Chapter 1 The day started off different from any other. First of all, we slept in a hotel the night before, which was rather strange seeing as though we had an apartment just blocks away. Then, that morning my mom woke me up and dressed me quickly while my dad loaded up his friend's car with our suitcases. My mom sat me on her lap in the backseat of my dad's friend's car. My dad sat in the passenger seat. It was so early in the morning that I could see the sun rising over the palm trees as we drove away from the hotel. I remember thinking about how beautiful the sight was and then falling asleep in my mother's arms.
When I was awakened by my mom we were at a small airport. My dad's friend had stopped the car and he and my dad got out and started taking our suitcases from the trunk. There was a small plane on the ground just a few feet from where we were parked. It was like a big open parking lot and all that was in it was the car we were in and the small plane my dad and his friend were transferring our bags onto. My mom carried me out of the car and over to the plane. There were two men already on board whom I never saw before, but my mom and dad apparently knew them well as they greeted each other with hugs. One man helped my mother and me onto the plane while the other went to the cockpit. My father hugged his friend as if he was saying farewell and then joined my mom and me. A big smile on his face, my dad caressed my mother's knee, then kissed her on the lips. I turned my head to look out the window as the plane started to slowly pull away. My dad reached down and tickled my stomach, bringing my attention back to him. I laughed so hard and tried to resist, prying his big hands off my tiny body every chance I could.
"Mommy, help me!" I squealed, squirming around on my mother's lap.
My mom just laughed along. Soon tears started rolling down my cheeks I was laughing so hard. Then my dad stopped, calling himself giving me a break. I wiped my eyes and was trying to catch my breath when the plane took off. The sudden increase in speed and the force of the plane lifting off the ground took me by surprise. I started choking on my own air. My mom immediately started to pat my back and my dad lifted my arms up over my head.
"Enough already. You're going to kill the poor child," the man who had helped us on the plane said.
I stopped choking and laid my head back against my mom's breasts. I remember looking at the man and wondering if he was serious about what he said about my dad killing me. I waited for him to smile or laugh and when he didn't I concluded that he was a bad man. I rolled my eyes at him and turned on my side so I wouldn't have to look at him. My mom adjusted me on her lap to suit my new position and before long I was asleep again.
Boom!
"Aaarrrr! Aaarrrr! Aaaarrrrr!"
I woke up to the echoing sound of a gunshot and the screeching sound of my mother's screams. I burst into tears at the sight of my father slumped over in his seat beside my mother and me. Blood was splattered all over my mom's clothes and I could feel it on my head and face. My mother tried to jump from her seat but was held down by the seat belt. Startled and panicked, she was unable to unbuckle it no matter how many times she tried.
"Shut up!" the bad man shouted to my mother, still holding the gun that he had used on my father.
"What you do that for? What wrong with you?!" my mother shouted in broken English.
"I said shut up!" the man shouted back, knocking my mother in the mouth with the butt of the gun.
I wanted to scream when I saw my mother's head fall back against the seat of the plane, but somehow I didn't. I guess I was afraid that I would suffer the same punishment if I did scream. So instead, I squeezed my eyes shut and cried as quietly as I could. I only opened them slightly when I heard my mom going off again.
"Nooo! Noooo! Please no! Please! Oh God noooo! Cliff! Cliff, help us!!" my mom yelled, a tooth falling from her bloody mouth.
I followed my mom's eyes and saw the man dragging my father toward an opened door on the plane. I turned my body around and jumped in my mother's arms with my knees in her lap. I squeezed her so tight and buried my tear-covered face in her chest. Muffling my voice, I screamed, "Daddy!" And that was it. I felt my mother's body jerk forward as she finally broke free of the seat belt. She dropped to the floor and practically crawled over to the door. With me still in her arms she tried to throw herself from the plane. It took the man hitting her again with the butt of the gun to keep her back, but that time he hit her in the head. She fell backward and I was on top of her. I was crying uncontrollably while maintaining my grip on her.
