Read Online Trafficked by Kim Purcell - Free Book Online

eight-year-old.
    â€œUndo your top.”
    Hannah hesitated, looking down at Maggie. “Can she—?”
    â€œMaggie, go to your father.” Reluctantly, Maggie walked over to the rug, and Lillian stared at Hannah, waiting.
    This was her body, Hannah thought, her eyes watering. This woman had no right.
    But still, she undid the top buttons on her blouse, revealing her old beige bra, which was one size too big and had a hole in the lace, and once again she felt ashamed.
    â€œMore,” Lillian said.
    She gulped down the saliva gathering in her throat and undid two more buttons, all she dared. Any more and Lillian would see the top of the pouch above the waistband of her jeans. Hannah slid the few sweaty lei out of her bra. In Moldova, lots of girls kept spare money in their bras, babushka style.
    â€œYou can see I don’t have them.”
    Lillian cupped the outside of her bra, feeling for the documents. She was just inches above the pouch. Hannah sucked in a nervous breath.
    â€œIt’s okay. I’m a doctor,” Lillian reminded her, speaking softly as she dropped her hands.
    Hannah promised herself that when she became a doctor, she was never going to use that as an excuse to touch someone. “The documents are in my purse,” she said, stepping back to do up her shirt, glaring at her. “If I had them, I’d easily give them to you.”
    Lillian was staring at Hannah’s hands as she fumbled to do up the buttons.
    â€œWhat do I need them for?” Hannah said, her voice shaking. “I’m already in America.”
    â€œMy wife thinks she is a lie detector,” Sergey said, laughing from his spot on the pink and blue rug. “She should have been in the secret police. She is always looking for the lies.”
    â€œI am not,” Lillian said, rolling her eyes. Then she looked back at Hannah and spoke to her in a quiet voice, too low for Sergey to hear. “Did someone hurt you?”
    The question was so out of the blue, it startled Hannah. She blinked at her.
    â€œYou are bruised.” Lillian pointed at her chest, above her bra, where there were purple and red marks on her skin.
    Hannah’s eyes teared up. “I’m fine,” she said, stepping backward. Her hands shook as she forced the buttons into the too-tight buttonholes, covering herself up. She didn’t want to talk about that.
    Lillian was silent for a moment. Finally she said, “We’ll call again about your purse in the morning.” Lillian picked up the plane ticket and frowned, turning to Sergey. “Didn’t you pay a lot more than this for the ticket?”
    Hannah, dizzy from exhaustion, found it hard to follow what Lillian was saying. How could they have paid even more? The plane ticket was over eight hundred dollars.
    â€œThe fees included the ticket, the agent’s fee, and the documents,” Sergey said. “It was cheap, really, considering.”
    â€œCheap? Besides the fee, he charged extra for everything, even the ticket.”
    Was she talking about the bad agent?
    â€œYou are in charge of the money,” he said, shrugging as he sauntered out of the garage.
    â€œCome on, children. We have to let Elena sleep,” Lillian said, waving them out.
    She was still holding her plane ticket. Hannah tried desperately to figure out what she could say to convince Lillian to leave it with her. There was nothing.
    â€œG’night,” Maggie said to Hannah.
    â€œRussian,” Lillian barked.
    â€œMo-om,” Maggie said, heading out to the hall.
    Lillian flicked off the light and walked out, carrying the plane ticket with her. Hannah climbed into the sleeping bag with her clothes on, rested her head on the musty-smelling pillow, and looked around the too-dark garage. She was with a good family, she told herself. It didn’t matter if they had her plane ticket. She could have done worse, she thought, thinking of the bad agent and that