Dave kept driving the car as Monica blew her nose. She'd been crying all day thinking about their situation. She knew her and Dave had a lot going for them in spite of their financial situation.
Monica was gorgeous. Her and Dave had been married for three years. They planned on having children. They bought a cozy little ranch home about two years ago. Who would have thought that things would get this bad!
Monica had been working as a bank teller until the bank merged. She was laid off from her job like several hundred others. Dave worked at another bank as a loan officer. Things got so bad that he was laid off when their bank almost failed.
The two of them couldn't find anything decent except Dave worked as a cashier down at a local grocery store. Their savings was dwindling down to the last few dollars and the mortgage was due again.
Everything they worked so hard to achieve was in jeopardy. It was until last week. That's when Dave was approached at the store where he worked by a man he didn't know. He made Dave an offer. Dave was so scared and upset he threatened to call the police. The man calmed him down until he was able to give David his sales pitch.
Dave and Monica's problems would be solved over night. The man explained this wild idea which involved selling his wife's services for a whole year. Dave couldn't remember exactly what persuaded him to allow this man to speak to Monica and him together but he did and the deal was done.
Dave suddenly slammed on his breaks as Monica looked over at him to see what was wrong. The dirt road they were traveling on was dark. There wasn't a building for miles except this tiny little sign on the side of the road.
The white sign had the letters WWS printed on it. Dave had no idea what that meant other than he was told to watch for a white sign with those letters. He was to follow the dirt drive back into the woods until he came upon a guard shake. The night was dark, there wasn't even a moon. All Dave could see was a man shinning a flashlight for him to stop. Dave showed the man the letter and he was directed through a barbwire gate. He pulled up next to a roll of cars and parked. There was a large pole building a couple hundred feet from where they parked.
Monica busted out crying. "Honey, lets go I don't think we should go through with this."
Dave leaned over as Monica cried on his shoulder. He rubbed her back and hugged her tight. Somebody tapped on the car window startling the couple. There was a man standing outside motioning them to hurry up.
Dave opened the door and walked around taking his wife's hand. The man waiting for them was wearing a dark hood. He seemed polite as he directed the couple to follow them to the pole building. The man knocked on the steel door and it immediately opened. They followed him inside.
There were several men standing around wearing hoods just like the man that lead them in. One of the men walked directly into Dave's face and said.
"I need you to follow me while we prepare your Mrs."
Dave looked a little confused and concerned as two of the hooded men grabbed hold of his wife's arms and started to take her away.
Monica twisted until she broke loose and ran to Dave crying. He immediately took her into his arms as she stood crying and held her tight.
"It's alright honey. I'll see you a little later on."
She was afraid even though they were well informed of the procedures that would take place that night. Everything just seemed so scary. Monica finally regained enough of herself to be walked out of the room as Dave was taken to another room.
The place wasn't much more than a barn with a few makeshift rooms. Dave was taken into another room where the man they called the Trader was waiting. There were several men standing around while the Trader got ready to speak.
"I'll have you taken out into the arena area in a few minutes. As soon as the bidding starts on our first cow, you will be seated at the back of the arena where you can watch the progress for yourself and see that I'm not going to cheat you out of any money.
Cow? What did he mean by calling Monica a cow?
Dave stood near the desk as he waited while the Trader flipped through the contract.
"Everything seems to be in order. You'll be brought back here where you'll be paid in full once your cow has been sold."
"Excuse me sir but Monica isn't a cow. She's my wife and I don't appreciate you degrading her like this."
The Trader just stopped what he was doing and starred at Dave for a few seconds before he replied.
"Wouldn't you say that you're the one who is degrading your precious Monica? You agreed to have her sold here tonight didn't you?"
Dave stuttered and replied. Well.....Uh......Yes....But.....Not like this.....I mean, I was told my wife wasn't going to be hurt."
"Nobody is going to get harmed here tonight, I can assure you of that. We have our way of running our business here. We have clients to expect the best merchandise."
The Trader leaned forward adding. ""Do you think my clients come here to see somebody get hurt? Why would they want to pay top dollar for a cow that wasn't up to our standards?"
Dave swallowed. "I guess I'm not use to hearing my wife referred to as a cow."
The trader pointed his finger saying. "Get over it. Your going to hear the auctioneer referring to all the cows in that manor out in the arena."
The trader turned to one of the men. "You can take him out there to wait now."
Two men approached Dave pointing to another door. Just as Dave was about to leave the Trader spoke out.
"I think you will be very pleased with the selling price your beautiful cow is going to bring tonight."
Dave was taken around the back of the building and brought back in through another door. He could hear a crowd of people inside as he was lead inside where he could peek through a small doorway looking out into what they called the arena.
Dave was so nervous he hardly noticed the other men being held in the same area. Dave looked at them and figured they were here for the same reason. Nobody spoke as they just stood waiting until somebody finally came through the door and escorted them out into the arena area.
The room was filled with people who were mostly all seated in a typical auction fashion. Dave and the other men were lead up onto a small bleacher section at the back of the arena. There was just enough room for the small group of men. Dave finally started to count them. He thought he counted twenty.
Dave looked around at the audience seated in front of him on metal chairs. There were all sorts of people. White men, black men, Arabs in full dress and a few women. They all looked wealthy and important.
Another hooded man approached them and spoke to the group. "As soon as your cow is sold, you will be escorted back to the Trader to complete your transaction. Just sit tight, the auction is going to begin soon."
Dave gulped and looked around at some of the other men. The lights dimmed about five minutes later as a man stood on a lighted stage.
