My Descent into Slavery Ch. 17

"If she speaks her safe word, we would all have to stop, right?" Kadina asked.

"Yes, her safe word is sacrosanct. Her punishment must end."

"I don't know what Joshua will say, but as for me, if she wants to know part of a slave's life, let her."

"Since you want it, Slut, you'll have to ask Joshua to grant his permission," I said. "I won't."

"I'll speak to him later," Slut said.

"You wouldn't even spank her with a paddle?" Sahar asked.

"Unlike the rest of these women, I got revenge on Mahmoud. He received his just desserts. You got revenge on Schultz. If I were to punish her as a real slave, I would be no better than a real slaver. I want to protect and save women from men like that, not emulate them. I would expect you to want to defend women beaten like that, stupid girl or no."

"You're a wise woman, Beth. I will stay away. You may be right and I would be forced to hurt someone. If she wants to see how a real slave suffers, I won't stop her, but I won't participate either."

"You don't want us to do this, do you, Beth?" Maahnoor said.

"I see the good of symbolic punishment. To take out your pain and anger in some small way. I don't think anyone who did not directly buy and sell people, or hurt them in that way, should be punished in that way. If Mahmoud was before you today, I would be first in line to use the stingray barb on him. I did use the stingray barb on him. He was stripped naked in front of me, I hit him on his cock and balls with the barb, bleeding him, and made him kneel to me. Then I kicked him out of the helicopter and watched him scream as he fell to his death. He deserved it, and I don't regret it, but it's possible I could be charged with a crime in Morocco, so what's said in group, stays in the group, and that includes you, Slut. You're in this now whether you want to be or not. You signed a Non-disclosure agreement promising not to reveal anything that happens on this ship. That includes my declaration." Slut nodded solemnly.

"Do you all agree to never reveal what we've said in group?" Sahar said. "Not what happened to me, not what happened to anyone? Anything we discuss here?"

"Yes," they agreed.

First, Sahar told them what she did to Schultz. It was pretty damn gruesome. I'd never heard all that she did.

"I wished I'd had another month to torture that fucker," Sahar ended.

"What did he do to you?" Slut asked.

Sahar looked at her. "Remember, what's said in group, doesn't leave the group. If you tell anyone, I swear I'll kill you myself."

"I promise."

"He made me fuck animals. My virginity was taken by a burro."

Slut fainted. "She damn sure isn't owner material," Sahar said, dropping down to pat her face.

I had to laugh. It was true. She wasn't owner material.

"I thought my slavery was bad," Kadina said.

"It's not a fucking contest," Sahar said. "They were all bad."

"No wonder you tortured him."

"I especially liked taking that horse sized dildo and kicking it up his ass. He got a little of his own medicine."

"It explains a lot about you," Kadina said.

"Beth has to rein me in fairly frequently, but knowing what was going to happen to her, makes her a little more unforgiving than she used to be."

It was true. I knew what I wanted to happen to Spagnoli if we found him. I'd let Sahar or Kadina do the dirty work, but I'd be happy to get them where they needed to go. I got some water from the bar and a clean bar rag and was wiping Slut's face with it when she came to. She looked around at all of the faces looking down at her.

"Did that happen to anyone else?" She finally asked.

"It was planned to happen to me," I said. "I was saved that fate."

"I can't imagine people doing that to other people," Slut said.

"Now you know why we are ready to bleed you," Farah said.

"There's one final thing I'll tell you," Sahar said. "This too has to remain secret, but you should finally know how good the people on this ship have been to us.

"Maahnoor, Hibbah, Ateefah, Beatriz and I were not magically saved by gangs in the favelas in Rio. Joshua's men found a gang banger who was familiar to the police, took the weapons of his gang, brought him to Rodrigo's and Tadeo's houses, and freed us, killing those two pigs. We were not magically stumbled upon by Professor Kline and his wife. The crew took their own money and bought clothes for the poor so we could be discovered on the side of the road as they took clothes to the church." Sahar started crying, which was not a frequent occurrence. "Ever since they discovered what was done to us, they've been protecting us, taking care of us, providing for us. It's possible that Jake and Henry were in on your rescues. The only one I know about for sure is Edgar, but it's likely that everyone from the ship who helped rescue Beth, helped rescue us, except those on watch.

