Gertrude stood behind it and smiled. In the island’s tourism days, the room had been designed for orientation meetings or to schedule daily activities or perhaps to even watch films on low-resolution projectors. But now its only use was to house the bi-weekly Women’s Meetings, the only time and place to find every woman on the island sharing both space and words.
Gertrude was often at the height of her control here, an irony considering her penchant for speaking as few words as necessary. It was behind that lectern where she did her most elegant work. On many an occasion the changes she had desired seemed to come right from the ignorant mouths of her many puppets.
Sometimes one of the other headwomen or, more likely, Rhonda, took the stage to lead the meetings, but most often it was Gertrude who took control and made her presence known.
Gertrude smiled because she’d been planning for weeks, and today was to be the culmination of so many things. Monica had nodded moments ago, signifying that all were accounted for and the meeting could begin. When Gertrude had stepped to the lectern, the mumblings among the women had died down and fell into a patient and comfortable silence. Now she stood alone and waited a few precious seconds to establish her control. In her mind she flipped the switch she normally kept ON which controlled her own locutions. Behind the lectern, that switch was always OFF.
“Welcome ladies,” she said, and the smile that came with it was genuine. “It seems like it’s been more than two weeks since our last meeting, doesn’t it?” The small crowd smiled. Good. That was good.
“Well, I can assure you it’s been just a single fortnight, as always. And I’d like to start today by addressing the rumors I know you’ve all been hearing and putting to rest any misgivings you may have. Yes. It’s true. I am hereby formally announcing a raid in two days’ time.”
A hearty cheer and applause erupted from the small group of women. Somebody shouted out “Of course it’s in two days! The damn moon will be full, so what else is new?” Laughter followed the remark and Gertrude smiled wider. Again, it was genuine.
“The bastards can hide from me, but they can’t hide forever, right girls?”
Assenting shouts erupted and immediately died. They wanted to hear more. Good. Very good.
“It was a long time coming,” Gertrude continued, “as you all know. Longer than we’ve seen in some time. Sherry,” she directed her attention at the youngest of the blue squad’s hunters, “I don’t believe you’ve had the privilege yet.”
“No, Gertrude,” Sherry said. “I’ve been hearing about them for years now. I’m looking forward to it.”
“Good,” Gertrude said. “You’ll be pleased, I believe. I like that spark in your eye. You have potential, my dear. Don’t forget that.” The girl blushed and one of her friends whispered something happily in her ear. This was all just as Gertrude had intended, and she glanced down to the small paper and its simple itinerary. Item number one was now mentally checked off in her mind. Sherry had been given accolades in front of the crowd, and the response had been positive. She moved on to number two.
“You all know I rely heavily on my black squad to collect clues for me to use; however I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the blue squad today. With their help I’ve been able to find those black bastards, and in two days’ time we’re going to get them and get them good!” Another cheer came, this one sounding as if from a crowd of fifty.
“I just wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone for their fine work lately,” the enormous headwoman went on, “and to let you all know that it is appreciated.” The crowd fizzled happily into another silence. “But the terrain of the black sector’s current hideout is unique, and it is large. They’ve gotten bold in our absence. This elicits a unique challenge for us to perform a proper raid. I talked to Rhonda last night, and she assures me that the trainers can help, and I always consider the blue squad in a case like this. I’ll be needing at least one of you, perhaps as many as three. Do I have any volunteers?”
Several girls immediately raised their hands, but Gertrude only noted one of them. Josie had not. This was a touch unsettling, but she wasn’t overly worried. Her plan was sound, and she would proceed with it. Josie, after all, wasn’t until the fourth bullet on her list.
Besides, she thought, her friend Stephanie is volunteering, and was that an elbow nudge I saw just then as well? I must keep my eye on Stephanie in the future. She may be a key to Josie’s heart.
