They took me when I was twelve, too young to be introduced to the evil of this world. They took me from the quiet, African town I called home. This was the place where my parents and family were, where I enjoyed the hot, sunny days running around with friends. The place where I was innocent and believed no one could touch me. Who was to know what would happen next, nobody could believe such evils existed, but they do. I was at school, a small, one story building with one-hundred students.This was a place where us kids felt safe and protected. It was a day like every other, very hot in our small, packed classroom. That day we were learning the times tables: “Okay class twelve times four?” asked the teacher. “Forty-eight,” replied the class. No one could have predicted what happened next. As the teacher looked up to ask the next problem her face turned white, her mouth opened slightly. Then we heard the bang. A hole appeared on her forehead, blood oozing out from it and she fell to the ground, dead. We all screamed and ran for the door, where men dressed in black, with their faces hidden in cloths suddenly came marching in. Everyone stopped moving, I had already started to cry but now I was shaking. I was the one closest to the door, not knowing what to do I slowly started inching back. All the men came in holding guns, and I stopped moving completely. One man came out in front of them, scanned the room and let out a wicked laugh. “Perfect” he said. “Okay all the gentlemen step forward to the front of the room,” he commanded. Nobody moved. “MOVE I SAID!” he roared. The boys scurried reluctantly to the front, their heads down, all of them crying. “Positions” said the man to his group. The men stood in front of the boys, each one holding a pistol to one of the boys’ head. Everybody cried out, afraid of what was going to happen next. “Shoot,” the man exclaimed. I looked at the boys, their eyes were closed tight and tears were streaming down their cheeks. I heard a loud bang and saw Adisa, the smallest boy in the class, fall down to the floor. Then came a series of shots, each ending the life of one of my friends. The shots vibrated through the walls, ringing through my ears. I quickly shut my eyes, covered my ears and dropped to the floor. I felt sobs shaking through my body; I could not believe what was happening. They killed them. Why had they killed them? Why haven’t they done anything to us girls? I did not know I was screaming until the room stopped vibrating and I was able to hear myself again. I couldn't look back up but I saw as I looked at the floor that a river of blood inched closer to me. I fell back, trying to get away from it.The man who commanded the order to kill the boys looked at me, bent his head towards his shoulder and smiled through his yellow, rotting teeth. He started to walk towards me “Well hello pretty lady,” he said as he stretched his hand down and put it in my hair. I shuddered at the feel of his hand, stroking my scalp, when suddenly he took hold of my hair tightly and pulled me up. I cried out and put a hand to my head to try and relieve some of the pain. He then released me and kicked me against the wall. “Okay start loading them to the trucks, these and the ones in the other rooms. They will be waiting for us at midnight by the river,” I heard him whisper to one of the men. The men started shouting again and then pushed us all through the doors and out into the blazing sun.
As I stepped outside and felt the sun hit my skin I felt a sense of security, I was afraid of the dark not the light, nothing and no one could hurt me right now. Someone would have to see us, these men were not being discreet with their actions, surely someone would come help us. My sense of security and hope were quickly wiped away as I heard a scream coming from inside the school building and then, a deafening shot. Everybody on the courtyard turned toward the building, their eyes filled with terror. I didn't dare move, afraid as if I did the shot I just heard would follow me and hit me. This went on for a few minutes; nobody moved or made a noise. Just then the doors swung open and a man came out carrying a girl not much bigger than me on his shoulders, there was a path of blood trickling down the back of his shirt. My body filled up with terror and I started to shake. What was happening? Why were they doing this? The man continued walking through the courtyard, the girl’s head bobbing with each step he took. When he reached one of the trucks, he threw the girl in the back, and leaned on the car, waiting. What happened next is all a blur to me, we were loaded on the trucks and taken to the river, where the real terror began.
