The People Traders (11 page)

Hands grasped her body, quickly turning her face down and her arms forced forward above her head, keeping her down flat on the table with her legs dangling over the edge. She could feel a man behind trying to enter her and she began kicking out wildly in a vain effort to stop him, but the man began laughing, smacking her bottom hard until she stopped kicking. This was Grant's way and she'd hated it, the position she likened to that of an animal, rather than an act of love.

Karen was angry with herself; she was being raped but try as she might her body was accepting it and she'd no control. She could hear the man shouting, feel him banging harder and harder into her, as he, like Screwer, came to his own climax before it was over. Then she felt the man withdrawing, leaving her body to relax. Another shouted it was his turn but she could hear Garrett's voice above all of them.

"Assam gave two condoms, you all had a chance to buy one and this man won, so that's it for the night." Then, turning to look at Karen still being held face down on the table, he pushed the men away and told her to follow him.

Karen didn't need asking twice, she stood unsteadily, her legs weak, and her entire body still shaking from the abuse. Gathering her clothes as quickly as she could and not delaying even to replace her pants, she ran out of the room after Garrett.

"Thank you for stopping them,” she gasped, as she caught him up."

He turned and scowled at her. "Forget thanks! As far as I'm concerned I'd have left you to the crew, but Assam's word's law round here and I do as he demands. Think yourself lucky, Karen, if I'd had my way you'd have followed Barry over the side."

They arrived at the hold and Karen held her hand out and touched his arm. "All the same, thank you. I didn't ask for any of this, you know; you can't blame me for trying to get home. What happened to me in there is my future; would you want it if you were me?"

He looked at her for a moment, Karen thought she saw some pity in his eyes after all his big talk, but he said nothing and urged her down the ladders.

Once in the hold, he called down to her. "You won't be working in the kitchen tomorrow. I'll collect you late in the afternoon. Someone will bring you food in the morning. Tonight, for your own safety the hold will be locked. The crew has a taste for it now and there is a lot of drinking going on tonight. Unfortunately you were a bit of a hit; some might decide to pay you a late call if I don't take these precautions."

She said nothing and Garrett slammed the door shut and slid the lock, then it was all quiet. Karen sat on the bed, surprised she wasn't breaking down in tears. She'd been raped but couldn't get worked up over it. It was as if she'd accepted this possibility since coming on the ship and knew she couldn't do anything about it. At first, the beating and the knowledge that her mum and dad would know what she'd been getting up to, had devastated her. But her determination to still go home and face the music, after the deal she'd made with Barry, had given her real confidence that rescue was an actual possibility and the nightmare would soon be over.

The reality of the last hour had knocked that out of her. Now she could only feel hatred for Assam and all the others who'd sat back and allowed this to happen. She wanted to kill them, to see them beg for their lives. But Karen was also a realist, aware that these thoughts were just a way of letting off pent-up frustration at not being able to retaliate, and of having to accept and do whatever was demanded of her. More importantly, until she was rescued, if she ever was, would tonight be the pattern of nights to come, where she'd be forced to perform a dance before being raped again and again?

Why wasn't Garrett coming for her until the afternoon? Was she really leaving, or was Assam's talk of her leaving the ship a lie? The more she pondered, the more she was convinced he'd not finished her punishment, because of Barry, and from now on intended to offer her up to more of the crew, as he'd promised, if she'd stepped out of line, before killing her. Karen shuddered at the thought, before tears began to run down her face. The next moment she was sobbing her heart out, finally beginning to realise, either way, just what the future really held for her.

CHAPTER 8

Karen blinked in the strong sun as she came on deck. After only being below decks, she'd not realised they were somewhere much hotter and warmer than England. Her fears that Assam still had an intention of further punishment, when Garrett came to collect her in the afternoon, didn't materialise. She'd been waiting in jeans and jumper which she usually wore when working in the kitchen, becoming more and more convinced there was to be a repeat of last night as the day wore on. However, when Garrett collected her she was taken directly to the shower room. He then waited outside until she'd finished and handed her a t-shirt, knickers and hair clips to tie her hair back. After she'd dressed as he'd asked, they made their way down corridors towards Assam's cabin. Karen had begun to hold back, now convinced she'd been right and was on her way to Assam's cabin to have some other obnoxious thing forced into her mouth, before being raped once more. But he urged her past his cabin, carrying on down the corridor.

When she arrived on deck, there were two other girls already stood some distance away, watching her. They both looked tired and one of them, a blonde girl, had a bruise on the side of her face. She was small, around twenty and quite large. The other girl was Karen's height, medium build with short-cropped, brown hair. Somehow Karen recognised her but she couldn't think where from. Karen could just about see a small boat approaching at speed. Assam came out on deck, looked over the side, then walked across to Karen, at the same time grinning like a Cheshire cat.

"Stupid girl, weren't you? Fancy giving Screwer the condoms and saying they were from you. What did you expect him to do with them, blow 'em up like balloons?" He began laughing, before turning away from her towards the other girls.

Karen glared at him. "Laugh all you want, but you'll pay for what you had done to me last night," she replied bravely.

He stopped for a minute, turned and walked back to her. Then he put his arm round her shoulder urging her to walk with him to the side railings of the deck, away from everyone else standing around. Suddenly she was very scared for replying. Assam just stood at her side looking out across the still water.

"Karen... Karen... brave words, but it shows you are still a very naive and arrogant girl, when even after last night, you still have not leant when to keep your mouth shut. How about I delay your departure for an hour, after all, you must be expecting a punishment for threatening me? It'll give me time to call the crew up on deck and ask them to bring your favourite table? Then perhaps I'll choose five to take you this time and we'll see how well you cope, shall we?"

