Class Trip (22 page)

“That is so
sick.”

“I agree, but
he has money. He knows that a man has to pay well if he wants to see
to his needs.”

“And he needs
to punish women?”

“Yes. Quit
acting like you never lived at the slave house. I watched you. You
knew perfectly well what was going on there.”

“Yes, I guess
so.” I hung my head. I knew that Tata was sleeping with the other
girls.

“I told you he
isn't perfect.”

“I know that.
He wanted to become perfect. He worked towards it. Tata had no
problem quitting. He swore that he would never sleep with another
woman again.”

“I'm sure he
meant that, when he said it. All men mean it at the time of saying
it. The thing is time goes on, and men have needs. That's just how
they are made. They need to sleep with women. It honestly isn't
anything personal. They can't tie themselves down to just one woman.
Your own father left your mother. He probably found someone else too.
How does that make you feel?”

“I don't care.
We got along just fine without him. I don't need to meet him now.”

“I see. I had
both parents. They seemed to love each other. I believed that my
parents would do anything for me, anything at all. I was wrong. They
stopped looking for me months after I was kidnapped. I was so quickly
forgotten. Daniel's father was bursting for joy when he told me that.
He threw down all of the newspaper articles about the case.

“They gave up,
he told me. They are going back to America.

“My last bit of
hope died that day. I had hoped that they would come along and rescue
me. They had so much evidence that told them that I was in Romania
and they had a picture of Daniel's father but they never set foot in
this country. Do you know why they didn't?”

“No, I don't.
It doesn't make sense.” If it were my child I would move heaven and
earth to get my child back. I still wasn't over baby's loss.

“I have a
younger sister. They didn't want to risk losing her too.”

“You mean like
a bird in the hand as opposed to two in the bush?”

“Exactly. Three
months they stayed in Europe but they didn't go to the country that
they had a lead in. And I got my nose rubbed in that every day.”
Kelly looked so sad. She went to the window and looked out. “Well,
I'll be damned. Come here, Sandra, quick.”

I went to her
side and saw my mom getting out of a taxi. A man was with her.

“That man is
your father.”

“How do you
know for sure,” I asked her.

“Because he's
my father too. They wouldn't come to Romania for me but they would
for you. Go into my office.” She opened the door and I walked
through it.

I wanted to see
my mom and warn her. Kelly was crazy and I needed to protect my
mother from her.

“Sit down at my
desk.”

I did as I was
told.

Kelly opened a
drawer and pulled out a gun. She checked it, looking to see if it was
loaded before she snapped it shut with her wrist. Then she reached
for her cell and told them to bring the couple at the door up to her
office.

“Kelly, please
don't hurt anyone. You need help. We can find a place where you can
go and get the help that you need. My mom would help you.”

“Quiet, I
promised you that this will go quick. Look on the bright side. Daniel
will be the only man you ever sleep with. You will be able to keep
the promises that you were probably dumb enough to make.”

“I didn't make
any promises. He told me that I would never have to sleep with
someone else.” My eyes were locked on the door. My mom would be
coming in in a moment. It wouldn't be good for my mom to have to see
me die. She had been so torn about me going to Switzerland. One day
she would say yes and the next she would say no.

There was a knock
on the door. I peeked up to Kelly to see what she would do. At first
she looked scared, then she smirked. “Come in.”

The door slowly
opened and my mom came in with the man she convinced to come along.
He was looking right at me.

“Sandra, don't
move. We'll get you out of this. We're here just like you wanted.
Please let her go.”

“I called you
here so you could watch her die. You made it here in twenty-four
hours. You wouldn't come for me. That surprises me.”

“Please don't
hurt her. I'll take her place but don't hurt her. She has her whole
life ahead of her.”

“Sit down and
shut up.” Kelly's lips were pressed together so tightly. “Sandra,
you say you never met your father. Tell her the truth.”

“The truth?”
my mom asked.

