Trafficked: a novel

by Sophia Rey

  We went inside to find that Earl’s was more drinks than food. It was a grubby little place with rundown furniture and a ratty looking little bar. We sat down in a booth and ordered a pizza which, when we got it, looked like a frozen pizza that they had just shoved in the oven. Still, we were hungry, so it tasted good.

  Kai liked to enjoy his food and ate slowly. I splurged for drinks, something we usually do, because I was hoping we’d get free refills for our ride home. By the time we’d eaten and paid for our food I felt even more tired.

  Mom called and told us to take our time. Still, I was a bit anxious. I’d never so driven so far in the dark before. We went out to the pitch black parking lot, got into the car, and started up the engine while looking for other that might be coming in or out of Earl’s. I don’t think I could have driven more slowly, but I was so busy being cautious that I drove right into the sink hole!

  We screamed our heads off as we went straight down. It was only a few feet, but it freaked me out. It was so dark and I didn’t know how we’d get out. So I just screamed in fear, “Get us out! Get us out!” as loud as I could. Kai was yelling the same thing, too.

  In a few minutes we heard voices. “Here’s a ladder. Come on up, folks.”

  “I told you, Mike. We need to have some lights and warning signs around that sink hole. It’s probably illegal, the way that hole’s just sitting there.”

  “Well, Doris,” the first voice answered back, “Everyone knows there’s a hole in the ground there.”

  “Everyone doesn’t know,” replied Doris. “You know with that new hospital nearby, people are bound to drop in here. People are going to sue us if you don’t get something done.”

  They kept arguing as we were led up the ladder and out of the hole. Someone must have called 911 because the police came by, and an ambulance. Somehow, Channel 3 News heard about our car landing in the sink hole and had sent a crew.

  As we came out of the hole we were met by the bright lights of the camera crew as they filmed our stunned faces. All I could say was, “Thank you. Thank you for getting us out.”

  Now what am I going to do? I thought. Mom had always told me that if you don’t know what to do, ask someone for help. I was a fairly inexperienced driver. I sure didn’t know how to get a car out of a sink hole.

  “You need to call a tow truck,” I think it was Mike, said.

  “Ummm, okay.” I thought about my phone, back in the car. “Do you know where I can find a tow truck?”

  “Look on your insurance card. You probably have tow insurance,” Doris offered, putting her arm around my shoulder. “You call the number and tell them our address. Would you like me to call them for you?”

  “Yes,” I said. My teeth were starting to chatter and I figured I must be in a bit of shock.

  Doris climbed down and looked in the glove compartment for the insurance card. We did have tow insurance, but when I described the situation the guy at the towing company said they needed to dig out an area around the car first to make a little ramp for the car to come up on. They couldn’t just come and lift the car out of some deep hole.

  The TV crew stayed for the whole process, thinking the backhoe footage was great TV.

  I called Mom on the phone after everything was set. “I know, I know. You’re on the news right now. It must be a slow night for news. Are you alright?”

  “It’s not all that exciting,” I told her, calming down just hearing her voice. “But it was scary going into that hole and even scarier thinking I was in a hole and might not be able to get out.”

  “Oh, Honey. I’m sorry you had to go through all that,” she sympathized.

  “It was my own fault. I should have remembered that hole was there.” I started to cry. “Is it going to cost a lot of money?”

  “Don’t worry about that,” she insisted. “First of all, you didn’t try to do anything wrong. And second, they should have had blinking lights around that hole, which would have made it easier to see.”

  I could just see Mom’s brain clicking. Hole not marked. Huge hole in ground. Daughter and son frightened. I wonder if we should sue. By the time I got off the phone I felt like I’d almost done Mom a favor.

  After two hours of digging Mike finally drove the car out. “Do you want me to drive the car home?” he asked me.

  At first, I almost said no, but after thinking about driving back in the dark by myself I said, “Yes, that would be good.” Doris said she was following in their car and I asked if we could ride with her. I was a little scared of being in my car, and I knew there was soda spilled all over the front of the car.

