The People Traders (13 page)

Debbie said nothing for a moment and then shook her head. "He's probably not going to let you go? After all, he really checked your body. I'm surprised you didn't object when he made you bend over, I would have done. Anyway I'm out of here when we dock."

Karen wondered if it was she who was going mad, or was this girl so stupid that she believed everything Assam had told her. "What about Jane then?"

"What about her?" Debbie asked.

"They've bloody killed her, cut her stupid throat and you sit there as if on some sort of Sunday outing."

Debbie glared at her. "Listen, Karen, Jane and I were partners. I told her a few shags would be neither here nor there. God, I've had five men in a single session and come out laughing. We had a cruise, not very posh I grant you, but I've been fed, earned money and for my part, had some wild nights. So Jane got herself beaten up, and then killed; do you think I'm going to report her death to the pigs? I've seen many girls beaten up for not doing what their pimps tell them. Okay, I admit I don't know one that's died, but Jane's income was her body. She should have looked after it, forgotten her scruples, morals, whatever you want to call them, and got on with the job. Mind you, I'd have had to share the crew more, reducing my money, so I wasn't pushing it."

"But she's got a child, a mother and father. You mean to tell me you're going to say nothing, not even to her boyfriend?" Karen cut in.

Debbie grinned. “Why should I? He's some man, Karen, and I'm the girl for him. He just doesn't know it yet."

"And the kid, what's going to happen to that?" Karen asked.

Debbie shrugged. "Go to her parents, I suppose, I don't want it hanging around the flat with me and Terry."

Karen leaned back; this girl was callous, stupid, and deserved everything she got.

"So how long have you been on the game then? You look a bit skinny to me, in my experience men like something to get hold of," Debbie suddenly asked when Karen had not responded.

Karen looked at Debbie, her eyes wild. "I've never been on the game, as you so nicely put it. I was kidnapped and raped on that bloody ship."

Debbie shrugged. "How can you call it rape if, according to you, you're on the way to some brothel? That's what they do in those places, Karen, they shag you, so you'd better start to learn quickly that what's between your legs is all men want. Treat them good and they'll treat you well; you'll have regulars, boyfriends, in fact. I've got loads. Treat them with contempt though and get ready for a taste of what Jane got."

Karen felt deflated, she'd at least hoped her initial assessment of Debbie was wrong, but it seemed not. "I don't suppose you'll call my parents for me when you get home then?" Karen asked quietly.

Debbie scowled at her. "I'm not into the hero bit. You see, the pigs and I don't get on that well; in fact, they've locked me up a few times so they're hardly likely to believe anything I say anyway. If you want, I'll ring one of your mates. You know, just tell them I've met you and where you're likely to be going."

Karen sighed. "It's okay, don't bother. If you're not going to at least tell someone in authority, I'll take my chances. I'd hate to be reliant on some friend going to the police. I could imagine their reaction."

"What would that be?" Debbie asked, interested.

"Think about it, Debbie. They go to the police, tell them they had a call from someone who wouldn't give a name or anything, about a girl supposedly dead. Not sure where she is except somewhere in the world. They'd lock them up for wasting police time and throw away the key."

They said nothing for a while then Debbie stood. "I'm going to have it out with this bloke. Get the crack, so to speak." With that she moved forward and left Karen totally bemused after the conversation.

Five minutes later the boat's engine cut and they began to drift in silence, with only the splash of water on the sides of the hull from the light swell.

***

Karen hadn't seen Debbie or the man for over an hour and, besides getting very thirsty, began to wonder if she was the only person left. Eventually the engine started again and minutes later Debbie climbed out of the cabin.

"It's all sorted, Karen," Debbie began, as she settled down alongside her. "Saeed's arranged to drop me off at his mate’s. I need a passport and he's got one for me. You're to go with him to his house. I'm not completely sure but it seems he's got some sort of sale on Saturday and you're in it."

Karen glared at her. "That's bloody big of you. I'm to be sold and you're on your way home. I suppose the hour or so I've been sat here without so much as a glass of water, you've been eating, or whatever?"

Debbie apologised and ran back into the cabin. Moments later she appeared with a cola. "It wasn't easy, you know."

"What wasn't?" Karen asked.

