Truth or Lies?

by A. Gomez

  I pulled my bottoms up and put the tampon back in its hiding place, but not before checking what kind of battery it needed. Somehow, I had to get a AAA battery. I sat on the edge of the tub for a moment, contemplating what to do. Chang never brought up the fact I killed one of his men or that I shot another. He was down two men and he didn’t say or do anything to me. I think that frightened me more. What could be going on in his head that he felt human life was so insignificant?

  The door opened, making me jump.

  Betty Lou peeked her head in, “Isabel Grace?”

  “Betty,” I breathed a sigh of relief. “Did I wake you?”

  “No, I had a nightmare.”

  My heart swelled for her. “Sweet angel, I’m here now. Let’s get back to bed. I’ll lay down with you.” I turned off the bathroom light and we climbed into bed together. I tucked Betty in and then cuddled beside her.

  “Isabel?”

  “Yes, sweet girl?”

  “You were right about praying.”

  “Oh?”

  “I prayed for you to kill that man that wanted to hurt me and you did. And then I prayed that Mr. Chang would let you come back up here and be with me and he did. So, you were right.”

  I kissed the top of her head and exhaled softly. “Don’t stop, okay? Somehow, I’ll get us out of here.” I paused, then finished, “If not us, then you, for sure,” I whispered, answering myself more than anything.

  Betty was sleeping comfortably next to me. She was curled up in a little ball lying against my abdomen. I was spooning her, holding her like she was my teddy bear. Her body heat reminded me of Josh. I absentmindedly started fidgeting with the necklace he had given me. This couldn’t be it… we hadn’t had any time together. I knew he was coming but I had to help him and the FBI somehow. But how?

  I woke with a jolt and for a split second I didn’t remember where I was. I looked to my left and Betty Lou was still sound asleep. The clock on the nightstand next to her read five in the morning. Four hours of sleep… I’d only had four hours of sleep and yet I felt like I couldn’t sleep anymore. I rubbed my eyes, feeling tense. I was too worried for Betty. I was worried Chang would take her away from me and I wouldn’t be able to protect her. The thought of someone touching her inappropriately was nauseating. I still had my gun hidden. Could I use that to shoot our way out of there? I didn’t know how many bullets I had left in the magazine. Surely not enough. I shook my head at my wayward thoughts. I’d just get us all killed if I went all John Wayne on us. “Think of Josh,” I whispered to myself.

  “Who’s Josh?” Lilly was awake

  “Oh, hi.” I sat up in bed so I could see her better.

  “You said, ‘think of Josh.’ Who’s Josh?”

  “Josh is someone I care about very deeply.” I touched my necklace reflexively.

  “Does he know you’re here?”

  “Yes, he does.”

  “Then he’ll get the police and they’ll come to rescue us.”

  “Well, he doesn’t know where here is, unfortunately. He just knows I’m with these bad people.” I eyed Lilly curiously. “Lilly, perhaps you can help me. How can I get to a phone or some sort of tablet or something so I can communicate with Josh? Do you think you can help me?”

  “We all have cell phones and tablets but they don’t work for calling or texting or work in any way to communicate with anyone outside this house. Mr. Chang has a lot of cell phone and Wi-Fi jammers in place here. Our phones and tablets are only good for games, music and watching videos. You would need to get one of those phones that plug into a wall to actually call anyone. Plus, Miss Debbie has a lot of the chargers so I wouldn’t know if we have a charger that your phone takes.”

  I blew out in exasperation. “Do you know if they even have a landline that’s working?”

  “I think so. Miss Debbie has a fax machine that she’s always using but it doesn’t matter, there’s no plug-in phone that I know of.”

  “Hm, maybe not, but I can definitely get a fax to someone at my office if I could just get a few minutes alone with the machine. The only problem is I don’t even know where we are. Do you?”

  “I don’t either, but Mr. Hong, the nice man that delivers our groceries, he can probably tell you. You just have to make sure Miss Debbie or An don’t see you talking to him.”