  When we got home, Mom was waiting. She grabbed us both and hugged us. “I’m so glad you’re alright,” she cried. “I shouldn’t have let you drive up there alone.”

  “Mom, it’s not your fault,” I countered. “It’s just a bunch of stuff that happened at once.”

  “Yeah, it’s not your fault that Em is a bad driver,” Kai teased with a crooked smile.

  “Ha ha.” I smiled at Kai.

  I heard Mike clear his throat. I’d forgotten that Mike was in the room. Quickly I made introductions. “This is Mike, Mom.”

  “Hello.” Mike stuck out his hand. “I drove your car home and my wife brought your kids to make sure everything and everyone got home safe. I’m sorry that Emily and her brother landed in that hole. Doris – that’s my wife – Doris is always telling me I should get something done about that hole in front of the place, and now this. I hope Emily’s going to be alright.”

  “I appreciate your concern, Mike, is it?” Mom’s voice was civil, but firm. “But I’ll be expecting you to cover any damages to our car that have resulted from it dropping into that sink hole in front of your establishment, as well as covering the costs of checking out the children to make sure they haven’t been damaged in the fall.”

  When did Mom become a lawyer? I thought.

  “Do you have a business card?” Mom asked Mike.

  “Here ya’ go.” Mike tried to look casual as he rubbed the back of his neck with his hand. “I, uh, I would like to settle this matter without gettin’ any lawyers or insurance agencies involved. I know I should’ve marked that hole and I’ll be putting up warning signs and lights around it. I’m sure we can settle this matter amicably among ourselves.”

  “I’d be willing to consider it.” I knew Mom really was thinking about it; Mom didn’t like lawyers in general. Instead of discussing the matter any further with Mike she asked, “Would you like a bite to eat before you go?”

  “No, no. Doris is waiting.” He looked like he just wanted to get out of there. He looked at his hands for a moment before looking up again. “Five thousand dollars. I can give you five grand to settle this right now,” he bargained.

  “That’s very generous of you, but I’m going to consult with a friend of mine before I make any decisions. She knows more about these matters than I do. Are you sure you don’t want a drink before you go?”

  Mom knew she had Mike over a barrel. It was negligent to leave the hole unmarked, and with the news cameras there to film the whole thing we definitely had proof of what had happened. I could see Mom calculating things in her head. Mom isn’t one to sue people, but with the medical bills and two extra mouths to feed, we could use the money. “I’ll call you in three days.”

  “Sounds fine.” Mike shook her hand then walked out the door to meet his wife.

  CHAPTER 32

  THE FIRST DAY BACK at school, we started talking about the Civil War in AP History. Mrs. Stapley lectured about slavery and the North Star. She asked us to write a report about how escaped slaves used the star to travel to the northern states and/or Canada.

  This paper was right up my alley. I loved stories about the Underground Railroad and also about escaped slaves who were helped by Quakers who may or may not have used the Underground Railroad to bring about freedom.

  The books that I read about slavery in the U.S. seemed to point to one reason for the cruel fo
rm of slavery that took place below the Mason Dixon Line. This reason seemed to be that one group of people thought they were somehow better that another group. Slaves were thought of as machines with no feelings or pain that could be used until they worn out.

  I spent the afternoon in the library, studying. One thing I learned was just how little, comparatively, the Underground Railroad was used. Despite the attempts of the Quakers and heroes like Harriet Tubman, relatively few people used the railroad. And I could see why. First, you’d need a group. To travel alone in a strange land, since many slaves never left the plantation, would be daunting. You’d be traveling with no food and just the clothes on your back, with no weapons to defend yourself. Then there was the owner, who would consider you lost property. He might send bounty hunters after you – bounty hunters with dogs who were trained to bite and mangle, but not kill you. After all, you could be used for something, even if you lost a limb, but a dead slave wasn’t good for anything.

