Sold and Saved

I sighed,leaning against the uncomfortable leather interior of the car my brother and I were riding in. My stomach was flipping, tying itself in nervous knots. I sighed,turning my gaze from my lap to the trees whizzing past. I felt a clammy hand grasp my own and I turned,startled, to my older brother sitting beside me. He gave me a sympathetic smile, holding my hand tightly. I sighed,leaning my head over on his shoulder. 

"We're gonna be okay,Kay. I promise. I won't let anything happen to you." He whispered low enough so that the people up front couldn't hear us. I nodded weakly,still feeling nervous as hell.

We were on our way to an auction of sorts. My brother Frank and I, were slaves. We came to these auctions every year, so we could be bought by another family to do their work. 

Around 2017, people had discovered that maybe the way we were making things,running things,and building things,wasn't the right way. They decided to get rid of all the artificial additives and fake things injected into the foods. They decided that the clothing they made,was using up too much money,so they started making them more normal. Mainly blacks and whites only. Even the supplies we were using to build houses were too expensive,so they started using lumber only.

To create these clothes, grow the food, and form the lumber, they had to use mills. They needed people to work these mills,but they weren't paying very much. The government got so desperate,that they created a law, that all children from age 5 to 17 were to be put in slavery,to work these mills. When they came to the age of 18,they were to be released from slavery and were to buy a slave of their own. It was the law. There was no limit to the amount of slaves you could own,in fact, the more the merrier. 

The slave owners got their money from selling the products that their slaves produced in the mills. So most slave owners had tons and tons of slaves. As much as they could get. They held these auctions,so people could choose the slaves they wanted. We stood on a large stage,each slave going up one at a time,and the slave owners in the audience would bid on us. The highest bidder got the slave in then end,and the slave had no choice but to go home with them. 

I was 16 and Frank was 17. We had been to these auctions every year since I was 5 and he was 6. He narrowly got out of one year,because our parents wanted to keep us together. That was the only break we got. Slavery could only be prolonged,not avoided all together...Unless you were rich. I had heard stories of children's parents who paid a VERY pretty penny so their children wouldn't be forced into slavery. Frank and I were NOT rich. Like,we were retardedly poor. It hurt sometimes actually. But, you didn't really need money when you just existed for slavery. But soon,we would be free from this. When I was 18. I could be free. I was counting the days,even though I was only 16. 

I was shaken from my thoughts,by the car rolling to a stop in front of an abandoned school. After they had reintroduced slavery,there was no need for school. They closed most of them down,but some were still used for auctions like the one we were about to be in. 

I took a deep breath,looking Frank in the eye,for some kind of reassurance. He tried, but I could see that he was just as scared as I was. I squeezed his hand tightly and we climbed out of the back of the beat up car. The air was chilly,being early November. I hugged myself,trying to block out some of the cold,but it did nothing. Frank sighed,wrapping an arm around my shoulders,hugging me to him. I snuggled into his side. He was probably the best big brother I've ever known. He was the only one I had left,and he always took care of me. There were plenty of nights where he went hungry just so I could have a second helping of food. It was ridiculous how sweet he was. I guess I was pretty lucky,regardless of the situation we were in.

We climbed the front steps of the school slowly,still holding onto each other,ignoring the annoyed calls of our previous slave owners behind us. We were walking to the auction,because we had to go. But we weren't going to be quick about it. There was no WAY that I would EVER be quick about it. The wind whipped my red hair around in my face and I scowled,grabbing a few locks and tucking them behind my ear. Frank snickered.