Part 4

I was panicking, the mother had taken off with my passport the first day I had arrived, saying she was going to extend my visa…yet she never gave it back…now what do I do?
May 21st, 2013 was my day of action, the mother and father were gone, I had pretended enough that everything was fine so the mother would not be suspicious, and now, both parents were gone. I grabbed my copy of my passport (they had no idea I had a copy) and I told the maid I was going for a walk, the maid refused to let me out the door. I told her to call the mother and tell her I need to talk. So I talked to her on the phone, saying everything is fine, I just want to go for a walk, and that’s it.
She gave the okay…
I walked straight to a grocery store, where I called the American Consulate, who then told me to talk to Turkish police first. I walked then to a little family owned restaurant, at this point, my anxiety has kicked in again, knowing that I am about to do something that might make things either EXTREMELY bad, or very good. The owner of the restaurant didn’t speak English, but his daughter did, so he called her over. I told her the situation, she then told her father, who made a giant tray of food for me, I believe it was his way of letting me know not all Turks are like this.
The woman talked me into calling the police, which we did, twice, and they still didn’t show up. So she jumped on the bus with me and we headed to the police station, where I talked personally with the chief.  He responded that this sort of thing had happened multiple times in that particular complex, and that he hadn’t heard of it happening to an American yet, I was the first. The chief decided to take me personally to the home to get my passport and collect my things. I asked the woman to come with me so I wouldn’t be so nervous. In the backseat of the police car, I had a meltdown.  The stress of the whole situation, the worry that for some reason I would be left with the family again, the fact that I only had 30 days left on my visa to somehow make enough money to get back to the United States…an impossible feat in Turkey…It all came crashing down, the burden on my shoulders, a giant weight on my chest…What do I do? Where do I go from here?
We arrived at the home, and after the police explained everything to the mother, she told me to get my luggage, and I felt the weight slowly lifting off my shoulders, step by step, breath by breath.
I began packing as fast as I could, the woman by my side, the mother screaming in the doorway, I ignored it, because hey, I am about to be free! I stayed calm, and spoke not one word.