“It doesn’t feel as good as the first time.”
– Breeze
The chaos around her was overwhelming as the devastation of the earthquake displayed itself all around her. Escaping Ma’tee’s imprisonment should have brought some type of relief, but being free was overshadowed by the catastrophe that had occurred. Her bruised and cut up body was nothing compared to the dead bodies that littered the streets, decomposing before her terrified eyes. The overwhelming heat mixed with the smell of death in the air caused her insides to erupt. She had thrown up so many times that she had lost count, and with no clean drinking water in sight, she had nothing to replace the energy that was leaving her body. She could barely breathe because the stench was so horrifying. She had never yearned for home more than she did at that moment.
Her heart raced every second because she did not know what to expect next. The unstable ground beneath her threatened to crack every time the earth shook. How had she come to be so far away from the safety of the Diamond mansion? Her life had been a living hell, and Mother Earth was taking no prisoners as it destroyed everything in its path. The people of Haiti had just had everything stripped from them, and Breeze was amongst them. The little bit of hope that she had left had been buried underneath the rubble. She was going to die in Haiti. What Ma’tee did not finish, Mother Earth surely would.
As Breeze lay on the blood-stained cot out in the open sun, it felt as if she were baking alive. Her light skin had burnt badly, causing her open wounds to crust over with infection. It was so hot that the vision before her eyes was hazy, as if steam was rising from the cracks in the ground. Circumstances had never been so dire. Breeze’s survival was out of her hands, and as the bodies continued to drop like flies around her, she silently feared that she would be next.
Breeze could barely lift her head as she watched those around her. She noticed a white woman going around with water-filled canteens. Too weak to even call out, she silently prayed for the woman to come her way. She noticed how the woman picked some of the younger ladies to follow her as she made her way through the thick crowd. It was as if the woman was looking for someone in particular.
When the woman finally crossed Breeze’s path, she reached out her arm and grabbed the woman’s leg in desperation. The woman turned to Breeze and stared down at her in sympathy.
“Please. I need water,” Breeze whispered, her eyes pleading.
“Of course,” the woman replied as she knelt beside Breeze. She motioned for the young women who followed her to halt, and then she lifted the canteen to Breeze’s lips.
Breeze greedily gulped the water, the coolness of the liquid soothing her dry insides. She closed her eyes. Nothing had ever been so satisfying.
The woman could not see Breeze’s face through all of the dirt and ash that covered it. She smiled slightly as she wiped the dirt from Breeze’s ashen features, trying to show her a friendly face amongst the debris and turmoil.
“I’m Ms. Beth,” the woman stated. “What is your name?” she asked.
“Breeze,” she responded as she continued to drink the water, hydrating her soul as much as her body.
“Breeze, where is your family?” Ms. Beth asked.
The thought of her loved ones brought tears of pain to her eyes. She had not seen them in so long. Her heart broke to pieces as she began to sob. “I don’t know. I’m not even supposed to be here,” she cried.
“Come on, sweetheart. I can take you somewhere safe,” Ms. Beth stated as she helped Breeze to her feet. Feeling a sense of trust for the first time since she had been taken away from her family, Breeze stood on her shaky limbs and joined the small group of young women as they walked behind Ms. Beth.
“Where is she taking us?” Breeze asked one of the girls who walked beside her.
“She came through here yesterday and helped a lot of people. She gave them water and food, then she took them somewhere safe. I think she works for a charity in the States. I hope that she is taking us there. I’ve always wanted to go there,” the young Haitian girl said whimsically.
“She’s taking us to the Unites States?” Breeze repeated. Her heart fluttered as visions of home flooded her mind.
The girl nodded her head, and it was all the confirmation that Breeze needed to continue to follow Ms. Beth as if she were the shepherd leading her sheep. Breeze looked back at what was left of the city of Port-au-Prince, and she was just grateful that an opportunity to get out had arisen. She had thought that she would be forever lost in the buried city, but Ms. Beth had just come to her rescue.
