The world around me changed

Chapter Two

I knew walking alone was not safe. I've heard of stories of children being kidnapped ,I never took them to heart though. Because I've never experienced it. You cannot feel the pain you don't know. You cannot relate to someone who has just lost their parent if you've never lost one.

But then, I felt a coarse hand covering my mouth. Panic sized my body for a moment. And then I fought. Hard and with everything I had. But I couldn't break free from the arms that had trapped me. I screamed so loudly I could feel my throat aching.

My hands were forcefully tied to a strand. And then a cloth was tucked into my mouth and suddenly I was blind. A bag was forced on my head. It was so that I couldn't see anything. But I had already seen who the person was.

I was shoved into the boot of the car. My muffled cries were loud, but no one could hear me. No one responded.

They drove so long I lost track of time. Was it hours or a day? My stomach screamed with hunger and my tongue was parched. All the way, I couldn't stop crying. My eyes, my head, my throat, my heart...everything was in torment .

The car finally stopped and the same coarse hands pulled me out. The bag came off of my head when we were inside. He shoved me forward so hard I nearly fell.

I adjusted my eyes to the subdued light to see that I was in a filthy sanctuary. And I wasn't alone. There were girls everywhere.

Something in me dropped to the floor. Never before had I seen a foot so paralyzed

"L-let me go, please. I won't tell anyone anything. I'll pretend nothing happened.  Please just let me-"

The sound of the slap echoed through the room. I was aroused by the pain I felt beginning from my temple all the way going down to my chin.

"Don't speak unless you're spoke to, rat," He said.

They gave us a litre of water.

"Share it," they man said. "If anyone flops dead of dehydration, you will all be punished."

One litre! But there were twenty of us. The water was finished before it could even reach where I was.

I was too afraid to feel anything more. The sadness was all I could see. The anger made me shake.

We slept on the floor mats. And the only reason I could close my eyes was the exhaustion.

"Girls! Get up and go!"

At first we didn't believe him. "You are all lucky, especially you." He was pointing at me.

Outside it was morning. Seven young boys came and pulled us out of the yard. They told us to go home and never utter a word because they knew where we all stayed. They said they'd dispatch our families if we spoke a word about them.

A van came by. The man inside chose amongst us. They chose me and three other girls. They dropped me off first. They left me where they found me and the driver said "say a word and your family will?"

I walked away from him. "DIE!!"  he screamed behind me.

It was still early. The taxis were pocking people up on the early morning lights. I tried to muster a straight face and thought of an excuse I would give at home. Jessiee!

I walked to Jessie's house in a hurry. Her mother was home and so I asked if she would do me a favour. I told her that I'd explain the following day. She said she would do it, even though she wasn't happy.

The walk home was terrifying. I kept looking over my shoulder as if they would come again.

"Where are you coming from you spoilt brat!" That was the first thing from my father's mouth as I was walking into the kitchen. "Deborah I told you this child is a problem. Mickus bring a belt!"

"I was attending extra classes at school and we finished very late, Jessie's mom came to fetch us . I thought she told you, she insisted that I sleepover because it was late," I said.

He slapped me so hard. Not nearly as hard as the man at the sanctuary had.

"Stop lying because Jessie's mom doesn't have a car!"

Do you know that moment when your lies blow up in your face? I was so scared ,not just scared  but terrified. Tears started to roll down my chubby cheeks. I wasn't  crying , I thought my cute face was torn, that slap disturbed some structures of my face that tears rolled on their own. My dad shouted "why are you crying!"

He just slapped me on my face then he asked why I was crying. I said shedding tears , "she fetched us with some friend of hers."

He called Jessies's mom to ask if she really fetched me at school and Jessie's mom said yes. She really saved me. That's the reason why I loved her so much . I knew that I owed her an explanation the following day. My dad, however didn't even apologize

Without eating I went to shower and then to bed.

My mom woke me up later in the morning to ask if I was going to school. "I'm not feeling well," I said. She saw the redness on my cheek and she let me sleep.

I lay in bed for hours not doing anything. I woke up for food and the bathroom, nothing else.

My brother came home early from work. He worked at some butchery. He asked me to make him food as well.
As was making food another drunk man came in the house claiming to be my father. My brother kicked him out of the house.

I was so lucky. I didn't even wanna imagine it if I was alone in the house.

When my mom and dad came back from work in the evening, they had great news. We were about to move to a new house, I was just happy that I would be changing schools.

My brother was against it because he was going to leave his friends behind. He was only concerned about his friends and not safety. Our hood was not safe. I mean I got kidnapped here and I can't even say anything!

My dad then announced that we would be moving in two weeks time. That night I drew a calendar counting down days.

I told my friends about my departure and they were not happy about it but they understood my situation. I didn't want to leave them behind as well.

A few days later we packed up our things and I said goodbye to Brooklyn.

We got to our new house and wow ,it was three times more beautiful than our old house. It had three rooms, two bathroom, a sitting, a dining room and an open plan kitchen.

My room was huge and I really loved it. Finally I got to sleep alone. I had a place of my privacy.

That was not the end. I finally got to chose a school for myself but on a certain budget. I chose Hillary Secondary school.

I met Emy,Cassandra and Nicole. They became my friends. Emy was "the boss" of the crew, she controlled everything we did.

My first day of school was pleasant. On my second, Emy announced that there would be a school social to welcome everyone back at the end of the week. But it wasn't going to be held at school.

I knew she was lying because we didn't get any letters nor emails that were sent through to our parents. I told her that my parents wouldn't allow me to go because they weren't informed by the school.

At that she insisted that she would make a plan and she did.

She introduced me to everyone at the school social. She introduced Cairo. I looked at him and ran away. I knew him, he was....