"Me and Saeed," Debbie replied, then looked indignant. "He wanted me to go with him. Didn't realise I was only a passenger and not like you. Mind you, when I told him what I did, for a living that is, he wanted me to prove it. I've had some men, but he's way down the league. Anyway, what the hell, at least he'll arrange a passport and things. I suggested if he dropped you off as well, you'd probably agree he could have us both together, you know the sort of thing?"

Karen sighed; the girl was on another planet. Then, as to performing together for this man, she shuddered at the thought. Glancing at Debbie she gave a weak smile. "Thanks, Debbie, but it's a good thing you didn't, I'd have strangled the bastard. Anyway, I'm not into exhibitions. I've only just finished with a man who should have had sex as his second name. So the thought of dropping my pants for every man promising to help me escape is naive and stupid. I'll accept it's more than likely I'll be raped a number of times until I've planned an escape. Unlike you, it won't be business, love or anything else you want to call it. Neither will I volunteer, without some sort of threat to my life, or like Assam, wanting to cut my face up."

Debbie shrugged. "I get paid; it beats working for a living."

Karen laughed. "That's as maybe but those who take me will pay with their lives."

The conversation died and Karen gazed out at the endless sea. It was becoming dark and she could see, on the horizon, speckles of light which she assumed must be the coast.

"Did he say where we were going, what country or anything?" Karen eventually asked.

Debbie shrugged. "North Africa or somewhere. Told me they were in a civil war or something and we'd have to travel at night. It was dangerous country with different groups of soldiers fighting each other."

It was Karen's turn now to worry this cocky girl. "So with all this civil war going on, just how do you expect to get out? Get real, Debbie, even you've been duped. The funny thing is he's even had you for nothing."

Debbie gave her a sickening grin. "It won't wash, Karen, you're just jealous I'm going home and you're not."

"Of course, if it was true you were going home, I'd be bloody jealous. Except I very much doubt you are," she retorted.

Suddenly they were both brought out of their conversation when the boat started to slow and they could make out dark, steep cliffs looming up. Within minutes the boat had stopped completely, twenty yards or so from the beach. Saeed appeared from the cabin.

"We're here, it's as close as I can get so you'll get wet, I'm afraid. If you both get your pants off and roll your t-shirts up, I'll give you polythene bags to keep them in, then you'll at least have dry clothes to wear in the car," he said, at the same time unclasping Karen's chain.

She stood and stretched; should she try to escape in the water, she asked herself? Unfortunately for her, Saeed had other ideas. He pulled a belt from his pocket and slipped it round her neck, threading it through the buckle, and quickly pulling it tight. He gave her a sickly grin. "Get any ideas about trying to escape and I'll drag you to shore, maybe even choke you if you resist."

Karen said nothing; perhaps it was for the best. She needed to get the lie of the land anyway.

After a struggle in a fast flowing tide they all eventually came ashore. Saeed urged them up a steep path and he pulled open the boot of a very old car, handing both of them old towels. Five minutes later they were on the road, Karen with her wrists handcuffed to the bar of the car seat. Any conversation was impossible with the noise the car was making. They passed very few buildings, some obviously occupied, often with single bare lamps, before they entered a small town. The houses were all painted white, the foliage tropical. Debbie must have been right, Karen decided, they were in North Africa. Suddenly the car swerved into a small street, lit only at the far end by a single low power bulb hanging over the top of a door. Stopping, Saeed climbed out and moving quickly round the car, forced Karen to lean forward with her head on the dash. Then he unclipped the handcuffs, wrenching her arms behind her back and handcuffing her wrists. Then, slipping the belt back round her neck, he pulled her out of the car. He looked back at Debbie. "Come on, you as well, this is where you get your passport," he shouted.

Debbie followed quickly while Saeed banged on the front door for some time. It opened and two men were standing there. They spoke in a language Karen didn't understand but they seemed to know Saeed and opened the door wider, allowing them all inside. The two men stared at the girls, walking round them, talking fast and furiously to Saeed.

Saeed was shaking his head and pointing at Karen, at the same time grasping Debbie's hand and pulling her forward. "Get your clothes off," Saeed hissed at Debbie.

She stared at him for a moment, then frowned. "What's all this?" she retorted.

