The Façade

The house had a musky smell about it, as if it had been abandoned, suffering through rain and other natural events as the years went by. It creaked whenever the wind hit it and even if the night wasn’t especially windy, the squeaking sounds could still be heard here and there. For the children, it was just another distressing factor, making their first night almost unbearable. The cold floor provided little in ways of comfort, and without even a pillow it was hard for them to find a position in which to sleep. Not only that, there was an air of unease dissipating through the air after the sudden change of character that they’d witnessed.

     “What the hell was that?” Nailah was the first to speak, trying to get a grip of the situation.

     “Maybe they’re just tired from the day? We did go around a lot and they must be like fifty or so,” suggested James as he turned with his belly on the floor.

     “I don’t know, guys, my guts aren’t too happy with this. I mean, the day was great. Too great, even, no?” Sabah joined in, showing his line of thought, and James grinned.

     “Always the pessimist, huh? Is it that hard to believe that we actually lucked out and found good people?”

     “Yes, it is! You don’t hear stories of people just lucking out and their lives taking a turn for the better like that!” Sabah answered, raising his voice with anger.

     “Shush, you two. If they were like that from being tired, gods know what they’ll be like if we wake them up. We should try to get some sleep, too.”

     “I am tired but this floor isn’t exactly helping. No pillows either,” James complained.

     “Here,” Nailah said, tapping her lap. “Rest your head. It should help a little.” James’ face became purple and he fumbled a bit with his hair, but he took the offer, dozing off quickly after lying down. Nailah’s gaze went to Sabah, who sat against the wall. She pointed her head to her other leg, smiling a little, but he waved her off.

     “Pass,” he whispered before settling his arms on his legs and closing his eyes.

      Aside from James, it took a while for them to go to sleep. They had thousands of things in their heads, and questions for each of those. It was only weariness that finally beat them into sleep halfway through the night, just to be shaken into waking up a few hours later by Mr. Ellwood.

     “Rise up, you bunch of sorry rodents!” he bellowed as he burst through the door, just as the first rays of sunlight reached into the room through the window blinds. “We are going traveling. You kids love that, right?”

     “Wha�"? What are you doi�"?” stammered Sabah, still startled by the sudden burst of noise. He couldn’t put a sentence together before he was interrupted by a slap that brought him face first into the ground and echoed through the house.

     It was one thing for them to be treated with crispness after a long day, but the kids had never been hit like that before. That open act of violence started to bring forth the worst in the fears that they had begun conjuring through the night�"that they hadn’t lucked out, after all. And if that was the case, as it seemed to be, their situation was extremely dire.

     “Nah-ah, boy. Didn’t give you permission to speak, now did I?” He changed his gaze from Sabah, who lay on the floor, to the other two, who also seemed paralyzed. “You rodents better learn some manners from me ‘cause I’m the one going soft on you. Can’t damage the goods, after all. But the guys you’re going to? Say the wrong thing at the wrong time and you end up dead in a ditch before you can finish what you were going to say.”  

     At hearing that, Nailah looked at Mr. Ellwood with such affliction in her eyes that he lifted his eyebrows and pointed at her, giving her permission to speak. “Are we…are you s-slavers?” Her voice faltered as she spoke, the fear of the answer evident in it.

     “Look at you figuring it all out! Makes me so proud of being your little daddy.” He went to her and kneeled, facing her eye to eye and speaking slowly, as if each word had been carefully measured. “We are going to sell you to the meanest, most disgusting people in this sad, sad world. And the best part? We are going to make a lot of money in doing so. So cheer up, you are doing it for a good cause: ours.” With that, he smiled from ear to ear and kissed her sloppily on the cheek, which turned her face into a mask of revulsion. “Now come on, you three.” Standing up, he flipped Sabah with his boot. “We have a busy day ahead of us. Oh, and don’t you try anything funny, alright? We can be quite good at inflicting pain without breaking anything other than your spirit.”    

     The weather outside was as one would expect from Cairo in the summer. Sizzling hot, the kind that makes you want to immerse yourself in cold water for the whole day. Perfect for a day at the beach, but not so perfect for being manhandled by people twice your size and thrice your weight. The kids were led out in orderly fashion, Sabah limping a little after the altercation in the room.

     Outside the house, two vehicles awaited them: the van from the day before and an old, faded-brown car. Even the mansion was nothing to be impressed at, now that they could view it clearly in the sun; just a run-down house, its red coat of paint faded and peeling at too many spots, the wooden doors and window frames showing evidence of its age and use.

     Mrs. Ellwood was waiting for them with plastic handcuffs and gags. James lifted his hand to point at those but it was quickly slapped by her. “Yes, child, you will wear those. Willingly.” She regarded Sabah for a moment, his cheek still a vivid shade of red. “Ah, I can see my husband has had to resort to violence already. Always quick to anger, that one. But believe me when I say I can do much worse.”

