Prose

It is night again when she is brought to the office where Petrof Petrofski, Carlos and the three black men are waiting on her.  “I see you are doing better,” Carlos remarks smiling friendly and she gives him a look that sends him straight to hell.
 
“Maria, we have let you come to travel a small distance with us,” Petrofski remarks somewhat friendly, but she does not trust the peace.

”To where do you want to take me in the dark night,” she wants to know worried.  “If you work along with us it will be a pleasure trip,” Carlos remarks in a begging voice.

”Of whose pleasure do you talk?”  She asks mocking. “Ah, I see you really understand what is going to happen if you stay obstinate,” Petrofski remarks and starts laughing roughly.

Maria set her eyes on a dot on the wall and ignores the five men, as if they are not right there.  After a few minutes Petrofski looses his patience and he pulls her arms roughly behind her back, before he cuffs them together.

In silence they walk to the ancient lift and take it down to the basement of the building.  “If you start talking right now, this trip will not be necessary,” Carlos begs for the last time when the doors of a new Mercedes are opened.

She ignores him as if he doesn’t exist and is pushed into the back of the car, where she is forced to sit between two of the black men and hears a door slamming when the other black man gets into the front of the car next to Petrofski.

They leave Carlos behind and this suggests nothing good, as he had not been present at the worst of the torture sessions.

Petrofski turns the car into the deserted street and Maria can see the white phosphorous of the waves, while they drive with a road that runs along the sea.

Where are we going, and what are they planning with me? Maria wonders anxiously.  Maybe they have decided that they have had enough of her and want to rape and kill her somewhere in the veldt, she thinks somewhat scared.

After travelling some distance they turnoff on a road that runs to the interior of the country and the monotony of the trip must have let Maria doze off, as she suddenly wakes when Petrofski speaks to her. 
 
“You must be wondering where we are taking you, bitch.  We have arranged a small party for you,” the Russian says and one of the black men next to Maria starts laughing, with his teeth shining white in his black face.

”At the Grefanil barracks a whole brigade of young soldiers are waiting for you and they are all ready, to loosen their trousers,” the black man next to Petrofski remarks from the front of the car.

”God, you want to have me raped as well!  Do you have no humanity,” Maria calls out and the fear that is on her face causes the men next to her to start laughing.

She tries to make some plans, but it clear that she has no chance to escape.  They drive further and after a while she notices the lights of a car behind them.

”Who could be on the road this time of night,” Petrofski asks himself and when he drives somewhat slower a military Jeep catches up with them and overtakes them at speed.

They see the red backlights of the Jeep going dim in the distance and suddenly there’s a thud and the car jerks to one side.

”Damn it!  A flat tire,” Petrofski roars and draws the car from the road to come to a halt.  “Out!  Everybody get out!  Watch her carefully, while I and Idi Segwale change the tire,” the Russian orders.

Maria is jerked from the car and dragged into the veldt and pushed down to sit on grass that is wet from some dew.  Above her it’s a cloudless night and she notices the Southern Cross and hears the crickets and beetles singing lively.

Petrofki is busy in the boot of the car and one of the black men helps him to remove the spare wheel, a jack and wrench.

The two black men with Maria stand smoking next to her, before one of them kills his cigarette with his foot and make a gesture to the other. When the one kneels behind her and the other loosens his pants, she is panic stricken and agitated like never before.  Lord help, they are going to rape me right here, she prays in her thoughts while she is dragged closer to the man behind her.

She is so relieved when the man that had unbuttoned his pants urinates right in front of her and the other man unlocks her cuffs that she cannot help but to start laughing hysterically.

”What’s it with her,” Petrofski growls from the car.  “Shut up,” one of the black men hisses and when she cannot get control over her emotions he covers her mouth with his hand.

Petrofski and Idi Segwale both walk closer, when they are finished with the changing of the tire.  The Russian gets hold of Maria’s long hair and drags her to a water trough that is situated next to a cement dam and windmill.  “Are you going to talk, or drown?” Petrofski wants to know from her.

”Why have you loosened her arms,” Petrofski wants to know angrily.  “We were wondering if we cannot have a bit of pleasure with her, before we give her to the men at the barracks,” one of the black men remarks.

”Cuff her again,” Petrofski orders and one of the black men jerks Maria’s arms behind her back and snap the cuffs shut around her wrists.  “You have had enough time to decide.  Now you are either going to talk, or I am going to drown you right here,” Petrofski snaps with finality in his voice.

Maria ignores him and she is picked up from her feet by Petrofski and carried to the trough.  She tries to struggle to get out of his grip, but with the Russian’s massive power and her hands cuffed behind her back she is not able to do much.

Petrofski forces her head and upper body down into the trough while he holds onto her waist, as if she is light as a feather in his hands. Maria struggles, but it is to no avail.

When her ears starts singing and she starts to get dots in front of her eyes, he pulls her out of the water.  “Are you going to talk, bitch,” he wants to know while she gasps for air.

She chokes and struggles to breath and before she has time to answer he again pushes her beneath the water and now she is really agitated and time and again she is pulled from the water and pushed right back in.  It is when she knows that she is going to die, that Petrofski jerks her out of the trough and flings her onto the ground.

”Take a good rest.  It’s just for the men at the Grefanil barracks that I have spared your life,” Petrofski remarks, before he walks into the veldt to relieve himself.  She curls herself into and a bundle, starts crying and Maria is not aware of what is going on around her.

The three black men stand and smoke at their ease while they watch Maria.  Petrofski is still unbuttoning his pants to relieve himself, when the barrel of the Heckler and Koch 417, that is equipped with a noise suppressor, is pushed into his neck.  “I should have killed you that day in Cassinga,” Ryno remarks in Portuguese and terrified the Russian wet his pants.