Kill me if you must, but I won’t do this. Why are you doing this to me? I’m just a grieving old woman who will die soon anyway. The man set the packages on the table. My name is Edric Canvo. I have business with your son. If you ever want to see him, you’ll do exactly what I say. Please, Helen begged. I have a heart condition. This could kill me.
If you’re any kind of decent man, there must be another way. Edric drew his gun, pressing it to her temple. I’m not a good man. You swallow these packages or I pull this trigger. 3 seconds. One dot dot. Please. Two. With shaking hands, Helen picked up one of the packages. It was small, tightly wrapped.
She placed it on her tongue and forced herself to swallow. Then another, and another, four in total. Good. Edric lowered the gun and produced a pill bottle. Take these. They’ll help keep the packages intact inside you. Helen swallowed the pills dry, tears streaming down her face. Don’t ask questions, Hedrik said.
It’s better for everyone, especially you, if you don’t know much. This won’t kill you. You’re just transportation. He recuffed her hands and tied her to a wooden chair with rough rope. Someone will come for you soon. Keep quiet and you’ll see your boy. Helen sat bound in the dim cabin, packages of drugs sitting like lead in her stomach, wondering what her son had become, that this nightmare was the path to him.
A few moments passed in the dim cabin. Helen felt the medication taking effect, a heavy drowsiness washing over her. Her thoughts became sluggish, disconnected. She prayed it was just the pills Edric had given her, not the packages themselves leaking their contents into her system.
The room began to blur at the edges. She felt weightless, as if floating above the chair. Time lost meaning. Was it minutes or hours before she heard the rumble of an approaching vehicle? Through her haze, she saw headlights sweep across the window. A large truck, its outline swirling in her drugged vision. Edric’s face appeared before her, his features rippling like water.
Time to go, his voice seemed to echo from far away. She felt his hands unlocking the handcuffs, untying the rope. Her legs barely supported her as he pulled her upright. The world tilted and swayed with each step toward the door. Outside, the night air hit her face like cold silk. Men stood by the truck, dark-haired, speaking rapid Spanish.
They looked Mexican, their faces hard and weathered. One grabbed her roughly, pushing her toward the vehicle’s rear. Inside, Viejo, he grunted. The truck’s cargo area was larger than she’d expected, but the man didn’t leave her in the main space. He pressed on what looked like the interior wall, and a section swung inward. A hidden compartment. Get in. Stay quiet.
Helen ducked through the opening. Her drugged eyes adjusted slowly to the darkness. Shapes became people. Women, all of them young. Some looked barely 18. They sat pressed against the walls, silent and holloweyed. She was the only one over 30, let alone over 60. The realization hit her even through the medication fog.
She’d seen this in movies, read about it in newspapers, human trafficking, drug smuggling. She was part of it now, willingly or not. The secret door closed, plunging them into complete darkness. The truck’s engine roared to life, and they began moving. Helen found a spot against the wall and sank down, her knees drawn up. Time became meaningless in the dark.
The truck stopped occasionally. She could hear muffled voices, sometimes the main cargo door opening, but their hidden compartment remained sealed. The younger women stayed silent, clearly experienced in this horrible routine. Helen dozed fitfully, waking when the truck hit bumps. Gradually, the medication’s effects began to fade.
Her mind cleared, bringing with it the full horror of her situation. She was being smuggled across unknown borders with drugs inside her body, surrounded by trafficked women. After what felt like days, but was probably many hours, the truck finally stopped for good. Different voices now, harsh, guttural, speaking accented English and what sounded like Russian.
The secret panel opened. Bright lights flooded in, making everyone squint. A massive man stood silhouetted in the opening. Out. All of you move. They stumbled into what appeared to be a warehouse. Concrete floors, metal rafters, the smell of motor oil, and something else, something chemical. More men waited, all with Slavic features, all armed.
They were ushered into a side room and ordered to form a line. Adjacent to it was a smaller room marked with a radiation warning. Helen’s legs shook, partly from the long confinement, partly from the dread of watching one by one as the women were called in. Each time the low hum of the X-ray machine echoed ominously.
When her turn came, she trailed the man who shoved her forward and barked at her to press against the cold metal wall. Moments later, another man entered. The left side of his face was grotesqually disfigured, crushed and badly healed, forming a permanent sneer. He carried a tray of small cups filled with liquid. “Drink,” he commanded, “to pass packages.
” The younger women complied immediately. Helen hesitated, her hand shaking as she reached for a cup. The man with the broken face noticed and studied her with disgust. “Why, they send us, old woman?” he asked his companion in heavily accented English. “She can barely stand and only had four packages inside her. Don’t know, the other replied.
Need to ask boss. The broken-faced man leaned close to Helen, his breath rank. Drink, babushka, or I make you drink. Helen swallowed the bitter liquid. In her mind, she cursed herself for trusting Edric. She should have let him shoot her in that cabin. At least it would have been quick. Now she was alone at the mercy of these monsters.
I take old woman to Bruno, the broken-faced man announced. He deal with her. Maybe we send message to suppliers. Next time, no ransacked granny who can’t even stand straight. This one’s a faulty product. The other women stared at Helen with empty eyes. They’d seen too much to feel sympathy.