“Rachel, I’ll take you,” she said. “Thank you.” Instantly the volley of hands dropped and some of the younger girls slumped in disappointment. Rachel beamed. She had been vying for Lucy’s position for months, and this was a boost to her ego. It would be helpful in a few minutes when her heart would be torn from her chest. “I know you’re swamped with work lately,” Gertrude continued addressing Rachel, “so I’ll keep your involvement minimal.” She turned her attention back to the crowd at large. “I’ll know by the afternoon of the raid whether I need any more. The most likely candidates will be the blue squad hunters.”
More deflation among some of the girls, but a distinctive shoulder-raising of the three hunters in blue. Good. Still very good. She checked her list and crossed off another item in her mind.
“I have several other important things to discuss,” she paused, considered, then added, “as I’m sure you’re all aware…” Smiles and glinting eyes returned to her and Gertrude beamed inside. Yes. Yes. Very good. This was very, very good. “But first I think we might hear our formalities. Rhonda?”
Rhonda stood from her front row seat carrying a folder stuffed with computer printouts. She took the speaker’s position and arranged the folder as Gertrude walked to the back of the room. She motioned Monica to join her and the counselor did so immediately.
“As Gertrude mentioned,” Rhonda began, “we’ve had some long-missed activity in the black sector. You probably know that one of their best hideouts to date was discovered and a kill will be made. Perhaps most important is who will be taken. That man, Stub, has been here far too long. According to my records, only four men have ever lasted longer. We’ll still need to make another black kill soon if we intend to keep on track and make up for lost time, but we’ve finally made progress. In any case, this opens up a hole for one of the blue men to fill, most likely the one named…uh,” she checked her notes, “Leet. He’s been on the island for… three years and nine months.”
In the back of the room, Gertrude leaned close to Monica and whispered a single question. “How long before this Heather of yours is ready?”
For once in her blessed life, Monica was both quiet and concise in her answer. “I was planning to get her this Tuesday.”
“No,” Gertrude whispered. “Tuesday’s too long. I want her initiated by Tuesday. Get her today. Leave immediately after the meeting if you have to.”
“Oh, Gertie,” Monica retorted. Her voice bordered on reaching full speaking volume. “Even if I do, it’ll take three days just to get her here. And I have four girls scheduled for sessions this afternoon! And I don’t know if Heather can be pushed to move that quickly. I’d have to reexamine-”
“Just do it!” Gertrude hissed. A moment passed where only Rhonda’s continuing voice could be heard in the background.
“But…” Monica hesitated with a touch of hurt in her voice, “I’ll miss the raid!”
“Not if you hurry,” Gertrude said. “I’ll delay as long as I can, but you know it’s a luxury to attend. Many girls never go even once. This time you may just have to sacrifice your childish wants to The Cause.”
“Yes, Gertrude,” Monica said. “I’m sorry. It shall be done.”
“Thank you,” Gertrude said. She walked back to the front and sat in the seat next to Rhonda’s vacated space. Her back was to Monica and she was uncaring what her face might reveal. On the list in her hand, another box had been mentally checked off.
“As always in the days before a move,” Rhonda was saying, “there will also be need for a bit of clean up in the blue
and green sectors. Blue has recorded just six kills since our last meeting, and green has recorded nine. Those are fine enough numbers for now, but we’ll need double that- triple if we can get it- in the weeks following the raid. And you’ll all need to be prompt with your report to me. Transfers to blue sector take a bit of time, not just in my scheduling but also for the green squad to find and make the move.” She paused, allowing the gravity of her statement to settle in, then continued. “My own girls will be gearing up for another release- a large one- in preparation. Probably we’ll do that next Thursday or Friday. I still have to run the numbers, but in a week’s time we’ll have a whole new crew of greenhorns out there running for their lives.” There was a minor stir among some of the women in the audience. Those in green shirts were raising their eyebrows at each other.
“How many men do you plan to release, Rhonda?” a woman in a white shirt with a green armband on it asked.
