The door to the middle deck opened, and food started falling from above. The women who had been seated quietly, their hands bound by chains and their ankles connected in a long train of chains, suddenly became aggressive.
"Move!
"Get out of the way!
They struggled to catch the food the man was throwing at them, their bodies colliding. Some fell on the floor and were mashed brutally; some couldn't even catch a single wrap of food… Joya was among these sets.
She was trampled on like some doormat, her backbone snapping with every foot that stepped on it. Her face kissed the dust; only saliva from the mouths of the women screaming rained on her.
By the time the man closed the deck, those who had food suddenly curled up, their eyes red with hunger, their moldy teeth yellow from not brushing for days.
"Give it to me!
"Share, why are you greedy, bitch?
Those who didn't get any food began to fight with those with food in their possession. Joya crawled backwards as she watched them yank their unkempt hair, charging at one another like untamed beasts.
Shredding their clothes and ripping out their skin with their long nails, for a while there was a ruckus, but after a while the noise eventually died down.
Joya's hair was clinging to her sweaty face, her breath etched, her gown torn, and her cheeks bruised. But she was still empty-handed, with not even a morsel of food.
This has been the daily routine ever since she was brought down here; she hasn't had a thing to eat for two straight days. Even after stirring up a fight with a fat woman, she was beaten to a pulp; the latter won't share her wrapped food.
The men who enslaved them were wicked, more evil than the devil himself. Why keep them here when they knew the food wouldn't go around? The women here were up to thirty, yet the food wraps thrown in were not up to half the number.
Joya's eyes were already swollen, her face dirty, and her fingernails yellowed from lack of nutritional food. She sat on the floor of the ship, which rumbled as the current of the waves hit hard.
Joya drew her knees up to her chest, her lips chapped as she watched the women eat like animals. Crumbs fell out of their mouths as they chewed on their meals hungrily.
She slowly rests her head on her knees, her gaze now facing down, hunger eating up her being. Everyone finished eating, and for a while there was silence.
Joya raises her gaze then, her eyes flashing at all the women in the enclosed room.
"You all have been here longer than I have; does no one know how to get out?" Joya said she turned reticent. Silence wasn't going to get them out of this mess.
The women, on the other hand, ignored her like she was nonexistent. A lady picked her teeth with her nails loudly and then released a loud belch.
"These men, do you know where they are taking us? Has anyone overheard them talking?" "Joya pushed," her voice breaking the silence.
"We can work together and…
"Garl, if you have nothing good to say, then shut up. I am trying to sleep." A fat woman with an oily face grumbled as she shut one of her closed eyes open. Joya looked at her, then sighed.
"I am only trying to help…
"You are not helping by talking, fool; if you aren't getting us out of here, you better save your breath for when those fuckers come here to drag us to their cabins and fuck us till daybreak." A lady with small hairs on her chin said, scrunching her nose as she talked.
Joya was frustrated; these women were fed up with life, but she wasn't. Suddenly she had a will to live; she wanted to make it out of this ship alive.
At least I am trying to help; you all are just sitting there….
Pat! Pat!
Saliva landed on Joya's face. She shut her eyes instinctively as the liquid slid down her face. She slowly used her dress to wipe it off…
The deck was now filled with laughter, as the women broke into cunning laughter, their moldy teeth in view, some slapping their thighs as they laughed hard.
"Bitch, I will piss in your mouth if you sprout more nonsense from your asshole." The woman who spat on her then joined the others to laugh.
"She has only been here for two days, and she is already complaining. This one is weak; she will die off like Lati." Another woman said, rubbing her nose with her hand.
Joya didn't bother to say a word; she finally sat down quietly, still wiping her face with her dress. Tears didn't sting her eyes; instead, a will to survive piqued her. She didn't know when she fell asleep deep in her thoughts.
After some hours, Joya felt a light tap on her shoulder. She jolted out of her sleep as her eyes reddened with danger, her breath hitched, and she wanted to scream when a pair of hands enveloped her mouth.
Joya could only blink her eyes as her gaze met a pair of almond-shaped blue eyes.
"I just want to give you this." The girl whispered, bringing out a wrapped food from under her dirty dress.
Joya's gaze fell on the food wrap hungrily; the girl placed the wrap in Joya's bosom.
"Eat it; I saved you a wrap." She says, and Joya took the rap.
"I…why did you…?"
"Sshh! The girl makes this sound, placing a finger on her lip.
