From Nemesis Island

by Christine Mustchin

  ‘You’re ill,’ she said simply.

  ‘Yes.’ The honesty was strangely comforting.

  ‘It’s bad. I know. I’ve seen it before,’ she said. ‘Many of my family suffered the coughing disease.’

  The odd expression intrigued him. She was well educated and must have known the medical term for the illness.

  ‘The coughing disease. Now what would that be?’

  ‘Oh, tuberculosis,’ she said, ‘but no one liked to call it that. It was a superstition. Once you said the word you were sure to die.’

  ‘I don’t have tuberculosis, Kia.’

  ‘I’m glad. It’s a horrible illness.’

  ‘I have cancer.’

  It was the first time he had said it. She did not reply but simply put her arms around him and hugged him to her. He was grateful for the warmth of the gesture.

  ‘Can they do anything?’

  ‘Very little, I’m afraid. I’ve refused in any case.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘I don’t see the point in buying an extra few weeks of weakness and debility. I would prefer to die strong.’

  ‘I’ve never seen a person die of cancer but, if it’s like tuberculosis, then you can’t be strong at the end.’

  ‘Perhaps,’ he replied enigmatically, ‘but I have a few weeks left yet, so I’ve been told. Now let’s sleep.’

  He woke before Kia. The tranquillity of her sleep soothed him. He let her be and closed the door gently behind him. Alone with his thoughts, the weight of mortality was an uncomfortable bedfellow. Time was one thing he couldn’t control; the routine of the days would continue and his journey towards oblivion couldn’t be halted. What would he leave behind? The legacy of the island was his to bequeath. That was his life’s work. It couldn’t be otherwise. Posterity would not acknowledge it, though. The world at large would know nothing of his achievements. He considered them achievements after all. He was a successful businessman. If the business trafficked in young girls; that was just the way it was. Some must have survived and lived well. He couldn’t think they would have had a much better life, left to their own devices. Longer perhaps for some, but then ….. He shook his head. Why delude himself now? Why care now? He thought of Kia. How had she ended up on the island? It was one question he hadn’t asked her. What would be her fate after he had gone? She would certainly get no favours from Juditta, always assuming his sister stayed, and, left to his brother, she would surely not survive for long.

  As if his thoughts were projected into action, Juditta knocked and came in.

  ‘Joseph?’ She went over to the window to let in more light. ‘Are you still sleeping?’

  ‘No, Juditta, but I’m tired today. I’ll rest for a while and take breakfast in bed. I don’t want to see anyone this morning.’

  She came and sat near him.

  ‘I’ve never seen you like this before.’

  He said nothing. She stood up and paced the room. He let her be, immersed in his own thoughts. Suddenly she came to an abrupt halt and faced him across the room.

  ‘It’s her. She’s destroying you.’

  He sat up and stared at her.

  ‘What are you talking about?’

  ‘Staying all night. Never giving you a moment’s rest. Why are you giving in to her? Have you forgotten you’re the chief?’

  ‘Juditta, come and sit down,’ he gestured to the spot where she had sat before.

  ‘You’ve got it wrong, Juditta,’ he said calmly as she complied. ‘It’s at my request that she stays until morning.’

  ‘Joseph you’re not a young man anymore.’

  ‘What do you imagine; that we have sex all night?’

  ‘Then why does she stay with you?’

  ‘I simply like her body near mine.’

  ‘I don’t believe you. You’re covering for her. For some reason you don’t want her punished for disobeying.’

  ‘I’ve told you before that I don’t want her touched. She’s for me alone.’

  ‘She must have some sort of hold over you. You’re getting soft. Remember you have a reputation to think of, and an important role to fulfil.’

  ‘Not for much longer’

  ‘What do you mean?’ She looked puzzled.

  ‘I am dying.’

  ‘We are all dying. We start to die from the minute we’re born.’

