Woman Scorned Read online

  Rhonda watched as Josie’s face went unmoved. She had shared the information with the intention of cheering the girl up, but it hadn’t seemed to work.

  Did that wrong, she thought. I should know better than to mettle in Monica’s world. Oh dear. I hope I didn’t make it worse. Aloud, she said, “But I’ll reserve further details for when you ask them. Again, Charles is your business. As far as I’m concerned, Gertrude can go fuck herself on this one.”

  “Gertrude?” Josie said, clearly surprised. “She… gave order on him?”

  “Only that I should proceed as usual.” Rhonda glanced quite consciously toward the door to the hallway. No one was coming, of course. The training arena was habitually so quiet that approaching footsteps could almost always be heard. But in Gertrude’s case, one could never be too sure. She continued in a full whisper. “But I just couldn’t do that, Josie. I felt it would be an insult to you, if you don’t mind me saying.”

  “Thank you,” Josie said. “I appreciate that. The truth is I don’t know what I want to do with him. All I do know is that when the time comes, I want the one to do it to him. Can you keep him there until I make my decision?”

  “Say no more. Consider it done.”

  “Thank you. Now… my other request is perhaps harder to swallow. I want Stephanie to have some time off.”

  “Time off?” Rhonda asked, again confused. She studied Josie’s face for another moment, trying to discern what must be going through the girl’s mind. This isn’t right, she thought. Something’s clearly wrong, but what? She is still so very young, Rhonda reminded herself. Hasn’t even completed her full decade. There’s a chance she’s making a huge mistake here. Possible the mistake of her life. I’ll need to be delicate.

  “I… almost never give time off,” she began. “You know that. It is done, on occasion. But I’d need to know how much time. And a reason. Steph performed splendidly. Brought back six men on the last mission. All scum. No questionables.” She paused, thinking quickly about how to proceed, then realized the answer was staring her in the face. “I recall in your second year Beatrice asked some time off for you. I granted a weekend furlough, if memory serves.”

  “Yes, I remember that. I was having issues with homesickness. The time off helped tremendously.”

  “That’s good. And I can guess you already know Steph has been a little off since this last mission. Nothing effecting her work, but you know I know my girls. I didn’t want to burden you with extra work in your first week, but normally I would have brought it to your attention two days ago. She needs to see Monica, in my opinion. Time off isn’t necessarily…”

  She stopped herself again, and reminded herself she was no longer talking to Josie the trainer but Josie the headwoman. For all either of them knew, this very conversation would be laying the foundation for twenty years of either a bitter or a respectful relationship. She proceeded with honesty, but used extreme caution.

  “I will respect your wishes, regardless of my own misgivings,” she began. “You are headwoman now, and it is not my place to question your orders. However,” and now she used one of womankind’s oldest and most effective tricks by softening her eyes, “as a friend, I must tell you something, Josie.” She looked for the telltale signs of a person about to receive confidential but tough love. Josie showed none of them, and a little flutter of misgiving entered Rhonda’s stomach. “You must understand,” she went on, “that a headwoman isn’t… well, immune to the occasional… lapses in judgment? I’d need to have good reason for giving a girl a hiatus of any kind. And everyone knows Steph and you are bosom buddies. When the others ask, I need a legitimate answer. Especially now with all the new men and your presence missing. It will be putting an undue strain on the other girls.”

  Silence lingered for a moment, and it was suddenly broken by an outburst of panic from one of the men. He slammed his fists against his door and cursed for several moments. Neither Rhonda nor Josie looked in his directly, though Rhonda took note of the location of the sound. Tomorrow she would easily ferret out the culprit. Six seconds should do it, she decided. If he doesn’t confess, I’ll give all the men in that row a chance to transfer their next beating to him. He’ll be screaming by midday.

  When he finally quieted, Rhonda waited some more. She was concerned about overstepping her bounds, but she was genuinely worried about Josie’s motivations. They had a fight, she was suddenly quite sure. Probably over Josie’s promotion. And this is all either an apology or a message. Either way, I can’t let it stand. My God, Gertrude may have been right. It’s simply too soon.

