Chapter 27
Luis
I hear the door creak open, but couldn't care less to move. I already know it’s him; he’s the only one who comes and goes. Every once in a while I’ll hear another man's voice, but I don’t know who it belongs to.
“Well, it turns out your brothers want you back anyway. What a shame. I really wanted to kill you. Still might.” Bret laughs as he kicks me in the side, yet again.
My ribs feel cracked, because they are constantly sore.
They start to feel slightly better, only for Bret to bring chains to fight with and then they're back to sore all over again. I’m tired and trying to hang on for my family, but it’s hard without her.
Every time I close my eyes, it’s her icy blues staring back at me, the light to my darkness. Maybe I was the light to her darkness.
“I’m surprised they fell for whatever bullshit that spewed from your mouth. What did you offer?” I rasp out, my throat feeling even more dry today than it normally does.
“That’s the fun part. You will see,” he says, chuckling as he sets down some food and a jug of water. I get food and water, but it’s the blandest shit I have ever eaten in my life. But I guess I can’t complain.
I’m still trying to work out just enough to keep my strength up.
My plan is to fucking leave still, the second he fucks up and I have an out.
Being chained like a dirty animal ain’t it for me.
Honestly, if this is how those poor women and kids were being treated, it makes my stomach turn, and it just pisses me right the fuck off.
“Don’t have too much fun here, boy. Maybe clean yourself off with some of that water. It’s starting to smell rotten down here,” he says, turning and heading for the door.
“Maybe if you’d let me take an actual shower, it wouldn’t smell so bad. Hell, even soap and the water hose at this point, for fuck’s sake,” I snap back at him. Egging him on is my favorite thing to do. I live for the pain at this point. It gets me a little closer to her each time I see darkness.
“Wanna keep running that mouth, boy? I’ll knock all your teeth out.” He whips around and looks me dead in the eye, a crooked grin pulling on his lips as he marches towards me.
Just as I open my mouth to say something back, his phone rings, and he pulls it from his pocket and looks down at it.
His face turns pale almost as if whoever is calling is someone he’s afraid of.
He turns back towards the door, answers the phone and rushes out, slamming the door behind him and locking it.
Well, so much for baiting him today. Bringing the jug to my lips, I take a sip of the water and enjoy the coolness it brings to my sore throat.
I just need a few sips to get me by. Pouring some into my palm, I splash it over my face and scrub my hands down my cheeks so I can slowly start the process of my new way of taking a bath.
That’s going to be one of the first things I do when I get the hell out of here, take a fucking steaming hot shower and scrub my skin clean until it’s raw.
I have never felt nastier than I do right now.
“We just got a new shipment in, and it should be good to go at the Southside barn. The cows are all marked clean and ready for sale.” I can hear some of Bret’s conversation from upstairs.
I’m so confused, cows? Then it dawns on me.
He’s not talking about actual fucking cows; he's talking about trafficking, and if he just got a new shipment, that must mean whoever is on the phone helps him traffic the girls.
How many of these rings do they have actively going? One thing’s for sure, Raven would have wanted them burned to the ground and everyone sent to the safe houses or back to their family. So burn them to the ground I will. I’ll keep her legacy alive.