TRAFFICKED-PART THREE

TRAFFICKED

PART THREE- FUTURE BLEAK

That morning they said their goodbyes. No tears had been necessary, not when the future in sight was so bright. And indeed the future lived up to expectation, for like six hours, then it was not so bright.

On their way to Tamale, he had stopped at a restaurant were they were stuffed up with all that they could eat and more. Ice cream had been packaged after their meal and they continued their merry journey oblivious to the fast changing scenes behind their tainted windows. They had been too sated to be concerned when at a police check point, he called them his sisters and slipped a big wad of cash to the police officer who had stopped them.

The journey had been long and torturous but mile after mile their little town, Pusiga, was left behind and onward they journeyed to their new fate in Tamale. 

“Welcome to your new home. For now.” Isaac had said when he finally parked his car in front of a large but mostly dilapidated house. 

When they had stepped out of the car, they had been surprised. It was as though they had stepped out of their little town and headed straight back. It was almost a spitting image of their little town. The house they had entered was large but old. It looked as though it had been deliberately left to deteriorate

“Is this how Tamale looks like?” Fati had asked in shock.

“Of course not. This is some outskirts in the Upper West region. Here, we will groom you, then decide if you deserve better than the local prostitutes.” Isaac said coolly after they had entered the house. Some man locked the door.

“What?” Amina and Fati had asked in unison. That was when they saw them; the other girls. They had come out of their rooms to peer at them. They looked scrawny and unkempt.

“I see the local prostitutes are quiet taken with the new arrivals.” Isaac had joked, then turned his attention to the men who had come to meet him. “Take these to the other room. They have had some education so we can look forward to upgrading them to city prostitutes, or not.”

He laughed as he was leaving. That laughter had stuck with Amina and what he said after sealed the moment shut in her mind.
“Two birds, with one stone. Doesn’t get better than that.” He had mocked as he walked away from them to some other room at the corner of the house. For the first time Amina knew what it meant to fear the unknown. The men had shoved them into a room in another corner of the compound. There, they had seen other girls too. Some of the girls were older. And some were just too young.

When the men left them alone, they all let out a deep sigh of relief. Amina began to look for an escape.

They can’t stay here a moment longer.

“Fati, we must get out of here.” Amina had whispered into her sister’s ear. “But how?” Fati had whispered back.

“Time for supper.” A man’s voice cut Amina short when she was preparing her answer.

After their measly supper, most of the girls had gone back to their rooms, they had spread themselves on the floor and slept. But Amina and Fati were taken aside and injected with something painful, they were then escorted to a dark room and with two clicks they were locked in. 

“What is happening?” A frightened Fati had asked. “I don’t know. But maybe we should start looking for a way to escape out of here instead of asking unnecessary questions.” Amina had snapped. 

Maybe she should have been kinder.

On the first day it was easy to not give up hope. But on the second day when they had combed every inch of the room to find no other exit, they had begun to despair. By the third they realized they were being starved to death. 

By the time they heard the two clicks of their salvation, they were either shaking or too weak to move towards the light.

“Wakey, wakey.” That was Isaac’s voice. The bright light had blinded them from seeing him but they did not need to see him to know it was him and that it was his voice; the voice of one who took everything from them.

Some cold hands picked them from the ground and as they were being taken into the bright light, Isaac mocked, “This is what we do to you when you’ve done nothing wrong.” He had laughed, “Just imagine…” More laughter.

They did not need to hear the rest as they were being carried away. They could imagine.