When she stumbled across Breeze, she knew that she had hit the jackpot. Her American clients would go crazy over the young beauty, and she would make a big profit off of her because of her fair skin tone.
The heroin made it easier to take advantage of her victims. The drug kept them under control and dependent. Breeze had just been introduced to the world of addiction, and she would always chase the potency of the first high that she had been given. Her ignorance would only last for so long, and by the time she realized that she was hooked, it would be too late for her to stop. Even though she was on her way back to the United States, she was now more far away from home than she had ever been. Now she was lost in a boy that was so strong that once he got a hold of you, he rarely ever let go.
After two days of traveling underneath the deck of the ship, Breeze was relieved when the boat finally docked. Breeze rushed up the stairs. The door leading to the main deck was always locked. The girls traveling below were not allowed on the main deck, and as they traveled, they had confined below, anxiously awaiting their arrival. For many of them, it was the start of a new life. For Breeze, it would be a return to her old one. Breeze beat the door with her fists as she anticipated the reunion she would have with her family.
The door opened, and Breeze rushed out only to be stopped by one of Ms. Beth’s workers.
“What are you doing? Let me go. I just want to see where we are,” Breeze shouted as she struggled against the man.
It wasn’t until she felt the hard sting of his hand that her instincts told her something was horribly wrong. Now that her high had worn off, she was able to process the situation in a new light. She did not know what was going on, but now that they were back in the U.S., she wanted off of that boat. “Where’s Ms. Beth? I need to speak to her!” she yelled persistently as she was pushed back beneath the deck. “She said I could make a call.”
At that moment, the metal door opened and Ms. Beth walked down with five men following behind her.
“Ms. Beth!” Breeze shouted as she pushed past the man apprehending her. “Where are we? I felt the boat dock. You said I could call my family,” she reminded desperately, but as Breeze spoke, she noticed that the disposition of the friendly woman she had met in Haiti had changed. Her eyes were cold and revealed sinister intentions as she stared unflinchingly back at Breeze.
Her father always told her she could see the character of a person by looking in their eyes, and as Breeze studied Ms. Beth, she finally saw the devil that dwelled inside of her. Her brow furrowed in confusion.
“You said you would help me get home!” Breeze shouted as she watched Ms. Beth’s staff filter through the room and begin to blast heroin into the other girls’ arms.
Breeze backed away from Ms. Beth as she looked down at her own arms. Non-stop needles had been put into her veins for the past forty-eight hours, and foolishly, Breeze had allowed them to do it.
“What have you been giving me?” she screamed hysterically. “Why are you doing this?” Breeze demanded.
“Restrain her,” Ms. Beth said calmly to one of her workers.
“You bitch!” Breeze yelled as she charged Ms. Beth. She smacked fire from Ms. Beth before she was finally subdued, and she screamed like a mad woman as she watched the woman who she thought would be her savior approaching her with the needle.
“No! Please… I just want to go home. You have no idea what I’ve been through,” Breeze reasoned.
Ms. Beth ignored the pleas and jammed the needle painfully deep into Breeze’s vein.
“Aghh!” Breeze cried out as blood trickled from her arm. She could feel the tension leave her body as a tear of defeat slipped from her eyes.
“What are you doing to me? What have you been giving me?” Breeze whispered as the orgasmic high once again came over her.
Ms. Beth looked cruelly back at her and smirked before replying, “Heroin. By the time I’m done with you, you will be nothing but a junkie whore.”
Breeze’s soul cried out silently as she felt herself going into a nod. The last thing she heard was Ms. Beth’s voice.
“Shoot her up twice. She’s going to be a handful. The faster we get her hooked the better. She’ll learn to go with the flow one way or another.”
Chapter Five
“Everything is easier if you forget about your past.”
– Liberty
It was pitch black when Breeze finally came to, but she could hear the cries and groans of the other girls around her. The air was so thick that she could barely breathe, and her stomach rumbled violently as the urge to defecate overwhelmed her. She could smell the stench of bodily waste around her, and she gagged from the horrendous odor. She was sick partly from the stench and partly from her body craving its new best friend, heroin.
Breeze did not know how long she had been out, but she knew that Ms. Beth was transporting her somewhere. As she reached out her hands, she felt the steel walls. The bumpy road beneath her let her know that she was in the back of an industrial truck. The wails of the young women around her told her that she had been there for a while.
Her situation had just gone from bad to worse. She took deep breaths to stop herself from panicking, but it was no use. Breaking down was the only thing left for her to do. I should have never trusted her, Breeze thought as she withdrew into herself, curling up with her knees to her chest. She cried so hard that her chest hurt, and each time she gulped in air, she felt like she was suffocating. Unable to hold it in any longer, she threw up all over herself.
“It’s easier if you breathe out of your mouth,” she heard a girl beside her say. “It won’t smell as bad if you take it in through your mouth. Bring your face low near the seams of the wall. There’s a little bit of fresh air down here. I have a small blanket you can breathe into.”
Breeze huddled down near the girl and took a small piece of the fabric into her hands as she breathed into it. The girl’s technique did not provide much relief, but it was better than nothing, and Breeze was grateful for it.
“Thanks,” Breeze whispered.
“You’re welcome. I’m Liberty,” the girl stated.
“Breeze,” she replied. No other words needed to spoken to establish a friendship. They took a liking to each other because they both realized that they were one and the same. Their fates were not their own, and their lives no longer theirs to live. As they clung to the blanket, they wrapped their arms around one another and prayed together. Neither of them knew what lay in store for them, but they were both terrified of the possibilities.
“How long have we been in this truck?” Breeze asked.
“I’ve seen the light come and go two times. Two full days have passed,” Liberty replied, referring to the tiny bit of sunshine that crept through the crevice in the wall.
“Where are they taking us?” Breeze asked frightfully.
“They are taking us to Murderville,” Liberty replied solemnly. “I am not new here. I’ve been there before, and it is worse than death.”
Breeze did not respond, but her thoughts ran wild. She had seen the name MURDERVILLE scribbled in graffiti on Ms. Beth’s boat, and now she hated herself for allowing the white woman to sell her a dream. She had been to a place that felt worse than death when she had been with Ma’tee, and now thanks to her naivety she was on her way right back to hell.
After seeing the sun rise and set one more day, Breeze felt the truck finally stop moving. Hungry and soiled, she peeled herself off of the floor when the back door was lifted. She felt like cattle marching to slaughter as she was herded off of the truck. They were placed in a line side by side, and because she had no one else to turn to, Breeze grabbed Liberty’s hand tightly. They barely knew one another, but at that moment, a new friend was better than facing the unknown alone.