Murderville (5 page)

“Hurry, Shai,” Liberty whispered as she shuffled her feet nervously.

“Here, wrap these in the bottom of your dress,” he instructed. He handed her five large tomatoes and then stuffed as many as he could into his own loose pockets. They were both running on empty and just the sight of the ripened fruit made their mouths water. Something as simple as a tomato was like a luxury dish for them. It was what the wealthy people in Sierra Leone had access to.

It looks so good,
Liberty thought. She could hardly wait to bite into it.

She was jarred from her thoughts when a firm hand grasped her shoulder.

“What are you two doing in here? You little port thieves!” a man yelled as he turned Liberty around forcefully, causing the tomatoes to fall out of the folds of her thin fabric dress.

A’shai immediately sprang into action. “Let her go,” he yelled, trying to force bass into his voice.

“You’re not supposed to be here. You’re . . .” before the man could finish his sentence A’shai had kicked the man square between his legs, causing him to double over in pain. Without needing instruction, A’shai and Liberty took off, running to the other side of the port.

“You see those kids?” A’shai asked as he looked in the near distance.

“Yeah!” Liberty shouted.

“Run to them . . . go . . . we can blend in with them,” A’shai shouted. He turned his head to look back at the man who had given chase and as he turned back around he collided head first into a woman, the impact sending him to the ground. He looked up into the eyes of the most beautiful woman he had ever seen. Like a model on a TV screen, her blue eyes made her angelic and he was momentarily star struck by her magnificence.

Liberty stopped running and looked behind her. The man was coming up on them fast.

“Stop them . . . stop them!” he shouted as A’shai scrambled to his feet and grabbed Liberty’s hand as he looked around desperately for a way out.

“It’s okay,” the white woman said as she put her hands up. “Everything will be fine.”

The man came running up, breathing hard as he finally caught up to them. “These two . . . stealing . . . stealing fruit . . .” He was so exhausted from the chase that he could barely get the sentence out. He put both hands on his knees as he sucked in air.

“He’s lying!” A’shai shouted back defensively.

“It’s okay. They’re with me. They just got lost,” the white woman insisted as she looked the two kids up and down. She pulled out money from her pocketbook and handed it to the man. “This should square things, right?” she asked.

The man grumbled something underneath his breath, snatched the money, and then walked away.

Confused and skeptical, A’shai looked at the woman as he stood in front of Liberty.

“Is this your sister?” the woman asked.

“She’s my wife,” A’shai stated proudly as he stuck out his chest all the while still shielding Liberty.

“Ohh,” the woman responded with a slight chuckle, slightly caught off guard by his mature response. “Well I’m Ms. Beth, and your names are?”

“I’m A’shai, and she’s Liberty,” he responded.

“It’s very nice to meet you both. You have a very pretty wife, A’shai,” Ms. Beth responded.

A’shai nodded his head, his lip curled from mistrust as he eyed the blonde-haired, blue-eyed, Ms. Beth.

“Where are your parents?” Ms. Beth asked.

“They’re around here somewhere,” A’shai acted as though he was searching for them. “They’re probably looking for us right now. We better get going.”

Ms. Beth stopped them and said, “If you need some food . . . you know while you wait for your parents . . . I can help.”

A’shai shook his head and replied, “We’re fine. I told you our parents are coming soon.”

Liberty tugged at his arm while whispering, “Come on, Shai. I’m hungry. Let’s just eat something. She said she can help us.”

Knowing that Liberty was running on an empty stomach put A’shai’s back against the wall. He knew that they had drawn too much attention to themselves and he wanted nothing more than to keep moving, but he could withstand the hunger . . . however, he would never expect Liberty to.

“Okay,” A’shai said.

Following Ms. Beth towards the crowd of children that were assembled in a single file, A’shai looked up at the large steel cargo boat. Graffiti decorated the side of it. The word . . . MURDERVILLE . . . had been tagged in black and red. Had A’shai been able to read maybe he would have understood where his feelings of apprehension were coming from. The boat’s ominous moniker gave off all the signs, ringing a silent warning to the children standing in line waiting to board it. It was the worst decision that the two would ever make, and it was the ill-fated day that changed their lives forever.