  Then Josie surprised her by closing her eyes and cursing under her breath. When she opened them a moment later she said, “She’s pregnant,” and Rhonda’s heart stopped. Pregnant! her mind screamed. My God, it’s finally happened. What are the protocols? How were we supposed to proceed? Abortion, of course. But… what if she wants to keep it? She couldn’t. Not here. She’ll be sent home. Immediately. My God, my God, my God.

  “Rhonda?” Josie was saying now. “Are you okay?”

  Rhonda realized she was somehow sitting on the corner of her desk. She didn’t recall reaching for it. Her vision was wavering. “Ye… yes. I just… never imagined. What happened, Josie? Does anyone else know about this? Certainly I’ll give her time to take care of the problem, but… Josie, how did this happen? Who’s the father?”

  Josie sighed deeply. Not so young and foolish, then, Rhonda admitted. It was me who was foolish to think this woman could still be a petty child. I’ll never doubt again.

  “No one else knows,” Josie said. “Including Monica, and I’d like to keep it that way for now. As far as how… let’s just say it’s something that goes with the territory. You know we recruit them, but you don’t see us out there in that real world. It doesn’t always go as planned.” A faraway look was suddenly on Josie’s eyes, and Rhonda was certain she was thinking of Charles. “Sometimes… you have to give a little more than you’d like.”

  “She was raped on a mission?” Rhonda tried to form the words as a statement, but they had come out as a question nevertheless.

  Josie replied with an emphatic ‘Yes,’ but Rhonda saw the upward flick of her eyes instantly. She’d seen thousands of men try lying their way out of a corner over the years, and she was an expert at detecting them. What is she hiding? she thought. The butterfly of misgiving blossomed quickly to a moth of fear.

  “Tell the others whatever you like,” Josie said. “But until Steph has worked this out, please just don’t tell them the truth.”

  “Okay,” Rhonda said. “Again, out of respect for you. But Josie?”

  “Yes Rhonda. You can go ahead and say it. You won’t insult or hurt me. I suspect I know what’s coming.”

  “Nothing’s coming, my dear. I just… I worry about you. So much is happening so fast. Your promotion. Gertrude making you recruit Charles. And now this. It’s too much for one girl to handle, dear. You can’t take on the world all by yourself, you know.”

  But instead of defending herself, Josie nearly changed the subject. It wasn’t another red flag in Rhonda’s mind, not quite. But she did file it away in the back of her mind. She’s planning something, she thought. And I can’t figure out if I want to stop her or help her.

  “I’m going to level with you, Rhonda. A return of the respect you’ve shown me. I intend to do things quite differently than Lorraine or Beatrice, and certainly than Gertrude. As one last favor to me, I’m going to ask that you give me one month before you go share the feeling of dread I know is welling up inside you. Just one month to let me try things my way. If you haven’t seen improvement in all your girls’ numbers by then, I’ll go back to the book and follow it to the letter. Can you do that? Is it too much to ask?”

  Rhonda tried to remember Josie’s first days on the island. Her tour, filled with wonder and fear like the new girl, Heather, had just shown. Her initiation that make her a full sister of the island. Her constant laughter and camaraderie with
Steph. And her inner strength no matter the difficulty or frequency of her tasks that always seemed to be her defining feature. She’s a woman, now, there’s no doubt of that. But what kind? For the first time in twenty years, I’m actually thinking that Gertrude better watch her back.

  “I can grant you a month,” Rhonda agreed. “But no more. I’m not happy with this, Josie, but I see that you need to run your own experiments. I can’t begrudge you that. I ran my own for many years in the beginning. But believe me, in the end you’ll realize that the way we run things now truly is the best way. I have many years of experience that you yet lack.”

  “I have my own experiences,” Josie said. And when she finished, it was with a near-scowl that reminded Rhonda all too well of Gertrude herself. “And I’ve come to believe that this island has a very limited view of what constitutes real life.”

