Razaq Nadeem lives in the tribal area of Kala Dhaka, known as Black Mountain, in Pakistan. When an earthquake strikes the area, and his family is lost, Razaq is told by his dying father to flee to Rawalpindi, where his uncle Kamil lives.
In the aftermath of the quake, all is chaos. Razaq attends a school set up by aid workers for the homeless, learns some English and helps with the younger boys.
But danger is around every corner. Razaq is sold into slavery by a man preying on orphans in the area, and desperate to escape the virtual imprisonment of washing dishes in a teashop for no wages, he heads for the streets, only to be betrayed and returned. Razaq's unusual and exotic looks attract the attention of a customer at the teashop, with disastrous results. Sold once more, he must watch as Tahira, a girl he becomes fond of, is sold to a rich man.
Razaq and Tahira meet again, but despair of their fate as they grow older. A way out is eventually offered by Majeed, a social worker, but only after a hair-raising escape.
From the author of MARRYING AMEERA comes another powerful and confronting book that deals with social justice for disenfranchised young people who have no voice or power as they bartered and sold for sex.
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