the room and I can’t see him. “You’re gonna get us all punished. Why don’t you shut up and let the rest of us get some sleep.”
“How about you shut up Joe,” says a girl of about eighteen, she’s tall and she looks muscular, I wouldn’t want to mess with her. “Let’s hear what she has to say.”
I give her a weak smile. “Thank you. I was just thinking,” I say quietly, “that if they don’t listen we can refuse to work and that might make them listen. Maybe I can get in touch with my brother and he can contact the media, we may be able to get some public support.”
The girl speaks up again, “I dunno what media or public is, but it sounds good to me.” She smiles at me. “My name’s Kate.”
“It’s a stupid idea.” This time it’s a girl who disagrees with me. “They’ll punish us all, we’ll all be worse off.”
“They can’t punish us all,” Kate says. “Count me in. C’mon, who else is gonna join us?”
My stomach is fluttering, I think I may have started a revolution; Kayden’s going to kill me. A few slaves raise their hands but most of them mutter at us to be quiet so they can get some sleep. Maybe not a revolution then, if only a few of us do it, it’ll be easy for them to punish us. It’s probably for the best but I will make a complaint. I crawl onto my bunk. I’m feeling tired but my mind is running through scenarios of what I’m going to say when I complain.
I wake to the piercing sound of the alarm and line up on the yellow line with the others. The door opens and the female guard that took us to breakfast yesterday is standing outside the door. The slaves troop out; I stop when I reach her. “Permission to speak please ma’am.”
“Make it quick,” she snaps.
I swallow. “I’d like to see whoever is in charge please ma’am.”
She scowls at me. “No one’s interested in what you’d like.”
“I’ve read those,” I point to the list of rules on the wall, “we’re not getting the things we should be. I just want to speak to someone about it.”
She glares at me. “Well now you have. Move.”
She shoves in the back but I stand my ground. My palms are sweating and my heart is thumping but I’m also angry, how dare she dismiss me like that. “These people are being taken advantage of because they can’t read. I’ll contact my brother and he’ll get the media involved.” I line up with the slaves, I don’t want them to miss breakfast because of me but I haven’t finished saying my piece. “If this ends up going to the media, I’ll make sure whoever runs this place knows it was your fault. You’ll end up losing your job.”
She presses her thumb against the pad, then she turns and scowls at me. As I walk past her, I can feel her glare burning a hole in the back of my head.
CHAPTER FOUR
Savannah
The rest of the week drags by, every day the same old thing. I get a few precious moments with Kayden at dinner, other than that, I never see him. I wonder if I’m going to lose the ability to think because there’s nothing here to occupy my mind.
I’m working in the field, picking tomatoes when I sense someone behind me. I look up, shielding my eyes from the sun, I wish I had my sunglasses. Standing there is a tall, thin male guard that I’ve never seen before. He speaks with a high pitched voice and tells me the manager wants to see me. I’ll be glad to get out of the sun; I can feel my arms and face are sunburned.
I follow him to the reception, where I was booked in. My palms are damp. I don’t know what the manager is like and I’m trying to think of what to say. We stop at a wooden door and the guard knocks on it, I hear a male voice telling us to enter.
The first thing I notice is the large, expensive looking wooden desk, and sitting behind it is a grey haired man wearing silver rimmed glasses. He stares at me with his cold, grey eyes. “I’ve got slave F51199GH to see you sir,” the guard
“How about you shut up Joe,” says a girl of about eighteen, she’s tall and she looks muscular, I wouldn’t want to mess with her. “Let’s hear what she has to say.”
I give her a weak smile. “Thank you. I was just thinking,” I say quietly, “that if they don’t listen we can refuse to work and that might make them listen. Maybe I can get in touch with my brother and he can contact the media, we may be able to get some public support.”
The girl speaks up again, “I dunno what media or public is, but it sounds good to me.” She smiles at me. “My name’s Kate.”
“It’s a stupid idea.” This time it’s a girl who disagrees with me. “They’ll punish us all, we’ll all be worse off.”
“They can’t punish us all,” Kate says. “Count me in. C’mon, who else is gonna join us?”
My stomach is fluttering, I think I may have started a revolution; Kayden’s going to kill me. A few slaves raise their hands but most of them mutter at us to be quiet so they can get some sleep. Maybe not a revolution then, if only a few of us do it, it’ll be easy for them to punish us. It’s probably for the best but I will make a complaint. I crawl onto my bunk. I’m feeling tired but my mind is running through scenarios of what I’m going to say when I complain.
I wake to the piercing sound of the alarm and line up on the yellow line with the others. The door opens and the female guard that took us to breakfast yesterday is standing outside the door. The slaves troop out; I stop when I reach her. “Permission to speak please ma’am.”
“Make it quick,” she snaps.
I swallow. “I’d like to see whoever is in charge please ma’am.”
She scowls at me. “No one’s interested in what you’d like.”
“I’ve read those,” I point to the list of rules on the wall, “we’re not getting the things we should be. I just want to speak to someone about it.”
She glares at me. “Well now you have. Move.”
She shoves in the back but I stand my ground. My palms are sweating and my heart is thumping but I’m also angry, how dare she dismiss me like that. “These people are being taken advantage of because they can’t read. I’ll contact my brother and he’ll get the media involved.” I line up with the slaves, I don’t want them to miss breakfast because of me but I haven’t finished saying my piece. “If this ends up going to the media, I’ll make sure whoever runs this place knows it was your fault. You’ll end up losing your job.”
She presses her thumb against the pad, then she turns and scowls at me. As I walk past her, I can feel her glare burning a hole in the back of my head.
CHAPTER FOUR
Savannah
The rest of the week drags by, every day the same old thing. I get a few precious moments with Kayden at dinner, other than that, I never see him. I wonder if I’m going to lose the ability to think because there’s nothing here to occupy my mind.
I’m working in the field, picking tomatoes when I sense someone behind me. I look up, shielding my eyes from the sun, I wish I had my sunglasses. Standing there is a tall, thin male guard that I’ve never seen before. He speaks with a high pitched voice and tells me the manager wants to see me. I’ll be glad to get out of the sun; I can feel my arms and face are sunburned.
I follow him to the reception, where I was booked in. My palms are damp. I don’t know what the manager is like and I’m trying to think of what to say. We stop at a wooden door and the guard knocks on it, I hear a male voice telling us to enter.
The first thing I notice is the large, expensive looking wooden desk, and sitting behind it is a grey haired man wearing silver rimmed glasses. He stares at me with his cold, grey eyes. “I’ve got slave F51199GH to see you sir,” the guard
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