"Farah's owner, Francisco, didn't magically disappear. He was made to disappear by people who care for us, who didn't treat us like slaves. What happened to those disgusting animals would be crimes in Argentina and Brazil, so you can never speak of it, or your husbands and lovers could be arrested. Hannah knows about it. She helped set Tadeo and Rodrigo up, by helping to pinpoint their location with phone calls." They looked at Hannah, who nodded. "We were exposed to the filth of the world, the fuckers who treated us like animals, but we've also been exposed to the very best humanity has to offer. As bad as you've been treated as slaves, you've also been loved and protected by guardian angels. If I were you, I'd go up to every crew member on this ship and give them a little hug, and a kiss on the cheek. Don't tell them what it's for, as they still won't speak of it, but now you know.

"Beth is right. To do to Slut what was done to us, would be no better than the way they behaved. If you want to smack her ass a few times to make yourself feel better, fine. God knows I smacked Beth's ass plenty of times to get her back close to what she was, but don't do injustice to those who don't deserve justice. That's all I have to say on the matter."

They all looked at each other again and agreed they wouldn't draw blood. I was so proud of them.

"Since we've now talked about criminal behavior, I suppose there's one other thing we might want to discuss."

"What's that?" Sahar said.

"Kadina's last owner, never sold Kadina to Slut. He asked Slut to look after his slave while he went out of the country. It may mean that he intended to get her back sometime in the future. That either he would come back himself when he thought it would be safe to do so without being arrested, or that he would eventually ask for her to be sent to where he was, if he obtained false documents for her. If he had no intention of getting her back, he should have just let her go. Slut, if he ever contacts you to get your Mistress back, you need to tell us."

"Not the police?"

"Not the police. Tell Sahar or me. Sometimes, a person is a huge stain on humanity and needs to be scrubbed from the face of the earth. I believe Mark Spagnoli is one such stain, like Tadeo, Rodrigo, Francisco, Mahmoud, Abdul, Jean-Paul, and Schultz. Just as some of those men were dealt with, Mr. Spagnoli should be dealt with."

Sahar was grinning again.

"Okay, I'll do it," Slut said. "No police, just you."

"Angela," Kadina said, "you've just earned your name back."

"Thank you, Mistress Kadina. I'm glad I have served you well enough you feel I've earned my name back."

"Oh, and Angela," I said, "the prosecutor won't be filing charges against you. I heard just before group started. It's a good thing you were such a lousy owner. If you'd treated Mistress Kadina as the others had, you'd be in jail now."

Angela smiled ruefully.

"There is one other matter I bring before the group."

I reached into a bag and out my stingray barb. Several of them jumped back from it, including Fatima, Yasmine and Farah.

"Where did you get that?" Hibbah said.

"Off Mahmoud. It's what I used to bloody his privates, then Sahar had to use it to cure me."

"Sahar hit you with that thing?" Fatima asked.

"Once only."

"What is it?" Angela asked.

"This is a stingray barb. It was the last thing Sahar had to help me to overcome. The mere threat of it kept me from masturbating or having any sex at all while in The Bahamas for almost two months. And I'm sure you all remember what I was like when I was saved. I asked damn near everyone to fuck me, but she threatened me with this, and I couldn't even touch myself. If someone would come at me with a knife, I would have tried to defend myself; a club, I would have tried to defend myself. I might not have been successful, but I would have tried. She threatened me with this and I groveled on the ground like a whipped cur, refusing to defend myself. I had to reclaim my courage. The day I told her to fuck herself despite the stingray barb, is the day I was allowed sex. I masturbated for ninety minutes."

"This is what was used on Mistress Kadina's back?" Angela asked.

"It was," Kadina said.

"My Master will pay for plastic surgery to have your scars removed, Mistress. He's done it for others, he'll do it for you. Fatima hasn't had hers removed yet, but she plans to when this voyage has ended."

"Why do you still have it?" Maahnoor asked.

"It was proof that I was able to overcome my last trial, in order to come home. It's a reminder that I found my heart again, my courage. But I think it best it be used for another purpose today. I think we should destroy it. Just as Farah threw Francisco's barb off the ship when she was freed, I think everyone who was struck with one, should decide how to get rid of it.

"We can burn it, cut it up into little pieces, smash it with hammers, or we can do all of those things. Cut it up, burn some of it, smash some of it, throw pieces into the ocean. Whatever we vote together what to do with it, we will do. Another tiny piece of our slavery will go with it when it's gone."

"I vote we put it through a meat grinder," Hannah said.

"Blow torch," Jìngyi said.

"I vote we hold onto it and use it on Mark Spagnoli when we find him," Sahar said.

It was unanimous. I put it back in the bag. We were all bloodthirsty to varying degrees.

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