Saeed grinned. "You want a passport, they want payment, but before that they want to see what they're getting, so please yourself. The alternative for illegal entry into this country is prison: prison for at least two years."

She sighed and removed her clothes. One man came close and rubbed his hand over her body, then nodded.

"Go with him, the deal's done," Saeed said quietly to her.

Debbie grabbed her clothes and followed the man, ignoring Karen who stood watching. However, he was only gone for a couple of minutes. When he returned without Debbie, the three men laughed and made their way to another door.

"Come, we eat before moving on," Saeed said, releasing the handcuffs and belt. "Don't think about trying to make a break, the doors are locked and in this house, they also have big sticks to deter any girl from wanting to leave."

The food was a mixture of bread and cold meats with plenty of cheap, bitter wine. She sat with them but, because none could speak English, she was ignored. Eventually, with the meal finished, one of the men pulled a huge bundle of notes from his pocket, handing it to Saeed. They shook hands and Saeed stood to go but not before handcuffing her and once again slipping the belt back round her neck. A few minutes later Karen was in the car again, handcuffed as before.

He grinned at her in his usual sickly way. "The precautions are just in case you get any ideas, Karen. I wouldn't want you attacking me while I drive, would I?"

She said nothing, he'd probably done the right thing, she thought. After seeing what had happened to Debbie, alone in the car would have given her the chance she was waiting for. He walked round to the driver's side and, after cursing the car a few times as it refused to start, they were on the move, leaving the small town behind. Karen decided to try to find out what was Debbie's fate.

"There isn't any passport is there?" Karen asked.

Saeed laughed. "Astute kid, aren't you? Have you any idea what one would have cost? Besides, she's good at what she does so it'd be a pity to waste those talents. The girl's very valuable and I've made a lot of money. Anyway that kid knows the ropes and she'll do all right there. Mind you, if she refuses, then they can be very persuasive, I can tell you."

"And me? What's to happen to me then?" Karen asked slowly.

He glanced over at her, grinning. "You, Karen, are a different proposition. I had an offer for you in there. In fact it was a surprisingly good offer. Tempting as it was to make a quick profit from Debbie's buyers, I refused. They even offered a hundred dollars to use you while we ate. But I'm not a hard man, Karen, I allowed you to eat. Besides, life in a brothel wouldn't have been your sort of life. I can do far better for you."

"Why do you think being a prostitute is any sort of life then?"

He shrugged. "Women are prostitutes all their lives. From the day you learn what it's for, you use it to sponge off men, opening your legs on occasions when you think our interest is waning."

"We bear your children and even you were a child once," Karen replied.

"Oh yes, I know that, but ask yourself why? It's not for us, it's for your own gratification, yet another way to get money from us."

Karen fell silent as the car began to move quicker now he'd turned on to a better kept road. Her curiosity as to what he had in mind for her was overwhelming, so she decided to try again. "Anyway," she said, "you never told me what your intentions are for me. I suppose it means you get paid a lot of money, while I get to be raped or beaten for the rest of my life?"

He didn't reply for a while and Karen thought he'd either not heard her or chosen to ignore what she'd said. However, Saeed wasn't ignoring her; he'd been contemplating how to approach the answer in order to give himself an easier ride. The last thing he wanted was confrontation; it leads to injury and reduced money. So now, as they'd turned onto the main road and the ride had become smoother and quieter, he began to speak. "You could be beaten and almost certainly you'll be raped, as you like to call it. I prefer to say you'll be loved and looked after, but that's a matter of interpretation. You see, Karen, in this country there are many rich men. They live lonely and quiet lives, out of the spotlight, unable to leave the country for one reason or another. They want companionship and yes, someone to lie down with at night. Four such men have seen your photo and are prepared to bid for you. For me it's business, for you it's your life, your future. These are hard and dangerous men. Treat them like shit and retaliation will be swift and painful. Treat them as you would a lover and the rewards are great. Debbie, on the other hand couldn't do that. She's used to men, used to being shagged many times a day. For her it's not and never will be, love. For you it's a new experience and I think, if the truth was known, you'd prefer to have just one man in your life. Maybe this will not be a person you'd choose, but in many countries there are arranged marriages. Even the man has no input then."