  ‘Juditta, I don’t need your philosophy right now. I need you to listen. I have lung cancer. I have a few weeks to live. No one knows but you and Kia. There are things to talk about, things to decide. I am trusting you not to tell anyone. No one must know.’

  ‘So Kia already knows, does she? You should be talking to her then, not me.’

  ‘Don’t be angry, Juditta. I need to make provision for you. Don’t make it hard for yourself. You know it will be difficult enough dealing with our brother.’

  ‘Oh him. He’s coming to see you, by the way. He’s sent a message with a date and time. He probably needs more money.’

  He was not surprised at the disparaging tone.

  ‘Well, it will be a timely visit. I need to think about what to do with the island.’

  ‘We are your next of kin, Joseph. Remember that.’

  ‘You don’t need to remind me of my obligations as head of the family, but you have no love or aptitude for business. You wouldn’t want to run the island alone and I could hardly leave you both in charge. You hate each other.’

  ‘So you’re going to leave it to him,’ she said bitterly.

  ‘I haven’t decided, but you’d be better off living away from the island after I’ve gone. I wouldn’t let you suffer financially.’

  ‘But this is my home.’

  He held up his hand.

  ‘Enough. I need to think. Leave me alone and bring Kia to me after lunch. I have to think of her too.’

  ‘You’re not….’

  ‘Go,’ he ordered.

  She paused long enough for him to see the resentment in her eyes and then left.

  2

  Let me not to the marriage of true minds

  Admit impediments. Love is not love

  Which alters when it alteration finds,

  Or bends with the remover to remove:

  O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,

  That looks on tempests, and is never shaken.

  Kia read the words over and over. She knew the lines of Shakespeare’s sonnet well. For the first time in her life they should have had a meaning for her. Instead she stared at them as though they were just marks that crossed the page. Nothing had significance except the hours that had passed in the absence of Joseph. After she had returned to her room as morning broke, she had waited long hours for his call but nothing came. Now it was well past midday and she had seen no one since Juditta had brought her breakfast. She had eaten nothing, and the little coffee she had sipped had tasted bitter. She wanted to go to him. He could be ill. He could need help. She thought of using the passageway. It was never used during the day: another unwritten rule. She didn’t think disobedience mattered now. She hated any moment away from him; there were so few remaining now. She would wait another hour and then go. She turned back to her book and tried again to find some comfort in the words. It was a futile effort. Instead she gazed blankly ahead of her, a selfish thought about her own future beginning to form. She didn’t hear the door open or Juditta enter until cutlery and crockery rattled together as she placed the lunch tray on the coffee table. The woman’s eyes were like steel and they matched the chill of her voice.

  ‘I shall be back in half an hour. He wants to see you.’

  Kia didn’t have time to reply. Juditta was already gone. She closed her book with relief. By the time she entered Joseph’s rooms her thoughts were only for him. He looked paler, though it could have been a trick of the light or the smoke that he exhaled slowly into the room. She watched as he drew in another breath of the fateful tobacco.

  ‘It’s too late to worry now,’ he said simply, and she nodded.

&
nbsp; ‘Come and sit with me. We need to talk, especially about the island. It’s the only legacy I have. But first of all I want to know how you came to arrive here. What happened to your plans to be a teacher?’

  ‘I was betrayed,’ she replied, without emotion.

  ‘Tell me – from the beginning.’

  ‘I hid in a lorry to reach your country. At first I paid my way but when the money ran out I used my body to buy my way. I thought it would be for the last time. When I arrived I went to the first church I could find. The priest was kindly and understanding. He gave me food and shelter and promised to help. He spoke English and I enjoyed his company and his conversation. He promised to make arrangements for me to go to a convent in the mountains. One day he said he had to go out urgently and I was left alone. Two men came and made me go with them. They didn’t take me to the mountains; instead they took me to the island.’

  ‘And what do you think of life on the island?’

  ‘It’s not a life. You belong to the island. You have no choices. Without choices you can’t talk of a life, just an existence.’

