A cold chill crept down my spine, I haven’t seen or heard from Pablo since that night he popped up at Hong Shings. I didn’t want to see him now either, my body rejected the news and my pee wouldn’t budge.
“I don’t have all day to wait for you to piss Royaal. I actually could care less if you peed yourself to be honest.” She motioned for the guy to pick me up off the toilet.
I felt his hands grab my body, to usher me up. “Wait, I’m going to pee! It’s just a little difficult, considering…”
“Considering what? You did this to yourself, you just don’t listen. I told you to leave him and what did you do, you ran to Bam; even after I told you about him too. You just love my sloppy seconds, don’t you?” She grabbed my face.
“Well hopefully he goes easy on you, cause I wouldn’t,” she whispered in my ear.
I forced all the liquid in my body out, peeing wasn’t usually difficult for me. But I also wasn’t usually tied up when I went to the bathroom. I thought back to Bam’s calls and text, before I went into the room. I wonder if he knew and was trying to warn me; he was my only hope now, to get rescued out of this.
“Good girl”, she said as she put toilet paper into my hands.
I placed my tied wrist between my legs and wiped to the best of my ability. The toilet flushed under me, I was lifted back into a man’s arms and pants were pulled up.
“You can bring her back downstairs, he’s on his way here”, Ari ordered the gentlemen.
Before I knew it, we were walking through the house, back into the basement.
“Don’t put me with that bitch please, I don’t want to hear her”, I wailed as I heard the door open. I was ignored, brought downstairs and eventually dropped on the floor.
“Royaal-“, French began.
“Just shut up, shut the fuck up! I don’t want to hear anything from you, you stupid set up bitch. I don’t believe shit out of your mouth!” I yelled to the air.
“Both of you shut the fuck up!”, a deep masculine voice yelled back at us. “I don’t want to hear either of you bitches!”
The voice came from the stairs, the guy walked up and closed the door.
“I’m so sorry”, she softly cried. Hearing her tears was doing nothing but upsetting and triggering me. She was suppose to be the strong one, the smart one out of us two, the ‘renegade’. And she let her love for some nigga put us at risk.
“Pablo’s coming”, I said frankly. I was preparing my mind and body, I had no idea the type of vibe he’d be in. I never in a million years would’ve imagined that he would kidnap us. So I had no idea what he’s truly capable of. There was a silence like she was going to say something, then more crying.
“This is your fault”, I repeated over and over. “Here I was, scared to choose up to a nigga and put our friendship at risk. Meanwhile you’re putting our lives at risk over a nigga”, I chuckled, the irony.
“I just…. You really never know people, especially when you think you do. That’s when you need to realize you got too comfortable.”
“Royaal, I didn’t know he would do this!”, she whined.
“I believe you, cause I didn’t know you’d do this either.”
She sobbed some more, tears filled under the lids of my eyes. “I wanted to trust someone, I needed to trust someone. It was supposed to be you French, I needed it to be you.” I felt myself losing emotional control, the grip I had was getting weaker and weaker.
“What if we die here, hmm? Who’s going to know? Who’s going to miss us? Who’s going to miss me?” I asked.
I realized the hole she dug us into, then I realized the hole I dug myself into. I had no one, other than a psycho ex pimp, a backstabbing best friend and a pending pimp, I was alone.
There was a lot of commotion upstairs and then the basement door opened. The sweat dripping off my hands, warned me something evil was on the way.
“You thought you could run? You thought I would never find you?” The words pierced through me like a knife slicing warm butter. I could’ve nearly pissed myself, if I didn’t empty my bladder earlier.
“Take that one upstairs, you guys can have some fun with her”, he said coldly. Shivers went down my spine as I waited to be picked up and brought upstairs.
“Nooo, noo, pleasee. Don’t do this! Pleeease noo, Royaaaal-“, French screamed before she was knocked out.
My heart was racing and beating against my chest, I thought he was talking about me. I guess I kinda wished he was talking about me, at least I knew what was coming. I curled up into a fetus position on the floor and started crying, as I heard him lug her lethargic body upstairs.
“I’m not going to lie to you, I never liked that girl”, he laughed. “Even when Packs started fucking her, I knew that bitch was messy as fuck. But I also knew her messiness could be used one day.” He said, running his hands against my face and tapping on my chin. “Just like I knew your ass would come in handy one day too.”
“So you chose up to Bam uh, Mr. B”, he laughed. “And look at you now”, he laughed harder.
“You really know how to pick em'”, he said sarcastically. “Why aren’t you talking? You’ve always had a mouth on you.” He grabbed my face and turned it in his direction.
“Oh, where are my manners?”, he said and pulled off my blindfold.
The brightness of the lights shun directly into my fragile eyes. I couldn’t see, my eyes haven’t been exposed in days. I looked up briefly and could kinda make out a dark figure squatting over me. It looked and felt like I was in hell, I shut back my eyes and began to pray in my head.
“Now you want to be silent?” He tapped my chin. “I’m not going to hurt you, it’s funny actually. You’re worth more now that you belong to him than you ever were with me. He’s ready to pay an arm and leg for that pussy. I kinda wonder why, cause I already had it and I don’t think it’s worth that. But hey man, better for me right?”
He sighed as he got back up, “don’t worry before you know it babygirl, this will all be like a fever dream. Can’t say the same for your little friend though.” He did an ominous chuckle, “my guys have been waiting to try that.”
He was walking towards the stairs, “Why?” I murmured under my breath.
