What's holding her back?

In Sold by Patricia McCormick, Lakshmi has been sold into prostitution in a brothel called the Happiness House. After being there for a little while she's forgotten her old life and is being numbed and isn't aware of what's really going on around her. The only thing holding her back is Mumtaz, she's holding her back from going and finding her way home.

Lakshmi is not only being held back from going home by Mumtaz but she's also lost. She's in a completely foreign country and was lead there by a stranger through several trains and buses. Lakshmi attempted to escape after her first man but she couldn't because of Mumtaz, and what she said. "Leaving," I say. "I'm going home." Mumtaz laughs. "Home? she says. "And how would you get there?" After Mumtaz says this Lakshmi completely realizes that she's lost. I think she feels like she's five years old and her mother just left her somewhere, which is exactly what she is. She's young, alone, far away, lost.

I can connect, because I remember what it was like to be six or seven or eight, and be somewhere with your parents when you lose them for a moment. Lakshmi is feeling this every second she's at the Happiness House. Even more, Lakshmi feels betrayed, knowing that she was sold into this, and she must know her stepfather knew what he was selling her into. I can't directly relate to that intense feeling of betrayal that she's feeling in the Happiness House but I know what it feels like to be abandoned (temporarily) and how she just has to feel lost in the huge world around her.