cuts into my wrists, restraining them behind my back. Whatever I'm in is moving, and we hit a bump. I fly up in the air and come down hard on my shoulder. I scream as pain sears through it, but something is in my mouth.
I cough from the gag.
Reggae music blares. Cigarette smoke fills the air. I try to sit up, and a hand pushes me down and stays on my torso, near my hips.
Oh God. My skin crawls. I try to move out from under his palm, but he grabs me and pulls me onto his lap.
"Stop moving, little girl," he warns in Spanish.
Tears drip from my eyes, and I freeze, except for my quivering insides.
Don't touch me, don't touch me, don't touch me!
My thoughts do nothing to stop him.
Don't let this happen again. Please.
His breath seeps into my skin. The warmth makes me nauseous.
The vehicle comes to a stop, and the music dies. "Take her out," a man yells in Spanish.
I'm carried out and then dropped on a seat in another vehicle. Monkeys screech and birds sing. I'm belted in, and another bumpy journey begins.
The noise of the jungle becomes thicker; new voices of men speaking Spanish fill the air. The warm sunshine burns into my skin. Whatever I was drugged with wears off. I spend the ride attempting to breathe through the pain in my chest.
We slide to a stop. Whatever holds my wrists together is cut. Someone drags me out of the vehicle and tugs the gag from my mouth.
"Don't touch her!" Naomi's voice rings through the air.
Hands roughly grope my breasts.
Not again. Oh God.
Flashbacks of Zaka placing his hands over my breasts that had just started developing and telling me how beautiful they are while I cried consume me, and I sob harder.
"Stop," I try to cry out, but I can hardly get enough air in my lungs, and it comes out choked.
My blindfold gets ripped from my face, so hard, pieces of my hair go with it. The man's hands don't leave me. Someone else steps behind me, holding my body to theirs. The more I wail, the more his erection grows.
The smell of body odor and sweat flares in my nostrils.
"Please stop," I choke out as Naomi comes into view.
"Choose," Santiago, the head of the Colombian drug cartel, screams at her.
Santiago? Oh God, Naomi! Please tell me you didn't dig up dirt on him.
What is he going to do with us?
"Let her go. I'll do what you want," Naomi cries.
Santiago nods his head toward the edge of the jungle, and the man behind me drags me toward it.
"Naomi!" I yell, but the man rotates my body so I can't see her. "Naomi!"
A boy, maybe thirteen, throws a ladder down a hole.
"Get in," the man says in Spanish in a gruff voice.
Shaking, I climb down into the dirt pit. When I turn, four women are in it.
"My sister, Naomi, is with Santiago," I cry out.
A tall woman with red hair and green eyes tugs me into her arms. "Shh. She'll be okay."
I sob in her embrace as she strokes my head.
What does Naomi know about Santiago?
Please don't let her die.
About fifteen minutes pass. "Emilia Salazar," a man barks, and the ladder comes down.
The redhead is still trying to calm me down.
"What do they want?" I whisper.
"Go. If you don't, they will make it worse on you."
"I..."
"You can do it. Santiago doesn't allow his men to rape."
It's as if she knew my fear.
Then why did they grope me?
I nod.
"Go," she tells me again.
I climb out, and the man who brought me to the hole grips my biceps so tight, I'm sure I'll have a bruise. "Ow!"
Santiago has Naomi, and we lock eyes as we're dragged toward each other.
"Emilia," Naomi cries as tears track down her cheeks.
"Naomi!"
We get ten feet away from the other. The man positions himself behind me and holds onto my waist as before. My stomach pitches.
Santiago steps forward and pulls my blouse so hard, the buttons go flying everywhere.
"Stop it," Naomi screams.
My tears turn to hysterical sobs and screams as another man steps forward and pushes his fingers into my bra, playing with my nipples until they harden.
Naomi and I stare at each other in horror the entire time. She begs Santiago to stop it. I cough from choking on my sobs.
The man pulls my breasts out of my bra cups, and the men in the camp make lewd shrieks.
Santiago's dark eyes only fill with amusement the more distressed Naomi and I