  That night I took Mom’s laptop out in the patio to write. It was about nine and the stars were out. I could see the North Star. I thought about how it would be to travel at night by foot. I saw the Drinking Gourd constellation that Harriet Tubman had encouraged her escapees to follow.

  I thought of the journey the slaves of that time undertook, and the journey that modern–day slaves had before them. The journey of the trafficked child consisted of navigating through a maze that most adults would have a hard time dealing with – a system of technological advances that favored the predator. Online pimps and bullies looking for girls to take advantage of were rampant. In my own high school a couple of kids had taken their lives because of online bullying or the thought of having their nude pictures blasted all over the school.

  Even the system of buses going slowly to Mama Laura’s house near 27th and Betsy in downtown Phoenix from outlying cities like Mesquite was a factor. Once a girl took the two–hour trip in the heat, she didn’t exactly want to take a trip back to the East Valley or the West Valley or wherever she came from.

  Modern–day sex trafficker and the plantation slave owners had one thing in common.

  Greed.

  I remembered Dad talking about one of his patients at Gardens who had lived with her parents and her baby brother. Both parents were addicts. Evie had been given heroin by her mom and been told not to tell her dad about it. She got hooked and wanted to leave and get help for her addiction, but she felt obligated to stay and help raise her baby brother, Eddie. Both of her parents were wasted so much of the time, she didn’t think he had a chance. “What do you do when both of your parents are too wasted to get out of bed?” she would ask at the Gardens NA group.

  I thought about how the foster care system and the way it was run added to the problem. Maybe, I thought, I can ask my AP teacher if I can write a paper about how the foster care system was adding to the human trafficking situation. I’d heard Dad say that about 20 kids every day went AWOL from group homes and places like Gardens. He’d said that these kids were almost always approached by predators.

  ************

  Starting classes at Chandler Gilbert Community College was quite different from Mesquite High. I had two classes there: Sociology and English. I hated the chaos of high school, never knowing what clique to avoid or who was popular, or understanding why I should care. The college campus was much different. People seemed to be there to learn, and let others do the same. It was nice. I could definitely get used to it.

  CHAPTER 33

  I HAD A WEEK left before the party, and I was still planning it with Kai and Maurine’s help. It was a good distraction for me, and the kids had no shortage of suggestions as to the running of the party.

  “Let’s go to Jumping Jack Flash, the trampoline place!” Kai tried.

  “Let’s order pizza and fried chicken and Chinese food!” suggested Maurine.

  “Apparently you two haven’t noticed that we didn’t won the lottery,” I joked. “I’m sorry, but we’re just going to have a simple party. I don’t mean we can’t have fun, but we just don’t have a ton of money.”

  “You’re so mean,” grouched Kai.

  “We need to listen to Emily,” Maurine told Kai. She could see the situation for what it was. She turned to me. “How about just pizza?”

  “Yes. Here’s what I was thinking. We can order a few pizzas and make some juice, and I could get some snacks from the food pantry. Mom and I were thinking we could show a movie in the apartment complex’s little theater; and if the weather’s nice we can have a scavenger hunt at the play area. Whaduyou think?”

  “Okay,” said Kai, without a whole lot of enthusiasm. Kai had what I liked to think of as The Mesquite Problem. We weren’t wealthy, but a lot of people in Mesquite were. Most of Kai’s friends had their own laptops and the latest cell phones and designer clothes. He was used to parties at Top Golf and go–cart places and indoor amusement parks. We just couldn’t afford it.

  But we can still have fun, I thought. I tried to get them to concentrate on making invitations and planning the scavenger hunt.

  The list of party goers was getting bigger. I knew Mom couldn’t be there to help with things, she was so busy. So I asked, “Do either of you have a friend whose parents might want to help at a party?”

  “My friend, Amire’s, parents might help,” offered Maurine shyly. “I met them at school and they seem nice. I’d like to work on some invitations.”

