Russia Girl Page 4

  The van crossed a bridge and continued up a winding hill, past a mosque and then down a busy, crowded street. Groups of dark-haired men gathered in front of small markets, bakeries and kabob shops. Taxis parked in clusters at street corners, their drivers chatting lazily. Women in headscarves and dark robes walked in pairs, shopping bags in hand.

  “Where are we going?” Sonia whispered.

  “I don’t know,” Natalia answered, trying to calm her own fears as well. The van turned down an alley and stopped behind two parked cars; one a non-descript sedan and the other a sleek black Mercedes. Two more men in suits climbed out of each car. The driver of the Mercedes stroked a trim black beard as he peered through the window at the girls. His hair was short and dark. His suit seemed better tailored than the others. On his wrist was an expensive-looking watch. When their eyes met, Natalia tried to get a read on the man. Where she might have expected malevolence, she saw instead a dull boredom. He blinked twice and moved on.

  “Wait here a moment,” said Svetlana. Any sign of her previously pleasant demeanor was gone. She climbed from the van and slammed the door closed before walking off a short distance with the bearded man. The girls watched them have a brief discussion before the man pulled out a thick stack of bills and placed them in Svetlana’s hand. She quickly counted the money before stuffing it into a pocket. Svetlana struggled to stifle the creeping lines of a wicked smile as she handed over the girls’ five passports. The man nodded his head as if vaguely satisfied with the transaction. Svetlana walked to the sedan and climbed into the passenger seat as one of the other men climbed in on the driver’s side. She held her chin high, jaw clenched tight as the man started the car and pulled away.

  “Where is she going? What’s happening?” The panic in Sonia’s voice betrayed her. She knew. They all knew.

  “We’ll stick together,” Natalia said. “We’ll get out of this. I promise you. We have each other.” She fought to keep the terror from overtaking her. Another of the men climbed inside the van and the driver started the engine and pulled out of the alley.

  “Where are we going?!” Helena began to scream. “I demand that you tell me where you are taking us! Stop this van right now!”

  “Keep your mouth shut!” said the man in the front passenger seat.

  “That’s it, I’m calling the police!” Helena took out her phone from a small purse. She’d just begun to dial when the man reached back and gripped her wrist. “Ow, you’re hurting me!”

  The man pried the device from her hand. “The rest of you, pass me your phones, now!”

  “I don’t have a phone,” said Victoria.

  “Just do as he says,” Natalia replied.

  One by one, the girls handed their phones forward to the man, who stacked them up and then slid them into the glove compartment. Maria began to shake uncontrollably, eyes darting to and fro, fingers digging into the vinyl seat.

  “What about Italy?” said Sonia.

  “There is no Italy,” Natalia answered.

  “What has she done to us?”

  “She’s sold us,” said Natalia, a wave of nausea passing over her.

  Chapter Eight

  The van pulled onto another narrow side street between hulking concrete apartment buildings. The Mercedes followed closely behind as they continued half a block and then came to a stop. The men in the car hopped out and quickly approached the van. One of them, burly with a shaved head and tattoos on his neck, opened the van door and shouted at the girls in Russian. “Out!” he yelled. The girls flinched but stayed where they were.

  “Let’s go,” said the man with the beard, waving an arm to coax them along. “Bring your luggage!” Natalia climbed out first with her suitcase in hand, looking in both directions for a way to flee. They were boxed in on all sides, and even if she did manage to escape, she couldn’t run off and leave Sonia behind. A metal door covered in scrawls of graffiti swung open to reveal yet another man; this one skinny and pale with circles under his eyes and a cigarette dangling lazily from his lips. Natalia looked up at the building’s exterior. High above, five women in skimpy negligees crowded onto a top-floor balcony, gazing down with mild curiosity. Natalia’s worst nightmare was coming true, and there seemed to be nothing she could do to stop it.

  “Where are we going?” Next out, Victoria was still not quite clear on the concept of what was happening to them.

