Womyn Island was meeting in the same room of the old church as the past time, with the same plain walls and floor that came with a remodelling in the 2000s. Kathleen was sure there were more rooms to this place, and she wondered if they used them for anything. She knew there were group dinners, but surely they were held somewhere else, maybe even in the basement if that’s where the kitchens were. There had to be kitchens, because Sonia had brought out a tray of freshly baked scones, and she handed one out to everyone. As Kathleen took one, the warmth of it burned her hand, yet she held to it anyway and choked down bites that left scorch marks down her throat.
She’d missed the start of the first meeting it seemed, because Kellie was giving a speech to begin the day. She stood at the centre of the circle of chairs, hands still clasped together. Everyone sat and listened, enraptured.
“Welcome, everyone, it is lovely to have you all here today. It is with sad news I say that Germaine will no longer be attending these meetings. We are sad to see her go, but I am sure her new calling will be something greater.”
Kathleen remembered the small argument Germaine had started in the last meeting and wondered if that was the reason she was gone but thought little much else of it.
“You all know who I am and what we are, so I will not waste any more time before we begin. Women must be protected, thank you.”
Everyone in the group repeated “Women must be protected”. Kathleen didn’t question it, she just got in line. Everyone clapped.
A blonde woman stood and began talking. “Good morning everyone, my name is Shelia for those who don’t know me yet, and I’d like to give an update on the situation with my daughter.
“I came to you all a month ago because my daughter told me that she wanted to cut off her breasts and scoop out her ovaries, and, well, I just wasn’t equipped to face the level of self-mutilation she desired. But, since I’ve employed the tactics you’ve all suggested to me, things have gotten a lot better. She’s stopped bringing up her lust for self-mutilation to me, and she’s nice and quiet like a good little girl should be. Really, I am so thankful for you all for helping me! The transgenderism nearly took her from me.” She began crying, ugly tears streaming into her mouth, “They nearly took my little girl away from me and I just don’t know what I would have done, what I would have done, what-“
“Thank you, Shelia,” Kellie said. Shelia sat down, her body quaking at each violent sob. Despite all this, she was smiling, big and wide. “We are so happy to know that your daughter has been saved from the virus of self-destruction and mutilation. I hope that she can stand as an example to all the others that there is a way to cure transgenderism before it takes root, especially in the rapid onset cases such as these” Kellie was still and calm in the face of Shelia’s desperate cries. She did not move to comfort the woman, even as others in the circle did.
Kathleen felt something strange at the language Kellie had used, something between horror and awe. ‘Virus’, ‘cure’, the way she seemed to view transgenderism as an evil to be eradicated. There was something delicious in it, how politically incorrect it was, yet how it resonated so sharply with truth. Deep down she felt an instinct to flee from here, run back to her empty house and not look back. But she was still hungry for more; like the insect drawn by the sweet scent of a Venus flytrap, there was a physiological instinct she couldn’t resist.
Somewhere below, she thought she heard laughter. It was faint, but it was present, a deep, guttural sound of laughter. She looked around, but it didn’t seem that anyone had heard it. Or if they had they’d chosen to ignore it. Perhaps it was just the building settling.
Rosie was sat next to Shelia, comforting her, holding the woman’s hand in hers. “It’s okay. We’re here for you. You’ve managed something incredible, truly, and you should feel proud of yourself”
“Really, I’m jealous” Maya said, “You’ve managed a lot so quickly, I don’t know how you’ve been so proactive”
“Although” Sonia said, “It was thanks to our guidance. We should all feel proud, as a group”
“I don’t think we should be taking credit right now” Joyce said. “Shouldn’t we at least focus on Shelia today? Clearly it’s taken a lot from her to come so far”
“Joyce, you always seem to be the one starting arguments” Sonia said. “Are you trying to divide us, when Shelia needs our help?”
“No, that’s not fair. I was just trying to say-“
“Shame on you” Rosie said, clutching Shelia’s hand tightly. “You’re upsetting her more”
Joyce looked defeated and fell quiet. Kathleen took the chance to speak. She stood. “Wow Shelia, I’m amazed. I only wish I could have saved my husband before it was too late. What were the tactics that worked? I wasn’t a member yet when they were suggested.”
Kathleen sat as Shelia stood. The woman had stopped crying, but her eyes were still darkened red with blood. “Thank you for your question, Kathy.” She said, “I simply did as everyone said. First, I dug through all the things in her room, to see if there was anything she’d been hiding from me. And there was.” The tone of Shelia’s voice began to shift, growing angrier, darker. “A binder. She was hiding a chest binder from me. Doesn’t she know how dangerous those things are? And, a dildo, a fucking dildo too. Seventeen is far too young for a girl to have something like a dildo, and I don’t even want to imagine if she was using it on herself or wearing it and pretending she had a penis like some violent man. I took both things from her room and when she returned home from school I burned them in front of her I told her that no daughter of mine would have these things that if I caught her pretending to be a man again I would kick her out of the house and when she raised her voice against me I was threatened and I hit her. I punched her in the breasts, as a reminder of what she is, what she will always be. I- I was protecting her, you see. From the transgenderism that was going to rape her and mutilate her and take her away from me. I hit her to save her from the transgender virus that was taking over. I hit her. I- my daughter, my poor little girl, I hit her. Am I the man, the violent man-? I- she screamed. I screamed. Hit her- I – hit her- I-”
Kellie stood. Shelia screamed and fell backwards into her chair, which then fell backwards with her onto the ground. There was a loud crack as her head made contact with the ground, and a small pool of blood began to form beneath her. She started sobbing again.
“NO! DADDY DON’T HIT ME! I’LL BE BEHAVED! Please…”
Kellie motioned to Sonia and Rosie. Each grabbed one of Shelia’s arms and carried her away through a door to another room. Shelia gave a deafening scream, a raw screech of fear. She sounded like an animal. They carried her off into the back room, and after a few minutes of loud sobbing, there was quiet again. Sonia and Rosie re-emerged from the room, without Shelia. They were both smiling wide.
Kellie finally broke the silence of the room. “I am so sorry that you all had to witness that.” She sat down again. “Sometimes the things we discuss here can reawaken old traumas, and it seems that Shelia had a vivid flashback to her childhood. That is simply the risk we take here.”
Kathleen kept staring at the door that held Shelia. Had they tranquilised her or something? Yes, surely they’d tranquilised her. That would make sense. It had to make sense. Everything was rational. Still, she didn’t know how to understand the outburst she had witnessed. Had Shelia really done those awful things to her daughter?
“It should be clear to everyone that everything Shelia talked about past going through her daughter’s things didn’t really happen.” Kellie said, the flow of her voice as it ever was, hands clamped together, smiling as wide as she always did, “She found the things and threw them out. Of course, that’s what she did.”
Of course. Dildos can’t burn anyway. The whole story was clearly a lie.
“Exactly Kathy. Now, you will all leave here today feeling happy and refreshed. You won’t speak of Shelia’s story, because” she laughed, “it was clearly nonsense anyway. Hardly even worth remembering.”
That made sense. The rest of the meeting passed without incident. Hardly even worth remembering. The pool of blood from where Shelia’s head hit the ground, the screams, the minutes of sobbing suddenly snuffed out, helping to scrub the blood from the floorboards, none of it stuck in Kathleen’s mind.
Somewhere below, once again, deep and joyous laughter.
