Chapter 9

Roger got in the Ferrari and began the trip to the restaurant to meet Ben. Ben was still being secretive about what he wanted Roger to see. Roger had asked Ben several times what he was going to see, but each time Ben just smiled.

Roger turned into the parking lot and the man that always watched the car waved him into the spot reserved for him. Roger got out of the car and stretched. The man seemed nervous that Roger was standing out in the open.

When he walked into the restaurant the hostess immediately came over to him and asked him to follow her. She led him back to the private dining room that they usually used. Ben greeted him with a big smile and ordered a drink for Roger.

When they were alone Ben leaned toward him and spoke softly, "What I am going to show you tonight you can never speak of to anyone. I don't think any non-Chinese has ever seen what I am going to show you tonight. It is nothing that will get you in trouble but it could get me in a lot of trouble. I had to get permission to take you with me tonight. Are you ready to go?"

They got up from the table and went outside and Ben's car pulled up to them, "We'll take my car. It would be hard hiding your car."

They got in and the car began to move. As they drove Roger saw that they were heading toward the dock area. The area was filled with warehouses and became pretty much deserted at night. The car slowed and they began to take many turns. The driver kept looking in the rear view mirror to make sure that they were not followed. The car came to a stop in front of a warehouse they had passed several times. Ben got out and motioned for Roger to hurry and follow him. They ducked into the building.

It was a bit dark inside and when his eyes got accustomed to the dim light Roger saw that there were about twenty-five Chinese men milling around the floor of the warehouse. At one end of the warehouse was a stage that was well lit. Many of the men turned and looked at Roger as if he shouldn't be there. There was a lot of murmuring going on and Roger knew they were discussing his being there.

"Come with me," Ben said, leading him down a semi-dark hallway.

They stopped at a door and Ben opened it and went inside. Roger followed and saw that they were in a room with a large window that overlooked the warehouse and had a good view of the stage. The glass was slightly tinted so Roger assumed that it was one-way glass. The room reminded Roger of a sky box at a baseball stadium.

Ben turned to Roger and smiled, "You are going to see something tonight that I don't think any white man has ever seen. Immigrants are brought here and they will find jobs so that they can pay off their debt to the snakeheads. The men standing in the warehouse now will bid on the workers; they are business men that need workers. If they are the successful bidders it is their responsibility to feed and house the workers until the debt is paid. The bidders are repaid for the housing and food of course."

"You said snakeheads. What are snakeheads?" Roger asked.

Ben thought for a minute, "Like the Mexicans call coyotes. They are contractors that arrange for the travel and lodging while the people are in transit."

Four men were pushed out on the stage and Ben reached out and dimmed the lights in the room so that no one could see into the room they were sitting in. A man that was apparently the auctioneer came out on the stage and began to shout at the bidders in Chinese. The men started yelling and pushing forward so that their bids could be heard. There was often some shoving and loud shouting among the bidders. As each worker was auctioned off he was shoved toward the successful bidder. The worker would stand next to the man that had bought him as the bidding for other workers went on. After the four were auctioned off another four came on the stage. Often women were among the groups of four and the bidding for the women was always louder and rougher than the bidding for the men. Several fights broke out over the women.

After about twenty men and women had been auctioned off the next group came on the stage. Roger stared at the lone woman in the group. She was dressed in a flowered summer dress and her hair was done in a western style. She was the most beautiful Chinese woman that Roger had ever seen. He couldn't stop staring at her and wished that he could bid on her himself.

"Well, what do you think? Did you ever realize that this went on today? Roger ... Roger..."

Ben looked over at what Roger was looking at. He saw the woman and got a big grin on his face. Ben called his guard over and said something to the guard in Chinese and the guard left the room.

Roger couldn't take his eyes off of the woman. She glanced at the window that Roger sat behind and for a minute he thought their eyes met but then he remembered that it was one-way glass. He saw a man walk out on stage and say something to the auctioneer and the auctioneer said something to the woman and she was led off-stage. The auctioneer told the crowd something and many of them started shouting and shaking their fists until the auctioneer said something else and the crowd suddenly became quiet. The auction continued for about another hour. There were about a hundred people auctioned off that night.