  “Move it! Inside!” The burly man raised a hand as if to strike her. Victoria cringed and pressed forward against Natalia, who went on through the door with the rest of the girls trailing behind. The pale, thin man led them up a dark and decrepit staircase, with paint peeling from the railings and the walls. The unmistakable odor of urine hung in the dank, stale air. Up and around they went, lugging their heavy bags until they reached another solid steel door on the fifth floor. Beside it was a chair, with a stack of old magazines on the floor beside it. The man reached into his pocket and pulled out a rattling cluster of keys, fiddled until he found the correct one and slid it into one of several locks, turning it to the right. When the door swung open, he motioned the girls on through.

  With the other men standing behind them on the stairs, Natalia knew there was no alternative. Not yet. She would fight this, there was no question, but she’d have to pick the time, when the odds weren’t stacked so brutally against them. Natalia moved on into a dimly-lit lounge with peeling gilt wallpaper. Plush green couches were arranged along two walls. Standing to their left was a middle-aged woman, arms crossed. She had long dark hair framing a stark and sallow face. She may have been pretty once, Natalia thought, but her beauty was gone, replaced by creased skin and hollow eyes. She wore a black dress cut below the knees with black flats on her feet. The woman examined each girl in turn as they entered the room, followed closely by the small crowd of thugs. From the balcony, the other women came inside as well, to get a better look at the fresh meat. The pale key-master shut the door from the outside and Natalia heard the ominous sound of the key turning in the bolt as he locked them all in.

  “Sit!” the sallow-faced woman commanded. All but Helena obeyed, dropping their suitcases and finding seats on the green couches.

  Showing no sign of apprehension, Helena took on an air of provocation. “I demand to be released from this place!” she shouted. “How dare you bring us here?! I have a ship to catch!”

  “Sit!” The madam pointed to a couch.

  “I will not!” Helena countered. Before she could speak again, the shaved-headed thug flew across the room and shoved her violently off her feet, sending her sprawling, half on the couch and half on the floor. It took Helena a moment to regain her composure and jump back up. This time the man punched her in the stomach before shoving her straight to the ground where she lay, choking for air. Natalia grasped Sonia’s hand, clutching it tightly in her own.

  “If she doesn’t climb onto that couch in five seconds, kick her,” the woman said. “Anywhere but the face. Such a pretty face.”

  The man wound up to kick as Helena tried desperately to pull herself onto the couch. She dragged herself off the floor, still wheezing as she lay beside the horrified Maria.

  “I am Ludmilla. You will do exactly as I say. If you cooperate, you will find our work conditions bearable. If you do not cooperate…” The woman nodded toward Helena. “This will be as hard for you as you make it.”

  “What work?” said Victoria.

  “What work?” the woman repeated, as if in disbelief. “I think you know why you’re here.”

  “No!” gasped Maria, shaking her head.

  “No?” the woman raised her eyebrows. “This is not a question. You will work until you have paid your debts. After that it is up to you if you want to remain.”

  “What debts?” Natalia asked. “We have no debts.”

  “Each of you owes us five thousand euros,” the woman answered.

  “Five thousand…!” said Sonia.

  “That was your purchase price, plus the cost of transportati
on and documentation. You will also owe us rent and the cost of your food. Some girls are able to pay off their debt in as little as four or five months.”

  “I am no prostitute!” Helena growled from her place on the couch. “I owe you nothing!”

  Ludmilla shrugged. “Show her the view,” she said to the thugs, who set upon her, dragging her, half by her hair and half by an arm, through an open doorway and onto the balcony. They flung her over the rail, grasping her legs as she dangled five stories above the sidewalk below. From her spot on the couch, Natalia remained frozen, unable to think, unable to move.

  “Wait!” Ludmilla shouted. “That one is too pretty. Take this little one!” She motioned toward Maria, whose eyes grew wider as the men pulled Helena off the balcony and dropped her like a rag doll. They were on Maria next, hauling her past Helena and then dangling her over the abyss. Too frightened to scream, Maria made only faint, squeaking noises as they jostled her up and down.

  “You wouldn’t!” screamed Helena from her spot on the floor.

  “Oh, we most certainly would,” Ludmilla sneered. “And it wouldn’t be the first time.”

