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Avril began walking over to the cage. She stood next to the guy who had spoken. He had a slick chest, a shaved head, three tattoos on each arm. They were the wavy kind that meant something in Maui or something. But then further down his arm something caught my eye, because I had seen it so many times since I had been here. There on his arm, not as professionally done as the other tattoos, was a cupcake.
As we walked back to camp, the storm began to subside, only slowly but enough so we didn’t need to shout. Avril walked with intention; the rifle slung over her shoulder. She looked so casual with it now, as opposed to how she looked five minutes ago: fierce and ready to aim it right at that guy’s head.
‘Obviously, I have a lot of questions.’
‘Okay, I will answer all of them,’ Avril said with conviction.
We walked at a pace.
‘How did you know where I was?’ I asked.
‘I followed you.’
‘Who are all the men?’
Avril paused for a second. ‘They are men who were brought here because of crimes against women.’
‘What sorts of crimes?’ I asked.
‘Any kind. Inequality. Sexism a lot of the time, but sexism that has been harmful to the life of a woman. To her career. Actual bodily harm, domestic abuse.’ I flinched at her words. An image of Bruno was clear in my mind. The punch, the hole in the wall. Avril also looked across at me, knowing that those words would have the most impact on me.
‘Who brought them here?’
‘I had them brought here.’
I stopped and Avril stopped too. We looked at one another.
‘What is going on here?’ I felt the rage bubble up inside me. Was it all just because of the sight of these men or was it also to do with Clara? I had been angry at Avril for some time now.
‘Did you coerce them here?’
‘We did what we needed to do. Each situation was unique. Each woman’s voice was and is unique.’
‘And what happens to them? Are they serving some kind of sentence?’
‘No. I don’t know. I haven’t thought that far ahead.’ Avril sounded stressed, the first time she had sounded that way. She started walking again, and I followed.
‘How long have they been here?’ I persisted.
Avril was quiet for a moment. ‘The longest, five years.’
Five years? For five years, this island had held men captive. I had been swept up in the idea that I was living in paradise, when all the time I had been sharing my surroundings with criminals.
‘And that was the purpose of coming here?’ I probed Avril further.
‘Not initially. I had the idea of a commune. In the end, I knew I couldn’t afford it. Until I met someone. They needed somewhere to home a male prisoner; I needed an island for my all-female commune and we made an agreement. All the women who live here needed somewhere to live, away from society. Away from their past. And then every time I went to the mainland, there was another man, who was ... handsy, inappropriate, and wouldn’t take no for an answer. It turns out when you do a little digging, you can find out quite a lot about these men, about what they do with their spare time. And who they are with. Where they lie about, waiting to commit their next act.’
‘But are they actual proper criminals?’ I asked, and heard the stress in my voice. So did Avril. She stopped walking and grabbed me with both arms.
‘Sadie, these are men who would otherwise be going around committing crimes and getting away with it.’ Her eyes were desperate and pleading for me to understand. ‘The women on this island understand that they need somewhere to live, and they have accepted it. It’s not that hard to get your head around.’ She rubbed her hand across her face. ‘Besides...’ we continued walking; the rain had eased up more but it was still dripping on my face ‘...you don’t think I get this island for nothing?’
‘I didn’t know. So each woman is running from the same thing? Like me?’ I stopped us walking again by placing my hand on Avril’s arm. ‘Like you?’
Avril looked at me. ‘That’s why I brought you here, because I could see in your eyes that day at the bar, how that guy made you feel. Tony. He’s on our radar by the way. And I can see your wounds even though you don’t think you are displaying them.’
Avril hadn’t answered my question, but I was getting a good picture of what was going on here. Avril had started off by incarcerating one man in return for some free time on the island. She utilised the space to bring more men, and the women who come here have many things in common, the most important being they have all experienced some kind of injustice from men.
We stopped at a clearing, and I recognised it as the place where I had seen the stones with Deny’s name carved into them. I looked down and sought them out. ‘I need a secondwoman, someone to assist me,’ Avril said. ‘All the girls here came specifically for the commune, to exist, to just be, but I can see there is something more in you. I’ve been watching you these last three weeks. You rise early every day, you struggle to relax, you are not sure how to just be, which is fine. But that is exactly what I need in a woman here. I wasn’t sure if you’d be up for the job, but now after seeing you here, I think you’ll be perfect.’