Chapter 4

Ten Months Ago,

Sahara Desert, Libya.

“You will drink it,” Suehi demanded.

Her sister shook her head as quiet sobs escaped from dry lips. “I can’t. I’d rather die.”

Suehi crouched in the sand and gripped Zinsa’s arm. “You will die—from thirst. These men will win, and I will be without you. Drink it!”

“I want to go home—to Mama and Papa.”

“So do I, little one. We have each other, and we need to survive.”

Zinsa’s dull eyes darted around the dark camp, and dread took hold. “Don’t let them hurt me again.”

“I can only protect you if you’re alive. Please. Zinsa. Please.” Panic clawed, and Suehi tried not to cry. Not that she could. Their dehydrated bodies produced no tears. Hunger raged and the thirst… Suehi couldn’t swallow or think past her desperate thirst.

Zinsa pulled aside her tattered skirt and crouched in the dry sand. Her whimpers tore at Suehi’s sanity, and she turned away, giving her sister privacy. They’d been forced to drink their urine on a journey that stretched for thousands of miles. The sound of Zinsa’s gagging meant she’d listened to Suehi, and replenished her fluids.

Benin was now a distant memory. Days and nights of driving over rough roads, surrounded by armed men. Now they were on foot, trekking through the Sahara Desert. Suehi and Zinsa had fared better than the rest of the women in their bedraggled group. One of the guards had punched Zinsa in the face when she hadn’t kept up, but what they’d done to some of the other women… at night… in the dark. From what Suehi had gathered, their maman had paid extra for Suehi and Zinsa’s safe passage. There was a penalty for touching the sisters. Suehi suspected that they weren’t being sent to Italy to open a hair salon of their own. It didn’t matter. Once they’d landed on the Italian coast, Suehi and her sister would escape. She needed to convince Zinsa, who believed in that damn Ju-ju curse.

And they needed to stay alive. The guards gave them little food and only a small cup of water per day. They treated the women like cargo.

“What are you doing?” A shadow moved, and Suehi froze.

Abdul scared her. He was the Libyan guard with the biggest gun and broadest shoulders. He also had the shortest temper. Abdul hurt the other women and took pleasure in his sick games.

He sidled over to the two girls, his perverted gaze running over Suehi.

“We need to do our ablutions and we request privacy.” Suehi moved in front of her cowering sister.

“There is no privacy. If you’re trying to escape, I will beat you.”

“Escape to where? All I see is endless sand.”

“You think you are clever? You need to learn respect.” Abdul casually lifted his arm and slammed his weapon into Suehi’s head.

Searing pain exploded as she fell to the ground, fighting to stay conscious.

“Now, I’ll teach you a lesson. Don’t ignore me. You look at me like I’m a piece of filth. It’s time for you to earn your keep, and I’ve wanted you for days.” He grabbed her shoulder and tore at her dress.

Zinsa screamed and leaped towards them. Suehi raised her arm, trying to stop her little sister’s attack, but she was too late.

Zinsa hit him in the nose and clawed at his eyes, and Abdul shouted in pain. Rolling to her knees in the soft sand, Suehi called to Zinsa with gasping cries. Her world slowed as she watched Abdul stagger back and raise his weapon. Gunshots echoed over the sand. Zinsa staggered and fell to the earth like a stringless puppet.

Suehi’s raw and guttural screams filled the air as she crawled to her sister’s side. “Zinsa… oh, God! Baby girl… no!”

She ignored the flurry of activity as men shouted, and women wailed in distress. Pulling Zinsa into her arms, Suehi rocked her back and forth, as warm blood soaked through clothes, bathed her legs, and dampened the soft earth. Suehi cried out her anguish. Abdul’s rifle suddenly drilled into her head.

“This is your fault!” He shouted above the chaos. “You made me shoot her, and now you will join her.”