FOUR

A’SHAI HELD LIBERTY’S HAND TIGHTLY AS THEY
followed Ms. Beth and the other children onto the boardwalk that led to the ship. A’shai looked back, hoping not to see any of his father’s rebels.

“Shai, I’m scared,” Liberty whispered as she took a glance around also checking for Ezekiel’s rebels.

“Don’t be. Look,” A’shai said as he pointed to the big ship at the end of the dock. Liberty looked at the boat and her eyes lit up. She saw more kids playing on the boat’s deck. Balls were flying and laughter echoed through the air and the ship looked like a big carnival.

“Wow,” Liberty said in amazement as she looked up at the gigantic ship and all the fun that was aboard. A big word stretched across the front of the ship: it read
MYRTLEVILLE
. Wide smiles grew on both A’shai’s and Liberty’s faces. The other kids giggled in excitement as they followed Ms. Beth down the boardwalk. The ship, in the children’s eyes, looked to be one hundred feet tall and everyone couldn’t wait to board the ship of fun.

Ms. Beth smiled as she stepped back, threw her arm around Liberty, and whispered. “We have games, food, and entertainment on the
MYRTLEVILLE
ship. We travel all across the world and do charity work for kids. You guys are going to love it,” she said. Ms. Beth’s smile was like no other and there was something about her that they both trusted. Anything was better than the life that they were living. A’shai was trying to lead them to safety and show Liberty that he could take care of them both but was falling short. He tried to plan their next move but came up with nothing. He was running out of ideas to keep them safe.
At least we can get some food on the boat and then I’ll figure out what we will do next,
he thought as they neared the ship. Once the kids got within one hundred yards of the ship they cheered and took off running full speed. Everyone wanted to be the first one to get on the ship of fun that Ms. Beth described to them. A’shai watched as Liberty smiled, and it made his young heart warm to finally see her happy. He had yet to see her smile genuinely and when she did, it did something special to his soul.

“Come on slow poke,” Ms. Beth said as she giggled and took off towards the ship with Liberty’s hand in hers. A’shai smiled and ran to catch up with them. Although their day had been full of grief, they were about to get a brief moment of solace . . . or so they thought.

As they approached the boat, there were young soldiers passing out candy as each person walked in. A’shai caught up with the rest of the crowd but as soon as he walked in, everything changed. It seemed as if their world was taken right from underneath them.

“Get to the bottom now!” one of the soldiers yelled as he pointed the automatic rifle at the children. What was thought to be a ship of fun turned out to be a human trafficking ship. A’shai held Liberty tight in his arms as she cried and shivered in terror. Laughter and anticipation quickly turned to cries for help and screams as the harsh reality reared its ugly head. They were about to be trafficked and there was no turning back at that point. The ship’s doors closed, and no one could hear their screams.

The two of them were waiting in line with the other children who were being forced one-by-one into the lowest deck of the ship. It was pitch black and nothing could be seen as they were shoved forward. The smell of human feces and body odor reeked from the door opening, giving the air a horrendous smell. The children were forced down the wooden stairs by two soldiers who all had skin that was as black as tar. The worn-out army fatigue uniforms and combat boots they wore intimidated the kids, and their brute force was severe. In between barking orders, they spoke amongst each other in a language that neither A’shai nor Liberty had ever heard before. The newly captured kids looked to Ms. Beth who stood back while smoking a slim cigarette. Her once warm, inviting smile had turned into a sinister stare as she looked at what were merely cattle to her. The children were nothing but future cash deposits that she would traffic through the exploited country of Mexico. She kept her eyes on Liberty as she noticed her beauty, knowing that she would be worth the most because of her beauty and youthfulness.

The children who had just been captured ranged from ages eight to fifteen. All of them were victims of their own naivety and had allowed Ms. Beth to lure them into a sinister operation. Once they entered the boat they were ambushed and whipped by the soldiers and forced into submission. The children who played on the ship’s deck were only there for show and to bait other kids to the ship. Sadly, they were already trained and brainwashed to follow the orders of the soldiers, so they never tried to escape during the travels.

“Grab her! Take her to the second floor,” Ms. Beth ordered as she blew out tobacco smoke and pointed towards Liberty. Ms. Beth didn’t want her to go to the bottom of the ship where the rest of the children were being held. Throughout their voyage, Ms. Beth and her traffickers usually experienced a couple of deaths due to starvation or hypothermia. Liberty was too valuable to put at risk in such a way. Ms. Beth couldn’t allow Liberty to die before she cashed in.

