thing to drink. It’ s wrong, but I pray. I ask God to give me something strong and warm to drink. He isn’ t going to give me any whiskey. I know that much. But, still, I beg Him anyway. I’ m such a fool.
I never ask Him to get me away from Daddy. I never ask Him to make me free. I never ask him for the dream. The clean place. Because I don’ t deserve anything from Him.
All I ask from Him is a drink that’ s strong and warm.“ Excuse me,” I hear a woman’ s voice. I look around. I see a woman walking toward me. I know she isn’ t talking to me.“ Excuse me,” she says again. When I turn around to look at her again, I set my face mean. Hard. Like an animal. To scare her.
“ Hi,” she says.“ I saw you walking and thought you might be cold.”
I snap my head back and stick my chin out. Look at her like she’ s crazy to talk to me. Inside, deep down, I’ m afraid of her. Scared like a little girl.
“ Anyway, I don’ t know if you drink coffee.” She looks at me like she’ s scared, too.“ But this is for you.”
She holds up a big paper cup full of coffee. Steam coming out the top. She’ s scared, but she’ s smiling at me.
“ I didn’ t drink from it. I just drove past you a few minutes ago and got it from the coffee shop up the street. I grabbed some sugar, if you want it.”
“ I like it black,” I say, surprised that I spoke at all.“ Do you know what I am?”
“ Yes,” she says. She takes one step toward me. I take a step back.
“ Then why would someone like you want to help someone like me?” I make my voice deep. Big. Loud. I want to scare her.“ Because I think you’ re beautiful.” I take the coffee from her hands. She walks away. I turn and walk toward the motel. I still have a long way to go.
I sip the coffee. It’ s strong. And warm. It wasn’ t exactly what I was hoping for, but it sure tastes good. And it feels good going down my throat.
I look at the coffee cup. She wrote a note on it.
“ If you need help getting out, call 1-888-3737-888 *. They will help you.”
I keep walking. There’ s a long way back to the motel. But it seems that my dream is getting closer.
* If you suspect someone is a victim of human trafficking or you are one yourself, call the U. S. national hotline number right away: 1.888.3737.888. Interpreters are available 24 / 7.
Unbound Spring 2012
The next edition of Unbound Magazine will be released on May 14, 2012. We are asking for submissions until March 9, 2012. Guidelines are available at www. MichiganAbolitionistProject. org.
Theme: Prevention Submissions for the Spring 2012 edition should reflect the theme of Prevention.
Slavery and human trafficking can be prevented. We are proactive and equip others to be the same by addressing root causes.
In order to end slavery, we need to dig out root causes. If slavery were a tree, it would have roots that produce fruit- bad fruit. What would happen if you tried to get rid of the tree by cutting it down at the trunk? Answer: The roots would still exist. To truly get rid of the tree, the roots need to be dug out.
Outreach and aftercare are important, but wouldn’ t it be great if one day outreach and aftercare workers were worked out of their jobs?! Digging out root causes is key. Poverty, sexual abuse, domestic violence, greed, addictions, and broken relationships are all root causes. We need to educate the young and old. Prevention starts at a young age. Ending slavery means digging out the root causes and planting new, life-giving trees in our communities.
In the May edition of Unbound, we invite you to submit work that encourages the prevention of slavery.
Artwork by Ryan Hanberry 10