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She looked at me. Her eyes were dark like deep pools of water. An expression of satisfaction spread over her face.
‘You do understand, you must help me now.’
53
THEN
Later that morning, I went to Camp Z. I brought a packet of cigarettes I had found in the pantry. They must have belonged to James and his friend, and I felt sick passing them around the other men, but they were thankful. I tried not to look too hard at their frail bodies or the way their ribs protruded through their skin, as though I could grab a bone at any moment.
‘That was very nice of you. Men feel like men when they have a cigarette,’ Kai said and lay down on the ground. He patted the ground, an invitation, so I took it and sat down close to the cage.
‘She hasn’t trained you with a gun then yet?’
I looked away. Guns. Surely that was the quickest way to eradicate all the men at once.
‘Just basic point and shoot.’ Kai sucked on his cigarette. ‘You’d pick it up quickly.’
I didn’t reply. He sucked in again, and fell to his side with his hand under his head.
‘She came here a few weeks ago. She looked stressed. She didn’t speak as such or say anything, but I rarely see her these days. The food rations have halved. No new men are arriving and disappearing. I have very little to focus my senses on here, Sadie, so I am highly and finely tuned to every little thing that is within my reach. I can sense something is happening.’ He sucked hard on his cigarette. ‘Do you know what is happening?’ he asked calmly but I could sense the fear.
‘I . . .’ I began.
‘And don’t sugar-coat it, Sadie. Look at me. I have nothing. Just tell me the truth.’
‘The deal she had with the island is coming to an end. She has said she wants you all gone.’
Kai nodded. ‘Poor little rich girl.’ I wondered if he had understood what I had told him.
‘You know what I mean when I say gone?’ I asked Kai.
He looked at me, took a last long drag of his cigarette, and dropped it on the floor. ‘Of course I know what you mean,’ he said. ‘Which is exactly why you and I need to work together from here on in.’
I felt my stomach lurch. The words that Avril had been saying to me recently were now being echoed by Kai. But I knew in my heart which one I needed to help. It just meant how much was I willing to risk my own life.
‘You know you have all the power,’ Kai continued. ‘She probably likes you a lot, right? You know where the keys are.’
‘I don’t know that.’
‘But you could find out?’
I thought of all the places where Avril could keep the keys.
‘Let me go, Sadie. I’ll go back to the mainland and find my way home to South Africa. Start that boat business I always dreamed of.’
‘Boat business?’
‘My papa had a dream to make boats; he died when I was fifteen. I vowed I would start the business. But I never got around to it. Yet.’
He walked to the other side of the cage and stared across at all the other prisons, as though he was seeing beyond them all and watching his dream come to life.
‘Find the keys, Sadie; set me free. Do the right thing.’
54
THEN
I was a shell of my former self. I didn’t know who I was anymore. I went through each day as if I were sleepwalking. I spoke only when I had to. I ate only fruit, rice and vegetables.