A Long Road to Heaven

When she awoke the next afternoon, her mother was gone. Anisa stood up frantically, looking around, but she was nowhere in sight. The scene around her was the same as before—noisy, dusty, and it left a bitter taste in her mouth. She had prayed it was just a dream, but she knew it wasn’t. And now it most certainly was not.

As Anisa sat down, placing her matted hair behind her ear, an empty feeling set in her stomach. Only a few of her family and friends remained, but her mother, her sister, almost everyone had disappeared. She realized they must have been sold and tears threatened to escape her eyes. She shut them tightly, trying to keep them inside. She would never cry again, she had promised herself.
Anisa opened her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to block out her feelings. She didn’t have time to grieve right then. She scanned the remainder of the encampment, trying to spot a familiar face, and she found her older brother. He was leaning up against a fence, kicking the ground as she had been just the day before. Her brother, Corban, was a strong man of twenty two years, five years older than herself. She had never been as close with him as she had been with Numair, her younger brother, but he was family, and she needed that.

She leapt up, a striking pang of hunger echoing through her stomach. She bent over, feeling weak and dehydrated, and clutched her stomach. She cringed as the shackles around her wrists and ankles cut further into her skin as she tried to walk, but bit her lip and stood up. She began slowly making her way down to the fence where her brother was standing.

“Corban,” she said, her throat hoarse. He looked at her, his face covered with dust. Nevertheless, he smiled lightly at her, thankful to see someone he knew. “Where is everyone?”

“They were bought,” he responded in the same weak voice as my own. I swallowed the lump in my throat once again as my suspicions were confirmed. “It was a while ago. I was hiding to stay with you because they thought you were dead. The keeper almost got rid of you until I stopped him.” Anisa smiled up at her brother, thankful for his actions. “I got this, though.” He turned to her, showing her lashes, obviously from a whip, to the left side of his face. She gasped.

“Corban,” Anisa said slowly, her eyebrows raising into a worried expression. “I’m so sorry, I—“

“No, stop,” he said, grabbing her shackled hands and holding them with his. They were slick with blood from the cuts the cuffs were causing, but she didn’t mind. “Don’t do this to yourself. We’ll be okay, as long as we’re together.” Anisa smiled up at him, wrapping her arms around him.
“Thank you,” she whispered, but he never got the chance to do the same.

Behind the both of them, the crack of a whip sounded, cutting through the air sharply. Anisa, shocked, let go of Corban and looked forward at the keeper, who was glaring at them and the other slaves.

“Back it up, you scumbags!” he yelled in a heavily accented voice. He seemed to growl throatily at them, and Anisa cringed. “Get in a line, hurry it up! We be gettin’ a buyer soon, so look your best or else you be stuck here forever! They don’t want a weak one, a’ight?” He snapped the whip again, a few surprised gasps coming from the other slaves.

“Let’s go,” Corban said in Arabic, and we moved forward and into the line most of the slaves had already formed. He put his arm around me protectively as the keeper stared us down. He only let go when he yelled and cracked his whip. When they turned around, he was walking towards them. Anisa looked up at her brother, feeling helpless.

“You two,” he yelled with another slap of the whip in the air. “Well, little miss princess, we all thought you was dead by now! The way you be layin’ on that groun’, nobody’d sure.” Anisa’s nostrils flared as she tried to keep her anger down and not retort. She found playing dumb with these people got you far. “Oh, not a talker, are ya?” he said, looking towards her. “Well, you sure are a looker, ain’t ya!” He wiped a rough finger down Anisa’s cheek and rested it on her lips. “Maybe I should keep you all to my own self.” He grinned and licked his lips, sending shivers down Anisa’s spine as she thought about what he was saying. His smile fell into a lustful look as he graced his hand along Anisa’s bare shoulder, his hand slipping into the rough cloth.

“Stay away from my sister!” yelled Corban, smacking the man’s hand away. He fell back, looking down at his hand, then looked back up at Corban.

“Why did you do that?” Anisa whispered, looking from him to the keeper. The keeper began to smile, looking at Corban.

“Ya’ll were playin’ stupid, weren’t ya?” he said, hitting the whip against his hand. Anisa swallowed thickly and Corban paled as the keeper raised the whip. “Don’ worry… I can just sell ya for more!” he cackled loudly, shoving them forward to stand in the line. Anisa fell, and Corban caught her, standing her up next to him. She breathed harder, watching as the keeper walked away, ready to greet the oncoming carriage with a wagon attached to the back.

“Are you alright?” he asked, picking up the rough material and pushing it above her shoulder. “I’m sorry I gave everything away, I just—“

“No, thank you,” she replied, looking up at him. “You really saved me from him there.” Corban raised his eyebrows in worry as a man with red hair walked out of the carriage in front of them. Corban reached down and clasped Anisa’s hand in his own as the keeper walked the man forward. “Whatever we do, we do together, alright?” she whispered as they got closer.
“Of course,” he said, holding her hand even tighter. The man walked forward, peering at all of the people in front of him as if they were pieces of merchandise. His red hair was combed back and lifted on his head, and he was dressed elegantly, much unlike the keeper. He had pale green eyes and dimples that made him seem much less threatening. Anisa figured he was probably around twenty eight or so, and realizing this, backed up behind her brother.

“I only want four today,” he said, scanning the line for useful people. Anisa scowled at him as his eyes passed over her seamlessly. She could only hope he didn’t see her. “That one there,” he said, pointing to a man of around twenty at the end of the line. “That one next to him as well.” The two men of roughly the same age walked forward to the keeper as he undid their shackles. “Oh, and this one.” He pointed to Corban, and his grasp on her hand loosened. Corban walked forward hesitantly, looking back at her. Anisa bit her lip, knowing this wasn’t the sort of man who would choose someone like herself. He was looking for workers, and she was about to lose her last bit of family to him. Anisa watched as Corban had his shackles unlocked and he was shoved in the direction of the wagon. She stepped forward in his place, determined to stay strong.

Anisa watched as his eyes scanned through the people one last time, as he eyed each and every slave. His gaze wandered back to the keeper, and as he began to walk away and pay the keeper, his eyes found her. They lit up, and a smile graced his lips.

“And her,” he said, pointing to Anisa. When she didn’t move, he ushered her forward, his eyebrows raised. She had to admit, he was handsome, and walked forward with her eyes still on him. The keeper reached down and unlocked her shackles with a sharp crack. “She’ll be a good one.”