and carried for a while. I heard the jangle of keys and the sound of a door being unlocked. I could smell dirt all around me, and the temperature had dropped. From my limited vision, it looked like we were in a tunnel of some sort as the footfalls echoed all around us.
Javier’s voice boomed from behind me, causing me to jump. “Put them in the same cell. That ought to keep them more comfortable.”
Several men laughed as I heard yet another door open. This time I was dropped onto the dirt floor. The blindfold and gag were both removed, but I was too afraid to look the men in the eyes. I kept my head down and tried to make myself as small as possible.
As my chin was slowly lifted, I finally relented and looked up. Javier was smiling. “Now, remember, you promised to be a good girl. I’m going to leave you with a gift, but if the two of you get any stupid ideas, I won’t hesitate to cut his throat and let his blood run all over your beautiful body. ¿Entiendes, nińa?”
I nodded as he continued to untie my hands and feet.
Javier moved me toward the wall of the dark cell. On the floor, there was a long rusty chain with two metal cuffs on the ends. He made quick work of securing my wrists in the cuffs. When I looked up, I noticed a man in a nice suit being locked into similar cuffs. He was on the other side of the cell, but it looked as if we could stretch each chain all the way out and meet in the middle.
“Nińa, this is Dalton. He has not been as well-behaved as you have, but I’m hoping that you will be a good influence on him,” Javier said.
He walked over to the man and pulled his head up forcefully by his hair. “Dalton wouldn’t want anything bad to happen to you because of his foolishness. Would you, puto?”
The man had yet to open his eyes and nodded in submission.
Javier threw Dalton’s head back into the rock wall behind him, and he grunted as he fell to his knees. “That’s what I thought. I will leave the two of you to get to know each other,” he said as he made his way to the door.
I pulled my legs up to my chest and wrapped my arms around myself. I wasn’t sure if Dalton was conscious, so I remained quiet.
It felt like hours before he moved, but finally he turned to sit up, then pulled his hand through his blond hair, and let out a long breath.
When he finally opened his eyes, the first thing he focused on was me. I’d forgotten that I was still staring at him, and I quickly lowered my gaze.
“Hello?” he said in a soft scratchy voice, and then coughed a few times to clear his throat. “My name is Dalton McKenny.”
The conversation sounded like we’d just met in a coffee shop. “I’m Maddy.” I chuckled, despite myself.
“It’s nice to hear some laughter, but I hope you don’t mind me asking what you find so funny about this.”
“It’s just so surreal. This can’t be happening to us. Here we are, talking and introducing ourselves like we’re not fighting for our lives. It just struck me as hilarious.”
I’m sure I looked like a lunatic, but all the stress I’d been holding in just had to get out somehow. Soon my laughing turned to tears, my tears turned to sobs, and before I knew it, I was gasping for breath. The pressure in my lungs was killing me. It felt like I was having a heart attack.
“Maddy! Maddy! Listen to my voice. I need you to breathe. Focus on my voice and breathe. That’s it. You can do this. Focus.” Dalton was trying to get me to work through my panic attack. He continued to talk to me until I was only hiccupping through my tears. “Do you think you can make it to the middle of the room?” he asked.
“I don’t know. I think so.”
“Come on. Try to meet me in the middle.” We walked toward each other. “That’s it,” he coached.
Once I got there, I fell to my knees and into his arms. In most cases, having a complete stranger hold me so close would have freaked me out, but instead, I instantly felt better.
“There you go. I have you now. You’re going to be fine.” I listened to his voice as he rocked us both back and forth on the cold floor.
For the first time since this began, I felt safe.
My feet were cold. I reached over to grab my comforter that had fallen to the floor only to touch a man’s chest.
There was a man in my bed?
Fear shot through me, and I jumped up. This was not my room. The walls were rock; the floor was dirt, and I my hands were chained to the wall with rusty shackles.
I fell to my knees and began to cry. My nightmare was real.
“Maddy? Maddy?It’s okay, Maddy,” a voice called to me. “I know this is hard, but you can do this. Breathe honey, come on.”
