Chapter 6 The Auction

• JUNIPER
• "I'm not about to give y'all 'the talk' 'the birds and bees' rubbish. You all know what sex is about." Sarah says, I don't remember my life before now and so I'm unsure of that. "What I'm going to tell you anyways is that Mr. Dakari is the nicest man you'll ever meet, these men coming for the auction tonight? They don't kill for a living like we do here, they kill for fun, it's sport for them alright, you piss them off and you're gone, you don't do as they say, you're gone. Mr. Dakari has been lenient, you won't have such grace wherever you're going, you'll be no better than a pig, a cumrag as the young ones say now. So if any of you suicidal bitches have the plan of living a little longer, you have to learn to drop that stupid ego of yours and do as you're told. You hear me?!" We all echo yes.
• Fayette is dead and any of us could be next, the blood could rush out of me staining everything just like she did, the light could be lost from her eyes, I don't want to die yet.
• I look at Aviva and she's already looking at me.
• "I need you to promise me you're going to survive this" She's staring into my soul "We might never see each other again and so I want to go to sleep and night and just hope you're somewhere better, somewhere safe, somewhere you're not completely a pig"
• Tears fall from my eyes again, gods, I am a dam today. "I promise, you have to also. We just need to survive the auction, maybe if I hear the name of whoever buys you, I'd be able to get information, England's not that big, I'll find you" I tell her as we hug each other crying. After last night, we've refused to talk about Fayette, we're trying to pull each other up and can't afford to lose it right now, we have to be strong, I have to be strong.
• We spend the whole day going through different ways we could be useful to our owners other than sex, cooking, cleaning, minding our business. Sarah is thorough and tells us about good experiences other Dakar ladies have met, it's not always bad according to her but I'm not convinced, I know it's only going to get worst. I don't think I'm good at any of the other jobs, I'll be dead in a week. Sarah has her assistant demonstrate some sex positions and the girls get excited over that, I guess death is a really feeble thing, we all just watched one of us get shot in the head, I won't be able to sleep for a while. Most of the positions look crazy to me but Aviva tells me that they're enjoyable, she's only had a one night stand before she was sold to Mr. Dakari, it was with a man that she met at the back of a club that she was delivering drugs to. I try my best not to ask her of her life before Dakar ladies, it doesn't sound rosy.
• Night time finally arrives and the building is busy, we all get bathed by Sarah assistants, they use scented soaps and by the time we're done, I feel like a baby, every mark I've gotten from the beatings are also mostly gone. We're led through a back door, from where we are, we can hear the voices of people and music. We're about to start, Aviva and I are holding each other's hands away from view, Mr. Dakari doesn't like us being close, he'd probably get angry and kill one of us to prove his point.
• It sounds like the show is about to start, Mr. Dakari comes in to meet us.
• "Okay girls! It's game time! Don't mess things up and you might survive tonight." He says before moving back to the auction room. Sarah stands at the door and starts calling each name, when they walk up to her, her assistant strips them off their clothes and pushes them in.
• We're being sent in naked! I look at Aviva, panicking.
• "It's alright, we can do this. The place looks dark. She assures me
• The girls file out one by one and no one returns, I guess they're immediately given to their new owners. Aviva is finally called, she gives me a kiss on my cheek before leaving, I try to listen to the name of the buyer but the sounds of clapping drowns Mr. Dakari's voice and I don't get his name. I promised to find her, this isn't good. Sweat drops from my face but I remain calm.
• Sarah finally calls my name, I look round at the remaining girls before forcing my legs forward, the assistants immediately strip me and I instinctively use my hands to cover myself but Sarah pushes them away.
• "Don't panic" she whispers before pushing me in.
• I almost fall as I stumble to the stage, Aviva was wrong, the stage is bright, I could barely open my eyes, where the customers were seated was a dark area. There's laughter as I try to stabilise myself, I want to cover my body but Mr. Dakari is staring at me and I know I might be dead in the next second if I try.
• "Okay, this is the beautiful Juniper" Mr. Dakari says into the mic as stand at the middle of the stage. "What are we starting the bidding at?!"
• "Five hundred!" I hear someone say
• "One thousand!" another one says.
• Mr. Dakari smiles "We have one thousand! Why don't we make it two? Who's going for two?"
• "Five thousand!" someone says and everyone gasps
• Even Mr. Dakari looks shocked "We have five thousand! Who's ready for six?!"
• "Five hundred thousand!" Someone else screams. That's a lot of money!
• Mr. Dakari is smiling so hard, I think his mouth will fall off, I'm beginning to get cold, the goosebumps trail my my arm and legs, I don't want to move and ruin what looks like great business for Mr. Dakari. They're all crazy.
• "One million!" Someone from the right side of the room offers, I whip my head towards the direction but I can't see anything with the lights stabbing my eyes.
• "SOLD!!!" Mr. Dakari screams.