  The man with the beard had only watched the proceedings until this point but now moved calmly across the room until he stood over Helena. “If they drop her, you will owe me 10,000 euros.” The man grabbed her by an arm and dragged her across the floor through another door, slamming it shut behind them. The others heard screams, and then a series of blows. Ludmilla nodded to the men on the balcony, who pulled Maria back over to the floor and let her go. She scampered to the couch and rolled up into a ball.

  “I take it we won’t have any problems with the rest of you,” said Ludmilla. From inside the other room, the banging noises continued, with screams replaced by an occasional whimper. Natalia’s eyes darted back and forth as she tried desperately to process the reality of the situation. The door to the next room swung open and the bearded man reappeared first, zipping up his fly as he glared from one girl to the next in defiance. When his eyes met Natalia’s he paused. She was the only one who didn’t look away. They locked onto one another for several long seconds. Where there’d been boredom in those eyes before, now she saw… ecstasy? Natalia wasn’t sure exactly. The man’s entire state of consciousness had shifted, as though inflicting terror was the drug that he thrived on. It was only Natalia’s refusal to look away that seemed to diminish his bliss, though he quickly shook it off. He turned to his henchmen. “Come, we go!” He spoke in Russian, but with an accent that Natalia couldn’t place. It was not his first language. Wherever he was from, this was the man who held the key to their freedom. With his beard and his accent and his gratification in the suffering of those less powerful than himself… he was the head of this distorted depravity in which Natalia and the others found themselves. This man whose wild, unfocused eyes gave away his evil nature. He was dangerous and unpredictable, and that was ultimately where his power lay. Natalia remembered Multinovic, hiding in her village from some unspeakable past. Multinovic had the reputation for evil, but Natalia never really saw it in him. Not like she saw now. With this one it was plain as day.

  The man moved quickly to the front door and wrapped three times with his knuckles. The bolt slid in the lock and the door opened, the pale key master standing just outside. The rest of the men followed one by one into the hall before the door was closed and locked behind them once again. Natalia and Victoria moved quickly to Helena as she crawled back into the lounge, hair in her face, her skirt pulled down to her ankles.

  “Tanya, show these girls around and get them ready to work!” Ludmilla moved down a hallway, leaving the newcomers and the veterans to scrutinize one another.

  “Welcome to hell.” The girl who spoke was tall, with long dark hair and olive skin.

  Another girl stepped forward, thin with reddish-brown hair and freckles, wearing a lacy black negligee. There was an air of fatalism in the way she held herself, with her head tilted back slightly. “You’ll get used to it.”

  “What if we don’t want to get used to it?” Natalia placed one calming hand on Helena’s back.

  “You have to. It’s your only option. Either that or you can jump.” The girl nodded toward the balcony.

  Natalia looked to the others in silence. How could this have happened? She’d thought she was being so careful. But then she’d never really trusted Svetlana. There was always that feeling, deep in Natalia’s gut. The sense that something wasn’t right. Natalia had allowed her instincts to be overruled. She’d believed Svetlana because she wanted to believe. For Sonia’s sake, and for her own. The fantasy was simply too strong a lure. Natalia always thought that this kind of thing only happened to promiscuous girls, or naïve ones, but maybe Natalia was more naïve than she’d thought. “Let’s get her up,” she said to Victoria. They helped Helena to her feet, pulled her skirt to her waist and then eased her onto one of the couches.

  “There must be some way out!” Sonia had the desperate demeanor of a caged animal as she paced the room, moving to the front door to try the knob.

  “There’s an armed guard at all times,” said the dark-haired girl.

  “That skinny man with the cigarette?” Natalia scoffed. “Surely we can handle him!”

  “No, there are others. Always others. You’ll learn. It’s best not to cross them.”

  “But how can they get away with this?” Victoria seethed. “What about the police?”

  “Forget the police. Unless they’re customers, we don’t see the police,” said the redhead. “Come on, I’ll show you around. We’re open for business all day, so you better be ready.”

  “I won’t do it.” Helena slumped on the couch in a daze. She struggled to maintain her defiance but the fire had left her and she hung her head, eyes glazed, disbelieving.

  “What don’t you understand?” the redhead scoffed. “You have two choices. You either do it or they kill you. Believe me, they will kill you.”

  Sonia looked at Natalia in sorrow. “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…”

  “This is not your fault,” Natalia replied. “Don’t say it. Don’t think it.”

