Array Ashley - Murderville

“Baron, wait! He tried to help me. It was the others who tried to rape me. Leave him be,” his wife said.

“Are you sure?” he asked as he looked back at her.

“Yes, I’m positive. He was the one trying to stop them,” she said as she looked into A’shai’s young eyes. Baron then pointed his gun at the other boy and fired two into his chest with no remorse. He put the smoking gun on his waist and looked at A’shai whose knees were trembling.

“Thanks for what you did for my wife, lil man,” Baron said as he smiled trying to ease the kid’s fear. He reached into his pocket and pulled out five crispy bills and handed them to A’shai who waved his hand rejecting the offer.

“I’m good. I didn’t like these mu’fuckas anyway,” he said as he looked down at their bodies. “Can I go?” he asked as he looked up at Baron.

“Yeah, you can go,” Baron confirmed as he grinned at the wit of the youngster that stood before him. A’shai turned around and headed down the alley so that he could return to the fields. Baron and his wife watched him walk away. However, something in Willow’s heart told her to stop him.

“Hey!” she yelled out. A’shai stopped and turned around. “Let us buy you dinner,” she said, feeling that she had to repay him for his bravery to go against his friends for her honor. The sound of somebody giving A’shai free food was too good of an offer to let pass, and he headed back their way.

Baron and Willow watched as the kid in front of them stuffed his face like it was his last meal. They encouraged him to order anything he wanted and four different entrees were in front of him. A’shai didn’t once look up and think about how barbaric he looked in front of total strangers. The Mexican restaurant was the most elegant one on Tijuana’s downtown resort. It was one of very few upscale spots in the dilapidated town. A’shai had never seen anything like it and the food was the best he had ever had. He had already stuffed four rolls into his pocket, knowing that they would come in handy later.

“Slow down,” Willow said as she burst into laughter. She looked at Baron who was also laughing at the young boy and that’s when A’shai finally looked up. He had sauce all around his mouth and on his fingertips as he ate the food like a madman.

“What?” A’shai asked as an odd moment of silence filled the air. Baron and Willow just looked at him, both with grins on their faces.

“Nothing. So tell me, where are your parents?” Baron asked as he folded his hands on top of the table. A’shai focused back on his food and began to eat.

“I don’t have any parents,” he said as he thought about his deceased mother and his estranged father back in Sierra Leone. “I don’t need any parents. I can take care of myself,” A’shai said as he avoided eye contact with Baron.

“I can tell that you’re not from around here. Your accent is too strong,” Baron said noticing the strong African roots in the boy.

“I’m from Sierra Leone!” A’shai said proudly as he stuck out his chest and looked at Baron with clenched teeth. Willow’s heart immediately dropped at the sound of the place because it was her homeland; she, too, was from the impoverished country. Willow reached over and rubbed A’shai’s facial scar.

“How did you get that?” she asked hoping not to hear the kind of horror story that comes with having bad scars.

“It’s nothing. Just a little scratch,” A’shai said as he blew it off. A’shai began to grow uncomfortable with all of the questions and then he noticed that the sun was going down. He knew that he had to return to the warehouse before dark or risk being beaten. “Thank you for giving me dinner, but I have to go now,” he said urgently as he stood up. The thought of being late and being punished made A’shai’s limbs shake and he began to grow nervous. Baron caught on.

“Are you okay, lil man?” he asked as he frowned at the sudden change of behavior.

“Yeah, I just have to go before they notice that I’m gone,” he said. Willow began to tear up as she thought about her childhood. She, too, was a human slave as a teen, but was lucky enough to have met Baron in the same town that they were in, Tijuana. They always came back to Tijuana on their anniversary to celebrate the day that he met her and purchased her freedom from El Garza. It may have seemed like an odd tradition, but Willow actually found peace by revisiting the place that she had been rescued from. She never wanted to forget where she had come from. It was therapeutic for her in a way. Each year she left a little bit of her painful past in Tijuana instead of allowing it to weigh down her heart. Baron was one of the most successful businessmen and drug kingpins in the Midwest, and El Garza valued their working relationship. Working for a man who trafficked humans initially turned him off, especially after rescuing Willow from his clutches, but he used his position of power to his advantage. Willow urged him to get the money and to continue to profit off El Garza, but she always made sure to give back. She opened a safe center in Tijuana for the women and children who were able to escape the modern day slave system… all with money that El Garza helped her husband make. So instead of Tijuana being a bad place with bad memories… to her it was a place that needed her presence and one that reminded her to cherish her freedom. Willow knew that A’shai was in the same boat she had been in years ago. Baron also picked up on it.

“Listen, do you work for the Garza family? You can tell me,” Baron said as he stood up and walked around the table to A’shai. A’shai nodded his head yes.

“He is an old friend of mine. We should go have a talk with him,” Baron said as he placed his hand on A’shai’s shoulder. Baron was actually in town to discuss business with the Garza family and negotiate better cocaine prices. He had a great business relationship with the family and was sure that he could work out something.

They left the restaurant and headed over to the Garza warehouse. A’shai told them the truth about how he got to Tijuana, and it nearly brought both Willow and Baron to tears. Baron and Willow decided at that point that A’shai would return to the States with them. They had no children of their own, and it seemed like fate brought them to A’shai. Willow, because of earlier sexual abuse, was unable to have kids, so she was open to taking in A’shai. The fact that A’shai was from her homeland made bringing him home with them even more special to her. A’shai connected Willow to her roots, and Baron understood that. When he looked in A’shai’s eyes he saw the eye of the tiger. They both fell in love with the young boy in that brief meeting, and the rest was history. A’shai left on Baron’s private jet back to Detroit, Michigan with them that night. He had been one of the lucky ones. He had found a way out, however, Liberty’s fate wouldn’t have the same storybook ending.

The clanging of chains being unlocked awoke Liberty from her restless sleep as two of the workers entered her room and closed the door behind them.

“Be the lookout. Once I’m done you can take your turn,” one of the men said as a slight bulge appeared inside his pants. Liberty scurried to the corner of the room and cowered as the man removed his gun holster and lay it gently near the door. “I’m going to make a woman out of you,” the man said as he grabbed Liberty roughly and flung her fragile body onto the steel frame that served as a bed.

“No!” she shouted, seeing the same ill intent in this man’s eyes as she had seen in Ezekiel’s. Her feet went flying in the air and her fingers clawed at his face as he climbed atop of her, manhandling her into submission. She had no strength, but she came out like a lioness cub to protect herself. The scent of the man as he weighed her down with his body made her stomach turn and as his hands roughly parted her thighs, he forced his tongue into her mouth. Liberty bit down as hard as she could, drawing blood.