“The whole
truth. In fact, I wouldn't mind hearing it either. What happened
after you two saw your daughter being pulled into a van?”

“That wasn't
how Tata got me. I was on a class trip. We came with our bus.”

“Quiet. She
knows what I'm talking about.”

“I don't think
she does, Kelly. You just seemed so confused.”

“Really? I'm
holding a gun to your head and you can't shut up.”

“Kelly?” Both
my mom and the man with her said.

“Yep. It's me.
Alive and well. No thanks to you.”

“Is that really
you?”

“Yes, Dad. It's
really me. I at least know what you look like. Sandra here, wouldn't
recognize you from Adam. Would you have recognized her? You didn't
recognize me. Father of the year you aren't. Me you didn't look for
and her you don't even know.”

“It was a tough
time. Your mother and I had problems. You were gone and everything
went to hell. We decided it would be best for Sandra if she moved
away, near grandma. Everyone was treating us so differently. It was
unbearable. We don't function like we should without you.”

My jaw dropped.
This man was really my father? This was the man who chose not to be a
part of my life. And Kelly was my sister?

I reached my head
out to her. I understood a little what she had gone through. She
didn't know that I hadn't always been happy with Tata. Of course she
had it worse. That wasn't even something that we needed to talk
about, but I would understand about the pain and being afraid and
pretending not to be.

“Keep your
hands to yourself. I don't want you to touch me.”

“Kelly, put the
gun down. We will talk about this.” The man who was my father was
stepping closer to us.

“You haven't
seen me in years. Don't bank on the fact that I used to love her. I
will shoot her. My precious little sister is a stupid idiot who
deserves to die.”

“Please, don't
hurt her. She is a really nice girl.”

“Again you
haven't seen her in a long time. She has been opening her legs for a
slave trader, willingly. Oh and get this, Dad He had her call him
Tata. That's the Romanian equivalent of Daddy. A porn star has
replaced you.”

Both of my
parents were staring at me. They looked so unsure. “I love him. He
needs me.”

“Yep, you heard
right, a slave trader, porn star is the man who your daughter loves.”

“Kelly is the
Madame here at this house. She can leave anytime she wants but she
was too afraid to go home and tell you what all happened to her
because she blames herself. But it wasn't her fault. They beat you
until you don't fight anymore. They can make you do anything.”

“Shut up. Don't
talk about me like you know me, because you don't. You and I had two
totally different experiences.”

“I know you
suffered more, so much more. Daniel's father kidnapped her and he was
so cruel to her,” I told my mom. “Why didn't you tell me that I
had a sister?”

“You were too
young to understand. Kelly was gone and you cried for her all the
time. You were just two. We tried to explain to you where she was but
we didn't know ourselves. Our visas were expiring and we had to go
home. Everyone at home blamed us. Our marriage wasn't strong enough.
I got a different job and moved in with my mother. We never told you
because you were the only one of us who got to be ignorant. We lived
with the pain and you forgot Kelly.” My mother was bawling into her
hands. “Please, Kelly. Put down the gun. We want to talk to you. I
want to hold you.”

“No, you
wouldn't want anything to do with the likes of me. I will do the
talking and you will answer me. Tell me why when you had a lead to
Romania didn't you come here and look for me? Yes, I know all about
the progress reports. You even had a picture of the man who took me.
He was so worried that he would get caught and then you just left
Europe. I was counting on you to save me, dad, but you never showed
up. But for Sandra you can come.” Kelly pushed the gun against my
skull.

I could taste
her disappointment. She had wanted her dad to come and get her, to
take her away from the bad guy but he gave up on her and she had to
go through unspeakable pain.

Tears were
running down my face and I could hardly breathe. He wasn't there for
me either.

“Please Kelly,
put the gun down,” he begged her. “I wanted to come, baby. They
denied me again and again. I tried for several years.”