  My eyes bugged. “Did you say Hong? When does he come? And who is An?”

  “He comes every Monday and sometimes Fridays. It all depends if we run out of food faster than normal. This is Tuesday now, so he already came. He’s nice to us. He sneaks us candy… safe candy, he calls it.” She sighed in exasperation, adding, “And An is the guy that’s always around making sure we don’t get out of line.”

  That must be the man I saw with Debbie at the hospital.

  “Safe candy?” I asked quizzically.

  “Yeah, it’s candy that has no drugs in it so it’s safe for us to eat as much as we want.”

  “Oh, my goodness, Lilly. You mean to tell me there’s candy around here that has drugs in it?” I was floored.

  “Yeah, Miss Debbie has them in a bowl next to the front door and one of the back doors. It’s these little chocolate balls that Mr. Chang has her inject with some weird calming drug so we don’t freak out when we have to go to one of our appointments.”

  “Do y’all eat them?” I asked.

  “Some of us did when we first got here because we didn’t know better. It made a few of us sick and…” she trailed off, looking down at her hands, fidgeting with the comforter.

  “And some of y’all are now addicted to the drug,” I finished her thought for her.

  “Yes,” she whispered, almost embarrassed for the other girls. “They can’t stop eating it.”

  “Are you addicted, Lilly?”

  “No,” she croaked, trying to hold back her tears. “I have food allergies so even if I wanted to see what the drug feels like, the chocolate would kill me before the drug could even take effect.”

  Relief washed through me and I went to her, hearing both relief and despair in her voice. I sat on her bed and hugged her tight in my arms, rocking her side to side. “My sweet girl, this is such a blessing in disguise. Thank the good Lord you have this condition and don’t think twice about it.” I pulled away to gaze at her. Tears were spilling down her cheeks. “I bet you’re grateful and upset all at the same time, aren’t you?”

  She nodded.

  “I bet you’re wishin’ you could see what chocolate tastes like, but at the same time, you’re glad that you couldn’t at that moment.”

  She nodded, wiping her nose with the back of her hand.

  “Sweet girl, I can make you some chocolate that you can eat. I used to have food allergies too and my mama taught me how to modify recipes and almost anything else so I can try different foods too.” I wiped her tears with my thumbs. “Would that be okay with you? Just tell me your allergies and I’ll go from there.”

  She nodded, smiling at me. “Betty Lou was right. You are really nice.” She gazed down at her fingers. “I wish you would’ve been here when I first got here so you could’ve killed Gator Leg then.”

  I tilted my head to one side, smirking. “Did you just call Frank Gator Leg?”

  She nodded, grinning from ear to ear. “It was the funniest thing I ever heard. I can’t wait for the other girls to meet you.”

  Other girls. I almost forgot. My heart sank to the bottommost, lowest and darkest recesses of my stomach. How was I going to help us all get out? And then it hit me! “Lilly! I can make you some special chocolate or whatever you want! You probably don’t have the ingredients I need for this special chocolate or dessert so Debbie will have to get Mr. Hong here sooner rather than later to deliver the ingredients! Right?”

  Her eyes beamed. “Right!”

  “Shhh, not so loud,” I placed my finger over my lips and glanced over at Betty. “From what I understand, Mr. Hong has been helping girls get out of here so I think with his help, we may have a
fighting chance.”

  Betty began to stir. I glanced at the clock, it was almost six-thirty. Wow! We’d been talking for over an hour. I got back to my bed and sat next to Betty and stroked her hair so she knew I was still there. Lilly got up and headed to the bathroom.

  “We have to start getting up,” she said. “We have to be downstairs by seven-thirty, starting our chores for the day while some of us make breakfast. Then at breakfast, Miss Debbie goes over our appointments for the day.”

  I rubbed my forehead, frowning. This all sounded like a boarding school or boot camp or something, with the small exception that the girls were being sold or rented for sex. I wished I could break a window, jump through it with Betty Lou into the neighbor’s yard and run as fast as we could away from there to find help. But I couldn’t even see one other house.

