“ Please! Please! I did not know she was that young!” he pleaded.
His body shook violently expecting a vicious pummeling.
“ He’s lying!” Nadiya broke down hysterical with tears. “He bought me from my stepmother! He gave me drugs! He sold my virginity to the highest bidder! A dirty old man in the back was about to rape me!”
“ She’s…” he stammered.
Before the word “lying” came from his lips the woman grabbed him by his bottom jaw standing him up on the tips of his toes. Yuri let out a muffled scream as it felt as if she was going to either crush or rip his jawbone out.
“ Shut your lying tongue before I rip it out,” she ordered him. “How many girls are in the back, honey?” she asked Nadiya.
“ Twenty, no, twenty-five,” she returned nervously, “Twenty-five, I am sure of it.”
“ Let’s make sure,” the woman said.
She walked to the entrance leading to the bedrooms while dragging a screaming Yuri by his jaw.
“ Alright everyone in the back!” her voice boomed with a flawless Ukrainian dialect for all to hear. “Listen up! Nadiya will be walking to the back going from room to room! When she opens the door each girl will walk out fully clothed, and the John in the room will have all of his clothing removed down to his underwear ready to hand to her! He will also hand Nadiya his wallet if he has one and all of his money! He will then remain in the room until called! If you give Nadiya or the girl in the room with you a hard time, I will come back there, and I will kill you! If you attack the girl in the room or try to attack Nadiya, I will come back there, and I will kill you! If you attempt to run, I will hunt you down and kill you in the most painful way possible! Basically, the only way you are walking out of here alive is if you do as you are told! All Johns bang on the walls three times if you understand what I am saying!”
On command like trained monkeys, a series of three loud bangs came from the back.
“ Nadiya,” she addressed her, “when you go to the back and get the first girl, ask her to help gather the next set of clothes, and so on, and so forth.”
Nadiya nodded and slowly walked to the back, her stomach knotted as she opened the first door. As commanded, she found the John on his knees stark naked with his clothes in his hands and wallet on top of the pile ready for her to take. It was hard to tell if he was trembling because it was cold, or if he was racked with fear. The girl in the room was Kateryna, who was two years older than her. Kateryna sat on the bed with her head down, afraid to move.
“ Kateryna, come it is time to go. You do not have to be afraid anymore,” Nadiya motioned.
As she moved toward her, Kateryna coiled backwards shaking like a leaf. She had been there a year longer than Nadiya and had to both see and endure more horrors than her.
“ Who is out there Nadiya?” Kateryna asked not looking up. “Who is she?”
“ Our freedom,” Nadiya smiled, “She is our freedom. Come, you have to come.”
With those words, Kateryna slowly got to her feet and followed Nadiya going from room to room collecting the girls inside and the clothing from the Johns. Nadiya was off by two girls; there was twenty-seven including her. Except for her and Kateryna, who held her hand tightly, everyone else huddled into a group like penguins trying to keep warm. All of the clothes for the Johns were placed into a pile, and the wallets and money found laid on one of the tables that had survived the battle.
The woman wore the softness of a mother as she held Yuri’s jaw forcing him down to his knees. She looked at each of the girls within the room. Some were clearly younger than Nadiya, others older with worn out hallowed eyes. Some had the shakes going through withdrawals from not getting their regular fix used to keep them compliant. All of them, except for Nadiya, had fear written on their faces.