I raised my head. I remembered now. His name was Dalton, and he’d held me all night long.
Drying my eyes, I said, “Sorry about that. I lost my bearings for a minute, thinking this was my bedroom. I wondered why I had a man in my bed.” I tried to control my breathing but only managed a weak smile and chuckle.
Dalton gave me a small smile as well while rising to a sitting position. “Yes, I was a bit shocked too. It’s been a while since I’ve held a woman all night long.”
Was he gay?
He was a very good-looking man, dressed in a nice dark gray suit. Even crushed and covered in dirt, I could tell it was expensive.His hair was a blond and cut short on the sides but longer on the top. It was messy now, but that just made him look like a model. He seemed tall; his shoulders were broad and his waist was thin. I’d bet he was one of the popular kids when he was in high school.
He laughed again. “You’re trying to decide if I’m gay, aren’t you?”
I giggled and lowered my eyes.
“Well, I’m not gay. In fact, I’m a married man. The reason it’s been so long is because my wife and I have been having problems for a while, andI’ve been sleeping in the guest house.”
“How old are you?” I asked in shock. He didn’t look old enough to be married.
He stood up and stretched out his arms. “Yeah, I get that a lot. We got married too young. We were both fresh out of high school, and she told me she was pregnant. I learned later that it was a lie, but I tried to make it work. I’m only twenty-seven, and yet it seems my whole life has just been a series of mistakes,” he said, seeming to talk more to himself at this point.
I sat quietly and waited for him to sort through his thoughts.
“Sorry about that,” he said after a few moments. “It’s not like you want to hear all my problems. Tell me about you. What’s your story Maddy?”
“There isn’t much to tell,” I said, shrugging. “I’m eighteen,I’m a senior in high school, and I came to have some fun on spring break with my frien
ds.” I turned away, a little embarrassed by my stupidity. My eyes were already so sore from all the crying I’d done lately, and I’d bet they were bloodshot. Yet I still felt more coming. I looked up.”Little did I know that the guy I came down here to be with was part of a human trafficking ring.” I shook my head, still not believing how stupid I’d been. As if someone like that would have been interested in me. I should have known.
“Someone brought you here and sold you?” he said, looking horrified.
“I thought he was my boyfriend.” I huffed in disgust with myself. “I’ve never had a boyfriend, and I thought he liked me.” I closed my eyes and shook my head. Remembering how thrilled I was that someone from Jack’s social class was interested in me made me feel foolish. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that someone like him would be so evil. “But Jack’s only purpose was getting me here to Mexico.”
I was still trying to wrap my mind around all that had happened in just the past few days.
“That’s me in a nutshell. I let loose for the first time in my life, and it gets me kidnapped.” I laid my head on my knees. “The worst part of the whole thing is that my parents think I’m helping to rebuild houses in Houston. Now I’ll never get a chance to tell them how sorry I am.” The tears just wouldn’t stop.
We sat in silence for about ten minutes, and then Dalton said, “You’re going to get out of here. We both are. I don’t want you to give up, so no more of this negative talk. You’ll get to see your parents again.”
“Aimee, my friend who I came down here with”—he touched my arm, and I could barely see it through the tears—“she escaped. I just hope she made it. I don’t want her to die for my mistakes. She’s such a good person. She doesn’t deserve this.”
“Oh, Maddy.” He pulled my arm, and I fell against him as he hugged me, which made me cry harder. “This isn’t your fault. You have to believe that. I’m sure she’s safe and sound. Think positive and you’ll be with her soon.”
I felt safe in his arms, but I could feel the chain hanging from his wrists rubbing against my back, and it really was a reminder of where we were. I didn’t know if I could believe what he was saying, but I felt a little more hope. Would I ever find out what happened to Aimee? His face was in my hair, and I began to space out and stare at the grimy concrete wall. I was feeling uncomfortably warm, probably from a combination of body heat and crying. I just wanted to go home. I never wanted to come to Mexico again.
Mistakes Page 9