A cold shiver ran down her body, she couldn't believe what he was threatening her with. Her eyes began to water as she turned to look at him, desperation in her voice. "I'm sorry, you're right, Assam, it was a stupid and naive remark. You've treated me well and I deserved what happened to me last night, because of Barry." She looked away, her voice faltering. "I've been sat alone in the hold all day, terrified my punishment had not finished and wondering what was eventually going to happen to me. I just said it, without thinking, to give me a little self-confidence, that's all. I didn't mean it, you know that? I'm begging you not to give me to the crew. Take the strap to me in punishment for my remark. In fact anything else you want to do to me, I'll accept. But I'd rather die, truly this time, than be raped by so many men."

Karen stood quietly, looking back up at him, as tears now began to run down her face. Inside she was falling apart, not sure what more she could say that might change his mind from handing her to the crew. Inside she was praying he'd accept her apology, but at the same time a plan was forming in her mind.

Assam waited a short time to allow her real fear to continue, and then smiled to himself. He enjoyed seeing this proud girl squirm. Placing his arm again round her shoulder, he pulled her close to him, speaking quietly in her ear. "Yes, Karen, I believe this time you would rather die. But I told you when you came on my ship; the option to die does not come easy, so first the crew, then die, is that what you want? But while you think about that, don't even consider the option of jumping ship; you'd not get on the first rail before we stopped you."

She swallowed hard; this man seemed to be able to read what she was considering, except… he was wrong. She was very confident now in the open and not confined in a small cabin space; with her self-defence, judo and kick-boxing skills, they'd not succeed in holding her. However, she decided to try once more in changing his mind, before attempting the rail. This was not the place to make her escape. She had every intention of escaping… yes, but to go home, not to die. "What more do you want me to say, except apologise and promise never to talk back again?" she whispered. "But if you won't accept my apology and my only choice is to be raped before I die, then go ahead, provided you keep your promise after, to kill me?"

They stood there for a few minutes, Assam saying nothing as he watched the small craft steadily approaching the ship. He had placed himself in a difficult position by threatening her with rape. This girl would not accept that option. Karen was different to the normal girls he carried, well able to give the impression of a very feminine and weak girl, except he knew she wasn't. She'd accepted the rape too quickly as if she knew he wouldn't go through with it. To try to hold her, now she was on deck, would be difficult. She'd retaliate and they would not be able to restrain her. She'd almost certainly jump ship, injuring or killing herself in the process, and perhaps others, in the attempt. Besides which, the buyer carried the balance of his payment and wouldn't appreciate a girl who'd just been raped and so wasn't able to work immediately, or possibly dead.

"I'll accept your apology and ignore your naive comment this time, Karen; you've worked hard, done as you've been told and I agree, paid for your stupidity with Barry. Don't, because of this reprieve from a punishment, ever believe I'm soft. I'm not. But I accept you said it, without thinking, to keep your spirits up. But never answer back to me again in that way. Next time I won't even offer you a chance to apologise."

While she'd been stood waiting for his reply, she'd already decided her route. Assam no longer had an arm around her shoulder; a punch to his groin and perhaps a flying kick at Garrett, if he attempted to stop her, would be sufficient to give her the time she needed. Then a sprint to the far side of the deck and she'd be over in seconds, diving deep without taking a breath, she'd never surface alive, that she was sure of. However, if he was offering her a get-out, she would take it; after all, committing suicide was her last resort. "Thank you, Assam, I'll remember your advice and never say anything so stupid again," she replied quickly.

Their eyes met for a moment. He could see there was little sincerity in hers, now certain she'd already decided, before accepting the punishment earlier, to jump. However, he smiled, grasping both her shoulders. "Then dry your eyes, Karen; when your new owner checks you over, do everything he asks without objection and more importantly, smile, don't scowl. Do this for me and your naive comment is forgotten."

"I will, Assam, I won't let you down, I promise."

He said no more, but pushed her away and then walked over to the little blonde girl. She started to cry as he talked to her and he hit her hard across the face. "Shut the blubbering or so help me, rather than get a lift, you can bloody swim to shore," he shouted.

The girl fell silent immediately, but Assam was distracted when Garrett shouted that the man had arrived. Karen looked at him carefully as he appeared from over the edge. He was small and fat, gasping for breath after his climb up the ladder onto the deck, and carrying a large bag. She couldn't decide his origin.

"Bloody funny time this, Assam. What's wrong with the normal arrangements, that bleeding sun's been baking me," he cursed.

Assam grinned; he'd not mentioned the Barry incident and only told this man that he'd been advised the ship might well be searched for weapons or drugs and he couldn't keep the girls on board so he could collect in port. "It's worth it, Saeed, believe me. You will like the girl, besides, like I told you over the radio, I've two more as a bonus," he said, at the same time offering him a drink from a tray held by Garrett.

"Yes, so you said, but I'll decide if they are a bonus or not?" Saeed replied as he took the drink offered to him.

Saeed looked at the three girls while he sipped his drink. His eyes rested longer on Karen and then, when he'd finished, he handed the glass back to Garrett and walked over to her with Assam following.

"This is Karen, the girl you've really come to collect, Saeed," Assam said as they approached her.

Saeed pulled a picture of her from his pocket looked at it, then at Karen. "Are you Karen Marshall?" he asked.

"Yes, Sir," she replied with a smile.

"I'm known as Saeed not Sir. You can call me by that name, if I decide to take you. First I need to satisfy myself that you have no injuries and are in good health. I'd like you to sprint to the far end the deck, then walk back towards me slowly, with your arms at your side."

He stood watching as she sprinted to the far end of the deck then began to walk back to him.

"This is a bit over the top, Saeed, she's only destined for the brothel, not running a race," Assam said quietly.