• A woman in a pinstripe pant-suit fixates on one small girl in a bright yellow sun dress. She smiles at the ten year old that has come to stand on the sidewalk in front of her. The child twists her head from side to side peering in all directions, then shuffling her tiny feet she approaches the older woman.

    “Where’s my mama?” The child’s voice is soft and confused, and she tilts her head to the side causing her shoulder length blonde hair to fall into disarray. The strap of her plastic pink book bag is perched on her shoulder and she shifts, adjusting the weight of books inside it.

    The woman is now showing teeth, “Your mommy got hurt, and she asked me to give you this.” The woman hands the little girl a note which has the mother’s signature on it. “She asked me to come and pick you up.”

    The girl looks at the powder blue van, at the crisp white note in her hand, and then back at the woman in the suit. She skips to the van, her white sneakers scuffing the concrete sidewalk. The woman, still smiling, follows close behind.

    “Would you like a bottle of water?” The woman asks once they are seated in the van. The little girl nods and the woman reaches into a cooler on the passenger seat. The little girl buckles her seatbelt, takes the unsealed bottle of water, and swallows it all. After a few minutes the little girl’s eyes droop and she yawns. Snuggling up to her book bag against the window, she soon falls asleep.

    ***

    The child awakens surrounded by other girls, some older and some younger, in a small room with whitewashed walls and a dingy wooden floor. A single dim light bulb burns overhead providing the only source of light. Yawning, she looks around at the others and then around at the room. There are pillows everywhere and some of the girls are sleeping even though there are no beds. “Where are we?” she asks, her voice quavering. “Why am I not home?”

    One of the older girls sniffs, turning her bloodshot eyes on the newcomer, “We’re slaves.”

    The young girl blinks and stops crying for a moment, “Slaves? Like what happened to black people a long time ago?”

    The older girl sighs, “Kind of. We’re slaves for…” she hesitates and swallows. A few moments drag on before the older girl finishes her statement, “Sex.”

    “Sex?” the child questions, “Like what mommies and daddies do?”

    The older girl nods.

    “But I’m not a mommy. I can’t do that!” the small child’s voice hovers near a shriek as she pulls the note out of her pocket and crushes it.

    The older girl lets out a harsh laugh. “They make you.”

    The young girl sobs. She huddles against a wall as best she can, and falls into a fitful sleep.

    ***

    The light bulb begins to flicker as footsteps approach. Two men come into the room. They are both clean-shaven with brown hair and are wearing blue jeans and white t-shirts.

    The shorter one points at the little girl, “I want the blonde one. She’s new isn’t she?”

    The taller man nods and comes into the room, snatching her up by the arm and taking her away to another dirty room.

    The tall man throws her onto the bed and leaves her with the short one, who sits down beside her and hugs her as he rubs her back.

    “Now darling, it’s okay, I’m going to make you feel good.” He says and he reaches a hand up the girl’s dress.

    ***

    Three years later, the child still sobs on the hard and dirty wooden floor. She has dark circles under her bloodshot eyes. She notices the house is quiet, and the other girls are asleep. The single light doesn‘t flicker and the door is open. She tiptoes to the door and then she sprints for the outdoors. The frozen dirt is cold underneath her feet and the snow laden trees blur past her. She clenches her fists as the cold wind rips at her ratty t-shirt and shorts. After running as far as her body will take her, she huddles on the frost covered sidewalk and waits. It doesn‘t take too long before a police officer spots her.

    ***

    The girl, now a young woman, stands in front of her old school. She shifts her pink plastic book bag and takes a hesitant step forward. Taking a deep breath she smiles before continuing her trek toward the open doors.