Chapter 3

Samantha's Pov

We marched down from the ship and I could tell this was Italy Doreen talked about. Their accent and environment was quite beautiful, but I wanted to go home. We were told to behave and not to bring suspicions that we had been trafficked into the country.

The men that had brought us hid their arms and the look they gave us with the side of their eyes was dreadful. I knew it wasn't the time to escape, besides I had never been here before and if I was to escape now ,I had no where to run to.

We walked innocently and I saw one of the men hand over huge sum of money to the man at the port station. The man smiled and nodded his head in acceptance and we crossed over.

We got into a trailer fully loaded with hay and grasses. Inside smelt like the excrete gotten from a sheep. I could tell of the number of times the trailer stopped and heard someone question the driver on what he was carrying. I knew it must be the police which were on the road to inspect travellers, but I was so disappointed that the trailer wasn't thoroughly searched.

Whenever the trailer stopped ,the men forcefully made us stay calm till the driver gets away from them. The trailer was finally opened when we got to a certain destination. It was warehouse filled with cars and motor parts. We all came down and were lead to the basement in the building. It was a lot of fits down and there was no way one could hear you from the top if you shouted for help.

We settled in , giving different corners to sleep, Doreen had followed me to my corner ,but was taken to a different corner by one of the men.

We spent two nights there before , the men had separated us according to our ages. I was in the same group as Doreen because they had merged kids from age 7 to 10 together. We were told to all get ready for the final separation which would be made by the boss. Doreen told me that it should be the mafia queen .

I was nervous , I heard no idea how to get away but I knew that I just had to. I didn't want to meet whoever their boss was, she must be heartless and wicked , I thought.

We were all assembled after our dinner and I was chosen as one of the kids to wash off the dishes . While washing them ,I excused myself to visit the restroom. I saw a window in the rest and an idea quickly flashed through. I stood on the toilet seat and I saw people walking through the streets.

I knew that I had to hurry up and return back to washing the dishes ,before we were being marched back to the basement. I gave a little push on the protector that was before the windows and it seemed very loose. I got happy that I had seen a way to escape from . I tried pushing it harder ,but got a knock on the door. It was the voice of one of the men called Squid, it seemed he always monitored me ever since I was held.

" Little bitch! get out here now! " he thundered with his loud cracked scary voice.

His looks alone were outrageous for any kid of my age. He was very huge and bald , he had tattoos drawn all over his body, especially on his bald head. Looking at him ,you would wonder if he happened to be the lord of the rings, due to the multiple pierces he had on his nose ,eyes, mouth and ears.

I got scared when I heard his noise and I didn't want to be left alone with him , because his looks gave me terrible nightmares. Quietly I came down from the toilet seat and opened the door, he pulled my ear and asked how long I would take to use the restroom. I groaned in pains as he twisted my ears. He personally stood to observe me , while I finished washing up the dishes. I was very tired from the numerous dishes I had washed that evening, so I crashed by my corner to have a little nap.

I was woken up by a thunderous slap by a man called Rambo, I think he was the leader of the group that who had taken us from the port since we arrived Italy. I jerk up in fear and the look he gave me was very awful.

" Do you think this is your father's house? Didn't you hear the bell? , he asked dragging me out of my corner to the top of the basement.

It was at that point that I noticed there were no kids down in the basement. The bell was rang to assemble everyone one at the top and I had overslept. We got to the top and I was pulled down before a young woman. She was a woman in her early thirties and had a black long jacket with her black heeled shoes. Her face wasn't fully seen because of the large hat she used in covering her head.

" Didn't you hear the bell? she asked walking around me.

" No ma'am ,I swear I didn't", I said in fear , crying as well.

She releases the back of her hands to my face and it throws me off balance as I fell to the ground.

" Let me have the knife", she said , stretching her hands to one of the men.

" I believe next time ,you would open your ears properly to hear when the bell rings", She said in a dreadful manner.

I knew she was up to something ,but I was yet to figure out what it was. I was frightened when she bent down towards me, I could see her face fully as she looked into my eyes. She stretched forth the pen knife to my face and gave me a cut on my cheek. I cried in pains as i held my cheek in pains . She ordered that I wash all the toilets after she had made selection of the kids she was going to take that evening .

Doreen was one of the girls she selected on her side , while she gave me away to squid and ordered that I be taken to a man named Climax. Doreen was already in tears and I knew that it might be our last moments together. Again ,I was going to loose another friend .

I went to wash the toilets that night, and I couldn't stop thinking of the man I was given up to. I imagined the kind of personality he was and what business he did. I knew how dreadful this place was and could only imagine if he's place was going to be worst . Then I remembered the window which I had examined earlier. Looking through it, it was already dark ,but I knew this was my chance to escape and I wasn't going to miss it.

I pulled the protector and it went off easily. I climbed up and jumped off the building from the window. I walked slowly and quietly, the night was very cold and my fear also made me shiver. I was still bleeding from my cheeks and the blood kept staining my shirt. I could see some armed men ,but my little stature made me invisible for them.

I finally got to the street , but I had no idea where to go to. I kept walking till I got to a kiosk where I laid down to rest. I was woken up in the morning by a gentle sweet woman called Maria. Although I was scared that she could be dangerous ,but she seemed very nice to me.

I was brought back to consciousness when Maria tapped my shoulder. I was finally getting into the university that day. I was going to be studying law ,but I had looked at myself in the mirror and poundered on my life fifteen years ago when I came to Italy. Maria had been my mother ever since we met, it had been hard to find my mother as we were told that she no longer lived at our former house anymore .

I had moved on and accepted Maria as my mother since then. She had a husband who's name was Steve , although he was never free with me or never actually liked me ,but he accepted my stay with them. Maria had no child and she gave me all her love as the child she never had.

I explained to her all that I went through and she was very sympathetic about everything. She promised to take care of me and assured me that she would help bring those men to book.

It's been fifteen years and we had no means to track them down. I had dropped my ambition of tracking them and focused more in my studies. I was finally getting into law school.