Ring Around Rosie (15 page)

Martha took the picture and studied it.

“Cute butt.”

Ted blushed.

“Wait a minute, what’s this scratched at
the bottom? Looks like the number fifty-five.”

Ted grabbed the picture back. “What do you
think it means?”

“Perhaps it’s where they’re keeping her,”
suggested Martha.

“Excuse me. Do you live around here?” Ted
asked the waitress.

“Yeah, not far.”

“Do you know if there is a number
fifty-five on this street?”

The waitress looked out of the window.

“Umm, yeah there is, but there’s also a few
tower blocks that may go up that high. Do you have the address there?”

But Ted was already heading out the door,
dragging Martha behind him.

It was very dark when Rosie was awoken by
the sound of someone entering the room. She held her breath, frozen with fear,
praying it wasn’t the creepy man here to help himself to his investment. She
feigned sleep from under the blanket and hoped it was just the girls back from
their engagements.

Rosie heard whoever it was creeping around
the room, opening drawers and then finally the rustling of sheets as they got
into one of the beds. It sounded like only one person rather than two.

“You awake?” she heard a whisper from the
darkness.

Rosie turned over and blinked into the dim
orange glow that shrouded the room. The voice seemed to be coming from the bed
that had been unoccupied when she arrived.

“Yes,” whispered Rosie.

“Thought so.” Rosie could hear a smile in
her voice. “We pretend to be asleep all the time when Silas creeps in and tries
to help himself.”

Rosie shivered, she was glad it hadn’t been
Silas this time, testing his new merchandise.

“My name’s Mai-Li, what’s yours?” she
asked.

“Rosie.”

“Rosie… Rosie…” said Mai-Li turning it over
in her mouth. “I think I’ve heard that name somewhere before,” she said
dreamily.

And then all was silent and Rosie guessed
that Mai-Li had fallen asleep.

Rosie lay awake for a while, happy that a
kind voice had spoken to her from the darkness. It had taken her ages to get to
sleep before, she’d felt so homesick, not only for her family but for Baduwa,
Utibe and Lo. She’d wondered what they were doing and hoped they were giving
each other comfort. She had longed for Lo’s little warm body next to her and
realised how much reassurance and comfort he had provided for her, just with
his silent presence; probably more that she had ever given him. He had become a
security blanket for her, a favourite teddy, and she felt lost and lonely
without him.

As Rosie was drifting off to the one place
she felt safe she heard the door creak open. She held her breath, praying it
was the other girls returning, but the footsteps didn’t sound like those with
heels, they sounded more sturdy; heavy soled. They came nearer and nearer until
Rosie could hear panting and smell onions and beer. She tried to relax and
regulate her breathing, remembering what Mai-Li had said about pretending to be
asleep. It felt like forever that he just stood there, watching her. Then she
felt him lean forward, his breath moving her hair as he inhaled deeply. Rosie
pushed her way further into the mattress, praying it would open up and swallow
her. Then she felt a tug at the blanket that was wrapped firmly around her. She
held one side tightly as he tried to pull it off her, desperately resisting the
urge to scream at him to leave her alone. He tugged some more, this time harder
and Rosie felt it begin to slip from her hand, panic rose in her chest as she
waited for him to crawl into bed beside her. Then, to Rosie’s surprise he
suddenly let go and she heard his footsteps receding and then finally the door
closed.

As she lay there gasping, her heart racing,
Rosie felt suddenly baffled by what had just happened. She couldn’t understand
why he hadn’t forced his way onto her, she wouldn’t have been able to do
anything to stop him, and he didn’t seem at all the gentlemanly type.

Rosie pulled the blanket tighter around her
and lay curled in the darkness, sure there was no way she’d be able to sleep
now, but it must have been that her body needed to seek refuge in her
unconscious because suddenly it was light and she could hear Mai-Li moving
about the room.

Rosie turned over and blinked at Mai-Li.
She was so beautiful and delicate-looking that she almost took her breath away.
Her long hair reached down below her waist and she was brushing it like Rosie
imagined a fairy would brush her silky hair. It was mesmerising, and Rosie was
suddenly embarrassed when she realised she was staring, and Mai-Li was staring
right back and laughing.

