The Long Way Home

Chapter 2

07:56am Local Time, 15th November 2012, somewhere near the border.

Even under the subtle orange hues of sunrise the building we had found ourselves stood in front of looked sinister. The beige stone structure looked very much like one large block of concrete, no windows or doors visible. Fifteen of us stood in a line, smallest to largest. I stood third to last at five feet four inches.

My bum was sore having been sat crouched in a confined area for the best part of six hours. We had driven through the night, stopping every now and then for the Afghan men in the vehicle pulling the silver wagon to capture yet more women.  

The atmosphere in the trailer had been tense. Nobody dared to speak. Nobody dared to move. The fifteen of us had been seated huddled together like a group of penguins in a blizzard. I mean, this huddling hadn’t been done with intent, but more force as the amount of space available dwindled to only a few centimetres. With an elbow dug into my side, somebody else’s foot into my right bum cheek, and another elbow into my left thigh the journey had been nothing but uncomfortable, and that was without what turned out to be a cross country route toward the Afghan border. The trailer wobbled as the rubber wheels slammed against stones, and waded through marshland creating a rather nauseating effect.

The tyres skidded against the dirt as the vehicle swung round to park brakes being applied with great force as we stopped causing us women to be what would’ve been catapulted, had there been more room, to the back wall of the trailer. The sound of the wagon door’s fastener creaked as it was turned the large sheet of metal crashing to the floor.

The five men, bearded with turbans, yelled at us to remove ourselves from their trailer. Standing up was far more difficult than I had imagined, with legs like jelly it was hard to stretch the muscles I needed to hold myself up. The pain in my arse intensified as I rose to my feet, a stabbing pain taking over from that of a dull throb.

We soon found ourselves in a line staring at this brown building made up of several rectangular shaped parts, the building itself looked suspicious as if it was used for housing hostages, which even if it wasn’t already it was clearly about to be. There were no windows in this building as such, just a small hole in the wall, square in shape with thick metal bars to stop anything that may be inside from escaping. The gaps between each bar would barely let a rat through never mind an entire person.

A sixth man appeared from behind one of the many rectangles, a gun in hand. It wasn’t a large gun, a simple hand gun, but enough to make a lump form in the back of my throat. It wasn’t as if I hadn’t ever had a gun pointed at me before, and a much larger one at that, but more the fact I didn’t exactly want to die at the hands of a young afghan villager.

The group of us were led inside. The door was a small wooden structure around four feet twelve inches in height meaning all but the last person in line, who stood at only four feet ten, had to crouch down in order to avoid a rather nasty head injury. The room we were led into was dark. A fluorescent light hanging on a cord from the ceiling was switched on as the last of the six men entered the room lighting it up instantly.

Several cloth bags were removed from a cupboard in the right hand corner of the room, most of them empty, one stuffed with what was supposedly fabric. The hessian bag was emptied, a large pile of clothes forming on the dusty concrete floor. What looked like the oldest of the six Afghans drew a breath and began to speak, the familiar English language spoken hesitantly as he ordered us to remove our clothes.

I looked at my feet boots fastened tightly, trousers tucked in. I crouched down as my fingers intertwined with the laces unfastening them with speed. I kicked them off as soon as they were undone the ground cold under my socked feet.

Two pieces of grey coloured fabric were dropped in front of me, next to where my boots created a shadow on the floor. I carefully unzipped the fly of my trousers allowing them to cascade down the soft pale skin of my long legs until they came to rest at my bony ankles. I continued to remove my t-shirt until I was stood in only my underwear, white girl’s boxers, and skin tone bra. Unsure of what to do next I stood still as a statue my eyes darting from side to side to see what the other women were doing.

The feeling of something brushing against my skin caused me to flinch as the fingers of a man unhooked the clasp of my bra. I stood with arms glued to my sides disenabling my bra straps from sliding off of my shoulders. I had never been particularly comfortable with my body, my small breasts doing nothing for my confidence.

A finger ran down my spine coming to rest at the base, the sweaty skin of his fingertip peeling away as he moved to do the same to another woman.

The elastic of my underwear twanged against my skin as I carefully removed them. Standing stark naked I leant forward and picked up the first of the two greying items. Still leaning I stepped into the two holes and slid the fabric up to my hips where they rested, too big for my childlike figure. I did the same with the shirt, the rough material scratchy against my skin.

Barefooted I allowed myself to be led from the room down a dark corridor. One hundred yards from the illuminated room I was faced with an open door, a pitch black area situated behind this large hole in the concrete wall. A hand came into contact with my shoulder as I was pushed forward my body coming to land in a patch of damp. The tall man in a crisp white turban whom had led me to this small space neared, the toe cap of his leather boot colliding with my temple as he kicked and punched.

A door slammed as I was plunged into darkness, a dull throb at the base of my skull, blood running down my cheek, the salted liquid of my tears stinging the damaged skin of my jaw. With breathing heavy, and stomach rumbling I leant back against the concrete wall of my cell, tepid water dripping from the hole in the ceiling creating a puddle next to where I was seated. The sounds of more doors slamming and women screaming clouded my mind as I stared into the empty never ending space surrounding me. My stomach rumbled, my skull throbbed, I was stuck, and I had no way out.