Chapter Six ~ Revelations

Tuesday, November 3

Trixie walked from the campus parking lot to the Science Building, where her biology class met. She mentally ran over the lecture material and reading assigned since the previous class, entertaining herself by imagining the Batman speaking to the class while wearing a vampire cloak and trying to conceal his fangs. As she walked through the doors, a voice behind her startled her.

“Trixie!” It was Lee Song!

Trixie stopped and waited for the other girl, opening the door and holding it when Lee Song caught up to her. “Lee! What are you doing here? Aren’t you still in high school? At Sleepyside?”

Lee Song ducked inside, glancing around as if worried someone could be spying on her. “Shhh! What luck that you’re here! Is there someplace we can go that’s private? Just for a few minutes.”

“Sure. I’m a few minutes early for class. Let’s go into the restroom midway down the hall on the left. We should have it to ourselves for a few minutes.”

They strode quickly to the room Trixie indicated, and Lee Song stopped just inside the door, so that she’d know if anyone tried to come inside, while Trixie bent down to see if any stalls were occupied. None were, so she stood next to Lee Song.

“What is it?” she asked in a near-whisper.

“I caught a ride with another student making a campus visit today,” Lee explained. “I faked a parental note to get excused from school. I didn’t know you’d be here.”

“I don’t understand. Why wouldn’t your parents write a note for you to have an excused absence for a campus visit? Everyone does it as a senior, and you’re allowed three excused absences for campus visits.”

“Look, I know that, Trixie. But the Songs aren’t my parents.”

Trixie’s mouth dropped open in surprise, although she’d wondered about that very thing for a while.

“Mr. Song is a cousin of my father,” Lee said. “My real name is Lian Zhang.”

Closing her mouth, Trixie tried to look supportive.

“My parents live in a small village in China,” Lee—Lian, Trixie reminded herself—continued. “They wanted me to have opportunities that weren’t available in our district.” Her speech speeded up as she spoke, words almost tumbling over each other. “When I was fifteen, a man visited the village and said he was looking for teenaged girls to work at good jobs in his American business. He told my parents that every need would be provided, and I would have an education and earn good money. I was excited and my parents said yes. I left with him and four other girls from our village. He had collected six other girls from other villages, so there were eleven of us altogether.”

Lian brushed tears from her eyes and gulped back a sob before continuing. “When we got to the United States, we found out we were to be parceled out to Chinese restaurants in New York City and in nearby towns and we would be trained to work as cooks, waitresses, and cleaners. I stayed in a dormitory with ten other girls above a restaurant in Poughkeepsie at first. One person had to sleep on the floor in the kitchen every night. Not the same person, just one picked at random. We couldn’t go out alone or even in groups, and we had to work every night. But we were allowed to go to school. At the end of the school year, I was moved to the Blue Dragon as it was getting ready to open.”

Trixie clapped a palm to her mouth to keep from interrupting the other girl’s story. She was glad Lian had finally decided to confide in someone, and shocked that such things could have been happening virtually under her nose without arousing her suspicions sooner.

“I was to always use the story that the Songs were my parents,” Lee explained. “There were four other girls here when I came, but all of them have been moved on. I don’t know where they are now. Mei and Qing Tian have been in Sleepyside since school started, but Mei was in Yonkers last year. Another new girl was moved here a few weeks ago, her name is Chen Li. Qing and Chen are still sixteen, so they are only working at the restaurant. But Mei found out where one of her former roommates went and has somehow communicated with her on the internet. That girl told her that when she is eighteen and finished with high school, she will be moved to a business with a massage parlor and expected to become a... a sex worker.” Lian choked out the last few words.

Trixie was so shocked she couldn’t even speak.

Lian stumbled forward as someone pushed the door open behind her. Trixie reached out to keep her from falling, and drew her over to the row of sinks as several chattering girls entered the restroom.

Under cover of their chatter, she murmured to Lian, “We’re your friends, Lian. If you want to get away, there are resources that will help you and keep you safe.” She reached into her purse and pulled out several tubes of lip balm. “Here, keep one and give one to each of the other girls at the Blue Dragon who are being forced to work against their will, or not allowed the freedom to choose education or leave for another job on their own.” She pressed the tubes into Lian's hand. “There’s a toll-free telephone number you can call to get help, any time of the day or night.”

Lian stared at the tubes. Then she looked at Trixie, who was surprised to see tears in her eyes again. “Why do you want to help me?”

“No one should be forced to hold down a job and not allowed to make their own choices. And no one should be forced to perform sex work, even if they are an adult… eighteen, I mean.” She showed Lee Song the toll-free number. “It’s not very obvious, and I don’t think anyone would think it was odd for you to use lip balm.”

