Leyla: The Black Tulip

Voyage to İstanbul

The trip to İstanbul takes Laleena through the Caucasus Mountains on camels. They stop to pick up more girls at other villages along the way. The girls can all sense what the others gave up to be there, although they’re too shy to speak to each other.

Soon, the group switches to mule carts, and they must cover their faces and bodies to protect themselves from the swirling dust.

Days later, the girls sense a change in the air. A girl explains it is the scent of the sea. Laleena spots palm, lemon, and orange trees, which she’s never seen before. Cafer Efendi, the tallest man of the two, who Leyla learns are brothers, says this is Batum, and they are close to the Black Sea.

Laleena’s father had told tales of the Black Sea. Sailors would lose their way and mermaids would cause shipwrecks. Laleena is excited they’ll be getting on a boat for the next part of their journey.

But Laleena’s excitement quickly diminishes. At the port, they meet up with more girls, totaling nearly two hundred. Some are perhaps sixteen or seventeen, but the smallest cannot be older than four or five. They board a ship, but are stuffed into a small storage room where it’s almost impossible to find room to lie down. The hay on the ground begins to smell. And because there’s no windows or portholes, the entire room is in darkness. When the girls start to moan or cry too loud, a man will come into the room with a whip. Some of the girls faint, and Laleena spends most of the time seasick, which causes her to lose track of time.

At some point, Cafer Efendi comes into the room and calls Laleena’s name. She’s pulled to her feet, and brought outside the stuffy room. The clean air and wind is refreshing on her skin. She’s led into a room with other men. They evaluate the delicacy of her hands, her dark brown eyes, and her straight teeth. She doesn’t like being looked over as if she’s an animal, so she bites the man who tries to open her mouth. She’s slapped as a response, and the men laugh.

When Laleena is brought back into the hold, she trips on a little girl who begins to cry. Laleena sits next to the girl and holds her tight. The girl, whose name is Lena, reminds Laleena of her brothers. Lena has long, wavy white hair. How on earth can they give a baby to a stranger to marry?

Overhearing Laleena’s whispers under her breath, an older girl retorts that they aren’t bringing all the girls for husbands. The girls are to be slaves! They will be sold on the slave markets!

The girls around them all start to talk loudly and cry. Laleena is shocked. She can’t believe it. Slowly, she realizes they must be right. That’s why they’ve been treated so poorly… they are slaves. She thinks of the toy soldier. It told her to follow her destiny. Why would her destiny lead her here?

When the ship finally docks in Trabzon, all of the girls are taken off the boat and separated into groups. Laleena passes Cafer Efendi, who tells her the girls will be separated, some going to İstanbul, but others to İzmir, Salonica, and Cairo. Laleena hasn’t heard of Salonica and Cairo, but she’s grateful to learn both she and Lena are heading to İstanbul.

Unfortunately, they must take another, smaller boat to get there. This boat is more cramped, and the winds on the water makes the ride choppy. The girls are again stuffed into the hold. Laleena begins to wish the stories of the mermaids were real, so they could dash the ship on the rocks and end the nightmare.