They walked for miles before Breeze finally saw the boat. It looked like a large military ship. The massive piece of steel that sat in the water sent shivers down her spine, and as Breeze looked on at the group of girls she stood amongst, she recognized the same glimmer of hope in everyone’s eyes. All they wanted to do was get to a better place, to feel safe. Even though the boat was daunting, it was their only way out, and none of them was going to deny it.
Breeze’s eyes fell upon the side of the medium-sized vessel. The word MURDERVILLE had been graffiti-painted on the ship’s starboard side.
Breeze wanted to call her family so badly to let them know that she was alive and that she was safe. They were the first people she wanted to see when she finally made it to the States.
There were about fifty other girls all around her who were just as eager as Breeze, but all of their fear originated from the quake. Breeze’s torture had included so much more. The rape, the kidnapping, the degradation from Ma’tee was a precursor to this natural disaster, and if she did not speak to her family soon, she was sure that her sanity would crack. Overwhelmed and anxious, she pushed through the crowd to get to Ms. Beth.
“Ms. Beth!” Breeze called out to get her attention amongst the many young women. As Ms. Beth tried to organize the crowd, Breeze followed behind her. “Ms. Beth, do you have a cell phone that I can use? I haven’t talked to my family in so long. I just want to let them know that I’m coming home. They don’t even know I’m alive.”
Ms. Beth was too busy to stop her stride, but Breeze followed behind her as she watched everyone begin to form a line.
“I’m sorry, Breeze. I don’t have a phone that is available for you right now. There’s no service on this side of the island. As soon as we reach the States, I will get you to a phone so that you can call your family,” Ms. Beth stated. She could see the disappointment in Breeze’s eyes, so she put one hand on her shoulder and added, “Don’t worry. Everything will be fine now. You will be back with them before you know it.”
Breeze nodded.
“Now, go ahead and get in line so that you can get your vaccination. We can’t have you bringing any diseases back to the U.S. with you,” Ms. Beth said reassuringly.
Breeze got into the line, and when it was her turn to receive the medicine, Ms. Beth tied a thick rubber band around her arm, causing a huge vein to emerge. Ms. Beth smiled at Breeze and said, “I promise all of your pain will go away, Breeze.”
“I hope so,” Breeze answered back through tear-filled eyes. Ms. Beth stuck the needle in Breeze’s arm and injected it slowly. As the drug entered her system, a warm, euphoric feeling traveled up her arm and spread throughout her entire body.
“You’ll be tired for a while, but this will keep you from getting sick. A disaster this big brings about a lot of infection,” Ms. Beth stated. “There will be a cot for you to rest on once you’re on board.”
Breeze nodded, but really did not pay attention to anything that Ms. Beth said. The euphoric feeling that took over her body made all of her worries, all of her pain, and all of the horrible memories of Ma’tee’s abuse go away instantly. Her eyelids felt so heavy that she could barely keep them from closing, and her mouth fell open slightly in satisfaction. Every spot on her body tingled, and her clitoris hardened as the drug surged through her veins. Breeze felt so good that she came to an orgasm where she stood, causing the place between her legs to become wet with her own juices. She obediently fell in line as she followed the rest of the girls onto the boat.
Breeze awoke to the prick of another needle being put into her arm. This time, it wasn’t by Ms. Beth, but one of the men she had seen when she boarded the boat back in Haiti. As she looked around, she noticed that the other girls were being injected as well. She wanted to ask what they were giving her, but as quickly as the thought of protest popped into her mind, the drug took its effect and erased any objection that she had. A stupid grin spread across her face as her neck muscles weakened slightly, causing her head to dip onto her chest. Nothing had ever felt better, and she welcomed the sensations that traveled through her.
She had no idea that Ms. Beth and her team were forcing heroin into her system. All she knew was that the medicine made her feel good. It made everything feel like bliss, and numbed her emotions to the point where she forgot about all that had happened. She was almost drunk with ecstasy as her body began to warm. It did not feel as good as the first dose, and as the man stood to move to the next girl, Breeze grabbed his arm.
“Can you give me a little more? It doesn’t feel as good as the first time,” she whispered.