The sounds of toilets flushing drowned out their voices from being overheard; at least Trixie hoped so.

“Thank you, Trixie. I will talk to Mei and Qing and Chen. Mei tells me her mother was also promised good work in America, but they were separated as soon as they arrived. Mei doesn’t know where her mom is now, and she worries about causing harm to come to her mother if she tried to escape.”

“Gleeps, that’s awful.” Trixie felt tears gathering in her own eyes, and brushed her sleeve across her eyes to hide the emotional response. “Look, I need to get to class, but please go ahead and do your campus visit. Don’t give up on your plan to go to college.”

The group of girls who’d come into the restroom began to exit the stalls and Trixie opened the restroom door. She and Lian ducked out into the corridor and separated, Trixie to her class and Lian to, well, to wherever she was going.

At lunch time, Trixie met up with Mart and Dan as they ate lunch at the Student Center. “You’ll never guess who I saw this morning,” she told them

“Okay, so don’t make us guess.” Dan grinned at her as he opened a can of soft drink. He popped the last bite of a peanut butter sandwich into his mouth.

“Elucidate, my dear sibling,” Mart added. “Sustenance will help me to listen better.” He took a bite from a juicy burger straight off the grill.

“Lee Song.” Trixie took a bite of her vending machine sandwich and munched on it while she watched the boys’ reactions.

“I thought you said she’s still in high school,” Mart said.

“She’s doing a campus visit. But I found out I was right about the labor trafficking at the Blue Dragon. Lee—her real name is Lian Zhang—told me the Blue Dragon’s owners aren’t her parents at all. She, and the other waitresses and employees at the Blue Dragon were brought from China to work in the restaurant by a man claiming he had good jobs and opportunities for education in America that they couldn’t get in their villages. They do restaurant work until they’re eighteen, but they might be moved to a different restaurant every few months. Then, when they’re eighteen, they’re forced into sex work. They aren’t allowed to have their own money, or a car, or go anywhere besides work and school. Mei has taken two dual credit classes but she has her eighteenth birthday next month and she’s going to be moved as soon as she graduates.”

Dan gave a low whistle. “It sounds like several of the girls may be under eighteen since they’re all in school. We can report this to the police today.”

“Yes, I’m going right to Chief Molinson as soon as I get back to Sleepyside. I just hope he won’t brush me off or laugh at me.”

“I don’t think he will.” Dan’s eyebrows drew together in a frown. “But Trix, as soon as we report this, we all need to back off and stay out of it. Really, from what you described, I’m betting there is a regular ring of these traffickers. That they can recruit numerous girls, and move them around to not just different restaurants and I guess ‘massage parlors’”—he made air quotes as he said that last—“in not just one town, but in multiple towns, tells me it’s a large-scale operation. It’s making a lot of money for the ringleaders and probably for the middlemen, and bad things will happen if amateurs try to get involved with stopping them.”

“I know you’re right.” Trixie sighed as she munched on some potato chips. “But gleeps, I wish there was something more I could do to help those girls. I did give Lian some lip balms to share with the other girls.”

That afternoon, it was hard for Trixie to concentrate on her classes. Every few minutes her mind drifted to the information she’d learned about the labor trafficking going on right in her small hometown. She still found it hard to believe. Luckily, by three o’clock she was free. Mart didn’t finish up for another hour, so she made her way to the campus library to do some studying. But once again, concentration eluded her.

Finally, Mart appeared at the library door. “You ready, Trix?” he asked. She stood and gathered her books. Suddenly she felt alert and energetic again. She could finally do something! Mart took her heaviest textbook and the two of them headed for the car they shared.

“Dan said to let him know what Chief Molinson says,” Mart said. “He hated that he’s got that evening class on Tuesdays. But he didn’t want you to wait until he could go with us tomorrow.”

“That’s a good thing, because I wouldn’t have waited.” Trixie tossed her curls. “It feels like this situation has been weighing on my mind forever, and I’m so glad we can finally do something about it.”

The police station in Sleepyside was housed in a long, low building located in a park-like setting a couple of blocks away from the business district, along with some other city offices. “I hope we’re not too late,” Trixie fretted. “What if Chief Molinson is already gone for the day?”

Mart checked his watch. “It’s four thirty, so I won’t be surprised if he’s gone. But we’ll just ask for an officer who’s on duty now.”

The siblings entered the police station by a rather unobtrusive entryway with automatic doors. The lobby contained a couple of park benches and a vending machine; otherwise it was basic, with a tile floor and fluorescent lights that buzzed erratically. A receptionist sat behind a glass enclosure about ten feet back from the entrance. Trixie wondered idly if the glass was bulletproof.

“Good afternoon, may I help you?” the woman asked.

