The supervisor swallowed the lump in his throat, as sweat broke out of his forehead, ” these children are on a field trip organized by the church, but it’s the school that is providing the resources, like the bus, the uniform and the food” he replied carefully to the officer.
“So you are saying theseu children are not from your school?” The policeman asked.
“Not exactly”
“So who exactly are they then? I thought my question was supposed to have a simple yes or No answer to it”
“Some of them are church members but the majority of them are poor kids who lives in the neighborhood”
“So if I make some phone call to your church and school, will I hear a story that agrees with yours?” The officer of the law asked.
“You know what? Do we really have to go through all that trouble?” The supervisor asked, ” these kids have been traveling on this bus for hours now and I would like to get them to their campsite as soon as possible”
The policeman paused as he digested the information he had just been peppered with.
“There are some tired legs and empty stomachs as well, these children Haven’t had anything to eat since the breakfast we gave them” the supervisor chipped in, trying to convince the officer.
“You know there is a national outrage at the unusual disappearance of kids and massive child-trafficking in this region…”
“Oh, no, no, we certainly couldn’t be involved in anything like that” the supervisor quickly cut in before the policeman could develop another point.
“At first glance, this looks like what you say it is, but my gut feeling is that….”
“You know what? I don’t want you to go on a wild goose chase while the real criminals are out there commiting dreadful crimes like child-trafficking”
The officer hesitated, his sense screaming that something just did not add up.
“You know what officer, I don’t want it to look like we have wasted your time, so let’s get off this bus and we will make it worth your while” the supervisor urged.
“Are you trying to bribe me?”
“No sir, nothing like that, just a little something to show appreciation for your time and dedication to your duties” the supervisor flattered, ” this childtrafficking is a serious issue that should be dealt with thoroughly”
“Make sure that driver of yours doesn’t make any more silly comments otherwise this trip is over, I will have him arrested”
“Yes boss”
The two men got off the bus which had been as quiet as cemetery during the exchange, immediately the bus closed there was a buzz if activity as the boys muttered and mumbled and tried to figure out what just happened, a lot of the younger ones just sat in their seat feeling lonely, scared, and confused.
Only the handful of the others who had some education had followed the entire conversation.
“Did you follow what I just heard?” Zell asked Philip.
“Most of it” Philip replied, ” I was lipreading, and the lies that guy was telling just gives me more reason to believe this whole setup is a cover-up”.
Kenny who was seated a couple of rows infront of Zell and his brother walked over to them, he was one of the few kids in the community who had also benefitted from the missionary school education.
“Did I hear right? That guy just flatly lied to a police officer, are we safe?” Kenny asked, fear gripped him as his hands slightly shook, ” if you ask me, I think we are being trafficked”
“I do not think you want to say that aloud, we are in the middle of no where, these guys could choose to do anything they want to do with you” Zell advised, ” I personally don’t know what to think anymore, like Philip said, just keep your eyes and your ears open”
“I think I will jump off the bus the next time it stops” Kenny whispered, Zell translated what he had just said to Philip.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you, do you have any clue where we are? We have been traveling for hours now, we must be pretty far from home” Philip said.
Zell did the translation for Kenny.
“He’s definitely right” Kenny agreed.
“Let’s wait and see where this journey ends, then we can decide on what we want to do after that” Zell suggested, ” our plans maybe pointless if we do not even know what lies in store”
Kenny quickly dashed back to his seat as the door handle turned, Zell expected the driver and his companion to give them lecture of some sort but they didn’t, the supervisor just turned to them and said, ” don’t worry boys, very soon you all will be in paradise”