If he pulled the trigger, this gut-wrenching agony would leave Suehi’s starved body. She closed her eyes, wanting to die; she wanted that more than her next dusty breath. She buried her nose in her sister’s hair, smelling a trace of coconut oil and sunshine. Her sweet, kind baby sister lay lifeless in her arms. But soon they’d be together. Suehi stared at the monster who’d so casually killed Zinsa. Hatred for this man burned her gut, and her heart withered to ash.

Another guard—an older man—stepped forward. “Abdul! Drop your fucking weapon. You piece of shit.”

“The sisters tried to escape. They both need to die. We set an example.” The gun jabbed at her skull.

The other man stepped closer. “We get paid for delivering them, and that’s a premium package lying dead in the dirt. You killed a damn virgin, and now you want to add the sister to the mix? Look at her. Look! She’s an untouched beauty with a price attached. What were our instructions?”

The barrel of the gun trembled against the base of her neck. She continued rocking her sister.

“They attacked me!” Abdul sneered.

“No. You wanted to sully the sisters with your dick, now lower the gun. If you shoot that girl, I’ll kill you myself.”

Abdul swore, but did as commanded. He stormed back to camp. Relief never came, only expanding rage. Suehi vowed to kill them all. She finally raised her head as the older man crouched beside her. His deep brown eyes held cruelty, and his sympathetic smile never reached those eyes. Her grief-stricken gaze traveled past him to the rest of the armed mercenaries, and she committed their faces to memory.

“I’m sorry for your loss. We never meant to hurt your sister. We can help you to bury her, but we will leave this place before daybreak.” The older man touched her shoulder, and she flinched.

She’d been right all along. There was no heavenly destination hidden at the end of this hellish road—no small hair salon. These men owned her and saw her as cargo—merchandise to be sold to the highest bidder, sold to some European devil and his friends.

Suehi no longer wanted to escape; vengeance steered her down a different path. Unable to resist, she spat in the guard’s face, and he slapped her hard. Standing, he shuffled the circle of onlookers back into the night. They left her alone with her grief, and Suehi cried through the memories. Growing up, Zinsa would follow Suehi around, copying her older sister’s every move. If Suehi cooked, Zinsa would climb on a stool and try to help. They’d wash the family’s clothes together in the steel tub… little toddler hands working so hard to sud the water. On the long walk to school every day, they’d play silly games. The little girl’s adoration for her older sibling never waned. Zinsa even thought that Suehi could protect her from the bush babies.

The Nigerian legend of the bush babies struck terror into the hearts of every child. Zinsa believed that they’d come for her. As far as superstitions went, the locals recounted that if you heard a baby cry at night, you should never leave your home to search for the mysterious sound. A monster with red eyes and razor-like teeth would lure you away from safety, by imitating a baby’s cry, while waiting in the dark.

Perhaps Zinsa hadn’t been wrong. A savage beast had eventually killed her, and Suehi hadn’t saved her baby sister from a violent death. After hours of whispering sweet nothings, Suehi finally stripped her sister of her bloody dress, laid Zinsa in the dirt, and scraped away at the earth. Ignoring her bleeding hands, Suehi dug the deepest hole she could, while fighting against the shifting sands. Finally, she kissed Zinsa one last time and rolled her into the grave. Covering the hole sapped the last of her energy, and Suehi sat back and stared at the lightening sky. After howling in anguish, she stood and examined her sister’s bloody clothes. That same blood had dried on Suehi’s skin. Panic had her wanting to strip naked and claw at the crusty layer. That wouldn’t do any good, and she’d be forced to wear her bloodied rags for weeks to come. Suehi vowed that she’d never throw away the rags. Her sister’s stained dress served as a reminder of newly set goals—anarchy and death to anyone affiliated with these devils.

There was another legend from her land—the legend of Mama Wata—a beautiful mermaid-like creature with a serpent’s tail. One who walks amongst men, seduces them and lures them to the river. Suehi would channel Mama Wata’s spirit on the perilous journey to the North.