Highest Bidder

Dazed and Confused

The peaceful silence of the blackness starts to fade as I start to come back to consciousness. The constant throbbing that is my head has me praying that the blackness will just return and whisk me away again. I don’t bother opening my eyes; I am nowhere near ready to face whatever is lurking when I decide to come fully alert, let alone when I have just regained consciousness. My whole body feels heavy and sore like I have been repeatedly beaten on and haven't moved for several hours at least. Maybe it's even been days at this point. I am not sure how much time has actually passed.

Coldness sweeps through me as I become a bit more alert and my mind a little more aware, causing me to shiver and goosebumps to form on my arm. The smell of musty cement mixed with something metallic, which I immediately recognize as blood, assaults my senses and causes my stomach to turn, wanting to revolt. I try to swallow, but my dry mouth makes it difficult. After a few moments, however, I’m able to gather enough saliva in my mouth to swallow down the bile down that is threatening to make an appearance. I remain still and keep my eyes closed. I'm not ready to look around at my surroundings just yet. It's hard not to hold onto the hope that my family selling me is just some horrible nightmare my mind has conjured up, and this is all just really the aftermath of one of my mother’s cruel punishments. Moments later, I feel the air shift around me, alerting me of someone’s presence in the room. Holding back a groan, I crack my eyes open, only just enough, to see a pair of expensive, leather bound loafers with the bottom hem of tailored dark slacks sitting perfectly on top.

A kick is placed to the back of my knees, and I have to bite back a cry of pain trying to escape from in between dry lips. I keep my eyes closed and my breathing as even as possible. Maybe the kicker will go away again, thinking I haven’t come around yet.

“Are you awake yet, girl?” a male voice asks gruffly.

I continue to keep my eyes closed, my breathing as even as possible, and stay in my curled up position. I can’t have them knowing I am awake yet. I know I can find a way out of my current situation. I just need them me to leave me alone for a bit—oomph— a kick lands on my midsection roughly, and the bile I was previously able to hold back comes spewing out all over Mr. Loafers expensive looking shoes and the hem of his slacks. A groan escapes me, and my stomach heaves again and then once more before I am able to move my knees up to my chest, curling into myself.

“Fuck. You just spewed vomit all over my fucking shoes, bitch!” the man exclaims full of disgust.

I move slowly and deliberately to uncurl myself from my current ball-like state. Where is the darkness now?  Anything had to be better than this. My stomach lurches again, but I have nothing left in me to come out.

“I don’t fucking think so!” the cruel voice yells as the feet in front of my face jump back, causing the thumping in my head to increase once again.  If they were going to kill me, I really hoped they would hurry up and get it over with.

“Sit up,” the male voice demands. Was he serious? I could hardly keep my stomach from heaving again, let alone move my sore, heavy body.

“Now!” he roars, and once again the throbbing in my head increases.

I take a deep painful breath in, and using every ounce of strength I can muster up, I move one limb after the other, until I’m in a sitting position, leaning against the cement walls. Well, that only hurt a lot.

I squint up at the man in front of me, my eyesight still a little fuzzy. I blink a few times, clearing away most of the fuzziness, and bring the man into focus.   I can’t tell his height from my sitting position, just that he was rather tall and he looks much like the other two goons I had met: dark and scary. Can't at least one of my...buyers, I guess?...be, I don’t know, not so scary?