Kristin had just told and Lori that she was snatched from a cab with one of her cousins. She said that no one ca looking for her.
"Did your aunt not report you and your cousin missing?" I asked Kristin.
"I don’t know," Kristin said with a shrug. "The night I was abducted, we drove out of the state. We were in the car for hours with three n who ignored us unless we got too loud or unruly, then one of them would reach back and hit us or yell at us to shut up. When we finally got to our hotel as the sun was rising, the n shoved us into a room and locked us in there."
"Did you try to scream for help?" Lori asked Kristin.
"The n had guns," Kristin told her. "They were next door and they told us if they heard anything out of us, they would shoot us."
"They didn’t try to touch you, or hurt you?" I asked Kristin.
"Girls will sell for higher amounts when they’re not abused," Kristin said. "They didn’t want us to arrive with bruises and sexual abuse because they get less money. They made sure that we were fed and safe, and in return, they just asked us to be quiet and do as we were told."
"Did they tell you anything about what was going on?" Lori asked Kristin.
"Nothing," Kristin said. "We asked them where we were going and why they kidnapped us, but they just told us to be quiet and not to cause any trouble. My cousin and I were terrified, and we cried until we couldn’t cry anymore. But, when the n took us to the warehouse it was actually really comforting to be around other girls and won. They knew what was going on and they told us what to do and what not to do. I was even a virgin at the ti, but my cousin was not, so the conversation about what was going to happen when one of the n bought was terrifying."
"What did they tell you?" I asked Kristin, feeling the discomfort in my stomach as I thought about a 16 year being taught that she would have a forced sexual experience that could be very unpleasant.
"They told to pretend I was soone else," Kristin said. "I was told to disconnect from my body and to do as I was told during sex so that it would be over quickly."
Lori was shaking her head in disbelief. "That should never happen," Lori said to Kristin.
"I absolutely agree," Kristin said, "but it does, and it’s awful. I was terrified my first ti on ’The Block’ and I know I was 16 years old, but I felt like a little girl who had gotten lost in a store. After I was torn away from my cousin and those other won who gave us advice, I had no one."
I could taste the bile rising to my throat. "Were you able to take the won’s advice?" I asked Kristin. "How did you survive?"
Kristin was silent for a mont in her thoughts. "The man who bought for the first ti wanted a young virgin," she said. "He was in his late forties, gruff, serious, and not very friendly. On our way to his ho, he didn’t say anything to . I just rember trying to focus on tangible things like the houses passing as we drove and the feel of the leather on the seat. He had a large ho and when we got inside he took to the bedroom that would be mine for the next few months. He told to undress and once I was completely naked with tears streaming down my face, he walked around in a circle and looked at like I was so sort of art exhibit. Finally, he told to lie on the bed while he took of his pants. I rember lying there and crying the whole ti. He never tried to be gentle, so there was a lot of pain and I scread that he was hurting , but he just held down and had his way with . When he was done, he put his pants back on and left lying on the bed naked, crying, and in pain."
"Oh my God," Lori said, covering her mouth with her hands.
Kristin nodded. "He was like that the entire ti," Kristin said. "The door of my room was locked until it was ti for to eat or shower, or whenever he wanted to have sex with . I thought I was going to lose my mind and I cried often. altis and showering were predictable, but he was not. He would want sex in the early morning, or in the middle of the day, or in the middle of the night, sotis twice a day. I never knew and that was the most emotionally and physically stressful part of the situation."
"Did you ever try to run away?" I asked Kristin.
"The first ti, no," Kristin told . "It was a completely new life and a new experience, and I spent my ti in a deep depression trying to understand what was happening to and why. But, I did try twice when I was bought later, on two separate occasions. After the first attempt, the man beat so badly that I had a hard ti walking for a few days. The next ti I tried to run away, I had been bought along with another girl my age and having her with made more confident. When we chose a night to run away, we had planned to go through the basent and out a side door." Kristin paused for a mont, her eyes focused on the coffee table in front of her, but she seed to be gazing through it, back to that fateful day when she had tried to run away with the other girl. "She got to the door first and opened it, but before I could follow her the man who bought us grabbed her. He had been waiting outside. We thought we had been so clever, but he knew. I watched in pure horror as he wrapped his hands around her neck and choked her. She struggled for what seed like an eternity until she went limp. I didn’t know if she was dead or not at the ti, but looking back I’m sure that she was dead. After she had stopped struggling, I ran straight back up to my room and I was terrified for days, but the man never said anything to about it. I still don’t know to this day if he saw or not in the basent at all. He bought another girl and life continued on for until it was ti for to be resold."
"You watched a girl die," I said to Kristin in shock. "You saw him kill that girl with his bare hands.
Kristin nodded. "I saw other won killed too," she said. "A couple of the won were victims of violent anger, and I don’t think they were ant to be killed, but they died. The others were intentional to teach us or patrons a lesson. One patron bid for a girl and didn’t have the money in his account, but instead of taking her back, he kept her at his ho. A few days later, the girl was found dead on the man’s property, and he went to jail for her murder. But, I know for a fact that it was soone working for the boss who lured her out of the house and killed her." Kristin’s eyes were shiny with tears and I could feel my own eyes stinging, yearning to release the emotions I felt at the senseless kidnapping, rape, and killing of those won.
I pulled Kristin into a hug. "I’m so sorry you went through that," I told Kristin as hot tears slid down my cheeks. Lori leaned in, wrapping her arms around both Kristin and . We sat there holding one another and sobbing. "I’m so sorry," I said to her again, unable to hold back my tears. We cried together and just held one another. I did need to hear Kristin’s story. I was no longer ashad of being rescued from the world of human trafficking by my husband. No one deserved that life, but those who had to live through it and who survived were strong in ways that many people could not even imagine.
"You’re so amazing," Lori said to Kristin between sobs. "I’m so glad that I t you."
"I’m glad that I t you both too," Kristin said. "Neither of you truly had to learn about human trafficking the hard way, and I hope you’re both thankful for that. But you both know enough now to want to fight for won who are living that life and to want to bring down the n and sotis other won who make it possible." I decided then and there that I would be braver, I would try harder, and I would do my part to help Marcus and Ed with their mission to take down The Auction House for won like Kristin, her cousin, and won like , too.
User Comments
0 comments from readers