“Because this is the game shorty, it’s a man’s world and your pretty asses are just living in it. Playing by our rules and when you don’t, we’ll remind you you’re nothing more than a piece of ass. This ain’t even about you, you’re only still here cause Bam is paying for you. That nigga needs to get a message, that i’m who he thinks he is. I took his bitch once and I’ll do it again and again and again. Cause there’s only one gorilla pimp in the city and it’s me, you’re just collateral damage baby.”
He walked back up the stairs and slammed the door. My eyes were closed but the lights were so bright, it was still giving me a headache. I gave into my emotions and let the tears overtake me; that was the hardest I ever cried in my life. I hated French, but I couldn’t stop thinking of the horror she was about to experience upstairs. There was somewhat comfort in the fact that Bam was fighting for me, I wasn’t alone.
The basement door opened again, and heels clicked down the steps. My swollen eyes looked up to see Ari’s figure standing in front of me.
“Here’s dinner”, she dropped a tin bowl down on the ground in front of me with a big cup of water, it smelled like tuna.
“Enjoy”, she said, it sounded like she had a smile on her face as she turned around and went back upstairs.
I didn’t want to eat anything from them but my parched mouth and hungry stomach was enticed by the smell of the tuna. I uncurled from my fetus position, grabbed the tin bowl, and started devouring what felt like the best meal of my life. I never ate tuna, up until this moment, I stuffed my face until the bowl had no more residue left. Then I chugged the cup full of water, making sure not to waste a drop.
I felt so ashamed after, I tossed the bowl to the side. I had no choice, I had to eat and drink to survive. The tears flooded the brim of my eyes, as the shame swallowed me. I curled back up into my ball and cried until I fell asleep.
I awoke with heavy eyelids but my sight was coming back. To my surprise French was curled up, back in her spot.
“Yooo, you okay?” I gently called out to her.
She rolled over revealing a bruised and busted lip. She had finger bruises on her neck, a swollen face and puffy eyes. I realized she was wearing completely different pants than the ones she went to the club in. The gleam in her eyes were gone, she looked soulless.
She nodded as tears rolled down her face. My throat got dry and tight, my cheeks burned furiously, I was enraged and in pain for her. “It’s going to be okay, okay?” I said as I fought back tears.
The basement door opened, Pablo, Ari and some guy came walking down the stairs.
“Oh great, you’re awake”, said Pablo. “It’s gametime baby”, he said enthusiastically.
The big guy that was with them, walked towards me, picked me up and threw me over his shoulder. We turned and headed to the door, “wait, what about French?” I asked quickly.
“You really don’t fucking learn uh”, Ari said to me in disgust. “This bitch isn’t going anywhere, she doesn’t care about you anyways.”
Pablo threw Ari a stern look; “worry about yourself Royaal.”
“Royaaaaal, noo. Pleeease”, French cried and said out of her swollen mouth.
I banged my elbows against his back as he walked up the stairs, “put me the fuck down! Don’t do this!” I screamed and cried.
Pablo grabbed my face, “He’s only paying for you, so he only gets you. We can make this easy or hard, but either way you’re going to shut the fuck up.” He pressed his fingers into my cheeks forcing them into a kissing position. “Be a good girl for once and make this easy”, he said and then blew a kiss.
Every step we took up the stairs, French cried out for me. I couldn’t take it, “I’m so sorry”, I cried before Pablo put on my blindfold. I heard Ari slap her and then the basement door closed. I became limp, defeated, I know she got us into this but she didn’t deserve to go out like that.
I heard multiple doors open and close, before a gag was put in my mouth and I was put into a trunk. I laid there lifeless, envisioning the horrors French was enduring. There was nothing I could do about it, I hated Bam for leaving French. But at the same time he was saving me, I hated that I was even in this position.
The car went into motion and I figured we were on our way to meet Bam. Freedom was on the horizon but for some reason, I still had a heavy ball of tension in my stomach. Like the freedom that I use to know, wasn’t the one I was about to step into. Everything I knew, was about to be different. Like how can I live a life of freedom knowing the cost was French? How am I suppose to forget? Am I supposed to pretend French never existed? Am I supposed to be down for this man, that let her go because she wasn’t his bitch?
The motion from the car and all my thoughts made me sick to my stomach. I knew I would never be the same after this. It felt like we drove for forever, before the car finally stopped. I could hear noises and chatter from the cabin, through the trunk. I didn’t know what time of day it was, where we were or anything. I assumed gametime meant, meeting with Bam but to be honest, with this nigga it could mean anything.
I held my breath as I heard the car doors open. I was suspended in time, nothing and everything mattered. I was relieved and scared at the same time, my palms dripped with sweat. It was a while before the trunk opened and I was pulled out and told to stand on my feet. My knees were weak with fear, they wobbled under the pressure of my body.
A firm grip grabbed my arm and guided me along the front of the car.
“Here, everything’s perfect as you can see. Not one bruise or hair out of place.” Pablo said.
“Get the money”, said Bam. His voice ignited me, hope and relief flooded my body. I wanted to run into his arms.
“You sure you don’t want the other one? She’s a little busted right now, but I have a feeling she’ll do amazing on the track.” Pablo laughed.
“I’m here for Royaal. You okay baby girl?”, he called out to me.
I fought back every urge I had to scream no, to scream that we need to go and get French.
“Yeah, I’m okay,” I shouted back.
“See perfect condition, like I said”, interrupted Pablo.
“It’s all here”, Pablo’s boy said to him.
“Great.”
He let go of my arm and pushed me forward, I stumbled until I felt Bam’s arm grab me. “I got you”, I was immediately engulfed with so many different emotions. He grabbed me and walked me back to the car, pulling off my blindfold.
“Pleasure doing business with you”, Pablo yelled as he got back into his car.
Traffick’d 