by Karin Dahan
“We are pretty fabulous.” Rufus winks at me and starts to collect my bartered. “When will you be back again?”
“In two weeks, might need some detergent and batteries by then.”
“No problem” Gilbert embraces me in a warm hug. “You be careful out there, ok”
I let myself relax for a second in his big arms before I break away. Rufus grabs me next and gives me a kiss on the cheek before he lifts my hood, hiding my hair. “You can never be too careful.”
“I know. Thanks again.”
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Chapter 3
My backpack is lighter now with the heavy potatoes gone. I feel a twinge of sadness as I move through the thick crowd, away from my friends. I look down on the ground, making sure I don’t trip over someone’s feet, but I have a hard time focusing on what I’m seeing. Instead, my mind wanders to what Gilbert said about the wall and the repercussions. Will I never see my home again? Never get one last moment close to the memory of my parents. A recollection of the last night I saw my mom keeps playing in my mind. I try not to think about those moments. Doing so often causes me to panic. But, right now, I can’t stop. And just like I know it would, I can feel the panic rise. My body is reacting to the memory like it was an event happening right now. The trauma of that last conversation is forever etched in my mind.
I’m so focused on my own thoughts that I’m not paying attention to where I put my feet anymore. Without knowing it, I stumble on someone and fall face forward to the ground. I let out an involuntary scream as my body hits the hard dirt. The action shocks me so much that I can’t move. When I finally look up, it’s like someone has hit the pause button on the busy square. A stillness has set as everyone has
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stopped to see what happened.
Did I really scream that loud? All the faces staring down at me fills me with terror and I quickly scramble to stand up. The street around me comes to life again but I still feel like someone’s watching me.
I wipe away the dust from my clothes as I move forward, my mother’s words echo in my mind; Survive for me. As I glance backwards, I see a man and a woman with determined faces fall in line behind me. Fear ripples through my body and I start to walk as fast as I can without actually running. The square is crowded, and I have to push my way forward. My heart is yelling at me to turn around again; see if they’re still following me, but I ignore it. Acting like a scared animal would only cause more suspicion. My heart comes out a winner today as I instinctually turn my head. Not slowing down as I do, I hit something hard.
I look up to a muscular man staring down at me, “Look where you are going!!”
It feels like the whole square can hear him. Could he talk any louder? I don’t bother answering, drawing more attention to myself would be unnecessary, instead I mumble something like an excuse and
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sidestep the large man, looking backwards as I do. The woman is gone now, but the man is still there, his piercing blue eyes locked on me. Who are these people and why are they following me? They don’t sport the usual markings of a gang member or the dark suits fitting someone from the government.
It doesn’t matter. I run now. I know what people are willing to do to get their hands on the soil that I have. I put all my focus on trying to think clearly. My mind no longer wants to work properly as my body has gone into panic mode, screaming for me to keep running. Get to safety. But I can’t risk getting followed into the woods. I need to hide. I look around in panic as the busy streets are thinning out more and more. We are getting further from the center of the square now. I glance towards the busiest stall, a woman selling eggs, but the crowd is too small to hide me there. I spot an empty alleyway to my right. The sun doesn’t quite reach the narrow street, instead leaving it covered by the shade. I squint my eyes to see further down the alley where two trashcans are reflecting the little light that found its way in.
I jump behind a woman carrying big baskets of sheep fur, hoping she will hide my path. She walks right where I want her to, without even noticing my awkwardly crunched position as I try to keep
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up with her surprisingly quick steps. When we are right by the alleyway, I stand up and sprint as fast as I can to the trashcans, jumping behind them.
I sit on my heels and try to catch my breath, it comes in heavy now. The trashcans are overflowing to a point where people no longer even attempt to place their trash inside, instead just tossing it nearby. The smell makes me cringe and I hold my nose to stop an involuntary gag reflex. I peek behind it toward the square to see if anyone is coming after me. I can’t risk being followed when I head home, I must lose them in the village.
I sit there for a long time, not moving, just looking. There is no sign of the man with the piercing blue eyes, or anyone else even attempting to go into the stinky alleyway.
My legs hurt from my crunched position and my pulse has finally returned to normal. Maybe I overreacted? Maybe there wasn’t anyone following me…or if it was, did I lose them? I wait a few more minutes. My body is screaming for me to adjust my sitting position and I try my best to put more of the weight on my hands instead of my legs, but I don’t move too much. Doing so would just make me visible from the alley, and I won’t risk that.
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After what feels like an eternity I stand up. If I want to make it home before sunset I must get going now. I stretch out my legs and shake each one to get the numbness to go away. It’s nice to get the blood flow back. I throw my backpack over my shoulder and walk toward the square again, feeling a strong longing to get back to the safety of my tree house. Suddenly, I see two figures break away from the crowd, making their way to the alley. I can see from their mannerisms that the two men must be intoxicated, they are walking like they were on a sailing boat and not dry land. I stop dead in my tracks, not able to move a muscle as the two figures come closer. From the volume of their conversation they must be in a heated discussion, too wrapped up to even notice me.