  There was no bitterness in her voice just an acceptance.

  ‘Then I give you a choice now,’ he said. ‘You may stay with me for the weeks I have left to live, or I’ll arrange for you to leave the island today and be taken to the convent.’

  She said nothing.

  ‘Don’t you trust my word?’

  She looked long and hard into his eyes, seeking the truth.

  ‘How can I be sure?’

  ‘This is all I can give you now to prove that I will keep my word,’ he said and took her face in his hands, kissing her with the tenderness of a hopeless love.

  ‘I do trust you,’ she said.

  ‘If you stay your future is uncertain.’

  She nodded.

  ‘I can’t leave you.’

  He went to kiss her again but, instead, the creeping tumour within him wrenched a cough from his weakened lungs. She waited until it was over and then held him against her. She could feel the tension as he fought his body.

  ‘I’m getting weaker,’ he said, at last. ‘Do you still want to stay?’

  ‘Of course. I’ll be with you till the end now.’

  ‘Then I want you to do something, Kia.’

  ‘Yes.’

  ‘I must show no one else my weakness. You must help me in this.’

  She nodded in agreement.

  ‘I will tell you what to do, nearer the time. Now we must talk about the island.’

  They sat side by side as he spoke.

  ‘I’ve yet to decide what will happen to the island. As you know I have a sister but I also have a brother. They are my next of kin and if I die intestate they will inherit my estate. All I have is the island, which would pass to them. My brother is a good businessman and already has an interest in the island. My sister, however, would not know how to run affairs here. I have to think how to resolve matters.’

  ‘Why do you mention this to me?’ Kia couldn’t help the question.

  ‘I want to know what you would do if the island were yours.’

  ‘You want me to speculate on the business? I can’t do that.’

  ‘No, Kia I want the truth. What would you do if the island were left to you?’

  ‘Make sure that what happens here now stops.’

  ‘Is that all?’

  ‘Isn’t it enough?’

  ‘But this is my life’s work.’

  ‘Then change it for the good. Let there be a proper education here: something decent for those in need.’

  ‘A noble idea. What about the financial aspect?’

  ‘You see. I’m no businesswoman.’

  He coughed again.

  ‘Your illness seems much worse today.’

  ‘Perhaps it’s just the certainty of it. Until I heard the word cancer I did not need to face it.’

  ‘You must fight it.’

  ‘And I will, Kia, with your help.’

  3

  ‘Joseph.’

  They embraced and Jalbis Zachion held the chief at arm’s length.

  ‘You’ve lost weight.’

  The chief ignored the comment and invited his brother to sit down. Kia sat apart from them at a distance.

  ‘How’s business, Joseph?’

  ‘Business is good. There’s no shortage of girls.’

  ‘So I see.’ Jalbis Zachion turned a brief look towards Kia. ‘How does she go?’

  There was no mistaking the cruelty in his eyes.

  ‘It’s none of your business,’ said the chief. ‘You can get your satisfaction from the DVDs you produce.’

  ‘Which brings me nicely to the point of my visit. I want a bigger cut of the profits.’

  ‘On what grounds?’

  ‘I know the market for them has increased. They’re bringing in a hefty sum. That’s thanks to my efforts.’

  ‘I provide the girls, remember?’

  ‘But I take the risks.’

  ‘And get the pleasure.’

  ‘That may be so but it doesn’t alter what I said.’

  ‘I’ve always found it hard to reconcile your profession with your involvement in producing such DVDs.’

  ‘That’s because you don’t appreciate the contradictions in life, my dear brother. The one does not preclude the other. If nature did not give me the usual sexual appetites, I’m bound to look elsewhere for my pleasures.’

  ‘So what’s the problem?’

  ‘Not a problem, more of an opportunity, but I need an increase in my percentage cut from the DVD sales to realise it.’

  ‘So what is this opportunity?’

  ‘I’m going to advertise my cosmetic work abroad and expand into a lucrative area of surgery.’