  An intercom buzzed and the veterans perked up. Ludmilla reappeared and pressed a button before speaking into a box on the wall. “Fifth floor, come on up.”

  “Time to work,” said the redhead. “My name is Tanya. You new girls bring your things and come with me.” She led them down a hallway and into the back, past a row of rooms where she stopped to swing one of the doors open. Inside was a double bed, a nightstand and a dresser. “You’ll each be given a room of your own. You will work and sleep in these rooms. Condoms are in the nightstand, but if your customer doesn’t want you to use them, you don’t use them. Understand?”

  “You can’t mean that!” said Natalia.

  “Those are the rules. I didn’t make them.”

  Natalia was struck by the sense that she would die here. It was she who would be splayed out on the concrete five stories down, neck snapped in two. If they didn’t throw her, she might actually jump. If those were her choices, to let them subjugate her body and her soul or to die, she’d almost rather die. But Natalia had more fight in her than that. There must be a third way, she told herself. There must be some way out. Natalia understood that she couldn’t follow Helena’s lead. A test of wills would get her nowhere. Instead, she’d go along until she found a proper means of escape for her and Sonia both, if only they could survive that long.

  Continuing down the hallway, Tanya motioned to the row of doors. “These rooms are open. Take your pick. That last door on the left is the bathroom. We share it so keep it clean! The clients’ bathroom is by the front door. You are never allowed to use the clients’ bathroom, understand?” The girls stared back at Tanya with blank expressions, struggling to grasp how she could make it all sound so normal. Just another day of “work.” Simply the way of the world. “I’ll take that as a yes. You can leave your bags here for now.” Tanya turned left down another hall and led them
into a store room. An open bureau was full of underwear and skimpy satin negligees. “Pick out a few things to wear.” She stood to one side, but the girls remained motionless where they stood. “Ok, fine,” Tanya’s tone betrayed her annoyance. She rummaged through the undergarments on her own, picking out one here and another there before handing them over to the girls. When everyone had an item or two, the tour continued, back into the hall and then through a door at the end which opened into a kitchen area with a large dining table in the middle. In one corner sat an older woman with frizzy dark hair and a square head. She wore a polyester print dress and looked up briefly from a dated Russian magazine.

  “This is Galina,” said Tanya. “She cooks our meals. Three a day, beginning with breakfast at 7 a.m.” In the front room, they heard a doorbell ring, followed by the squeak of the hinges as the front door swung open. “Come along, it is time to change and be ready to work.”

  Chapter Nine

  Natalia sat on a couch beside the others wearing nothing but a green silk slip. She’d had sex with exactly one man in her life. The man she planned to marry. It was a shocking realization that her own body, her flesh itself, was a commodity that could be bought and sold. This was something that other women did. Not Natalia Nicolaeva. Not this quiet farm girl. She looked at her leg peeking out from under the shimmering undergarment. This leg of hers that was for sale. This leg which she’d always assumed was her own. Suddenly she was being told that it belonged to someone else. Natalia slouched, willing herself to disappear as a rotund man in his 50’s paced before them, examining the merchandise. Her heart raced as the man stopped before her, leering at those same legs.

  “Siz,” the man said with a nod.

  Natalia looked toward the front door, her only path to freedom. Sitting lazily in a chair to one side was the man with the shaved head. A man she’d come to know as Dusan. The bulge in his right pocket she knew to be a gun. She turned helplessly look toward Ludmilla, who hovered nearby, warning Natalia with a bitter glare not to cause any problems. Lastly, Natalia looked toward the balcony and pictured herself plunging over the rail. They couldn’t stop her from jumping. It was the only power she still held. But she couldn’t leave Sonia behind. She couldn’t desert her friend, not now. Natalia thought of home. The fields, the cottage, her parents and her beautiful little sister. She thought of the children, and of Vitaly, back from the army soon and waiting for her. She had to survive this, to see them all again. Natalia stood like a zombie and led the man down the hall to her room. As soon as the door was closed he began to smirk, like a child up to no good. Natalia moved to the dresser, numb to the fact that she was going through with it. She opened the top drawer and took out a condom.