The slaves of Freetown

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX

I do not have the luxury of being suspicious, yet this glow, appearing in the darkness, in the center of which I struggle, seems too alluring, too perfect. I know Shin is a dangerous man, quick to fool, cheat, and lie for money, without any remorse. I just know that he is patient and usually waits until his target is desperate to offer to help him, without him being able to refuse. Still, Ho-Jin trusted him.

I pretend to think like I have a choice. As if deciding to take my brother's place in a life of servitude, which would certainly be worse than anything I have ever known, would redeem my conscience, make me appear nobler and less cowardly.

"Karen, was she part of your...?" I ask, my voice shaking.

"Ho-Jin made arrangements for your wife too," Shin says sarcastically. "Either way, you're not really in a position to negotiate, it seems to me."

"The slaves wait by the dozen in front of the dispensary for the slightest opportunity to get their hands on us. How can you imagine making us leave Freetown under these conditions? I do not even understand the fact that you are not on this list..."

"It's true that it's quite ironic that my name isn't on it. You never liked me much, but I know that you are even more angry with me in view of this fact, which in short, sums up the reasons for your aversion: I am feared in Freetown, by the slaves, by neo-FreeRush, by Salvi, by all these other gangs. Even if they had managed to put me on this list without creating a diplomatic incident, no one would allow themselves to lay a hand on me. If he'd been more involved in my business, I could have given Ho-Jin that same kind of protection before it all got out of hand."

I swallow my saliva with difficulty, avoiding his gaze.

"In three hours, a shipment of North Korean slaves bound for the Port Newark-Elizabeth Marine Terminal is due to stop here, so that my last recruits can be part of the journey to Pyongyang. You will then be separated, your family and you, you will join two different boats, one going to Canada, the other to North Korea. Before you ask, no, there is no shorter or safer path; almost all states or nations around us are enslaved by the BC19 program. According to what we had agreed on with Ho-Jin during a last conversation, you should have been gone two hours ago. This means that I have fallen behind in my dealings with the Korean government. If in three hours you refuse to board, then it all will be over."

I lean down to look at the face that has quietly approached the doorway of the last door in the hallway. Shin then turns around, slightly inclines his head at the height of Mohamed, presents him his greetings by the slave tradition, his hands joined in infinity on his chest. Then he goes to sit on one of the old chairs in what has been the dispensary's disorderly waiting room. With his phone on his ear, he detaches himself completely from us, talking agitatedly to his interlocutor in the language that Ho-Jin uses when he wants to make fun of me so that I could not understand him. Karen appears, in turn, supporting my little sister with difficulty.

"Please, there is nothing to discuss, let me..."

"Can you hear yourself? What will we do in Canada, free, but without any resources, without money, without knowledge, without means, with our hands stained with murder?" Imane intervenes. "We will always have to hide because of Canadian police officers and American inspectors..."

"You will live," I reply again. "You will survive..."

"And you, you... you will die, that's for sure," Karen whispers.

My father, who has his head bowed so far, turns with his chair. He sobs softly. It is the first time that I see my old idol in such a state. Even when children at the orphanage die because of COVID-19, he does not cry. Reaching out to me, he has a guilty smile.