Chapter 9

        ⚜  Cartels' world  ⚜

   Early the following day Thomas came to get us and gave us some clean clothes to change to after showering. His words still echoed in my mind and I decided to watch out in case he fulfils what he said. I was the first person to shower and Elena followed and soon after it was Sandra's turn. As I was dressing, I noticed Elena was worried.

"What's with the face?"

"Nothing is okay. I miss my family" she cried and I hugged her.

"I get you. Who would have guessed our lives would have turned out this way? Be strong my friend besides I am here for you"

She pulled away and wiped the visible tears with her hands. "Thank you, Chloe. You are always sensible."

Elena stood up and looked around almost as if searching for something. "Is it just me or has Sandra taken longer?"

She was right. "Yes but I think she is enjoying the shower. Having not showering properly for days is not easy"

"I dont think I can enjoy showering in this place considering our situation. Do you ever think maybe our families are looking for us?"

I wondered that every time.

Before I answered back one woman barged in our sleeping headquarters, panting heavily. Elena and I looked at each other and back at her and the woman pointed outside gesturing for us to follow her. I contemplated on following her but Elena was already racing after she and I had no choice.

I heard Elena scream and I forced my way to where the sound was coming from. "Oh. My. God. A-are you okay?"

Sandra was lying on the floor, naked, battered, and countless nail marks all over her body. My stomach churned at the sight and it was then torn decided to trickle. I witnessed her crying, no wailing and it made me miserable. Sandra tried to say something, "He...h..."

I felt as if a sudden vibe of energy was suddenly taken from me and I couldn't move.

"Sandy? It's ok dear. What happened?"

I could tell she was in pain and none of us was making her feel better. Seeing her crying as she pointed to her thighs, confirmed my earlier suspicions. I felt rage and grabbed the woman who came to call us.

   "You! What happened?"

     "I don't know. I found her on the floor. Let's help her first"

I huffed and walked towards Sandra, with the help of Elena managed to help Sandra to her feet. Based on the visible wounds on her neck I concluded that she struggled from her attacker.

We took her to our room and after helping with the cleaning, tucked her to bed. At that point, I didn't care about the bullied woman because Sandra needed to rest comfortably and not on the cold floor.

Elena asked. "Sandy? Please tell us, who did this to you?"

Sandra covered her face with the sheets not wanting to talk further.

The woman spoke.  "Don't force her. I know the feeling very well and you wouldn't want to be in her shoes."

  "What do you mean?"

   "These things are normal here, especially to new merchandise as Nacho says. They call it initiation"

If I was scared before, now I was more than petrified. To my left, Elena also was scared.

The woman went on, "Thomas and his men claim that taking our innocence is a way of initiating us. After assaulting the new merchandise, they train you for this kind of life. Drug mules, stripper, prostitutes and even their sex slaves. It is a custom for fresh meat, the say and although it's sickening, we can't do anything to help ourselves."

  I freaked out yelling. "What! This is absurd. What type of human beings are they?!"

  "I think I am gonna puke," Elena said.

  The woman gave a sad smile while looking at Elena and then carried on filling us with more terrifying tales. "Most women don't wait for the rape part and they surrender themselves to be used by these sick bastards, that way you get favours. Piece of advice girls, if you want to live and see the next day, dont be stubborn. Play along and you will survive"

I shook my head. "I can't see myself stooping so low."

  "Am afraid you have no choice, Chloe. Truth is we are at their mercies" Elena said sadly and I hated the fact that she was right.

  "Your friend is right. Two years ago, a gang of boys raided my village and kidnapped me alongside other girls. I had just turned 20 two days before and was vibrant about my future but life had something else in store for me. Something much worse than poverty. Thomas brought us to this place and initiated us multiple times before selling our bodies to men every single day. I tried to fight and I always ended up beaten and tortured. I grew tired of fighting them and I decided to play along. From then never had issues with any of them. Please, for your good, dont do anything stupid"

Hearing her story, I was at a loss for words.

Elena spoke. "That was horrible, what you went through. I hate to think but I know we might be next, who knows when"

The woman replied. "Who knows? I am Catalina but I prefer Cata. I know Chloe, and you are...."

  "Elena. Thank you for telling us although it is spiked my worries. If I may ask? What exactly do you do around here?"

  "Multitasking"

I furrowed my brows. "Multitasking?"

  "Yes, sweetie. Here you do all. Today, you satisfy a man, tomorrow strip or deliver goods. You know what I mean?"

Great. Another definition of multitasking and here I thought the dictionary had it all.

I was about to speak when Thomas and his friends graced us with their presence. "I see you are ready now. Follow me!"

Catalina nodded at me as if reminding us of what she had told us before. Elena asked. "And Sandra?"

Thomas laughed. "Haha, That sweet little thing will go straight to room C. Cata,  show the stained flower what she is supposed to do!"

"Yes boss"

We followed Thomas and he asked us to stand outside a door written in Room F. I was impatient and petrified as we waited for the unknown. The door finally opened and an angry Nacho stormed out. Thomas followed him and they were involved in a heated argument in Spanish. Palacios came with two men. "Chloe? Elena? Let's get you prepared"

As soon as we entered the room a beautiful woman came to embrace us. She looked at us and shouted. "Macario! Bring in the team"

My heart raced as questions flooded my mind. 'A team? Oh no'

Six beautiful women walked in dressed so elegant and I felt a slight relief. It found hard to believe they were once in our shoes.

  "These are our most expensive merchandise. If you behave well, you get to join them. See how elegant they are?"

'Who cares? My inner me asked.

  "Thank you, girls," she told them and the girls turn to leave. She turns to us, "I want to bring the inner beauty in you ladies. This business is not as bad as you think. You'll see"

"Yes ma'am," We said simultaneously.

She was pleased. "I see you are aware of the formalities. Now, let's get busy. Your friend will join you two tomorrow"

I couldn't believe we were being taught by some cartel woman. When we made a mistake she would slap us hard.

°           ∆                   °                   ∆

The following days, the routine was similar. Training and work. If it was not the latter, it was the former.  They were pushing our limits. I remembered being slapped many times as I didn't want to learn stripping.

In the third week,  we were ordered to package cocaine into women's beauty products. These people were pure geniuses making us pack their powder in hair products like shampoos and I wondered how they would retrieve the powder to its form.

Nacho and Thomas had not been around since the day we last saw them and that eased my mind.

Palacios snapped me out of my thoughts. "Well done, ladies. The boss will be happy you are learning fast. You can leave your posts and see you tomorrow"

After a long day of working nonstop, I was happy to be relieved. My thoughts wandered to Palacios. He treated us nicely most of the time, especially Sandra. Sandra on the other hand was still depressed. She never smiled nor laugh. She avoided showering alone and would always join Elena and me. Elena had come to terms with everything while I was on a mission. A secret mission to find a way out.