Trafficked

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Book: Read Trafficked for Free Online
Authors: Kim Purcell
Maggie switched to English. “You look weird.”
    Hannah frowned. All the rules, even table manners, contradicted what she’d been taught. She didn’t want to seem weird. She knew that word—it meant you were different, in a bad way.
    A bang outside made Hannah stop chewing. Was that a car door?
    The front door opened. “Hello!” Lillian called.
    They were home!
    Hannah panicked. She grabbed Maggie’s sirok bar and tossed it in the garbage along with her own. Lillian’s soft slippers padded down the hall. Hannah looked at Maggie, and her heart thumped. Maggie’s entire mouth was covered in chocolate.

Chapter Six
    L illian strode into the kitchen and jerked to a stop. Her hazel eyes fixed on Maggie, who gave her a guilty smile with her chocolate-covered lips.
    â€œWhat are you eating?” she asked.
    â€œA sirok bar.” Maggie pointed at Hannah. “She gave it to me.”
    â€œYou know better than that, Maggie.” Lillian glanced over at Hannah, annoyed. “Dessert is for after dinner.”
    Hannah stood up to explain. “I tried—”
    Sergey came into the kitchen carrying two plastic bags of food. The smell of rotisserie chicken wafted from them, making Hannah’s mouth water. “What’s wrong?” he asked.
    Michael squeezed through his legs, stretched his arms out like a superhero, and let out a screech as he flew around the kitchen. Sergey and Lillian shared a smile, but then Lillian waved in Hannah’s direction, still angry.
    â€œShe fed Maggie a sirok bar before dinner,” Lillian said.
    â€œOoh,” Sergey said, sarcastically. “That’s a first.”
    Michael stopped. “I want sirok,” he said, looking up.
    Maggie gulped down the rest of the sirok bar that was in her mouth.
    â€œDid you finish it?” Lillian asked.
    Maggie shook her head slowly.
Oh no
, Hannah thought, sick to her stomach. She felt like Raskolnikov in
Crime and Punishment
, waiting for her crime to be discovered.
    Lillian tried to look around Maggie, expecting it to be hidden behind her, and held her hand out. “Give me the rest.”
    â€œI don’t have it.” Maggie’s eyes widened in fear, which made Hannah’s heart start to beat faster.
    â€œWhere is it?” Lillian asked.
    â€œIn the garbage.” Maggie pointed at Hannah. “She threw it there when you came in.”
    Lillian opened the garbage can and looked down. Her face turned red. She pulled out one of the unfinished bars and shook it. “Is this what you do in Moldova?” she asked, her voice shaking with rage. “You waste good food?”
    â€œI’m sorry,” Hannah stammered, digging her nails into the sides of her jeans. “Maggie wouldn’t eat anything else.”
    Sergey cleared his throat. “Don’t worry about it.”
    â€œDon’t worry about it?” Lillian turned to him and barked, “Paavo warned us about her, but you insisted.”
    Who was Paavo?
    â€œCome on, Lily.” Sergey rested his hand on his wife’s shoulder. “She’s a good girl.” He spoke firmly, with conviction, as if he’d known her for more than a few hours.
    Lillian shrugged his hand away. “She’s already lied!”
    â€œIt’s not really—” Sergey began.
    â€œHiding something so you don’t get in trouble is lying. You, more than anyone, should know that,” Lillian said, glaring at him.
    It took only the smallest gesture, just a half shrug with one shoulder, but it was like a lit match to a rag covered in gasoline.
    â€œGoddamn it, Sergey!” Lillian flung the sirok bar across the room toward his head. He ducked. Maggie flinched.
    The bar hit the wall behind the kitchen table and slid down, making a long brown streak on the white paint before it dropped onto the floor. Lillian stared at it, as if she’d surprised even herself.
    Michael laughed. Everyone else

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