“We’d like to speak to Chief Molinson, if he’s available.” Trixie made an extra effort to be courteous and subdued. The chief hadn’t welcomed her interference and amateur detective work in the past. She didn’t want to upset him before passing on the information she’d learned.

“The Chief is gone for the day. Sergeant Webster is patrolling, but I can ask him to come by the station if it’s important.” The receptionist waited for Trixie’s answer.

“Oh yes, please do ask him.” “Spider” Webster was a favorite with the Bob-Whites. He was a younger officer, still in his twenties, and he’d always listened to Trixie, even when he told her to stay out of a suspected case.

“All right. Please have a seat. I’ll radio him and see how soon he can come by.”

The Beldens sat down on one of the park benches to wait. After only five minutes, they could hear a car pulling into the station’s parking lot. Trixie was on her feet before the trim, dark-haired young officer opened the outer door.

“Oh, Spider!” she exclaimed. “I’m so glad you’re here. We need to report criminal activity.”

“Hello, Trixie, and hello, Mart. Let’s go back into the meeting room, and let me get some report forms,” Spider answered. They followed the officer and minutes later were seated at an oblong table in a room somewhere behind the front lobby.

Trixie’s words tumbled over each other as she described how she’d started to suspect shady activity at the restaurant. Occasionally Mart would hold up a hand and add a detail she’d forgotten to mention. Spider took notes, occasionally asking a question. When she reached the conversation with Lian at the college, the policeman’s ears perked up.

“So, the girls who are working at the restaurant now are all under eighteen. I understand that I can report that they’re being trafficked since they’re technically children,” she finished up in a rush.

“Thank you, Trixie and Mart,” Spider said. “I’ll get the Child Welfare people on it right away. You understand that I can’t share details with you, but we’ve been investigating allegations of human trafficking in Sleepyside and all of Westchester County for some time now. It’s not just restricted to one location or even one trafficker. We’ve been very particular about gathering evidence, search warrants, and so forth. That’s why I’m going to ask you no matter what, absolutely do not do any kind of investigation on your own. We’ll definitely get some help for these girls, so I don’t want you to worry or think we aren’t acting. But you have to stay out of it.” His voice, and his face, were very stern. “If you don’t, it will make the situation worse.”

“Yes, sir.” Mart spoke confidently. He had no desire, Trixie knew, to get mixed up with a gang of criminals.

“Yes, sir.” Trixie was more subdued. She had really hoped Spider would share information and be grateful for her help. But he was going to continue treating her like a kid.

“Trixie, do you mean it? Because I’m serious.”

“Yes. I mean, if Lian or Mei comes to me, can I try to help them? I promise I won’t go looking for clues or staking out the parking lot at the Blue Dragon.”

“I don’t think they’ll need your help much longer, Trixie. But certainly, you can talk to them. What I mean is, absolutely don’t try to confront the owner of the Blue Dragon, or his wife—if she’s his wife—don’t stake out the parking lot, don’t go through their trash, all of that. Do I have your promise?”

“Yes.” She extended her hand to shake his. “I promise.”

“Good. Now thank you both for coming here, and for the information you’ve given. At some point, you’ll probably read about it in the papers.” The young officer stood, signaling that the interview was at an end. He walked Mart and Trixie to the door, and brother and sister didn’t exchange a word during the drive home to Crabapple Farm.

For the rest of the week, Trixie burned with curiosity about how Lian, Mei, Qing and the new girl, Chen, were doing and what was happening in the police department’s trafficking investigation. She kept her word to Spider, though, and stayed away from the restaurant as she feared it would draw suspicion if she was around more than usual. She contemplated trying to see Lian at Sleepyside Junior Senior High School, but that also didn’t seem like a wise plan. She wished she’d given Lian her phone number.

Meeting Dan in the Student Center during a break in her classes on Friday, she presented the problem to him.

“Dan, I just want to know that she’s safe and of course I’d like to know if anything has come of my report as far as getting those girls away from the traffickers.”

“We could go to lunch or dinner at the Blue Dragon Saturday,” Dan suggested. “I’ve actually been wanting to ask a girl out who’s in a couple of my classes,” he continued. “You might think going with me and another girl and Mart is lame, but we’d have some safety in numbers and it wouldn’t look suspicious, would it?”

“Well... maybe.” She frowned. “It might seem goofy that my brother and I are out with a couple.”

“Trix, I don’t have a lot of ideas here.” Dan threw up his hands. “There just aren’t that many choices. I guess maybe you and Mart could call in an order for pick up, and sit near the cash register while you wait for it. But that’s going to be a pretty short time. You might or might not see Lian or Mei, and if you’ve never talked to the other two girls, I don’t know how you’re going to work any questions into the conversation.”

