LA, LA, LALIANA

CHAPTER NINE

                                Truth be told, the area was surrounded by security personnel. They were in stealth mode by then until they were given the signal to come out by the smartly dressed man. It was like a scene from a Hollywood action movie.
                                 Immediately, the police came in from all directions, even from the roof. The woman and all her henchmen which more than the two men that Laliana encountered earlier tried to escape but all was in vain. All of them were sooner or later put in handcuffs. Laliana was still tied up and on her knees as she watched her abductors being arrested.

                  .....

                                "Miss do you understand ENGLISH?" The lady at the office asked while putting emphasis on the word English. "Yes I do," Laliana answered while nodding.
Looking through a thin green file, the lady continued, "According to this file, it says you were a victim of  human trafficking ," I am learning about it now," Laliana replied, still nodding.
                               "Well what did you think you would get . Where have you  heard that a local job recruitment agency would make you enter the US of A without proper documentation! Even a simpleton knows that that is entirely impossible,"
                                   "Madam, please now is not the time to judge me. Right now my two children are missing... I just wanted to look for a better life for them and... and I ended up here. Please help me find my children!"
                                    The lady remained silent and blinked twice after listening to Laliana's predicament. She then proceeded to typing furiously in her computer. Laliana just glared at her in disbelief. How could she just blink at her problems, just blink! Zari and Joni were out of their mother's sight and who knows what could have happened to them. Certainly not the worst, Laliana hoped but miss type - a- lot over there made her fear for the exact worst for her children.
                              " Listen lady, we as the government can only do so much. Since you are a survivor of human trafficking, the law will provide you a temporary shelter. The jobs you can only do right now are domestic and until you pursue legal means, your stay here is limited. May I remind you that you are under surveillance and any law you break will ultimately lead to deportation and even permanent banishment from this country."
                               That was how Laliana found herself in a refugee shelter in the Bronx county. A refugee, Laliana's life unimaginably escalated from being a high life wife to being a refugee. That was a title she most certainly did not intend to have, especially now that her kids were missing. The children! They were the only people on Laliana's mind. Of all the things that have or might backfire in her life, Zari and Joni could not be on that list. Laliana had to make sure that that would not happen.
                             Laliana had to somehow start from scratch. By then she had nothing in her possession. Her luggage, the money Nara lend her, her iPhone with the Minnie Mouse phone case, they were all gone. She had to then  rely on the donations that came in a slow but steady stream to the shelter.
                                  Fortunately or unfortunately Laliana was lucky or unlucky enough to get a job as a garbage collector for a public hospital. What a coincidence to land in another health institution. At least the dollar is stronger than the Kenyan Shilling so the pay would be a lot better, Laliana comforted herself.
                              A week after working in the hospital and adjusting in the shelter, Laliana took the initiative to go to the nearest police station and report of her missing children. Not that she had just been quiet until the day she decided to go to the police station. The last seven days had been spent asking each and every passerby if they saw Zari and Joni. It proved however daunting since the only pictures she had of her children were in her bag which was nowhere to be found alongside her other items. She had to use word of mouth to describe her children,mind you even though she knew English very well, getting used to hear accents different from hers was another thing.
          
😋☺️🙂