“Sorry,” said Rosie, shyly. “I was just
admiring your hair.” Rosie ran her hand through her own mop apologetically and
shrugged. Mai-Li giggled some more.

“Hungry?” she asked, putting her brush down
and heading for the door.

Rosie nodded and swung her clothed legs out
of the bed. She had nothing else to wear and had been too afraid to undress so
had gone to bed with all her clothes on. Mai-Li looked her up and down and
giggled. Rosie managed a sheepish smile and followed her into the kitchen.

Rosie watched as Mai-Li expertly handled
the meagre food ingredients they had, and managed to produce an omelette fit
for a queen. She ate it hungrily, not realising how famished she’d actually
been; the warmth and vitality flooding her body with every mouthful.

It wasn’t until Rosie had finished every
last scrap on her plate that she looked up and saw Mai-Li eating in the same
ravenous fashion. No polite chit chat, no chewing each mouthful several times
to aid digestion; this was animalistic, survival of the fittest, eat or be
eaten behaviour. And Rosie realised how much she’d changed in such a short
time; she was integrating, adapting, soon she would be one of them, her past
life just a dream she’d once had.

Suddenly the door creaked and swung open
and Rosie jumped up out of her seat. She was surprised and embarrassed by her
unexpected reaction and sat down quickly as the other two girls walked through
the door. They looked at Rosie as they passed the doorway but neither smiled or
acknowledged her presence.

“Don’t mind them,” said Mai-Li smiling.
“They’re not very friendly. They’re what’s known in the business as a Gemini.
They come as a pair, are engaged as a pair, and they are each made to play a
part. It makes them very introverted; they only really communicate with each
other. They’re kind of like twins I guess.”

“Where are they from?” asked Rosie.

“I think they’re both from Norway but they
didn’t know each other before they were caught. They were just put together coz
they can speak the same language and they look similar, I guess.”

Rosie didn’t think they looked at all alike
but she didn’t want to contradict the one friend she had made.

They sat in silence for a while; Rosie
could feel Mai-Li studying her.

“Silas came into our room last night didn’t
he?” she suddenly said.

Rosie looked at her in surprise. “Your
heard him?”

Mai-Li smiled. “No, I could tell from the
way you jumped when the door opened just now. Did he do anything?”

Rosie shook her head. “That’s what was
weird; he stood over me, sniffed me, and tried to tug my blanket off but he
didn’t force himself on me.”

“He’s a complete coward that’s why; luckily
for us. He’s as mean as anything the rest of the time but when it comes to
getting something from us himself, physically, he can’t do it. I don’t think
it’s coz he’s got a kind bone in his body, it’s that he’s insecure in his
sexuality.” Mai-Li scoffed. “I genuinely thinks he sits in his flat thinking
about us, macho-ing up and calling himself a stud muffin, and then comes to our
room and bottles it! He must have a teeny weeny!” shrieked Mai-Li.

The sound of what must have been Mai-Li’s
laugh made Rosie shiver. It wasn’t a laugh that resulted from humour; there was
fear in it, madness even. Her mouth was amused but her eyes were appalled.

The other girls came in and looked at them
in disgust as they helped themselves to some food. Rosie watched their tall,
willowy, white bodies glide around the room, whispering to each other.

“Hi girls, good night?” asked Mai-Li in a
loud provocative voice. She winked at Rosie as they scowled in her direction
and left the room with their food.

“How come you seem so happy and upbeat?”
Rosie tried not to sound accusing but as the words came out of her mouth she
realised she was a little angry at Mai-Li for her blatant acceptance of what
was a horrendous situation.

Mai-Li looked taken aback.

“I don’t know what you mean, I’m not happy,
not at all. In fact I’m miserable most of the time. I guess I’m just happy that
you’re here and you don’t ignore me. And this place is a million times better
than any of the other places I’ve been. Silas is a pig but nothing compared to
some of the men I’ve known, plus I now have a few regulars that are ok to me.
I’ve been in this a long time, I’ve forgotten what it’s like to have a normal
life, so when I find myself in a place that is a little less awful than the
last, I figure I should be grateful.”

