Huddled in the corner of her dark cell Michelle brushes away tears from her cheek, the one that still stings from the slap she'd received while Ballo put on his show for her buyers. The mere thought of being sold to some sexual deviant makes her retch but thankfully nothing comes up. Having to stay all night in a cell is one thing, having to spend all night in a cell with your vomit all over the floor is an entirely different and unpleasant thought. Michelle goes to her one barred window to breath in some fresher air so she doesn't lose it. Somehow, someway she thought that she would get out of all of this right up until the whole webcam thing earlier. Hearing what he was telling all the sick people that were going to be bidding on her dashed any hope that she had that this would somehow turn out okay for her. The thought of never seeing her family or her friends again sinks into her mind to the point where she thinks death would be preferably to the hell that awaits her once she's sold to some sick bastard. She goes to her cot and reaches underneath it extracting a shard of wood that she managed to strip off one of the trees near her latrine a day ago when the guard wasn't paying attention. Its point is splintered but sharp and she intended to use it as a weapon in case any of the guards decided to go against Ballo's orders of not raping her. Now in her despair she wonders if she could ram it into her own jugular vein and bleed out before they could administer first aid to her. Before she can take this last desperate act her cell door opens and Ballo strides inside. "This is it. He's got the ahead to break me by raping me." She thinks as her hand tightens over her only defense.
"Up," He orders her. "And cease your crying I grow sick of the sound of it."
"Then why not just kill me and be done with it?" She asks and receives another smack across her face that sends her crashing to the dirty floor of her cell. The impact jars the piece of wood from her hand and sends it skittering across the cold cement floor. Part of her wants to lie here and just give up but another part, a stronger part makes her rise to her knees and spit out the coppery taste of her own blood in defiance. Ballo considers another slap since she rose so quickly but he notices a certain look in her eyes, like that of a tiger poised to strike and in that brief moment he feels fear tickling at the back of his neck. "She looks as though she might rip my throat out with her teeth given the chance," He thinks but pushes his fear aside as a preposterous notion that this woman could possibly hurt him.
"Keep defying me and I will kill you after my men have had their fill of you," He tells her. "Now come, I have some new prisoners that I want you to have a look at. They were not so willing to leave their village and needed my brand of... persuasion."
He grabs her by the arm and forcefully drags her out the door into the courtyard keeping her at arm's length. A group of armed militia are standing guard over about twenty villagers all of whom are being forced to sit in a circle. Michelle notices that while it is mostly men there are a few women and some teenagers among the group as well. Some of which she recognizes as a tribe not too far from the compound because she's treated a few of them at the aid station. She is dragged to the group and shoved to the ground in front of them splattering more grim on her already filthy clothes. The rocky ground bites into her knees and hands but she ignores it in favor the frightened man before her. She looks at him seeing a gash on his head that is seeping blood.
"May I please have a medical bag?" She asks knowing the consequences if she sounded like she was demanding something.
Ballo chuckles. "See, you can be taught," He says and sends a man to get her a few medical kits. Upon his return, she patches up the man's cut and moves on the next one. This man groans when she touches his arm.
"His arms broken," she tells Ballo.
"Then he is of no use to me," He says pulling his sidearm and pointing it at the man. Heedless of the danger Michelle moves herself in front of the barrel before he can pull the trigger.
"Wait! I can splint it and he'll be all right in a few days. You don't have to kill him," She tells him hoping to save a life.
"He only has one arm, what use can he be to me in the mines?"
"He's a village chieftain; the others will follow his orders," She lies hoping that she's not found out. "Kill him and then you'll have to kill them all because they will fight you at every turn. I know these people, I've worked with them, so please believe me." He studies her face for several moments trying to tell if she is lying then slowly holsters his gun.
"All right, fix him up but if I find that you are lying to me..."
"I wouldn't," She says. He nods but before walking away he smacks her again. Before she can sit up he grabs her by her hair and yanks her face close to his.
"Never talk back to me in front of my people," He whispers to her. "Otherwise I will lower your price and have my way with you, bitch. Do you understand?"
He shoves her back down to the ground laughing as he starts walking away. The man with the broken arm catches her as best he can and helps her get situated. Fighting through tears she begins to splint the man's arm.
"Thank you," She tells him knowing that he can't understand her. He looks at her and whispers something in his native tongue.
"Sorry, I don't speak your language," Michelle whispers back. He covers her hand with his and then gently runs the back of his hand along her cheek catching her tears.
"You are very kind. I'm so sorry," She whispers splinting his arm. Dutifully she works with each of them tending their scrapes and cuts trying to sound reassuring even though none of them seems to understand her. She reaches a sobbing teenage girl that she recognizes. "Yacine?" She asks. The scared teenager looks up at her and then hugs her fiercely.
"Miss Michelle!" She cries out in English. "I was afraid they had killed you."
"Not yet sweetie," She tells her. "Are you all right, did they hurt you?" She pulls away and begins looking over the girl afraid that she's been injured or worse.
She shakes her head. "No, I am fine. I was worried about my father; I thought that devil was going to shoot him. Thank you for saving him."
"I uh... told them that he was a village leader," Michelle explains. "And if they harmed him you all would fight them."
"You saved him Miss Michelle, thank you."
"All I did was splint his broken arm and get him sent to the diamond mines with the rest of you," Michelle tells her sadly.
