She Got Bling, I Got Sold

When Gregory and Helen go broke, they hand their daughter Talia over to Nyamara, a lawless border strip of trafficking, forced labor and private prisons. There she sleeps in flooded cells, eats rotten food, and has both legs broken with iron rods when she tries to run. She drags herself home to find her parents planning a lavish eighteenth birthday for her sister Nina and spending three million on jewelry, while her father says she should tough out one more month so she can inherit their billions. Talia hides a medical report: severe infection in both legs. She does not have a month.

Her parents greet her with moldy bread and a worn dress, take the five thousand dollars she saved, and beat her when five hundred is missing. Her father orders her to haul cement to pay off their debts; her sister Nina turns the class against her and claims she stole the class money. Bruised, feverish and sleeping on a balcony, Talia clings to her grandfather's photo and the promise she made him.