I lied about my age

Teddy and the rest of the eight guys were still in the truck; they didn't have any idea where they were taken, and their phones were taken away from them. There was a globe that was put on the truck so that they wouldn't feel overwhelmed by the darkness.

Four hours passed, and Teddy and the rest of the guys that were inside were all quiet. No one wanted to speak about what they felt in that moment, only the fear that was written in their faces.

The truck stopped after it traveled for four hours. Teddy was now trembling and sweating, which messed up his makeup that he tried to put on for hours in order to make a first impression. At that moment, he only prayed to not get killed or be placed in human trafficking. The man who took them there opened the door for them.

Their anxiety only escalated. Nobody wanted to get out of the truck when he urged them to. Instead of getting out, they would have rather stay inside. "Guys, relax," the man remarked, laughing. How come you behave as though you're seeing ghosts or something? I promise you that nothing will happen to you. Alright, so exit the truck immediately. In order for us to finish with all the preparations sooner." After glancing at the clock, the man said, "Let's get going—it's already 22:30."

A female with long braids and a white suit and black heels arrived while the guy was still speaking. "Mandla, why are you guys taking so long now? She looked inside the truck and said, "It's already late; the boss will yell at us." "Hi everyone. Please follow me immediately," she grinned.

"The problem is, they don't trust me, Aya. I'm not sure if they find me intimidating or not. Mandla laughed and remarked, "I swear, the moment I opened the door, they almost peed on themselves."

Aya choked back a chuckle. "Guys please, don't mind him at all, come with me" , she exclaimed. "Oh, by the way, you can call me Aya, but my name is Ayanda." This terrifying man's name is Mandla.Before granting you access to any services, we will be the ones to conduct some verification on you. "I hope you brought your ID and CV with you," she stated, glancing at them.

Teddy flinched but tried to remain calm. Even though he was a minor, he wanted to bring atleast his CV. He already fixed it but forgot it on his bed when he was going out of his shack.

They all answered. "Yes we did bring them".

"Okay, nice. Come along with us now, Aya urged. They were all no longer afraid when she arrived because of how kind and compassionate she sounded. They eagerly followed her since they believed her when she said that nothing bad would happen to them.

Once they were outside, they noticed a tall, stunning structure that appeared to be a penthouse. Their jaws dropped and their eyes widened in the same time. The other guy said, "Is this the place that we are going to?" Mandla replied, "yes it is as you can see, this is the only building here." 

They were all excited to follow them.

When they entered, the only people present were the secretary and the bodyguards. The remaining boys trailed behind Aya and Mandla as they made their way over to the secretary. They were all gazing around in shock. 

With the exception of Teddy, who dressed like a nerd, they were all very well dressed and looked amazing. Teddy noticed his reflection in the doorway when they were strolling; his face was marred by sweat. He wanted to fix his makeup in the restroom so he sneakily went to it.

There were other boys there that were his age when he arrived who were fixing their makeup in the mirror. Teddy greeted them and they returned the greeting. He walked over to the faucet to wash his face. He was really anxious as he was washing his face because he was planning the strategy he would use to convince them that he was old enough to be the sex worker there.

Teddy said, inaudibly: "I would have blown my chances of being chosen if I hadn't noticed that I was looking like this." Given how pricey this place appears to be, I'm sure that maintaining cleanliness I to their employees is part of their policies. He kept cleaning his face until all traces of makeup were gone. He waited for the face to dry down after finishing so he could apply makeup once more.

While he was waiting, he heard the young boys that were there talking. "Guys did you heard that Logan Joeng is inside the club today?", Sam said.

They all screamed, "what!?, "

"How can he be here in this place? I am afraid now, and how did you find out about that?", Martin asked. 

" There is an employee that saw him earlier entering inside the building"

"Why are you all so afraid, guys? "Who is Logan Joeng?" Thuto asked, raising an eyebrow. 

"It will be best for you to identify his face as soon as possible so that you wouldn't even dare go closer to him otherwise you will be dead and buried", said Vinny. 