I was scared for my life. I didn't know if the man was going to throw me off the plane next or if he was going to hit me with the gun. All I knew was that he had killed my father and there was no telling what else he was capable of. I clung to my mother for dear life. I could feel her heart beating so I knew she was still alive, but I hoped and prayed that she stayed unconscious so that she wouldn't get hit again. As I lay there on top of my mother in the aisle of the small plane, I noticed that we were landing. The wheels hit the ground with such power and the plane started to decelerate. Once we came to a complete stop, I heard the man's footsteps walking in my mom's and my direction. My heart was pounding and the tears were gushing out. I had no idea what the man was going to do to us. I closed my eyes and held my mom tight, then I felt him pulling me.
At that point I didn't know what else to do but scream. He was taking me from my mother and most likely was going to kill her, too. I yelled out to my mother, screaming for her to wake up, begging her to help me. She didn't budge. I didn't give up though, because I knew she wasn't dead. I knew I felt her breathing under me. I just needed her to wake up. I knew if she had woken up she would have fought for me. She wouldn't have let the man take me away. But no matter how loud I screamed and how much I pleaded, my mother remained unconscious. I was taken off the plane and put inside an empty shack where I was gagged and bound to a chair. My tiny teeth sank into a dusty bandanna. My eyes were covered with a blindfold. My little wrists and ankles were held together by duct tape. I was left alone, scared and confused. I just knew my life was about to be over and that's a hell of a feeling for anyone to have, let alone a five-year-old.
I didn't know how many days went by, but I knew I was hungry and dehydrated. I felt like I had lost every bit of my energy, like I was dying. I felt myself drifting off to sleep when the door opened. I had to squint because even through the blindfold the beaming sunrays bothered my eyes, now so used to pitch darkness. I heard two sets of footsteps coming toward me and I tried to muster the strength to scream and move around, hoping to get whoever's attention. But then I heard the voice of the man who had killed my dad and I froze with fear.
"Her father was killed and her mother was deported back to the Dominican Republic. I figured with what you're doing, you could take her. She's young and fresh, perfect for your business. I'll give 'er to you for little money, too."
"Let's talk outside," an unfamiliar male voice suggested.
I was frightened beyond words. I didn't know what the men were plotting. Their footsteps headed away from me and it got dark again. I was trying to think of something to do or say to get their attention, particularly the attention of the unfamiliar male. At that point I would have gone with anyone if it meant getting out of that chair and getting to some food and water.
Within minutes I heard only one set of footsteps coming my way. My heart started to pound. I didn't know whether it was the man I had come to hate or his companion. I felt someone's hand peeling away the duct tape from my wrists and ankles. Then the blindfold came off and the bandanna was removed from my mouth. I started coughing and I was so weak I couldn't cover my mouth. My body was limp. There was a man, dark skinned like my dad, staring at me. He was more muscular and looked a lot older than my father, though. His hair was cut close to his head, almost bald. He had a light mustache and goatee and he appeared to be well groomed. He didn't look mean like the bad man who had brought me there and for some reason I didn't feel afraid anymore. I actually felt a sense of security, like I had been rescued. He picked me up out of the chair and my back ached terribly. He carried me out of the shack and put me in a dark-colored SUV. It was air-conditioned inside and the soft leather seats felt so comfortable compared to the hard chair I had been sitting in all those days. I lay across the backseat and struggled to keep my eyes open.
"You hungry?" the man asked, climbing into the driver's seat.
I tried to answer him but I couldn't. I was too weak. The man picked up a Kit Kat, opened the wrapper, and handed the four chocolate wafers back to me.
I began eating the Kit Kat like it was a McDonald's cheeseburger. I lifted my head a little when the man pulled up in the parking lot of a fast-food restaurant. I was licking my dirty fingers when he turned off the car and hopped out.
"I'll be right back," he said.
I just nodded real slowly. When he got back inside the car he sat in the backseat beside me. He sat me up and placed a bunch of food in front of me. I reached out for the drink he had in his hand and he put the straw in it and gave it to me. My hands were shaking so badly that I couldn't hold the cup on my own. He had to help me. He fed me, too. After eating the chicken sandwich, French fries, and juice, I burst into tears.
The man rubbed my head, starting from my hairline. He worked his way down to the middle of my back where my ponytail ceased.
"I'm sorry about what you had to go through," he said. "But that's life. Children pay for the sins of their fathers."