“How long have you been here?” asked Rosie
suddenly feeling guilty for belittling her positivity.

“Well, my father sold me when I was about
three I think. There was me and four sisters; three of us were sold abroad and
the other two kept at home to look after him and our mother. I was the youngest
and was with my sisters for a while but they soon split us up and sold us on. I
haven’t seen or heard from them in about eight years.”

“I’m sorry,” whispered Rosie, yet again
realising how lucky she was to have a family that didn’t feel the need to sell
her.

“How did you get mixed up in all this?”
asked Mai-Li.

Rosie told her the story of how she was
caught at the beach, thrown in a truck with loads of other kids and brought to
London. She spoke fondly of Baduwa, Utibe and Lo who she’d left behind, and of
her escape attempt. She also mentioned
The Lock
, at which Mai-Li jumped
out of her chair.

“I knew it! I thought I recognised you.
I’ve been sitting here trying to work out what’s so familiar about you. Do you
normally wear a wig?” Mai-Li asked excitedly.

Rosie nodded. “Only when I went to
The
Lock
or on engagements.”

“I saw you then, at
The Lock
. And
oh…” she jumped around more excitedly. “Someone was looking for you; big fat
bloke, balding, bad breath, except that it wasn’t Mr Hungerford it was your
brother Ted!” By now Mai-Li was skipping around the room like a mad thing and
Rosie was struggling to keep up.

“I don’t understand,” said Rosie. “My
brother’s not big and fat.”

“No, no, he was in a disguise! He had
somehow managed to get into
The Lock
disguised as one of the regulars
who happens to be one of
my
regulars. Such a small world! Don’t ask me
how because he was completely out of his depth, it seemed, but he managed to
engage me… not that we actually did anything… no, far too much of a gent, but
we hung out together for a few days to keep his cover up whilst he waited for
you to turn up.”

Rosie’s head was spinning by the time
Mai-Li took a breath and sat down again.

“It was great for me coz I could just sleep
and hang out in the hotel room without any of the nasty stuff. And your
brother’s quite interesting.”

Rosie screwed up her nose. “No he’s not!”
she suddenly laughed, allowing herself to give in to the elation that was
slowly seeping into her veins like a drug. It felt so amazing to know that he
was actually looking and, more to the point, hadn’t given up!

“How is he? Did he look ok? Not too
stressed or tired?” asked Rosie, anxiously, worried that it must be at least a
week ago since Mai-Li had seen Ted and maybe he
had
given up by now.

“Well I couldn’t see his real face could I,
silly? But he seemed ok. He was more upbeat when I first met him than at the
end of the week when there hadn’t been any sign of you.”

“Had you seen me before my brother turned
up?” asked Rosie.

“Yeah, with two black girls, who I guess
were Baduwa and Utibe?” Mai-Li replied. “I assumed it must have been one of
your first times coz you didn’t look like you knew what was going on,” she
giggled.

“I didn’t, I was crapping myself,” replied
Rosie. “Then I got engaged by someone there and went to their house and by the
time I came out I couldn’t remember what had happened and I was covered in
bruises and cuts all over.” Rosie shivered at the thought.

“How did Ted know where to look for me? Did
he say?” asked Rosie, quickly changing the subject.

“Umm, he said you’d left him some clue
which had led him to London and then the police had suggested that you might
have been trafficked and then he asked around, I think, and someone had
mentioned
The Lock
.”

“What else did he talk about?” asked Rosie,
excitedly. “Did he mention mum and dad?”

“Not much. He did say they were in London
too though.

“But enough of that! We need to find a way
to get you out of here and back home!” said Mai-Li, banging her hands down on
the table.

Rosie jumped to her feet and clapped her
hands, caught up in the moment of hope. “Yes! Definitely!”

Just then a key turned in the lock and
Silas’ head peered round the door.

“Put these on,” he said throwing a bag in
Rosie’s direction. “We’re leaving in ten.”

Rosie looked from the bag to Mai-Li, and
her world upturned and poured from her like sand through an egg timer.