The Yao boy bared his teeth at Kai as he had at Livia. But when neither of them backed away, he grunted as though in disgust, tossed one of the blankets at Livia, and slunk away to one of the corners of the box.
Livia nodded to Kai, then took the blanket to Nason. If they snuggled closely, one blanket would be enough to keep them warm, and the other they could use as a pallet. She realized this would be a good idea for the other children, too, and explained it carefully in Thai, waiting patiently while the message was translated from one language to another. Like most of her ideas, she didn’t know if it would help much, but it gave them something to do and seemed to make the others feel a little better.
That night, while she snuggled close to Nason in the dark, Livia folded the top of the can nearly in half to make one edge stick out and to make it easier to hold without cutting herself. She gripped it tightly between her thumb and fingers and touched the edge with her free hand. It wasn’t as sharp as an a-taw, but it would slice deeply if she slashed with it. She slid it into her back pocket, and slept better feeling the small, hard shape beneath her.
Several days passed. Once in the morning and then again at night, the men handed out food in cans and bottles of water, and replaced the stinky buckets with fresh ones. At night, they carried flashlights, which they would shine at the top of the box and then watch by the reflected light while the children ate. Livia didn’t like their expressions. They looked like hungry cats eyeing trapped mice. Like they wanted something from the children, but for some reason weren’t taking it. Yet.
On their fourth night on the boat, when the men came with the food and water, they smelled of alcohol. Their faces were red in the glow of their flashlights, and they licked their lips while the children ate from the cans. It was enough to make Livia remember what one of the children had said—that she had heard about men like these, men who ate children. It seemed too horrible to be true, but Livia knew from the feverish look in their eyes, the way they rubbed their mouths with the back of their hands, that they were going to do something bad. But what?
When the children were done and had thrown the empty cans into the dirty buckets, Square Head, who was standing next to Livia and Nason, glanced at Skull Face and raised his eyebrows as though asking a question. Skull Face nodded—and Square Head seized Nason by the wrist. Nason cried out and tried to pull away.
“You come,” Square Head said in Thai.
Livia grabbed Nason by the other wrist, just as she had in front of their hut, a time that seemed impossibly far away now. She felt like she was having a nightmare. Why were the men trying to take Nason? She thought about the folded can top in her back pocket. But how could she use it against three men?
“Why you take her?” she cried out in Thai. “Why?”
Square Head was still pulling, but only hard enough to keep Livia from pulling Nason back. He looked at Skull Face as though waiting for him to decide.
Skull Face laughed and shone his flashlight in Livia’s face. She raised one hand against the blinding light, hanging on to Nason’s wrist with the other.
“For fun,” he said. “We take her for fun.”
For a moment, Livia didn’t understand. Fun? They wanted Nason for a game? It didn’t make sense—
And then she was overwhelmed with a horrified understanding. “No!” she cried out. “No, please, no.”
Skull Face laughed again. “No? Why?”
Livia struggled to hold back tears. “She too young for fun. Please.”
Livia felt Skull Face looking at her, and she had the horrible sense that he knew her, knew her better than she knew herself. She tried to think of what to do, and then Skull Face shone the flashlight on Nason and said to Square Head, “Enough. Take her.”
Square Head started pulling again. Livia grabbed Nason’s wrist with both hands and tried to pull back, but the man was too strong. Nason looked at Livia and screamed, “Labee! Labee!”
Livia was being dragged along behind Nason. She couldn’t stop them. But she couldn’t let them do this to Nason. She couldn’t. Without thinking, she looked at Skull Face and screamed, “Take me! Not her, take me!”
Skull Face, already red from the alcohol, flushed more deeply. His nostrils flaring slightly as he breathed, he said to Square Head, “Wait.”
Square Head stopped pulling, but didn’t release Nason’s wrist.
Skull Face shone his flashlight at Livia. “You want us to take you?”
Livia shook her head, squinting. “She too young. Please.”
“Then you? You want us to take you?”
Livia couldn’t answer.
Skull Face shrugged and nodded at Nason. “Okay,” he said to Square Head. “Take her.”
“No!” Livia shouted. “No, you take me. I want you take me.”
Skull Face looked at her. His sunken eyes were black.
“What if we like her better?”
“No, she no better. Please. You take me.”
“Why?”
“She too young.”