Rough hands shoved me into a hole and everything went black.
Frantically I searched for an escape, but there was nowhere to go except
towards the screaming voices. Soon my fate would be decided. I crawled and I
crawled for what seemed like forever until the voices became unbearably loud
and light illuminated the crawlspace. There was no turning back now. I thought
about crouching in this tunnel forever, but two pairs of hands grabbed me once
again. They pulled me out onto a platform where I was ordered to stand for all
to see. There must have been hundreds of people there staring back at me with
their pinkish faces. I don't think I will ever get used to the lightness of
their skin, I will forever yearn for the chocolaty skin of my people.
"Now this is a fine
young specimen, she cannot be over the age of 18. She is also strong enough to
last four years in the fields. Let's start the bidding at $50!" a man next
to me shouted to the crowd. I may not be fluent in this man's language, but I
am smart enough to figure out that they are selling me like a piece of meat. I
am not a piece of meat. "People please!!!! I am not some piece of meat, I
am a human being!!!! How can you sell someone of your own kind!!!! Please spare
me," I yelled to the people below in my native tongue. The people stopped
bellowing their bids and stared. I knew they hadn't understood me, but I didn't
really care.
At least I didn't until
the whip struck my back. I cried out in pain and the whip struck me again. Five
times more the whip hit my back and five times more, I cried out in pain. The
man who was taking the bids said something to me in his language then returned
his attention to the crowd. I stood there for a few more minutes shivering in
fear. I knew I was sold as a gigantic man clobbered up on to the stage and
handed the auctioneer a bag of money. Then he marched over to me and grabbed me
by the arm. I was taken down the steps, through the crowd, and to the back of a
wagon. There he picked me up and threw me in.
Still I was too
frightened to make a sound. Yet inside I was screaming and cursing, giving the
man a piece of my mind. Before I regained my courage, the man walked away.
About every ten minutes the man, my master as I should probably start calling
him, brought another one of my villagers to the wagon. We huddled together and
spoke in hush tones. Each one of us was relieved to have a companion and scared
of what would happen next. If only someone could tell us what was going on. It
was as if god heard my prayers. A boy with skin a deeper brown then mine
strolled up to the wagon.
"Hello," he
said in our native language, "I know you are freaking out and I completely
sympathize for you. However, I can't tell you what is going on at this moment
or we'll all get in trouble with the master. Just hang in there until we get to
our residence and then I will explain everything to you." We all nodded
and continued to rock back and forth in the fetal position. I decided to settle
myself down by remembering our village in
I don't know how long it
was before the master returned. When he did, he inspected his purchases before
ordering the boy to drive us home. Home. This was not home, not even close. I
squeezed my eyes shut as we began the journey "home". All I could do
was hope that there was a better life in the future. One better then whips and
people buying others. I could only hope.
