Een nacht met de groene fee…

girls-and-corpses05Life didn’t come easy on Sweet Pleasant Island. There was less than little really sweet or pleasant about this island, which name was a rather bad joke of the warden of this open air prison. Henry’s house on this island was close to Oakman’s. Well, not really a house. You couldn’t really call it a house. It was a place to keep as warm and dry and as protected as you could get. Henry and Oakman were the oldest lodgers of Sweet Pleasant Island. They both had lived there for ten years. Henry had killed a man. Oakman had killed five and a child. Friendship wasn’t found on Sweet Pleasant Island, but Henry and Oakman had an understanding and gave each other the rights and benefits of being seniors. The seniors ruled the island. And Oakman was their leader. The whole island had about 300 lodgers. Only fifteen of them were seniors. It wasn’t of course very clear how you became a senior, but the seniors stated the system worked. Within the group of seniors Oakman, Henry and Duchateau had the highest ranks. All three of them had a helper. All three helpers had a guide and all three guides had a fixer. Oakman, being the leader, did also have three soldiers. This is how the hierarchy of the seniors of Sweet Pleasant Island was built. With this tight structure and the use of extreme terror the seniors made sure the island was theirs and stayed theirs. And it wasn’t that hard. Most of the lodgers of Sweet Pleasant Island were beaten too many times before they even got to the island. Too many times to revolt. There was a lot of murder going on on the island. Suicide, however, got credit for the most victims. Being a senior had a definite upside, but sure was not definite. It was up to Oakman to kill and replace seniors and he had done so eight times already.
Once in a while new lodgers would arrive on the island. On such an occasion the seniors would greet them and see how they could make use of them. On such an occasion horror and rape were sounding and also seniors could easily get replaced. The seniors had no use for a second party on the island and made this very clear within the first sixty minutes the new lodgers got off the boat. Every new lodger got marked. They either became an outcast, a worker, a family member or – very seldom – a senior. Or a corpse. The outcasts were sent south, to the wilderness, and had small chance of surviving. The workers would get fed, as long as they provided the food themselves and shared it in unequal amounts with the seniors. Family members were mostly women. They were chosen for the comfort of the seniors. Not many women arrived at Sweet Pleasant Island. On the whole island there were only eight women. Oakman had three for his own pleasure. The others were shared amongst the other seniors. Duchateau and Oakman’s fixer did also have two young boys to please them.
Nights were restless on Sweet Pleasant Island. Although clawback was fierce new lodgers were always trying to seize power. They – of course – never succeeded. Still, being careless was not an option for the seniors. Henry had the least to fear. He was considered the friendliest of the seniors. He had saved quite some new lodgers from certain death or uncertain future. Having been on the island for ten years had made Henry mild. Unlike the other seniors he hadn’t grown hatred. Having been on the island for ten years actually softened him, made him think about compassion, dream about love and hope for better times.
On a day of new arrivals a woman and her child, a little boy, got off the boat. The woman had a beautiful face. She also had a beautiful body; what was left of it. Her legs got cut off. Her legs got cut off to make it easier for her interrogators to rape her. They made her little son watch. One day he tried to attack his mother’s attackers. This day they crippled him. This woman’s name was Lily. This boy’s name was Ruben. Oakman had no use for Lily or Ruben. The seniors had no use for Lily or Ruben. But Henry took them in his comfort. Not to use them. Not to fuck them. No: to take care of them. Filling his home with Lily and Ruben made Henry’s longing for ’the good that must be’ become flesh. His composition of an enjoyable world, an acceptable world got form. And with this obvious joy of Henry the other seniors redeveloped that sad emotion called jealousy.
Because Henry was sweet and thoughtful and tender Lily came to love him. Little time did it take for Lily, Ruben and Henry to become as close as they could get to a real family. Joy was a daily happening in Henry’s cabin – and everybody felt it. Lily’s and Ruben’s immobility was a big weight on Henry’s shoulders.
A weight he didn’t feel. …