“The iron
curtain has been down for years. These are all just excuses. If you
had wanted to find me you could have. I hoped that you would be among
the men looking to buy a sex slave. I looked in all their eyes and
prayed to see yours. You never came. And when I got sold here I did
the same. You didn't look for me.” Her voice cracked with pain

“I did. I
looked in the wrong places. I had no idea that you were here. We had
so many leads. The license plates on the van said Austria. I have
been there over twenty times looking for you. I honestly looked. You
were my little girl. I couldn't live without you but I couldn't find
you.” He was crying as he pleaded with her, begging her to
understand.

The only thing
going through my mind was that he had no problem living without me.
Me he had walked away from, as far as I knew without looking back.

“No, I'm going
to kill her and you are going to watch.”

“What will it
help if you kill her?” My mother asked. She couldn't breathe and
she could barely talk.

“I'll feel
better. Me. Once in my life it would be about me.”

“No it
wouldn't. We would have to bury her. Please, don't start our reunion
like this. You used to love her so much.” My dad was stepping
closer again. He was almost at her side.

The gun was still
poking into my head. I was getting a feeling that she was really
going to kill me. I had had a lonely childhood, always at my
grandmother's. I had missed out on having a sister and now that I
found her she wanted to kill me.

I couldn't help
but sniffle. I was so confused.

“I'll kill her,
and then myself. This way we can both forget everything that happened
to us.” Kelly finally sounded happy.

I squinted my
eyes shut, expecting the shot any moment now.

I heard the
clicking of the gun. My father was jumping towards me. I heard a dog
snarl and growl. My hand went to my shoulder. It felt so warm and
wet. I looked around trying to understand what had happened in that
minute.

“Sandra, are
you alright?” Tata was turning my face towards his.

“Tata, you're
alive.”

“Yes, I'm here.
Can you stand up?” He was holding a pillow against my arm where the
bullet had gone through. His hand was covering the other side.

I looked around
the room. My mother was trying to get at me and my father had taken
Kelly's gun away from her. She was screaming my name over and over as
she bawled.

My father was
holding her and talking to her so nicely. “It's okay. You didn't
kill her. Sandra is going to be alright.” I listened to him
apologize to her while she bawled in his arms.

The door was
opening and Ivan and three other men came in.

“Kelly is my
sister,” I whispered in Tata's ear.

Tata looked over
at her and back at me a couple of times. “I knew she had a little
sister. She told me that she loved you very much.”

“She loves you
more.”

He closed his
eyes for a moment. “Sandra, you need to go to the hospital. Stand
up with me.”

I obeyed him and
he walked me towards the door. My mother was standing in the middle
of the room. She would take a step towards me and then one towards
Kelly.

“Where are you
taking her,” she asked Tata.

“To the
hospital,” he replied.

“Will I ever
see her again?”

Tata paused for a
moment before he sadly nodded. He was walking me past the guards and
down the stairs. When I noticed that my dog was at my side.

“My dog is
here. You said he couldn't come along.”

“I knew that he
would lead me right to you. I went home and got him. Then I drove
back to where you were kidnapped away from him. I was surprised when
he brought me here but if Kelly is really your sister it makes sense.
A woman scorn.”

“I don't think
that I can walk anymore.” Everything was getting dark.

I could feel
someone holding my hand. I peeked over to see who it was. I tried to
smile when I saw Tata's concerned face. I wanted him to smile too.

“Hey, how are
you feeling?” He faked a smile for me.

“Better.” My
mouth was really dry. I needed something to drink. “Kelly shot me.”

“I know but she
is really sorry about that. She's here. Do you want to talk to her?”

I looked around
and saw that we were alone. “She doesn't have her gun anymore, does
she?”

“No, your
father took it away from her.” His jaw clenched up at the word
father.

“Alright then.”

He squeezed my
hand tight for a moment and then he got up. My eyes stayed on him as
he went to open the door to my hospital room. “She's awake.”

Kelly charged
into the room and came over to my side. Her right arm was all
bandaged up. “Are you alright?” She moved the blankets so I was
covered up perfectly.