The man to my left started yelling, grabbed me by my hair, slammed my head into the seat in front of me. As the car lurched I leaned forward and vomited, bile seeping through the burlap, the rest dripping down my shirt. I was scared, dizzy and nauseous, my mouth dry. I rocked back and forth.Ī hand grabbed the back of my neck. A strong hand grabbed my shoulder, shoved me back into the seat. The burlap sack made it difficult to breathe. I gasped and began thrashing wildly as I remembered where I was, my baby crying, my husband. I opened my eyes and couldn’t see anything but bright spots of light and gray shadow. Before I passed out I heard cold laughter, my son crying and the desperate wail of the car horn. The air was filled with the stench of sweaty young bodies and my blood and the sunscreen I had rubbed into my child’s skin. Each man held one of my wrists, so tightly they would leave dark red circles. Their muscular legs pressed against mine. I needed to hold the fragile hope that I could find my way back to my happily ever after. My captors told me, in broken English, to do as they said and I The delicate construction of bone in my cheeks throbbed angrily. My captors put a burlap sack over my head and shoved me into the backseat. I watched as he tried to open his door but passed out again, his body slumping.