She sighed. “If we can promote your love life by going to the restaurant with you and this girl, I guess Mart and I can make the sacrifice. What’s her name, anyway?”

“Sherilyn. It’s kind of an old-fashioned name, but it suits her. She has gorgeous long red hair and her eyes are kind of a changeable greenish blue. I think you’ll like her.”

“It’s a plan, then.” Trixie gave him a high five.

The dinner on Saturday was disappointing, though. A new, older waitress she’d never seen before waited on them. She left menus for them to study and brought a pot of tea while speaking the minimum amount.

“Is Lee Song working tonight?” Trixie asked as the woman seemed about to leave.

“Lee Song?” The woman looked puzzled.

“Yes, she’s a server here. I know her from school,” Trixie explained.

“Not working now.”

“Do you know when she’ll work again? I wanted to ask her something about school.” She was afraid to push too hard, but thought that question was innocuous enough.

“Not know her schedule. She not here now.” The woman’s eyes were shuttered, and Trixie gave up.

She barely tasted her food, she was so disappointed. Sherilyn was nice, though, and she was glad Dan had a potential girlfriend. The redhead’s major was journalism, which surprised Trixie. She would have thought Dan would link up with someone more interested in his own field of study.

As for Mart, he’d had a letter from Diana Lynch, and he bubbled over with her news. “She’ll be here on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving,” he explained. “None of her classes was meeting on Tuesday or Wednesday, so she’ll be able to fly home a day earlier than she expected.” He dropped his voice, just in case anyone was paying attention to their table. “I’d written to her about the mystery of Lian Zhang, but didn’t want to share any details that could give away information we still aren’t sure about. Hopefully by Thanksgiving we’ll at least know if Lian has gotten away safely.”

On Monday night, Trixie was busy in her room with an assignment when the telephone rang downstairs. Her little brother Bobby called her.

“Trixie!” he shouted. “You have a phone call!”

She jumped up and ran downstairs, wondering who the caller could be.

“It’s a man,” Bobby told her in a stage whisper. “And it’s not Jim or Dan.” He handed her the receiver.

“Hello, this is Trixie,” she said. Bobby was still standing there, watching and curious about the identity of her caller. Covering the receiver with her hand, she gestured to shoo him away. “Go away, Bobby. I’ll let you know who it was, if it’s any of your business.” Reluctantly, her brother turned away and walked back to the den, where her parents were watching a television show.

“Trixie, this is Spider Webster. Can you come by the station sometime tomorrow? I have a letter for you.”

She wished she could just skip classes the next day so she wouldn’t have to wait. “Sure, Spider. I leave school about three-thirty on Tuesday. I’ll stop by when I get back to Sleepyside. Can’t you tell me anything else? It’s so odd that someone would leave me a letter at the police station. Why wouldn’t they send it to my house?”

“I don’t know who sent it, Trixie. It doesn’t have a return address, and of course I didn’t open it. But I’d say the sender probably doesn’t know where you live.”

“That makes sense, I suppose. Still, leaving it at the police station? If I can keep from dying of curiosity until then, I’ll see you tomorrow, Spider. Thanks for letting me know.”

She replaced the receiver in the phone’s cradle and climbed the steps to her room again slowly. Was it possible the letter had something to do with Lee Song? That was the only possibility that came to mind, since she hadn’t had any other involvement with the police lately.

As promised, Trixie went straight to the police station the next day after classes ended. The letter was from Lian.

Dear Trixie, This letter is to thank you for helping us. I called the hotline from school on Friday. Social Services came to the restaurant and took me, Mei, Qing and Chen. We are in a safe house now, and the police will try to locate Mei’s mother. I don’t know what will happen next, but the social worker says I won’t go back to the restaurant and I’ll be able to stay in school and even go to college. We never thought it would be possible to escape. Thank you again.

Lian Zhang
(Lee Song)

She barely noticed the tears streaming down her face. Looking at Spider, she exclaimed, “It’s from Lian Zhang. She and the other girls are safe. Gosh! It’s such a good feeling to know you’ve really helped someone. I hope you all can catch those awful traffickers, and shut them down for good. The restaurant is still open, because Mart, Dan and I went there Saturday. But they seemed to have all newer waitresses. The lady who waited on us acted like she didn’t even know Lee Song.”

Spider nodded. “You did everything right, Trixie. Good job. Just because the restaurant is still open doesn’t mean we haven’t taken care of things. Just be patient.” He held up a hand. “I know, that’s not easy for you, but I promise. Everything is being handled.”

“Thanks, Spider,” Trixie said with a nod. “I believe you, and thanks for saying I did everything right.”

He grinned. “I said it because you did do everything right. Even Chief Molinson knows that you did.”