“There have been…” Rhonda said, referring to her notes again, “seven that have been ready for some time. Two more became ready just last week. But the real news is that I hope to push at least five more to be ready by Thursday.” Murmurs grew among the women. “My girls already know my expectations, and they’ve been working harder than ever trying to meet these quotas. We are all so very glad to have Josie back. She’s one of our best and of course her presence has been missed.” Some heads swung in Josie’s direction.
When Rhonda spoke again their heads all turned back. “It’s tough enough what I’m asking the trainers to do, and doing it one girl short is nearly impossible. To be honest, while we’re on the subject, I’d like to ask for one hunter to volunteer to help out with the feeding duties so my girls can have more time for our more important needs at this time.” Nobody in the crowd moved, but Rhonda was not offended. “I realize that we’re all under extra pressure in the coming days, but let’s not forget we are a team and your chosen job is only a suggestion of your duties. We all need to work together for The Cause. Monica has already volunteered her time, but I need another. Any girl helping out at this time will, of course, be recognized and eventually compensated appropriately.
Now, two women, a young girl in green and then Erin, the youngest of the blue squad hunters, tentatively raised their hands.
At the back wall of the room leaned Lucy. This was the last women’s meeting she’d ever attend, and she had chosen not to sit amongst the others. Nobody, it seemed, had even noticed. Now she quietly scoffed both of these two young girls and folded her arms tighter against her chest.
“Thank you Brenda and Erin,” Rhonda said. “I’ll take you both. The more the merrier. This will help greatly.”
“Now then,” Rhonda continued, “a movement of this magnitude doesn’t occur very often and some of the girls here have never seen it happen this fast. I don’t want anyone to become nervous and get sloppy in their jobs. Let me assure you all that it always works out in the end, and you’ll all feel a greater sense of accomplishment for it. Remember The Cause. Once all this has calmed down there will be a need for more recruiting again. It’s the next step in the cycle.” Here Rhonda had glanced at her pile of papers, flipped through them briefly as she spoke, but now closed the folder tight. “But I think I’ll save those details for our next meeting. For now, let’s each of us just concentrate on our task at hand. Thank you.”
Rhonda stepped down to a light applause and Gertrude took the podium again. The atmosphere in the room changed instantly. Gertrude stood at the podium, unmoving. She wasn’t bringing simple formalities to the stage now. At this point in the meeting, she was about to do the thing at which she was best, and every woman knew it. She hovered over the women in front of her as if they were simple, inanimate maps resting unpleasantly on a big desk and wishing secretly for the right to flutter in the breeze.
She waited until their attention on her was complete. She knew all the tools of the motivational speaker, though she had never studied. Dramatic pauses, changes in pace, the power of three and of other forms of repetition, flaring anger and soothing tones… it all came to her naturally. She surveyed them, looking for the weakest ones to focus on for the best effect. Then, she spoke.
3
“Never be forgiving, girls. Never. The men here are scum. Pigs. Rapists, wife-beaters, sexists, and pompous jerks… abusers of all kinds are all around you. And you must never be forgiving.” Gertrude paused, looking directly at two of the newer, weaker girls and purposely avoiding Josie’s eyes.
Since her return, Gertrude had gotten only a single good look at her, and though she hated admitting it, Monica’s claim seemed strangely founded. There was something different about Josie, and finding out how much was eating at her. “These are not men of honor, of morality, or of sensitivity. Each one was chosen after proving themselves unworthy of the grand benefits of life. They all… deserve… to die!”
The women, though they’ve heard this kind of sermon before, were becoming nonetheless moved into Gertrude’s planned state of anger. “However,” she went on, “we are not here to just kill them. No. That would be so simple. So juvenile. So… man-like. Women are the superior sex for so many reasons you have all heard me say before. We are caring. Sensitive. Compassionate, understanding. And yet we are strong.” Gertrude inhaled slowly and held her swelled chest out formidably.