  CHAPTER 8

  DEMONS

  1

  Obe sat on the ground against the side wall of the grocery alley, waiting. His bare feet were filthy and callused. His hair was ragged, and what passed for his sparse beard was an inch long. He was tired, lonely, and despite the food he’d borrowed, already hungry again.

  No you’re not, he told himself. You’re just projecting. Doov said you’d have to give up your first bag to the Family of Blue today. That’s all it is. His stomach, however, issued a challenging grumble he found very difficult to ignore.

  Several other men were milling around, waiting for Baj to arrive and get their marks. Obe knew there would be many to record. The only ones he recognized were the team of Jile and Roe, the two men who worked so well together at getting groceries they could be said to true friends.

  When Baj did arrive, a small line formed quickly and grew as time passed. Nearly every man needed to see him, and his usually scrupulous inspections of the validity of each run was exchanged for cursory stories which Baj accepted without hesitation. Some, like Obe, were receiving two marks. One man, Nit, received three. There was much camaraderie among them all, and many smiles and stories were exchanged.

  In line, Obe peeled his two current scabs and saw that the first mark, only a week old, was already scarring. He also noticed both Paist and Leet had arrived and were evidently using their elder status to make quick rounds throughout the alley. When they made their way over to Baj’s line of men, Paist asked the group if anyone had seen men named Zeen or Gown. Nobody had, and the somewhat excited mood dimmed considerably.

  By the time Obe had his two new marks, the alley was full and he’d spotted the one man he was hoping to see, frankly amazed he was still alive. It was the man who had saved his life the day before, and he meant to thank him. He went up to his newfound hero in the back of Baj’s line, glancing at his exposed scar-arm. He was surprised to see only a dozen marks.

  “Hey,” Obe said.

  The stranger looked confused for a moment then made the connection. “Oh! Hi. How’d you make out?”

  “Me?” Obe said, dumbfounded. “What about you?”

  “Aw, I’m fine. Pulled the old double-backer on ‘em. Spent the next few hours in that same dumpster. They never knew what hit ‘em.”

  “But… that was really dangerous. You took a hell of a chance for me, and I don’t even know you.”

  “Hey, it’s nothing. We’re family, right? You looked tired, I was fully rested, and I know that driver. She’s not so tough to fool. It’s when the one with the bat gets out of the car to block your return– that’s when you’re screwed.”

  “Well, that was me,” Obe admitted. “I thought for sure they’d get you. You gave ‘em the finger! Are you crazy?”

  “Probably!” the stranger laughed. “But I didn’t want ‘em getting greedy for the blood of some poor tired guy. Besides, like I said, I know that driver.”

  “Well, in any case,” Obe said, “I just wanted to thank you. You saved my life. I guess I owe you one.”

  “No need, really. Like I said, we’re family. You’d do the same, and if you’re any good you will sometime, if only to keep the cycle flowing. That whole ‘pay it forward’ thing. You ever see that movie?”

  “I don’t know,” Obe said. “Not likely I’d remember if I did, right?”

  “Well, I remember it,” the man said. “I remember lots of movies. More and more all the time. It’s what keeps me going. I’ll tell you about it, if you want.”

  “Sure,” Obe said. Then, not knowing what else to say, he offered, “I’m Obe.”

  “I know. I’m Tick, like the bug. I like your animal.”

  Obe forgot for the moment what label his new jumpsuit had. He glanced down at the tag. “What, GOPHER?” he said. “I don’t know. It sounds so sluggish. I don’t like it.”

  “Nonsense!” Tick said. “Gophers are hard workers and good providers. Real family men. They’d fit in nicely here.”

  Obe smiled. “I guess so. But still, I’d rather be associated with something not so slow and fat. I like MUSKRAT. It seems to fit you.”