     “On your backs!” she ordered them and bound their hands together, followed by their feet. “Why…?” Nailah managed to say before being gagged. Mrs. Ellwood seemed not to have heard it, but then answered her as she finished tying the gag.

     “Just money, girl. We hold no ill feelings towards you and the boys. Just…tough luck, y’know? Maybe one day we’ll pay for all this. Who knows what our future holds? Now yours, I rather not talk about.”

     “And what about yesterday? What was all that?” Sabah intervened, flashing a murderous gazer at Mrs. Ellwood.

     She let out a sigh filled with wicked pleasure. “To break your spirit, Sabah! To see your face contorted by doubt and despair as you have the life you’ve always dreamed of taken away from you,” she answered, grabbing an apoplectic Sabah by the scruff of the neck and pushing his head against her inner thigh. “Your suffering, my delicious, delicious pleasure.”

     She then slid the gags through the front, tying them at their backs, making sure it wasn’t too tight so they wouldn’t suffocate.

     “Take the ginger to Elliot,” Mr. Ellwood said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “Boy,” he began as he turned to James, “you’re sure to fetch a nice price with that hair and all, hah!” He let his thumb slide down a trembling James’ cheek, all the while with a sinister smile stamped on his face, the same one he had when facing Nailah. “I’m almost sorry for you, y’know? The things these depraved f***s do to little ginger boys…gives me the shivers just trying to imagine. Still, money’s money. See you never again, boy.”

     With that, Mrs. Ellwood took him by the neck and threw him inside one of the cars, where he struggled audibly, even with his hands and feet bound and mouth gagged, finding strength in fear. As he started to turn, she closed the door with a bang and then opened her own. “Remember, our client is expecting you at Port Said by lunch at the most. You know he hates waiting, so don’t delay here.” Before he could reply, she closed the driver’s door and turned the engines on, leaving the three of them to watch her dust trail as she crossed the dirt road that led out of the house.

     After the car disappeared in the distance, Mr. Ellwood turned to face the remaining two. “Thirty minutes and we’re out of here, rodents. Bad business leaving together and all. Before we go, though…”        His face lit up as if he’d had the brightest idea, and he turned to Sabah. “Anyone done her yet?” Mr. Ellwood asked, removing the boy’s gag. Nailah’s eyes went wide and she started trembling, but Sabah’s face was riddled with puzzlement, clearly not understanding the question. “Y’know, you idiot, has anyone fucked her yet?” he asked again, a slight hint of anger in his voice. This time Sabah’s eyes mimicked Nailah’s and for a second he was unsure what to answer. Would he be condemning Nailah if he acquiesced to the question? What if he denied it? Had that actually happened to her? He didn’t think so. They were still eleven, after all. The second it took him to ponder these things was the same second it took for Mr. Ellwood’s fist to find Sabah’s gut, folding the boy in two. “Eh, guess not. She’s too young. And a wimpy coward like you wouldn’t have the courage. Gods damn it all, I needed a quickie, but with the price virgins are fetching these days, s’pose I’ll just have to wait.” He crouched and slapped Sabahlightly on the face before standing up.

     “I’ll leave you without the gags. You scream, I wring your wrist, deal? Now, in, you two. And stop kissing the floor, boy.” Mr. Ellwood opened the van’s door and circled to the front seat. Nailah tried to help Sabah into the car, and they half-crawled, half-walked to it together. She closed the door with her feet and rested against the soft cushioned seat, panting. Sabah’s breath was coming in ragged gasps, and his face had swollen a little, but he wasn’t crying. Instead, his face was an impassive mask, his eyes distant as if lost in thought.

     “Hey,” Nailah began, letting her hand squeeze his arm lightly, “are you okay? I mean, of course you’re not okay, b-but ease up, alright? We’ll figure a way out of this.”

     “Sorry. Yeah, we will,” he managed, still absentminded, unsure of the veracity of his own words.

     The trip to Port Said was a long one. The coastal city was far from Cairo, and even though it took them a while to leave the capital, they started picking up speed as soon as they hit the desert highway, helped by the lack of traffic. During the trip, silence reigned in the van. Mr. Ellwood didn’t seem to be paying much attention to the kids, but every so often his gaze would go to the rearview mirror, or he would turn his head to check the backseats. Surrounding them was the immutable sand and dirt, with the occasional grouping of buildings and houses that indicated a small city.

     With ever-increasing fear taking hold of Nailah, it was all she could do not to cry her guts out. Sabah, on the other hand, seemed to be in his weird trance. She had seen it before, in the orphanage. Whenever he got too angry at someone, he would become like that, seemingly looking at things only he could see. The other kids would say he was just sulking, but she wasn’t so sure. Still, she didn’t know what it was.

     The constant beige background rolling through the window, as well as the rhythmic speed at which the van was going soon started to soothe Nailah’s thoughts. Having had so little sleep the night before, and finally sitting comfortably at her seat, it didn’t take long for sleep to pay her a visit.