"Eat before they wake up." She said in a low whisper as she looked around. The women were in a deep sleep, snoring as they slept.
Joya started eating the food, her pace swift. She offered the girl some, but she bluntly refused.
"I have had mine; I saved this one for you. Eat quickly." She said, and Joya finished the food hungrily.
When she was done eating, Joya wiped her mouth with her dirty dress.
"Is there a place to toilet? She asked the girl in a low tone.
The girl pointed at a bucket with flies roaming around it at the extreme end of the deck.
"Over there, the smell is nasty; when you are done, cover the bucket back with the wooden lid."
Joya traced her gaze, and when she saw the disgusting sight, she looked away, feeling a churn in her stomach.
"I will hold it." Joya was pressed, but she decided to suppress the urge.
"Why did you save a food wrap for me? Joya asked as the both of them sat side by side at a corner, speaking in low tones.
"You are new here; you don't know how things work. I felt some sympathy towards you when the women here treated you badly." The girl said, inching her neck, she had red rashes on her lower neck.
"Do you believe we can get out of here? Joya asked her with a peering gaze.
"I believe we can barely survive, but if given the opportunity to escape, then why not? The girl said, still scratching the rash on her neck.
Suddenly they could hear quick steps coming from the upper deck.
"Come with me…now! The girl said, dragging Joya along to the extreme end of the deck. They hid behind the clustered women, who slept on each other, forming a pile.
A man opened the door, and three men walked down the short wooden staircase leading to the lower deck.
"Come here, bitch." One of the men pulled out a woman from her deep sleep by yanking her hair and dragging her away. All the women who were asleep suddenly woke up. They started crawling back; these men were here to take some of them to the upper deck to fuck them all night.
"I like this one." Another man crouches over and drags a sleeping girl up by the collar of her dress.
"I will take two! One for me and the captain." The third man said, Spanking a lady on her ass,he and dragged her out, then yanked another lady by the hair and pulled her away from the crowd of women.
Joya held on to the girl, and both of them moved backward, behind the crowd of women. A man started walking through the crowd of women, his predator gaze sweeping across them.
The girl holding Joya suddenly pushed a girl in front of her forward, then changed her position, crawling behind two women with Joya in her hand.
The girl who was pushed suddenly catches the man's fancy, and he takes her along. They all left, with the women closing the door behind them.
The girl holding Joya's hand sighed…
"I am indebted to you for your kindness; what is your name?" As Joya's questions were asked, they both stepped out from the throng of women.
"My name is Merlin." The girl answered.
"I am grateful for your help, Merlin." Joya says before turning around, her eyes roamed around the small cabin.
"You all are cowards, refusing to fight… just willing to let those animals treat us like this." Joya was furious.
"You don't learn your lesson once, do you?" "The lady who had spat on Joya's face a few hours ago," she said, gazing at the latter with contempt.
"This time, I feel she's right. Most of us won't make it out of here alive; we would be cowards if we didn't die trying." A lady in tattered clothes chipped in. Her ribs were protruding out of her body; she was very thin.
The place was quiet for a while; only the loud groans and the screams from the women being raped at the upper deck could be heard.
Merlin cringed in disgust.
"We will all die if we continue like this!
"What will you have us do? Kill them all and take over the shop? A woman scoffed sarcastically.
"That's exactly what we are going to do." Joya's gaze was ice cold.
"You bastards won't make it out of here." The woman with bears spoke with an unfamiliar accent.
"Don't you have a reason to live? Joya asked the woman with the bears. The woman was silent for a while.
"They took that away from me; they killed my baby on the spot." The bearded woman said with a low tone.
"Doesn't it hurt? Don't you want to see these people die the same way your child did? Joya was breaking through the wall of hatred by trying to familiarize herself with the women.
"The only hope we have of leaving here is if we work together." She continued, and just then another lady sneezed three times in a row. She was seriously sick; her nose was red, and she had a runny nose.
The room was quiet for a while; Joya's shoulders dropped as she turned around.
to recoil to the corner. If they won't work together, she can't do this alone.
"What will you have us do?" A lady suddenly asked, and Joya paused in her tracks, hope glimmering in her blue crystal eyes.
She turned around to face the crowd of women bound in chains connecting their legs. Some of them gazed at her with disdain, but the lady who had said something and some others were lending a listening ear.
Their dirty faces and moldy hair were in view, but most especially their eyes filled with a glint of hope. Joya was silent for a while. Then she swallowed hard.
"First of all, we need a plan."