Too scared to move the entire night, Liyana remains a quivering ball on the concrete floor. The following morning, light crawls through a slit of a window and allows her a proper view of the room. There is a single bed, a toilet and basin in the far corner. As she inches towards the bed, she tries to convince herself that the events of the previous night were a nightmare. Aunt Dalia will come back.

Seconds later, keys rattle in the door and a girl walks in. She has wide hips, sleepy eyes and a familiar face. It is a face Liyana had grown used to seeing on the streets of Ermelo a few years back. The girl is equally surprised, frozen mid-step and clutching a toiletry bag.

“Oh my! You look so familiar,” she laughs.

“I’m from Ermelo,” Liyana can’t disguise her relief at seeing a familiar face.

“Oh yes, you are one of the truck driver’s children,” the girl murmurs. “Your surname is Sithole, right?”

“Yes, Liyana Sithole.”

“Oh yah! I am Thulisiwe Nhlapo.” She looks around the room, “How did you end up here?”

“My aunt Dalia was supposed to help me get into a good university but sh … she brought me here,” Liyana fumbles through an explanation, “She has to come back, right?”

“Dalia is your aunt? The Dalia?” Thulisiwe gasps, “She isn’t coming back. She works with the people that have us locked in here.”

“Do you have a phone that I can use to call home?” Liyana asks.

“No. All I have is a bar of soap and even that is a luxury.” She waves the toiletry bag, “Anyway, Beast wants me to get you cleaned up. Let’s go.”

“Who is Beast? How do I get out of here?”

“There is no getting out of here. There are guards everywhere who are itching to kill us if we try to escape.” Thulisiwe holds out her hand. “Come on, you will meet Beast soon enough.”

Liyana surrenders and lets Thulisiwe lead her out of the room. The man from the previous night stands guard in the corridor with a menacing sneer. Liyana spots a gun in the waistband of his pants and quickly looks away. They bump into strange men emerging from the different rooms, smirking as they walk past the girls. The showers are at the end of the corridor and girls can be heard giggling as they step inside.

“Isn’t this supposed to be a bar? Why are we here?” Liyana asks the question that she fears the answer to.

“The bar is a cover for a secret prostitution ring. You will see when you start working tonight.” Thulisiwe shoves the toiletry bag into her arms. “You are one of us now.”

*****

Thobile paces the length of the kitchen, tapping her cellphone against the palm of her hand and biting her lip. She hasn’t received a call from her daughter and all attempts to reach her lead to voicemail. Dalia’s phone also goes unanswered. Thobile begins to fear the worst but doesn’t know who else to call. Dalia isn’t married and she doesn’t have children. Finally at her wits end, she marches to the bedroom to confide in her husband. She finds Bongani sitting on the bed with him.

“I’m worried now, Johan,” she says, finding a spot on the bed, “None of them are answering their phones.”

“They may still be settling in,” her husband suggests.

“You didn’t hear how rude Dalia was yesterday. She was in such a hurry, we couldn’t even say goodbye properly. What if –”

“Hai, Thobile, don’t scare Bobo,” Johan cuts in, then goes into a coughing spasm.

Thobile looks at her son, who sits staring at her with frightened eyes.

“I’m sure they are fine. Get coins from my bag and go buy those sweets you love,” she says with a reassuring smile.

Bongani shoots up from the bed to rummage through her handbag. Thobile finds her feet and resumes pacing, unable to shake the heavy feeling … Something is wrong.

***

Tell us: What should Thobile do about her feeling of worry and foreboding?