“No! Don’t touch her!” A’shai screamed as he saw the soldiers focus on Liberty. A’shai tried to shield Liberty’s body, and he held her tightly as she began to scream but it was to no avail. The soldiers tore them apart and forcefully grabbed Liberty by the back of her neck. Another soldier pushed A’shai to the ground immediately and stood over him.

“Don’t try it!” he said as he pointed his gun at A’shai. A’shai quickly stood, trying to get to Liberty as they pulled her away. Liberty kicked and screamed to get to A’shai, but the soldier just flung her like a ragdoll, controlling her movements. A’shai gathered all of his strength and hit the soldier in front of him with a right hook to his pelvic area causing him to crumble on contact. He then ran over to the soldier that had Liberty in his grasp.

“Let her go!” A’shai demanded just before he punched the soldier catching him in the mid-section. The blow did not faze the man, but it did infuriate him. He loosened his grip on Liberty and focused on A’shai.

“You little bastard,” the soldier yelled as he went for his sharp pocketknife. He stormed towards A’shai and slashed him across the face. A’shai cried out in pain as the right side of his face split open like the red sea. Blood began to flow out of the wound and A’shai held his face as his own blood crept between his fingers.

“Take him downstairs!” Ms. Beth ordered as she walked towards Liberty and grabbed her hand. Liberty cried hysterically as she reached for A’shai. The soldiers pulled him down the stairs, and A’shai began to scream for Liberty.

“Liberty!” he yelled as he reached for her. However, the men overpowered him and forced A’shai into the bottom deck where the others were. The soldier pushed A’shai down to the bottom of the ship and what A’shai saw blew his mind. It was total chaos. Three-dozen boys and girls were cramped under the ship, and a foul stench filled the air as A’shai looked around. He tried to run back up the stairs to exit, but the guards had closed the doors and padlocked them shut. No matter how much he kicked at the wooden door, it wouldn’t budge and his frustration took over as he thought of what may be happening to Liberty.

A’shai cried as his young mind tried to take in what was happening to him. The sounds of the others’ cries and sniffles overwhelmed the room. Ms. Beth and her traffickers preyed on the weak and homeless in third world countries, assuming no one would look for them, which worked in her favor. A’shai would soon be trafficked through Mexico and that’s where his fate would be decided. He called for Liberty as blood continued to drip from his face. Rather than feeling sorry for himself, he worried about her.

“Liberty!!!” he yelled at the top of his lungs as he dropped to his knees.

A’shai’s stomach rumbled as he clenched it tightly. He sat balled in the corner as he sniffled, wiping his runny nose with his hand. It had been three days and he had yet to receive any food. The damp, dark deck was full of feces and vomit from the severe conditions. The first couple of days A’shai heard children crying and begging for mercy but the cries eventually turned into moans and grumbles. The swaying of the ship only added to the torture as they waited to reach their destination. A’shai regretted betraying his father and replayed the scenario in his head a thousand times, wishing he would have thought of a better way to save Liberty than the one he opted for. A’shai wondered what Liberty was going through just a deck above him. For some reason, he felt like Liberty’s protector. Their souls connected and it was something that his young mind couldn’t fully understand. He just knew for sure that he was supposed to keep her safe. It killed him inside that he was no longer able to. Although A’shai rarely thought about his deceased mother, his mind began to think about her. He saw an image of her when he closed his eyes and her beautiful face was smiling, which gave A’shai a brief moment of happiness. A’shai felt that he would die soon, so his short life was flashing before him. Liberty and his mother had the same skin tone, same smile, and the same piercing eyes. A’shai’s mother died five years earlier of malaria and ever since then it was only A’shai and his disciplinarian father.

Weak and parched from extreme thirst, A’shai mustered what strength he had left and got on his knees. He put both hands together. “Please God, help us. Help us get out of this bad place. Please watch over Liberty and keep her safe. Amen,” A’shai whispered as he looked up at the white light.
Is this what heaven looks like?
A’shai asked himself as the light shined down on him. It was too bright to see anything but white, and he knew that he was approaching death.