Over the next week, men came to visit at all times of the day and night to check out Maggie and Cali. The routine was the same. The two girls dressed in lingerie, paraded upstairs, and stood in the middle of a room while men of all sizes and ages looked them over. In a week’s time, at least eighteen men came to see them. Seth was always taken upstairs alone because when Maggie was there, he would whimper and cling to her, and selling a whiny kid to street pimps was nearly impossible.
Back in their kennels, Cali tried to keep Maggie’s spirits high. “Look at it this way. If we’re sold to pimps, then at least we’ll get to be outside again. I mean, we’ll be doing the same thing we are now, but at least we’ll have a little more freedom.”
“That doesn’t change anything, Cali. We won’t be together anymore. I thought when we got old enough, they would just let us go. I want to go home. I miss my mom and dad every day,” Maggie said.
“I understand. But maybe if we’re out on the streets, we’ll find our way home. At least we won’t be locked away where no one but these assholes see us. Right?” Cali argued.
“I don’t know, Cali. I just don’t have a good feeling about any of this. I’m so scared to be alone. And what will happen to Seth? He doesn’t even know his last name or where he lived. How will he ever make it without us?” Maggie asked, wanting Cali to tell her that everything would work out for each of them.
Cali didn’t have any answers. She wasn’t streetwise. The only thing she knew about prostitution was what she’d learned during her captivity.
“Here’s the thing, Mags. We don’t have a choice. We have to make the best of what we got. This is all bad shit we’re going through. None of us belongs here, and Max definitely didn’t deserve to die here. I wonder how Shana is doing,” she murmured.
“I know. I’ve been thinking about her a lot. Do you think she really hated me?” Maggie asked sadly.
“Nah, she was just as scared and frustrated as the rest of us. She knew in her heart that Myles did whatever he wanted. He protected her for a while, and when she lost that, she also lost her ability to cope with this bullshit,” Cali explained.
“Maybe she was right. Maybe staying drugged up is the best thing,” Maggie offered.
“Don’t ever think that, Mags! The drugs are what got her sent to Camden. When I was waiting for a client the night before she was sold, I overheard John William telling one of the other goons that they had to sell her cheap because pimps don’t like their ‘property’ already hooked on drugs. He said they like to get them hooked themselves,” Cali said.
The girls lay quietly, waiting for Seth to be returned to the basement. When John William brought the boy downstairs, he put him in his cell and addressed Cali.
“Looks like your ratty ass will be leaving. You were gettin’ too old, anyhow. Your new boss is gonna turn you out like a two-bit whore. You’ll wish you were back here with me, girl,” he rambled. “Get yourself together. They’ll be back to get you tomorrow morning.”
John William turned the basement light off as he went upstairs, leaving them in pitch darkness to face their demons. The contents of Cali’s belly began to churn. She had known that this moment was coming, yet there was no way to prepare for it. She leaned against the chain link fence.
Maggie had started to breathe heavily when John William announced Cali’s departure. There was a buzzing in her ears, as if she were listening to static through ear buds.
“Cali? What are we going to do? I don’t want you to leave. What if I never see you again?” Maggie cried.
“Come on, Mags. It’s gonna be all right. I want to tell you something. I want you to listen to me real close. Ever since I met you, I knew you were special. You’re stronger than the rest of us. You know more things, and I need you to believe me about this. I always knew that you were the one among us that would make it out of here and find your way back. Do you hear what I’m saying?” Cali asked, serious as a heart attack.
“I hear you,” Maggie answered mechanically.
“No! Mags, I need you to believe it. You’re the one among us who will find her way back! You have to do it for all of us. To make things right. We’ve all lost so much, and when you break free, it won’t be for nothing. You can tell our stories to others and make sure that our families remember us,” she pleaded.
It was the conviction in Cali’s voice that snapped Maggie out of her funk. “I believe you, Cali. I swear, I’ll do whatever I can to find my way home again,” she promised.
“Good. Another thing. When I get to wherever it is they’re taking me, I’m gonna try to get a message to your parents. I don’t know how, but if there’s a way, I’ll contact them…mine too. Your parents are Lorraine and Rob Clarke, and you lived in Conshohocken. What else?” Cali asked.
“My home phone number. If I tell you, can you remember it?” Maggie asked, excited that her parents would soon find out she was still alive.
Maggie recited the phone number, and Cali repeated it several times until it was fixed in her memory. A few minutes later, she repeated the phone number to Maggie again.
“Yep, that’s it. Maybe you’ll get home before I will,” Maggie observed aloud.
“Not likely,” a man’s voice roared, and it was hot with anger.