Chapter 27: I'll be converted to a human trafficker.
Mother of Teddy received two loans from various lenders. In the first, she borrowed R50,000, and when he was arrested, they decided to sell his house because her mother had used it as a clause in the contract agreement they had forced her to sign, allowing them to take her house and everything in it if she couldn't pay. However, Teddy was arrested before they could even pay the money, so they had to sell the house.
The additional loan sharks Teddy hasn't met them, but he has only come across their business name in her mother's notepad. Even he had forgotten about them. The only thing on his mind was to get a job so he could pay back the money her mother borrowed from the loan lenders who sold their property, with the expectation that he would then be able to buy it back.
When the other debt collectors intervened to get their money, everything deteriorated quickly. "Since you were concealed, we searched everywhere for you. Do you realize how much gas costs, you fucking bastard," the second man yelled, hitting Teddy in the face.
Teddy was absolutely astonished to see a man's enormous hand slapping his small, adorable face who looked old enough to be his father. He answered, cradling his reddened cheek, which had been slapped. When he responded, his voice trembled. "I was not hiding; my house got taken away, and I had no choice but to look for another cheap place to live."
His camp bed was thrown by the first man n in response. "we can't even take anything with us here coming here was indeed a waste of petrol and our time"
As the third man approached Teddy, he choked him to death. Teddy attempted to free himself from the hands but was unable since he was struggling to breathe."We're giving you a week to give us our money", the man replied. "Whatever you will fucking do to get it, I don't care. For all I care, you could even sell your kidney."
Teddy was coughing as he was being strangled by the man when he let go, satisfied with his work. The man said, "Based on the way you flinched when you saw us, I'm sure you heard about us.
" We gave your mother a R10,000 loan, and she made the decision to commit suicide because she didn't want to pay it back. We now need that cash from you. if you are unable to repay it. To recoup our costs, we shall sell every component of your body. Now she owes an R30k debt rather than a R10k", the third guy remarked.
Teddy glared at him angrily and said, "First of all, my mother didn't kill herself. Don't talk nonsense about my mother."
"what!? a nonsense?! ", the third man exclaimed, turning around to hit Teddy with a punch to the stomach. Teddy dropped to the ground, clutching his aching stomach as he lay there helplessly.
"We don't care how that b*tch died. All we care about is getting paid. When I mention your mother, you have the guts to comment. You kept silent, you little rat, when I was telling you about the money she owes.", the man said, widening his eyes.
Teddy was on the ground and remained silent. He didn't say anything, his whole body shaking with the rage he felt. He couldn't comprehend that he felt tortured every day of his life. "We want our money back by the end of Saturday next week and if you can't, then we will have no choice but to kill you so that we get our money" , said the second individual.
Teddy was lying helplessly on the ground when the first man approached and kicked him in the buttocks. "But all we have to do is sell him to a rich guy. We don't even have to murder him. Look at that adorable face! We can make a lot of money with him because he appears like a girl", said the first man, while he was roughly holding Teddy's face.
They all laughed. "why didn't I think about that", the second man said.
The third man exclaimed, chuckling, "Bingo!"
They laughed once more. "You heard that right?", The third man, who was smiling menacingly at Teddy, stated, "If you can't pay our money, we have no alternative but to get you banged out by rich males for an affordable price".
Let's go guys!".
They both walked out.
Teddy fought to hold back his tears, but he was unsuccessful. They gushed like a river down his face. He attempted to stand up, but the beatings left his entire body throbbing. Finally, he was able to stand up and move to the door to lock it.
He exhaled deeply. "what's the use of locking this thing because they can easily break it if they want to enter" . After locking it, he went to repair his camp bed, which the money lenders had ruined.
He finished and then lay down. He was lying on his back, facing the ceiling, and he remarked, "I should be grateful that they arrived here while Brian had already left since I don't know what would have happened then. He swallowed his spit and yelled, "mom! Mom!" while closing his eyes. "Why did you do this to me and why are you making me hate you now rather than miss you?", he asked looking again at the ceiling.
Teddy had never harbored any sorrow against his mother because the two had always been so close. However, things are now shifting. Without telling him, his mother took out a debt from the loan sharks. Additionally, he learned that she just lately began gambling. He felt deceived by her since he felt like a complete stranger to the woman he had believed he known for the rest of his life.
"She left me with so much debts, what a coward", he said,wiping his tears out. He got out of bed, grabbed a bucket, and headed to the faucet to get some water. He overheard people talking about him behind his back as he was traveling.
"Is this the boy that recently moved in?"
"Yes, this is the boy I was telling you about. Not even a day has passed, but he has already been visited by the loan lenders."
"It appears that he has caused us issues. We don't require such issues. He must be evicted by the landlord immediately or he will cause difficulty for everyone" .
"I've heard they're engaged in human trafficking. He compromises the safety of our kids".
Teddy continued to move forward while pretending he wasn't hearing what they were saying. He opened the tap when he got there and poured water out of it till the bucket was full. He then turned the tap off.
He attempted to lift the bucket but found that his sore body prevented him from doing so. He carried the bucket to his house after pouring the water from it on the ground to lighten the load. People were looking at him as he traveled. He hurried despite the agony in his body because he was felt ashamed.
as soon as he entered his home. He shut and closed the door. He started washing his injured face with a towel and face soap after pouring water from the basin. "They claim that first impressions count. On Monday, I have to go job seeking. I am not going out like this" .
when he was done. He drank some painkillers and then went to bed to sleep. Stress prevented him from falling asleep, so he tried singing to divert his attention until he did.
….
….
It was now Sunday, the day after. Brian made the decision to spend the entire day sleeping. He refrained from going outside due to his fear of others. Everything about him was damaged by the loan lenders. Since he was new to the area, nobody came to meet or greet him. Since those debt lenders arrived and began to harass him, they had been scared for their lives.
But fortunately, the landlord didn't care; all that mattered was that he pay the rent on time. While dozing off on his bed and being covered by a blanket, he exhaled deeply. "I'm so hungry, I don't even have a stove here to atleast warm water up to bath",he said.
He attempted to get out of bed, but his body was still throbbing all over and he was covered in bruises on his face and mouth. He filled the bathing bowl with chilly water. He was accustomed to taking showers in the basin because he and his mother did it to conserve power. After taking a bath, he ate the bread Brian had bought for him the day before, drank some water, and then went back to sleep.
He spent the entire day tossing and turning, considering the locations he would visit to look for work. Since he had dropped out of school, he was terrified that no one would hire him. Additionally, he is still a minor. But despite all that was going on in his life, he managed to be calm and upbeat because he believed that everything would turn out okay in the end. He didn't want to worry about his condition too much because that would be bad for his mental health.
Now it was nighttime. Teddy made the decision to take advantage of the privacy to use the restroom. They were in public restrooms. He went there to use the restroom and then returned. "In my entire life, I have never seen anything so filthy. I thought that my presence in this frigid location was the worst, but the toilet! " he exclaimed.
He filled the basin with water and used soap to wash his hands for five minutes to get the filth off.
He sighed deeply and stated, "I need to work my ass off and get out of this place."
After finishing, he went to bed.