Slave promotion

On the streets

I start waking up as I notice I'm being carried.

"Ma? "

"Shh, honey, everything's ok. "

Settled by my mothers voice I start to drift back to sleep.
What else could I do?
I'm only 8 years old.
When I wake up my mother has me in her lap and is talking to a strange man.
I yawn and rub my eyes as I start to sit up.

"Your awake"

I look up at my mom with a smile.
My smile doesn't last long as I notice her facial expression.
She looks like she's in pain.

"Honey, this is a doctor I met a few days ago."

I look up at her worriedly.
Did dad find out about mommas cat ears?

Before I could ask my mother continues, "As you know money has been tough and there's not a lot of food at home"

I nod to this as my stomach grumbles.
Dad has been distant and I think he's using most of his money for something else.
Paying for my schooling takes up most of moms salary.
I've heard mom and him fighting about it but that was it.
There's only a few vegetables in the fridge at home, but they're starting to get brown and mushy.
I snap back to attention as my mom speaks again,
"Doctor here is willing to pay us $280 if... "

I feel excited and worried at the same time. $280 could keep us fed for a few weeks. What are we being payed for though?

"He wants to cut your vocal cords"

I feel my blood go cold as I stare up at my mom with wide eyes.
I might be young but I'm pretty smart for my age, smart enough to know what vocal cords are and that I don't want them cut.

The man starts to speak, "it's for science. All I'm gonna do is give you some of this,"
He pulls out a little tank with a weird mouthpiece hooked to it,
"then as you sleep I'll open your throat and snip your vocal cords. "

I look at him like he's stupid, "How is that for science, it just seems like your gonna kill me! "

He chuckles, "No no, I'm a doctor and I'm quite good at my job. I just want to know if someone could still make sounds even with they're vocal cords cut."

"I decided to ask for your permission for him to do this." My mother says.

As I think about this the man says, "How about this, if you can still make sounds afterwards I'll give you 20 extra bucks, what do you say?"

I think about this deal.
My stomach grumbling makes the choice for me.

-----a month later-----

I tilt my head down as my mother and I walk down the street, covering the scar that goes across my throat.
Luckily enough I could still make sounds so we got 20 bucks more than originally planned.
My mom said she would put this aside for me and me alone.
As we're walking I see a flash of red.
I look over and see a brilliant bright red scarf in one of the shop windows.
I pull on my mothers hand waiting for her to look at me.
I point towards the scarf.

"You want that scarf?"

I nod my head quickly.
We go inside of the shop and I just stare at the beautiful scarf as my mom talks to the shopkeeper.
It looks so soft.
Though it's twice as long as I am tall.
I could probably even use it as a blanket.
I don't think I could regret this choice.
The shopkeeper takes it out of the window and hands it to me.
I wrap it around my neck twice as my mom pays for it.
The ends go down to my waist even though it is double wrapped.
Its so soft.
She takes my hand and we're back in our way home.

"That scarf was only 10 bucks so how much money is that left? "

I smile at my mother, she likes to make sure I'm good at my school work so she incorporates math problems and such into our daily life.
I hold up all 10 of my fingers.

"That's right! " She smiles and ruffles my hair.

----one year later----

I stand next to my father, grasping my dirty scarf.
It's still soft and warm, but now it's slightly covered in mud and dirt.
I've grown enough that when I wrap it around my neck twice the ends come down to my stomach.
We're at my mothers burial.
She was walking home one night when a gang member of the Titans tried to rob her. Us being poor she had no money so they shot her.
I glance up at my father, his face is hard as stone as he watches my mother be lowered into the ground.
He's been talking and smelling funny and drinking these gross tasting drinks.
There's not much food in the fridge.

----1 and a half year later-----

I yawn and bundle even farther into my blanket.
I scratch at the dark brown ear that lays on my face.
I woke up on my 10th birthday with the same cat ears and tail that my mother had. She always kept it a secret from my dad so I did too.
I learned the gross smelling drinks in the fridge is alcohol.
My dad is constantly drunk.
I've stopped going to school since all of our money is going towards alcohol.
I try to avoid him as much as I can.
He gets quite aggressive when he's drunk. Though I can't always avoid him.
Sometimes he'll come after me in my room. If I run he makes the beating even worse.

-----erens 11th year of life------

I lightly scratch at the scar over my eye as I make my way to the kitchen.
My father was especially drunk one night and hit my face with the buckle of his belt. There's a scar going from the middle of my forehead to my cheek right over my left eye. My eyesight in that eye is always blurry.
I can't open it all the way either.
I woke up tonight dying of thirst.
I hear my father's voice and one other as I get closer to the kitchen.
I lean against the door to hear what they're saying but it's still muffled.
I look around to make sure I'm alone.
I let my human ears transform into my cat ones.
I can finally make out what they're saying.

"40 bucks" I hear my dad's voice say.

"I don't know man. Don't you think that's pricey, I could just go down the street and get someone for 30."

'What are they talking about?'

"They'll have some type of disease though, this is my virgin 11 year old son, you won't have to use a condom and hey! You don't even need to use lube if you want."

I stop listening and quietly run back to my room.
I gather everything I own (which isn't much) and crawl out of my window.
I run as fast as my 11 year old legs and go. After a while of running I find a homeless shelter.
I go in and see there are many spots open. The titans have stopped careing if you have money.
Most homeless people have cleared this town.
The rest have started to be slaughtered.
I'm gonna have to be careful if I want to avoid my mother's fate.