  30

  We walked down together. Betty and I were holding hands. A mass of girls of all shapes and sizes began to emerge from out of nowhere and pass us without giving us a second glance as we headed down with Lilly. Lilly was grinning. I supposed she was really excited for me to meet the rest of the girls. As we walked down, I noticed Inara and Elsa ahead of us. They looked healthy and well taken care of. As a matter of fact, all the girls did. But emotionally and mentally I was sure they were far from healthy or happy.

  I was the only one still wearing pajamas. I had no other clothes. At least I still had my booties, although they had specks of blood on them. Not too bad though. I was sure that would change if I was supposed to have appointments like the rest. The thought was unnerving and made me sick to my stomach. I had to get us out of there one way or the other, even if it killed me. We were all in the kitchen and the other girls were receiving their daily chore instructions from Debbie. One by one, they went off to their assigned spots in the mansion. I saw no one going outdoors, however. Hmm, how curious. It was not as though they could escape. From the looks of the wall that surrounded the house, there was no possible way any of the girls could jump or scale that thing. My interest was piqued. There was a reason they didn’t want the girls outside. Perhaps Chang did have neighbors that were close enough to hear the girls cry for help.

  Betty and I took a seat at the kitchen table, watching everyone scurry around. These girls looked so young; a few of them looked high school age. One tall, redheaded girl approached Debbie and was confused as to why she couldn’t cook breakfast today. Something about her mannerisms and her voice sounded familiar. I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. I couldn’t get a good look at her face. She kept shifting from foot to foot, not being able to stand still. I knew a girl like that… could it be…? I coughed to see if she’d turn to look at me, and she did.

  “Caroline Fitzsimmons!” I gasped. I quickly scramble from my seat and took her in my arms, holding her in a tight embrace.

  “Isabel Grace?” She sounded confused. “How? I don’t understand!”

  “Oh, Caroline,” I breathed. “I heard you went missing. My mom just had coffee with your father and everyone is worried and scared for you. I never thought I would see you in a place like this.” My voice was shaky; I was trying to hold back the tears. “I never thought I would see you again! I’m so glad you’re not dead.”

  “I wish I were,” she said, softly crying. “I’m so stupid, Isabel Grace.”

  “Shh, hush now, Caroline. We’ll talk about this later.”

  “Yous two know each other?” Debbie was shocked, her eyes wide.

  “Yes, we do,” I answered. “We grew up together.”

  “Well, that’s very nice but you’re going to have to let go of her. Yous two can’t be showing any kind of emotion like that. The Boss doesn’t like emotional girls.”

  Caroline was having trouble composing herself. I didn’t let go of her and she didn’t let go of me.

  “An,” Debbie called.

  I could see a large Asian man approaching us. It was the man from the hospital. I started patting Caroline’s back telling her to let go but she wouldn’t or couldn’t. She was frozen. The man started reaching for her hair and was about to yank her out of my arms by her hair when I pushed her away, hard, sending her flying into the table. I didn’t wait to see what the man was going to do next, instead I throat-punched him, sending him staggering backwards. Everyone gasped and stopped what they were doing to stare at us. An was catching his breath sooner than I expected. He was about to lay one on me with the back of his hand when Victor Chang yelled something in Mandarin at him. He froze with his hand midair, dropping it to his side. He stalked to the far end of the kitchen and stayed there, glowering at me.

  “Dr. Langley, there are a few rules that must be followed here in order to have peace,” Chang said. “You are new, as is your young friend, so I will give you both this week to acclimate yourselves. Debbie will educate you on these rules.” He eyed everyone and then retreated to wherever he came from.

  Debbie glanced around, clearing her throat. “Back to work, girls.” She squared her shoulders and sat at the very long kitchen table. “Isabel, please have a seat.”

  Very shakily I took my seat next to Betty Lou. She scooted closer and latched onto my arm. Caroline was already gone to whatever chore she was assigned to. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Lilly making pancakes and smirking. I thought she was the only one unaffected by my behavior. I grinned inwardly.