When we arrived at the river it was already dark, now we were shadows and it became very clear that nobody would be able to help us. When we were unloaded from the truck it was noticeable that there were fewer girls than the ones from the courtyard. Those of us that remained were ordered to stand in a straight along the edge of the river. The men ordered us to not make any noise and to not move. They were walking around with guns, ready to shoot at anyone who made a sudden movement. I did not know what we were waiting for but I do remember I was afraid, I felt alone and I did not know what was going to happen to me. Had I done something wrong? What did I have that they wanted? Hours went by like this, the night became darker. I remember I was very tired, we had spent hours on our feet and all I wanted to do was lay down. My eyes were also giving up on me; they grew heavier with each blink. Just when I couldn't resist it anymore and I was ready to drop to the ground I heard them, and all the exhaustion slipped away. They were the voices of a dozen men, and they were getting closer. I remember thinking they might be here to help us, but they might also just be more of them. When the men finally got to where we were I looked at them, trying to decide whether they were going to help us. It was obvious they were not, most of them had a smirk on their face and were nodding at each other. A sudden coldness invaded my body, these were the men that were going to take me, they would take me far away and never let me come back. Suddenly a shout interrupted my thoughts: “Clothes off! Now!” There were gasps and murmurs from the girls around me. I froze as I realized what was happening, these men had come to take us off as brides. I looked at them, they were mostly older, had big stomachs and yellow teeth. My body shook and I started crying. The girls around me had already started taking off their clothing. I did not want to move, I was not going to expose myself to them. Just then I felt a hand touch my arm, it was the girl standing next to me. “Please, they will hurt you if you do not do it.” she said, I looked over to the man who was still shouting. I turned to the girl and nodded, she gave me a comprehensive look and continued undressing herself. I then begun to take off my head wrap, untwisting it and letting my curly hair loose. Then I moved down to my dress, unwillingly, but I understood what would happen to me if I did not obey. After removing my dress I instantly felt the cold chill of the night. I felt humiliated, I did not want the men looking at me like this and so I used my hands to try and cover up whatever I could. The men started moving, I could hear them shuffling to my right, they had already started looking at the girls. My heart was beating in my ear, I did not want them to get close to me, I could not move though, if I did they would kill me. I just stood in place, focused on the floor and on trying to control my shaking legs. As I tried to block out what was happening, a dark form appeared in front of me. I froze, my breath caught in my throat and tears stung at my eyes. “Hey there,” said one of them. I did not want to look up, not wanting to see the wanton look in the man’s eyes. I bent my body in an effort to try and conceal as much of my body as I could. The man moved, reached his hand to my chin, and raised it upwards. My eyes met his, and a smirk appeared on his face. “You have very pretty eyes” he told me. My eyes were burning with the tears I was trying to hold back, but they went against my wishes, and I felt a drop fall against my cheek. The man frowned, “Oh do not cry darling,” he said as he used his thumb to wipe it away and his left hand massaged my arm. I wanted to smack his hand away, to yell at him not to touch me, but there was nothing I could do, unless I wanted to die. So I let him continue, although the disgust building up inside me almost caused me to puke. “Do not worry, I won’t hurt you” he said to me. He called over one of the men that was patrolling the other girls. “I want this one,” he told him. “Come with me,” replied the other man. He finally let go of my shoulder and walked over with the man towards the trucks. I finally allowed the tears to stream down my face, he would come back, but he was not here right now. I reached over to squeeze the arm of the girl next to me, hoping to be able to gain some strength. She reached over to me and took hold of my hand, squeezing it tightly. “You have to be strong. Whatever happens next, you need to be able to keep your head up,” she told me. I looked her in the eyes and nodded, squeezed her hand one last time and then let go. I used my hands now to wipe the tears away, and filled with determination, I raised my chin.
The man was now walking back towards me, he was looking into his wallet, nodded and then put it away. How much had he paid for me? What was my life worth? I looked up at the sky, saw the full moon illuminating us and prayed to God he would help me remain strong. This man could own my body, but he would not be able to control my thoughts and emotions. There was no way out of this, and so my only form of rebellion would be to remain strong, to not give him the satisfaction of killing me internally. I owe that to myself and to the girl who helped me get through the most horrible day of my life. I will get through this. I am strong.
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