“For centuries our genetic makeup has been our downfall, and our weaker physical bodies allowed men to take control over us. They beat us down… dragged us about… and treated us worse than the slaves they purchased and whipped. Barefoot and pregnant, isn’t that our place in life? Keep the house clean and the man happy. He has important things to do at work, but we don’t have any value. He needs to be catered to and respected, but we have never had respect. Think about the average woman in this world, of any ‘civilized’ culture, and I ask you to tell me who the real slaves were. Women. We were slaves of such a baser nature because all the while these men… husbands, fathers, neighbors… they beat and raped us every night they had the indecency to lie to us. They said they loved us. Love! At least the slave heard the truth! The women were just… paraded around like trophies in public… and then turned into slaves only under the cover of darkness and closed doors.
“And that is our strength, my women of Monroe’s Island. Our strength is in our ability to survive and succeed despite the centuries of tradition mounted against us. Women’s Liberation was only the beginning, and look already what it has accomplished. We have women doctors, lawyers, politicians.
“I speak to you today not to anger or scare you,” and she soothed out now, looking back at those same weaker women to reassure them and make them her followers, “but to remind you of our Cause. We are not like the simple men you see every day. We don’t just erase these vermin from the Earth. We teach them. Train them. Liberate them from the terrible existence they have been creating and participating in their whole lives.
“Our Cause… shall cause a change in the world. A major shift in thinking and existing. It will take time and energy, and I cannot promise you to see the results we’d like even in our own lifetimes. We are the Eve of a new world.” She allowed a second of emptiness for that last statement to set into them. They would like being called mothers. Then, slowly, she finished with a flourish.
“But we cannot achieve success if you allow yourselves… to forgive!” Now she looked at Josie and very carefully, modeling all the practice she’d done in front of her mirror for just this moment, she smiled genuinely at her as if seeing her there had made her proud. The girl needed that kind of praise in front of the others after her difficult mission. She had earned it. Gertrude did not notice that Josie didn’t smile back.
“Let Josie be an example to us all,” she mused softly. Now all the heads turned, some left and right until settling to the back of the room where Josie sat, somehow alone within the crowd. “She has just returned, as you know, from a special mission I sent her on. I’m sure she’s too modest to have told any of you what it w
as that I asked her to do.” Attention had come back to Gertrude, where it belonged. Curiosity flowed.
“I sent Josie to recruit someone. Just one.” Murmurs of confusion filtered and stopped quickly. “I sent her to find and bring back the very man that put her here, the boyfriend who date-raped her when she was barely more than a child.” Now a stir roused itself among the women.
“How terrible,” one trainer in green said a bit too loudly.
Gertrude ignored the comment and continued. “Each of us has just such a man that sent us to the brink of insanity… or depression… or anger… before we found salvation at Monroe’s Island.”
Leaning on the back wall, behind everyone’s eyes but Gertrude’s, Lucy scowled.
“What I asked of Josie was very difficult, of course. But I did it not just for her but for all of us. Josie could have forgiven that man. She could have set him free. There’s no doubt in my mind that meeting him again after all this time must have stirred some very uneasy feelings in our poor Josie. But I trusted her strength, and she did not disappoint me. She did not disappoint you. She has raised herself to the test and succeeded. As I said before… let Josie be an example to us all.”
Strong but brief clapping honored Josie as Gertrude beamed inside.
“I believe you all also know about another woman here who has long deserved respect from all of us and who is sadly going to be leaving us soon.” Just as she’d planned, attention quickly slid from Josie, the overnight hero, to Lucy, the time-honored and loyal second-in-command. Now the women of the island were seeing the complexity of The Cause. It ran fast and hot, explosive like Josie, but it also ran patient and strong-willed, methodical like Lucy. The mood was lightening up, but the women were enthralled.
“We have the special opportunity today to wish Lucy goodbye in only two weeks’ time.”
“Thirteen days, Gertrude!” Lucy shouted out, and Gertrude laughed along with the crowd. There was a time and a place for everything, even disrespect, and Lucy had nailed it.
Woman Scorned Page 11