The man chuckled and shook his head. “It never does, sweetheart,” he replied before moving on to his next victim.
Ms. Beth was in the business of human trafficking, and went from impoverished island to impoverished island in the Caribbean to lure young women and children with the hopes of a better life. The children that she abducted were usually trafficked into modern day slavery, but the young women were like budding flowers and were picked for the sex trade.
When she stumbled across Breeze, she knew that she had hit the jackpot. Her American clients would go crazy over the young beauty, and she would make a big profit off of her because of her fair skin tone.
The heroin made it easier to take advantage of her victims. The drug kept them under control and dependent. Breeze had just been introduced to the world of addiction, and she would always chase the potency of the first high that she had been given. Her ignorance would only last for so long, and by the time she realized that she was hooked, it would be too late for her to stop. Even though she was on her way back to the United States, she was now more far away from home than she had ever been. Now she was lost in a boy that was so strong that once he got a hold of you, he rarely ever let go.
After two days of traveling underneath the deck of the ship, Breeze was relieved when the boat finally docked. Breeze rushed up the stairs. The door leading to the main deck was always locked. The girls traveling below were not allowed on the main deck, and as they traveled, they had confined below, anxiously awaiting their arrival. For many of them, it was the start of a new life. For Breeze, it would be a return to her old one. Breeze beat the door with her fists as she anticipated the reunion she would have with her family.
The door opened, and Breeze rushed out only to be stopped by one of Ms. Beth’s workers.
“What are you doing? Let me go. I just want to see where we are,” Breeze shouted as she struggled against the man.
It wasn’t until she felt the hard sting of his hand that her instincts told her something was horribly wrong. Now that her high had worn off, she was able to process the situation in a new light. She did not know what was going on, but now that they were back in the U.S., she wanted off of that boat. “Where’s Ms. Beth? I need to speak to her!” she yelled persistently as she was pushed back beneath the deck. “She said I could make a call.”
At that moment, the metal door opened and Ms. Beth walked down with five men following behind her.
“Ms. Beth!” Breeze shouted as she pushed past the man apprehending her. “Where are we? I felt the boat dock. You said I could call my family,” she reminded desperately, but as Breeze spoke, she noticed that the disposition of the friendly woman she had met in Haiti had changed. Her eyes were cold and revealed sinister intentions as she stared unflinchingly back at Breeze.
Her father always told her she could see the character of a person by looking in their eyes, and as Breeze studied Ms. Beth, she finally saw the devil that dwelled inside of her. Her brow furrowed in confusion.
“You said you would help me get home!” Breeze shouted as she watched Ms. Beth’s staff filter through the room and begin to blast heroin into the other girls’ arms.
Breeze backed away from Ms. Beth as she looked down at her own arms. Non-stop needles had been put into her veins for the past forty-eight hours, and foolishly, Breeze had allowed them to do it.
“What have you been giving me?” she screamed hysterically. “Why are you doing this?” Breeze demanded.
“Restrain her,” Ms. Beth said calmly to one of her workers.
“You bitch!” Breeze yelled as she charged Ms. Beth. She smacked fire from Ms. Beth before she was finally subdued, and she screamed like a mad woman as she watched the woman who she thought would be her savior approaching her with the needle.
“No! Please… I just want to go home. You have no idea what I’ve been through,” Breeze reasoned.
Ms. Beth ignored the pleas and jammed the needle painfully deep into Breeze’s vein.
“Aghh!” Breeze cried out as blood trickled from her arm. She could feel the tension leave her body as a tear of defeat slipped from her eyes.
“What are you doing to me? What have you been giving me?” Breeze whispered as the orgasmic high once again came over her.
Ms. Beth looked cruelly back at her and smirked before replying, “Heroin. By the time I’m done with you, you will be nothing but a junkie whore.”
Breeze’s soul cried out silently as she felt herself going into a nod. The last thing she heard was Ms. Beth’s voice.
“Shoot her up twice. She’s going to be a handful. The faster we get her hooked the better. She’ll learn to go with the flow one way or another.”