“Do you remember anything about that place?” I asked, hopeful that she’d remember some small detail. To my disappointment, Kamya shook her head.
“I couldn’t see anything,” she responded. “It was so dark, and the ground was so dirty and dusty. The man gave us some flashlights, and Lakshmi and I would sometimes play hide-and-seek. It was fun.”
“There weren’t any windows or doors?” I asked.
“No,” she shook her head. “I couldn’t tell if it was night or day because there was only one door that we were not allowed to touch.”
“Alright,” I nodded. “What happened after they took you to that place?”
“Sometimes the door would open, and a man would come inside and take one of the kids,” she replied.
“The same man that took you on the plane?” I asked.
“Sometimes,” she nodded. “But sometimes it was different men. Then one day, one of the men came and took Lakshmi. I kept yelling at him to bring her back, but he just closed the door. I didn’t want to be there anymore after that.” I could see that she was becoming upset, but I needed her to go on.
“Tell me what happened after they took Lakshmi,” I prompted.
“One day, one of the men came and took me and drove me to the Weavers’ house. I told him I wanted to go to where Lakshmi went, but he didn’t listen. I asked him if this was the school, but he just told me to be quiet and do what they said.”
“I see,” I responded. “And what were the Weavers like? Were they nice to you?”
“Mrs. Patricia Weaver was nice,” she answered. “Sometimes Mr. Daniel Weaver would get angry and tell me I had to go to sleep without dinner, and Mrs. Patricia Weaver would come downstairs and give me some and tell me not to tell Mr. Daniel Weaver.”
“Why would Mr. Weaver get angry at you?” I asked.
“Sometimes I would make mistakes,” Kamya frowned sadly. “I would forget to switch the clothes from the washer to the dryer, or I would burn his breakfast. Once I didn’t wake up on time, and he told me I had to stay downstairs all day, but Mrs. Weaver let me out after he left for work.” It sounded like Mrs. Weaver might have felt guilty about what they were doing. I’d have to bring that up with Junior and Charlie later.
“Okay,” I nodded. “Now, Kamya. Something happened yesterday, didn’t it? Can you talk to me about it?” Her eyes widened, and she bowed her head before speaking.
“I didn’t want to hurt them,” she mumbled meekly.
“I believe you,” I smiled as I gently lifted her chin up so I could look her in the eye. “Kamya, what happened was not your fault. The Weavers did something very bad, and we all know that you were only trying to defend yourself. But I need to know what happened so I can try to find the other children who were with you, okay?”
She nodded slowly and took a deep breath before speaking again.
“I tried to run away,” she started. “I wanted to go find Lakshmi, so a few weeks ago, I tried to escape while the Weavers were having a party. They made me prepare a lot of food and then told me to go downstairs. But then someone knocked on the door, and they forgot to lock it. I could hear people walking around outside the door, and I kept waiting for the lock to click, but it never did. Once I couldn’t hear anything anymore, I opened the door and went into the hallway. I tried to open the front door, but I couldn’t reach the top lock, so I threw one of Mrs. Weaver’s flower vases through a window and climbed out.”
“That was very brave of you,” I assured her. “What happened after that?
“Mr. Weaver caught me,” she replied sadly as he patted her own head. “He hit me right here three times before Mrs. Weaver stopped him. He said I wouldn’t get food for three days for doing that, but Mrs. Weaver snuck me a little whenever he left the house. A few days after that, Mr. Weaver was watching a movie. I wasn’t allowed to watch the TV, but I saw some of it when I was bringing him his drink. One of the people in the movie got hurt. He was bleeding very much, and a lady said to call nine-one-one. Then an ambulance came and rescued him.”
“Is that why you attacked Mr. and Mrs. Weaver?” I asked.
“Yes,” she nodded. “They had told me I was never, ever, ever allowed to use their telephones, but I knew that if I used it, I could call nine-one-one and get help. So I hit them both until they were bleeding, and then I called nine-one-one.” She looked proud as she finished speaking, and it took all of my composure not to break down in tears over this poor child’s plight.
“That was very clever of you,” I smiled reassuringly. “You see those two men over there?” I pointed at Junior and Charlie. “They are going to help me find Lakshmi, okay?” Kamya’s eyes lit up at my words.
“Really?” she cried.
“Yes,” I nodded. “You did such a great job telling me about everything that happened, but now I want you to go with Ms. Nicole, okay? She’s going to take care of you until we can get in touch with your mommy.”
“Thank you, Ms. Naomi,” Kamya responded.
I smiled as warmly as I could, though inside, I was seething with rage. I wouldn’t rest until I found Lakshmi and every other child that this group had trafficked into the United States.
4
Charlie
“Therefore, it’s obvious that this is bigger than just a one-off case,” Naomi sighed. “This is absolutely something that requires