  “Isabel, today you’ll be getting a haircut and your makeup done so we can take a few pictures of you to place online. Priscilla will cut your hair since she’s really good at that and Elsa will do your makeup.” Debbie eyed Betty. “Betty Lou will be getting pictures too, but all we need is for Priscilla to just fix her hair.”

  She was talking as if this was some sort of Vogue or Cosmopolitan photo shoot. Was she so far gone from reality, so detached and desensitized from all the horror, that this was just par for the course for her? My pulse was racing. I knew once Betty’s picture went online men would start making “appointments” for her. Bile rose in my throat.

  “Debbie,” I began, “who’s in charge of placing these pictures online?”

  “Oh, I am. Victor trusts me with all the online postings. He monitors the activity but it’s my job to get the girls up there.”

  “Will these photos be going up today?”

  “If I have time to upload today, yes.”

  “Oh?” Her answer surprised me. Was sex trafficking a super time-consuming job?

  “After last night’s incident I have to make sure that bathroom and bedroom are thoroughly cleaned. The Boss doesn’t like his house dirty, he insists on keeping it beautiful and elegant. I also have to show yous both what’s expected of you here.” She exhaled, sounding a little irked. “On top of that, I still have to manage today’s schedule with the girls. So, as you can see, I am a bit swamped today.”

  I resisted the urge to shake my head and call her a crazy bitch. “Oooh, you do have a lot on your plate, it sounds like. What can I do to help?” I asked, wanting to confuse her.

  She blanched at me, surprise in her eyes. I thought I’d thrown her for a loop. I eyed her impassively, waiting to see what her response would be.

  “Uh… well, I don’t know.”

  “I’m very good with computers. I could do the uploads for you,” I said sweetly. She blinked at me, unsure of how to answer. “I could also help you clean up,” I added. “You just tell me what you need for me to do around the house and I can do it.” I paused for a moment, looking around the room for that Asian man that I had throat-punched. He was at the far end of the kitchen, still glaring at me. I lowered my voice so he couldn’t hear me. “How much do you get paid for doing this?” She whipped her head around and gaped at me. “I hope Mr. Chang pays you what you’re worth because you’re the only one running this household and managing the girls’ schedule.” I whistled. “That’s a lot of work for just one person. And you even have to take them to see a physician, in some cases. That’s time out of your day and away from the other girls.” I could see sh
e was thinking about what I was saying. I mentally gave myself a high-five. I hoped I’d got her thinking and confused enough to where she would start questioning Chang or at least cause a few waves.

  “Breakfast is ready,” Lilly announced as she placed a stack of pancakes and bacon on the table. Debbie jumped in her seat, startled by Lilly. I tried to hide my smirk. Another girl brought waffles and eggs and set them next to the pancakes. I smelled coffee brewing somewhere but I couldn’t see where that was. Everything smelled heavenly. I was starving and thankfully Lilly made some of the breakfast so I wasn’t too concerned about poison.

  All the girls that had dispersed earlier were now coming back to the kitchen to get breakfast. Caroline glanced at me as she walked past me but said nothing. Someone quickly set the table and someone else brought the juice and milk but no coffee. Damn. I fixed a plate for Betty Lou and then myself. She wasted no time in inhaling her food. She smiled at me and then rubbed her head on my arm like a kitten, as if she were saying thank you with her body language. I gave her a half smile and placed my cheek on the top of her head. My mouth was too full of food to say anything.

  Debbie introduced Betty and me at the breakfast table. A few of the girls waved and a few said hi. We said hi back and waved. It was an uneventful meal and very peaceful. It felt more like a girls’ school than anything else, while we were eating and the girls were chatting. They talked about fashion, makeup, nails, books, music, anything but what they were scheduled to do today. A few of the girls asked where we were from or if we had family. Inara asked if my boyfriend got me into this situation. I felt a spasm of pain in my gut for her and Elsa, remembering the explanation of how they got to be here.