As quiet and quickly as possible I return to my hiding spot, trying to make myself as small as possible. Maybe they are too drunk to notice me? I don’t peek behind the trash this time. Instead my eyes are locked in front of me. My hearing heightens as I pick up every word they say alongside their heavy footsteps.
“I told that bitch if she couldn’t make the monthly payment for our protection, she could pay me in other ways,” a man with a raspy voice says.
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“Did she?” The other man responds with eagerness. The first man doesn’t answer as he’s too busy chuckling to himself. “Come on Ivo, tell me what happened?”
“She was new in town, so she hadn’t heard of the Scullys. I took off three of her fingers before she was begging me to fuck her. She won’t forget about us now.”
Both men laugh, and my heart drops to my stomach. I can’t breathe anymore, fear has a hold of me. I know about the Scully gang. Everybody in Hope knows about them. They claim to give you protection, if you pay them. But in reality, it only means they leave you alone. I had a run in with them the first time I was in town, but Gilbert and Rufus saved me before they could lay a finger on me. I doubt anyone will be able to save me this time.
The footsteps are getting louder and louder, I scan the area to see if there’s anything I can use to protection myself. I see a metal pipe across from me, but I can’t risk running over there to grab it. My best bet is to go unnoticed.
“Give me that bottle.” The raspy voice is back. “Give it to me!”
“No, you had your share. The rest is mine!” The voices are so loud now I expect to see their boots any second.
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“Don, if you want to keep your hand you will give it to me!” The laughing is gone, and a deadly calm have replaced it. No one speaks or moves, and I itch to peek behind the trash to see what’s going on.
Then everything explodes in commotion when a fight breaks out. I can hear what I assume is a fist hitting a chin and then something lands in
the trash, right next to me. My blood turns to ice as one of the Scully gang members are just inches away from me. At first, he doesn’t see me, groggy from the punch he received. But then his eye gets a glow in it and a sly grin covers his face, making it uglier than before. I can’t even blink and I try to tear my eyes away from the empty space where his right eye should’ve been. One of the terms of joining the Scully gang is that you must sacrifice your own eye. It’s a way to show loyalty; a way to say you are willing to give your all to the gang.
A dark shadow makes me turn my head and now the other man is standing over me. He’s older than the first one, his long black hair is thinning but he still lets it hang in a greasy mess. His clothes are dirty and torn and I quickly note the missing eye; another Scully. As he smiles, I can see that several teeth are missing. He crunches down to my level and I try to move further away, but the wooden wall behind me
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makes it impossible.
“Oh, well hello there, little rabbit.”
I don’t respond. I hold my breath and clench my fist. I squeeze it with the plan of swinging it at his face and making a run for it. His eye goes from my face to my fist, he notices it, “Oh hey there now. We don’t want to do that, now do we. You see, we are Scully Savages. Are you familiar with the Scully Savages?”
I don’t move. I don’t nod. I just stay still with my fist clenched.
“Of course you are. Only people with that much fear in their eyes know who the Scully Savages are. Then you must know that we’re nice people. We don’t like violence when it isn’t necessary. We’re more of the ‘let’s find a way to make things work’. Perhaps you have something we want. You give it to us and no violence is needed. Right Don?”
The other guy has gotten up from the pile of trash and is now standing behind, what I assume is Ivo, he replies with nod as a smile grows on his face.
Ivo squeezes closer to my face, so close I can smell the alcohol on his breath. His hollow eye is too much for me up close, all the scars has a deep white color that sticks out as the rest of his face is tanned and
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dirty. I turn away but fingers that remind me of claws grabs my chin and turn it back. I’m not struggling but Ivo’s not letting go. Instead, his fingers dig deeper as his grip tightens. His smile is gone now. “Of course, if someone resist, then, well…. then we have a big problem. I don’t like problems. Problems need to be solved. And the Scullys solve all our problems with violence. Your tiny rabbit fist there lets me know you are trying to give me problems. Are you giving me problems little rabbit?”
I shake my head, at least as much as his tight grip allows. His smile returns, letting go of me he stands up pulling my backpack from my hands with him. I swallow hard. This is not good. I scramble to my feet. If I can just make it to the square. But Don takes a step blocking my path towards safety as if reading my mind.
Ivo fumbles with my backpack before getting it opened. I notice the change in his eye when he sees the treasures inside, an involuntary laugh escapes him, Don’s curiosity forces him to turn toward Ivo to see what the backpack holds. That’s all the opening I need, I might not get another chance. I bolt towards the busy square as I hear Ivo yell out behind me, “You cunty little shit!”
I don’t turn around, but I know that they’re right behind me. I
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can hear them. I have never run as fast as I do now, I’m literally running for my life. The busy street of the square is getting closer and the bright sunlight makes me think of a safety blanket. Right on the edge of the square, right when I can feel the warmness of the sun hit me, a strong hand grips me under my arm. My head is thrown back by the force making my hood fall to my shoulders, revealing my face. Shit, they got me.
