Writers note: Please read the entire story if you start reading it. This post may be a little too much for readers under the age of 16.
She woke up from what seemed to be a lifetime and looked around the room. It was dark; no windows and deep red curtains lined the walls. She tried to get up but couldn’t, one of her arms was chained to the bed frame.
The arm that was chained to the bed was black and blue and had track marks all over it from men injecting more and more drugs into it.
“Hey, number 22.” She squinted to see who was calling her “shower, you have a customer in a half hour.” He unlocked her from the bed and grabbed her arm; she closed her eyes in pain as he almost threw her into the bathroom, locking it from the outside behind her.
In the bathroom there was one towel, some shampoo and new clothes. She had never seen the clothes before and they looked expensive. “Must be an important customer.” She thought
As the cold water turned luke warm, she shut her eyes tight, trying to think of how it was before she was there, how free she felt walking around on the streets all by herself. It was blissful on Saturdays, she would walk around her home town going to museums and drinking coffee. Just walking around the city.
One day as she was buying her chai, she realized she didn’t have any money on her and had left her wallet at home. As she turned to leave without her drink, she heard a voice behind her “I’ll take care of it.” She turned around and saw the most handsome man she had ever seen. He had green eyes and dark hair and of course a great smile. His name was Javin, just passing through the city. They sat down and talked for about 2 hours. It was the best afternoon of her life.
Before he stood to leave the coffee shop he asked if she would like to have dinner with him that night and of course, grinning ear to ear she agreed. They spent a couple weeks dating and she was in head over heals. One night when he took her out for a surprise dinner, she was blindfolded as they pulled up to what she thought was a restaurant and rough hands grabbed her, took her out of the car, and walked her down a hallway. She wasn’t sure what was going on for the next couple minutes but she trusted him but then she heard him say words she would never forget “She’s all yours.” Then, everything went black.
The next 8 months she spent chained to a bed as customer after customer visited her for a good time. She had been sold by her boyfriend into sex trafficking.
For the first month she fought as hard as she could against the men, but that only gave them more reason to give her harder drugs. By month two, she would beg for drugs so she wouldn’t shake. She never met a guy who wanted to know her name and many of them weren’t even nice. The first customer had paid a high price for a virgin, but was disappointed so she didn’t eat for three days for not delivering a promising service. From then on she learned to survive, knowing that she would probably never get out of this. Many girls had tried fleeing, being punished by standing completely naked in a room of five men for hours. No rules in that room.
As she turned the shower off she sighed, looking in the mirror that was broken. She had circles under her eyes and her skin was almost flakey. She grabbed the makeup that was on the counter and dusted it over her face, knowing that she needed to look her best for this important customer.
After she was finished dressing she knocked on the bathroom door “finished” she said. The guard opened the door and grabbed her arm again “You’re going to a new room. This customer paid lots of money for you. Do good with him and we’ll feed you.”
Food. The word sounded foreign. He walked her for a couple minutes then stopped at a door she had never seen before. “He paid for 2 hours.” The guard said as he opened the door and pushed her in. She wasn’t scared anymore, not after all she had been through but this room she had never been in. She raised her eyebrows as she saw champagne and grapes on a table in the corner. She went over to the bed and sat, waiting for her customer.
After about ten minutes of her waiting in this room, the door opened and she stood up promptly. “Hello.” She said “I heard you paid a high price for me. I won’t disappoint you.” She turned around to look at him and she almost gasped. He didn’t look like the others. He was about 21 and dressed nicely, but he looked very, nice. “Please, sit down.” He said, “I want to talk to you.” Talking? That never happened. Why did he want to talk to her? Now she was curious.
“I’m good.” She said “trust me, I’m good.” She started to take off his jacket and he stopped her. She looked at his face, confused. “Listen, what’s your name?” He asked her this question with the sweetest eyes she had ever seen. “Number 22.” She said, looking out the window. “For real, what’s your real name?” She hung her head, about to cry. Why did he care? She would never see him after this, why did he care?
“Jessica.” She said, very quietly. “My name is Jessica.” He looked at her and lifted her head with his finger. “Jessica, my name is Brandon. I want to buy you.”
He wants to buy me? So I can be a sex slave for him? “What do you mean?” She asked, not really wanting to know the answer. “I want to buy you. So you don’t have to do this anymore. I paid a lot of money for two hours with you today and after I am prepared to offer this man who owns you whatever he wants, so that you can be free.” She didn’t trust him. Not for a second. “Sir, what would you like? I –“ He cut her off with the following statement “I work for a company that helps girls like you. But you have to let me help you.” For the first time eight months, she felt. She felt hungry, sad, excited, and hopeful. “Yes. Please, please help me.”
After two hours of figuring out everything, he told her he would come back for her the next morning, after talking to the man who currently owned her. She hugged him and the door opened. “Times up.” The guard said. “She was good. She was very good. I would like to talk to your boss.” The door closed again and she was left, sitting on the bed.
She smiled for the first time in a long time. This man, Brandon was going to help her. And she was going to get food, he said she was good.
The next morning she woke up, the guard told her to take a shower because she had another important customer coming. Brandon she thought, it has to be Brandon.
When the customer came it wasn’t Brandon. Neither was the next, or the next. The day went by, no Brandon. Then, the next day, she took a shower again and was given a small meal. She was led back to her room, convinced he wasn’t coming. So much for hope.
Just then, the door opened and she was taken downstairs, Brandon was standing in front of the boss. She was blindfolded and he took her arm gently. “If she doesn’t work out, bring her back and we can exchange.” Her owner was telling Brandon.
She walked out to the car and put in the back seat. They drove for about 10 minutes and she was told to take off her blindfold. She blinking for a about a minute then looked over to see Brandon, and tears rolled down her cheeks. She put her head in her hands and he pulled her close. “It’s ok Jessica, you’re safe now. Would you like something to eat?”
Over the next few days Brandon and her shopped for clothes and Jessica ate as much as she could and slept as much as she could. She was free. She was no longer a hostage. She didn’t know what was going to do next but she was free. That’s all that mattered.
// For the last couple months I have been praying for woman who are enslaved in sex trafficing. As I learning more about it, I keep seeing this girl named Jessica in my mind and imagine her being rescued. This woman may be real, I am not sure but I know that God has put this issue on my heart, especially since the church I am helping plant is going to be in St.Paul – one of the top places in America for sex trafficking. //