  ‘I see. And what is this lucrative area of your work?’

  ‘Just an extension of my usual procedures. The technicalities needn’t concern you but the hospital where I work is not a suitable place for it. I thought of setting up on the island. Naturally you would get a cut of my fees.’

  ‘Does that mean you’re thinking of giving up your position on the mainland?’

  ‘No. I need to stay there to provide a bona fide base.’

  ‘Meaning that the lucrative work is illegal.’

  ‘That shouldn’t trouble you, brother dear.’

  ‘Personally I think you should give up surgery altogether. There are plenty of opportunities for you on the island even if I do find your DVDs distasteful. I’ve never understood why you need a respectable cover on the mainland.’

  ‘Is that all you see it as, a cover? You non-medics just don’t understand. I’ve trained long and hard to get where I am and I’m very good at what I do. I enjoy what I do. It gives me satisfaction and I’m not giving it up.’

  ‘Don’t let’s argue Jalbis, but it would be risky bringing outsiders here for operations, if you continue to work on the mainland. Think about it.’

  ‘What about my cut for the DVDs then?’

  ‘I’ll consider it, but it would be conditional on keeping any surgery away from the island.’

  Joseph began to cough. Kia moved to his side and gave him a handkerchief, which he held to his mouth. When he stopped, Jalbis Zachion fixed Joseph with a frown and then approached him, quickly snatching the handkerchief from his hand. He looked at the blood stained spots that were clearly visible.

  ‘Lung cancer,’ he said, handing back the handkerchief.

  ‘I know,’ said the chief.

  ‘How long have you got?’

  ‘A few weeks.’

  ‘At most,’ his brother said unkindly.

  Kia stood up but the chief gestured to her to stay put.

  ‘So what are your plans for the island? Have you talked to her yet?’

  ‘Yes, I’ve spoken to Juditta.’

  ‘We’re both your next of kin. You know what that means?’

  ‘Yes. If I die intestate you’ll both inherit it. It will be like giving the island over to a cat a
nd a dog.’

  ‘She’s got no business experience.’

  ‘But she’d never take orders from you, Jalbis.’

  ‘She’d have to leave the island. I’d make sure she got her share of the money.’

  ‘I sincerely doubt that, Jalbis. In any case, would you honestly be interested in taking over my side of the business?’

  ‘I can’t see a problem, though I wouldn’t indulge myself with the goods as you have.’ He looked pointedly at Kia. ‘I’d need the business anyway to get the girls for the DVDs.’

  ‘And there’d be nothing I could do to prevent you from bringing your surgery here,’ added the chief thoughtfully and began to cough again.

  ‘I’ll leave you to rest, brother dear. We’ll be in touch.’

  Jalbis smiled. Things were looking up.

  4

  The wheels bumped down on the tarmac and the roar of the engines braking stifled any other noise. The passengers leant forward slightly in their seats as the aircraft decelerated. They had landed. Richard looked out of the window at a grey London day. The clouds hung so heavy it seemed as if it were evening. He smiled at the contrast with what he had left behind. It did not bother him though. The dullness of the weather was an irrelevance. He had a lot on his mind. The journey back had been completely uneventful, apart from the usual delay at passport control. As promised he had sent Trish a text with his flight details. No chance of a reunion at the airport. ‘Too busy, Dick. Sorry.’ Nothing unusual there so he could not be disappointed. He’d rather meet her in the privacy of the apartment anyway. He really wanted her but that would have to wait. He’d promised to go straight to the office, a decision he regretted as he heaved his luggage through customs and onto the train. Heathrow had never pleased him as a portal of entry and exit to and from the UK but he’d had no choice. Only the national airline flew in and out of London. Budget flights from other UK airports were not an option. Still he had been bumped up to business class so he shouldn’t complain. He could get a taxi from Paddington; he promised himself that much. He’d sub it himself if necessary. At least the train was quick.