  “Well, let’s get these invitations done so you can hand them out tomorrow. Don’t forget to put our phone numbers on the cards in case people have questions.”

  ************

  I spoke to Maurine alone after we had our little party planning meeting. “Is something wrong, Maurine?” I asked.

  “I just don’t think a lot of the people I know from school are going to come.”

  I was glad then, that I hadn’t said, “Each of you can invite five people,” as I’d originally intended. It would have put Maurine in a bad position, especially if she compared herself to the popular Kai.

  “Look, is there anyone in your old neighborhood that you’d like to invite?”

  Maurine perked up. “Yes. There’s one girl near Mom’s house, and she has a little sister that I’d like to invite.” She smiled briefly.

  “Perfect. You invite them and, Amire, did you say it was? It’s not the number of friends that count. It’s the quality. Three good friends can be like gold sometimes.”

  “Okay.” She seemed to perk up a tiny bit, but not much.

  “Well, I need to get to the hospital. Mom has a ton of papers to grade and I need to sit with Dad. So I need to get going, okay?” She still seemed so vulnerable, so down. I tapped her on the shoulder. “Hey, would you like to come with me?”

  “Oh, yes!” she said with some hesitation, like she wasn’t sure I wanted her to come. And off to the hospital we went.

  The trip to the hospital was uneventful. Dad was doing a little better every time I saw him, but the recover process was slow. Maurine was happy to see Dad. I think she liked visiting Dad because he was a very safe man to be around since he couldn’t move. And the memories of our happy Christmas were still strong in her head.

  She liked the cable TV as much as Kai had; she couldn’t keep her eyes off it. But after our hour was over, the drive home was filled with the sound of her voice as she talked all about everything she’d seen on the TV, and what she thought about my dad and his recovery.

  CHAPTER 34

  THE NEXT DAY THE Mesquite Police Department called, asking if me and Mom could come in and answer some more questions. I was happy to go. The whole process was fascinating. And besides, I would have a chance to be around that delicious Detective Isaaks…if I was lucky.

  And I was lucky. He was our interviewer that afternoon. Detective Isaaks wanted to know more about Mason. His activities. His likes and dislikes. Any patterns he had in his daily activities. After a while it became clear that Mom wasn’t needed any more at the police depar
tment. I was the one who knew Mason, or at least thought I knew him.

  “I can drive her home when we’re done here, if you like,” offered Detective Isaaks.

  “Who better to drive her home than the police?” Mom gave me a secret wink. I guess it was obvious that I liked Detective Isaaks. “But let me ask you before I leave, are we in any danger, having Maurine and Carol live with us? If this trafficking is such a lucrative business is there any chance that these thugs are going to come after us?”

  “There’s always a chance that they’ll be stupid enough to try something, but the fact that you live in a gated complex that’s guarded at night by a trained security guard helps. We can make our presence known more at the apartment complex, too. These guys are greedy and narcissistic, but they usually go for the low–hanging fruit. When Maurine and Carol were living with her mother and her boyfriend, and then at Mama Laura’s, they were prime targets. Sure, Carol was money for them, but, unfortunately, there are a lot of other girls for them to replace her with.”

  “I’d feel better knowing you’re going to be around,” said Mom.

  “We’ll put a patrol car in your parking lot for a few days.” Detective Isaaks gave Mom a comforting smile.

  “Thank you so much,” Mom told him. “I’ve been so busy, what with visiting my husband and work. Having you around will make it that much easier for me.”

  Mom left and Detective Isaaks started asking me more questions. “Now, how long did you say you’ve known him?” he started out.

  “A little over a year now, but we only dated really for about seven months. Then he started acting strange,” I said.

  “What do you mean by strange?”

  “We would make plans and then he just wouldn’t show up. One time we made plans and then he decided to go and install a friend’s fan in the middle of our date.”

  The detective gave me an inquisitive look, so I described the fan incident.

  “And, looking back, I can see that he did things to make me tell him how I felt about him.”