"He is a known mafia member. Even the fact that there is someone who is unfamiliar with him surprises me. He has no qualms about killing people who irritate him.", said Sam. 

"Yes, I heard that he once shot someone on both of his knees who was chewing gum loudly in front of him", said Vinny. 

"that's ridiculous and scary. He seems like a terrifying human being", said Thuto. 

"Bro, he's bad, but his brother is worse than him. I heard that he was not born here in SA, but he was adopted from South Korea by the Ferguson family and that he's enemies with his stepbrother. There was a time that he went with his stepbrother to a certain club, and they got into a big argument, which resulted in his brother killing innocent people just to enrage Mr. Joeng", Martin said. 

"That's wild as fuck, who does that. And what did his brother do? ", Thuto asked. 

"He cut his stepbrother's index finger as a punishment.", Martin responded. 

"Guys let's change the topic. What if someone hears us? Do you want that evil man to cut our fingers too?", said Vinny. 

"Let's change the topic indeed this is not the right place to talk something like that But please guys be careful whatever happens don't go near that man. I'm sure he's here for other reasons rather than our service", Sam said. 

The Thuto took a deep sigh, "Thanks guys for warning me about how dangerous that men is. I swear I knew nothing about him", he said, shaking his head. 

"It's okay buddy. Now let's move quickly. Rather than loitering here and gossiping we should be making money "said Martin.

"You're right about that buddy", Vinny said. 

They all kept quite and continued applying their makeup.

Teddy continued to apply makeup to his face, but he was finding it difficult. He was in the bathroom for far too long, so he became irritated, cleaned his face, and left. He was thinking about the frightening things he had heard in the restroom while he was walking. "It makes sense why I was unable to put makeup on my face. The absurd tales I overheard there were terrifying and unbelievable. Those people watch so many movies. A mafia in South Africa what rubbish is that", he muttered while laughing. 

As he was strolling, Aya suddenly rushed in his direction. What happened to you? I've been searching everywhere for you. Where is your ID? ", she asked. 

"Ma'am the thing is my ID got lost together with my CV while I was coming here? ", he said

"what rubbish is that?, how old are you? ", Aya asked, raising his eyebrows.

Teddy looked at Aya in the eyes and responded without stuttering. "I'm 19 years".

But you don't look 19, you look 16 ", she said. 

"But I am 19 years old ma'am", he said. 

"Don't call me ma'am, call me Aya please I'm young. What's your name! ", Aya asked.

 "I'm Teddy", he answered. 

Alright, Teddy Unless you bring the required documents, I will be forced to send you home. As I previously stated, it is my responsibility to ensure that no one under the age of eighteen enters this place ", Aya stated.

Teddy speaking inaudibly: (what do I do. I can't go home otherwise I'll be dead tomorrow those loan shacks will kill me).

While Teddy was still figuring out the plan to convince Aya out. The was a man who came towards them wearing a brown expensive suit.

Aya flinched when he saw the man. "Mr Ford... . I was telling the boy to go back because... ", he interrupted her while she was trying to explain. 

"come with me I need to talk with you for a minute. He said, looking at Aya with hostile eyes.

They both walked a distance away from Teddy. "Someone saw that boy, and he had offered to pay R50, 000 in advance to spend the night with him. So I don't care if he's underage or not. He's not going home. Do you understand", Mr. Ford said while widening his eyes.

"okay sir", said Aya. 

"Now go and show that boy the dressing room and tell the women handling that place to ensure that the boy is dressed in revealing clothes.", Mr Ford said. 

Teddy watched them while they were talking from the distance. "I wonder what are they talking about I can't hear anything".

Teddy was now getting anxious.

Once Aya had finished her conversation with Mr. Ford, the club's founder and owner. She moved toward Teddy's direction. "Okay, it has been decided that you can participate today; but, please remember to bring your documentation the next time. Okay?", she said. 

Teddy sighed deeply and put his hand to his chest. With a smile, he said, "Thank you".