  “Thanks,” Tick said, patting his own nametag. “Muskrats can hold their breath for fifteen minutes,” he said. “Something about not building up much carbon dioxide. There was a guy here a few months back was a veterinarian. He told me.”

  “Cool,” Obe said, and made sure not to ask further about this clearly dead man. One of the rules Doov had told him was that the Family of Blue didn’t speak of the dead.

  He and Tick fell into more small talk, and while Baj made the cut on Tick’s arm, Obe made a mental note to stay in touch with him. He wondered if one of his movies might jog another of Obe’s own memories of his brother.

  When a heavy hand fell on Obe’s shoulder, he turned thinking it was another man wanting to hear the details of his story from the previous week. Instead, it was Doov.

  “You in or out?” the head elder asked simply. There was no need for more.

  “In,” Obe said confidently.

  “Excellent. I’ll collect your bag tonight. Meet me here at sundown.”

  “Okay,” Obe agreed. Then Doov was gone, heading directly toward Leet and Paist who were still talking actively to other men.

  “Shit,” Tick said. “I didn’t realize… you’re not actually part of the Family yet, are you?”

  Obe smirked. “Apparently, I am now.”

  “Well, welcome aboard,” Tick said. “You’re just in time, too. Looks like we’re ready to start.”

  Obe had already noticed Baj’s line of men had emptied out and that a small crowd was gathering at the head of the alley. Then he saw the three elders ascended a trio of plastic crates in front of the collective. Almost immediately, there was a stillness in the air.

  “Start what?” Obe asked.

  “The funeral!” Tick said. “Oh, damn. I forgot we skipped it last time. And you came afterwards on your first day, right? Shit, you’re in for a treat all right.” He pulled Obe over toward the crowd and Obe suddenly realized there were not nearly as many men as had been there the previous two grocery days.

  Funeral? he wondered. I thought they didn’t speak of the dead.

  2

  “Welcome everyone,” Doov said. He then waited, looking slowly around the small crowd of men and seeming to stop at every set of eyes to give each man a moment of his time. When he continued, his voice was slow and punctuated, purposely drawing attention. The ploy, Obe realized, worked well. All eyes were on him, and nobody made a sound. Obe was among them.

  “Before we begin today,” Doov said, “I’d just like to remind everyone… that these are indeed hard times.” He paused again, looked around again, and resumed just as before. “The women have returned… and you’ve all seen how diligent they’ve been.

  “But these hard times… they are not a call for depression or for desperation!... We must stand together… if we expect to live together.”

  He paused. He looked. He seemed to be reading their minds.

  “I know we can do it…” he continued, “if we all just have… faith… in one another.”r />
  An even longer pause. Obe was annoyed but enraptured. He wanted to know more. Needed to know more.

  “But this,” Doov said, “is not the end of our trials and tribulations... No! We will have many obstacles to overcome as a Family.... The increase of chases and kills is not our only challenge… for each are challenges only for the individual. As a unit… as a Family… our obstacles are far greater. When one man perishes at the hands of women… the Family must live on.

  Doov paused and swiveled his eyes around yet again. Somewhere, a foot scraped the pavement. Otherwise, there was no sound.

  “And when one of your very own elders,” he said even more solemnly than before, “becomes one of the chosen to be captured… drugged… and thrown into the black pits of that other trisector… well, the Family must love him… and mourn for him, yes… but it must also still live on for itself.”

  A murmur rippled through the crowd at this last statement. “Yes, yes, I know,” Doov continued. “But I say this today… to prepare you. The history of these events tells us that the women have made a kill in the black sector. It is only a matter of time before the next elder is moved.” Obe noticed everyone’s eyes again turn to Leet.

  “I again remind you all… to say your goodbyes… as Leet is certain to be taken within the next few days.” More nods of approval came, but without the overt calls as had been there the last time.

  “In the meantime,” Doov continued in a normal tone and pace now, “Paist informs me that we’ve had at least nine losses in the past three days. It’s a lot, I know. But let’s not forget the many close calls that have turned out as successes. How many were there, Baj?”