Chapter 5

Days passed. Roy came in, asked questions, watched me sleep, the room got colder and colder and I felt worse and worse, eating cereal for practically every meal and singing old 90’s songs in my spare time. It wasn’t just boring. It was far worse. Because I knew that when this suffering was over, more suffering would begin, as I would be some slave-wife-person and I would probably die and never see my family again.
It was a frigid Wednesday morning when everything seemed to change. Roy came in and sat down like usual, and I prepared for 3 hours of sitting around, when he spoke.
“They’re going to take you away from here,” He said in a hoarse voice.
I should be surprised, I thought. “What?”
“You’re going to be put into a slave trade.” He said each word slowly, as if he couldn’t believe it. But I knew he’d been processing this for a week now.
“WHAT?!” I shrieked at the top of my lungs, doing the best acting possible. Then I began to breathe heavily. It wasn’t that hard to pretend to be scared or startled. It was today that my life would change forever. Or end. I was ready. But not ready enough.
Roy handed me a thick white sheet of paper that was folded 4 times. “This is your… interview response. You have to give it to the…to the people that take you.”
I took the paper and stuffed it into my pocket without reading it, crumpling it. Roy winced.
Why was he so upset about some dumb piece of paper that I had to give to my slave-traders?
“I’m sorry.” His voice was almost emotionless, but his eyes flickered. Did he actually care, or was he a talented actor? And why would he be apologizing to me? It’s his fault I got into this mess in the first place.
“They’ll be picking you up in the next 5 minutes. It’s my fault this is happening to you,” He said slowly. “Just remember…the door’s wide open…”
“No it’s not!” I yelled.
But he just turned, walked straight out the door, and slammed it shut. I could hear his footsteps retreating away, one last time… I stood there stunned, not knowing what I should be feeling.
It’s all over, I thought. I’d never see Daddy or Betti or Layla or Mackenzie or Charlotte or mystery guy or even Roy again.
I decided the best thing to do was sit and wait. I took deep breaths, wondering if I was being watched. Well, obviously. There must be some sort of recording camera or device in here. I didn’t want to seem too nervous or upset, it would only give them pleasure.
What the heck did Roy even mean, ‘the door is wide open’? Who was he, some old Japanese haiku-writer? I went back in my mind to our exchange, him coming in, handing me the paper, saying ‘just remember, the door’s open’, and leaving… who did he think I was?
Time seemed to pass slowly, the minutes going by like months. I couldn’t figure Roy out. He seemed like this horrid guy, and then he gave me advice on how to be as a person.
Yeah right, like that door was even open. I couldn’t go back to anyone ever again, so how could I change as a person with the snap of my fingers?