But instead of Ivo or Don’s ugly face I look up into the face of an armed guard, fully clad in camouflage, with a semi-automatic rifle in front of him. A small wave of relief washes through me and tears of joy cloud my vision. But the deadly grey eyes that meet mine surprise me.
“What’s going on here?” His voice is full of authority as he looks from me to the gang members panting behind me in the alley. People in the town square are starting to notice but no one dares to stop and see what will happen.
My voice trembles a bit when I speak, “I was on my way home, Sir, when these two men started harassing me. If I can just pass, I will be on my way.”
He lifts an eyebrow as his questioning stare lands on the man standing behind me. He’s so close now his lukewarm breath reaches my
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neck. Goosebumps and disgust force me to take a step forward, toward the seemingly lesser evil.
“No problem here at all officer, we were only making sure this girl makes it home safely.” I turn to see a smirk on Ivo who’s right behind me, his eye speaks of the horrible thoughts going through his mind.
“Sir,” Ivo says as he places his hand on my shoulder from behind me, “this girl was so kind to us. She helped us negotiate a trade for some food and you know, I have a bad back ache since I was, what, probably her age. So, she offered to help me carry it. Right here in this backpack.” Ivo holds up my bag that he snatched from me. The officer looks suspicious.
“Here, I’ll show you,” Ivo says as he unzips the bag. “Isn’t she so kind officer?” He smirks. His grip on my shoulder tightens. It begins to hurt. He leans closer to my face and whispers, “She is like a little rabbit. So cute and helpful.”
“Ok, then. I will leave you to it,” the officer says like he’s bored from the conversation.
The astonishment must be written all over my face as I turn around to see the man starting to walk away from me. I hear laughter
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behind me and a whisper in my ear, “Did you really think he was going to save you?”
I try to run forward in the officer’s direction, but Ivo’s hand pulls me back. “Sir!” I yell out. The officer turns back. “Are you really going to leave me here with these people?”
He seems frustrated with my question. “Look girl, if you don’t want goons bothering you in an alley, perhaps a pretty girl like you should think twice before going into one. I have real shit to take care of. Stop wasting my time and learn to take care of yourself.” He marches away.
I can still smell Ivo’s drunken breath behind me as he crooks another arm around my waist. His fingers roam my body and another sort of fear hits me as hard as a brick wall. I have to get away from these men. Ivo continues whispering in my ear, so close this time I can feel his body behind mine. “Little, little rabbit, I told you that you shouldn’t do anything stupid, now we are going to have to make you pay for it.”
Before he can react, I quickly lift my elbow trying to get a good punch to his stomach, but he stops my arm before it reaches him. His grip digs into my arm as I try to squirm away from his touch. His other hand takes hold of my chin as he brings his face up next to mine, just
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inches away. Panic sets in as I do everything I can to break free, but he doesn’t seem to even notice my feeble attempts for freedom. I try to scream for help but when I open my mouth a fist hits me in the stomach and the air is knocked from my lungs. My vision goes blurry as tiny black spots dance in front of me. I want to fall to the ground but his hold on my arm is back and won’t let me. I can’t seem to fight anymore, my body is not doing what I want it too, instead I’m frozen in place again. Unable to defend myself.
Suddenly a new voice echoes through the alley, “Is this the only way you can get dates, are you too ugly for women to voluntarily go out with you so you have to take them with force?” I try to locate the owner of the voice but come up blank. My captures look as surprised as me. Before I can even blink, something heavy drops on Don and he falls to the ground.
Without easing up the grip on my arm, Ivo brings up a gun from his left side, looking up towards the roof to find the person responsible for Don’s sorry state. “You idiot. Don’t you know what you have done…who we are?!?” Anger
makes his face turn into a shade of red and his eye flashes with anger.
I hear a noise behind us, and Ivo quickly turn around, tossing me
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to the ground next to him so he can move freely. A man stands in front of Ivo and before Ivo can bring up his gun to aim it. He swiftly kicks Ivo in the groin. Ivo lets out a whimper of a noise as his knees buckle beneath him. My eyes lock with the strangers as he manages a quick smirk before throwing a fist towards Ivo’s right cheek, sending him to the ground. He shakes his hand to get rid of the pain the impact caused, it’s all the time I need to jump to my feet.
“Hey, are you ok?” The handsome face of the stranger radiates worry as he moves towards me.
“Don’t touch me!” I protest as I take a step back. I hear my own heart beating loudly in my chest as my mind try to make sense of the situation. My backpack is thrown on the ground next to Don. The milk bottle must be broken because white liquid is dripping out from the fabric. My trade is lost. The stranger follows my eyes and walks towards my things, picking it up of the floor. “I assume this is yours…” His voice is still kind and calm.
I don’t stick around to answer, I turn toward the crowd and run. disappearing in the busy street.
