Before the Fall

Chapter Forty-Six - Namjoon

⚠️ This chapter deals lightly with child sex-trafficking. If this is a trigger for you, please do not read. ⚠️

Narrative

"Shhh, hush now, little one," cooed a woman holding a small infant. The child was bundled tightly against the biting cold, but the woman was wearing only a thin sweater.

A man watched her from a few rows back, his eyes narrowed as he watched her struggle to keep the infant from breaking out into a full-scale sob. He moved up to sit behind her and tapped her on the shoulder.

She turned to look at him and he saw the dark circles under her eyes and the dull paleness of her skin. Her eyes were bloodshot. She was clearly fatigued. And sick.

"I know this is unconventional, but may I try to quiet him? I'm pretty good with children." He gave her a warm smile and she turned back from him.

"No, thank you. My stop is next so he won't be a bother to anyone for much longer."

The man nodded and leaned back against his seat, his eyes still on the fussing baby. The little boy was chubby cheeked and pink, his skin clear and soft looking. The man smiled to himself. He missed his own children at home.

"How old?" he asked, trying to sound friendly.

"One month."

"So precious. I have two children at home. Ages three and one. Both boys."

She nodded and smiled, keeping her head forward.

The bus jerked to a stop and the woman stood, making her way to the front. The man watched her go down the steps and he saw her stagger a bit as she walked away from the bus. He quickly made his way to the front and jumped off, angering a driver who just wanted to stay on schedule.

"Ma'am! Are you alright?" he shouted, sprinting down the sidewalk to catch up with her.

She teetered a bit and leaned up against the nearby wall. The baby in her arms was now screaming but she didn't seem to be affected by his cries.

The man came up and touched her shoulder, her dull and cloudy looking eyes slowly sliding over to meet his in the yellow glow of the street light.

"Go away," she said, her voice haggard and raspy. "I'm meeting someone."

"Oh," said the man softly. The baby was still screaming, sounding more frantic at that point. He hesitated to back away but the woman glared at him, raising her own voice.

"Go away! You're upsetting my baby!"

The man flinched at her tone and backed away, holding his hands out in surrender. "Alright. I'm sorry. I just wanted to help."

The woman turned her back to him once more and stayed against the wall, still ignoring the screams of the child.

The man ducked into an alleyway around the corner of a building. He watched a man walk up to the woman.

"Ready to make that deal now, eh?" snickered the stranger.

"Yeah. Where's my stuff?"

"So impatient. I'm doing you a favor here, you know?"

"Yeah, yeah, where is it?"

"Hand your payment over first." The man held out his hands and the woman didn't even hesitate before handing the child over to him.

"Here, you piece of pathetic trash." He looked down at the child and frowned at its cries, tossing a small plastic bag to the woman who snatched it into her hands out of the air.