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.I wanted to sweep in the daylight, dust the edges of the room before starting this day’s bread making.When I returned to the house, David stood in the kitchen, his hands kneading and turning the contents of a large bowl.His hands were coated in flour, his face had a slight dusting, and his shoulders rotated in rhythm with his hands.I dropped the basket for dirty clothes inside the door and stood beside him in the kitchen.As I watched his hands turning and kneading, the muscles in his arms tensing and releasing, I understood that this was not new to him.“You almost had it,” he said.“The last batch would have worked if you’d ignored Mateo.”“You don’t need me to bake the bread.”“Yeah, we do.Dad doesn’t want anyone to know I’m doing woman’s work.”I continued to watch his hands and could see the confidence and enjoyment he found in doing this.It soothed me to watch him, and I leaned against the stove.“But they’ll send you away if you don’t do the bread right, and if you don’t stop making Dad mad.” David’s dough was soft and stretchy, matching the pictures next to the recipe.“Where will they send me?”“The city.And I like what you did to Mateo yesterday.He deserved it.He needs it.Mom used to keep him in line, but there’s no one to do that now.I want you to stay here.”Tense, release.Tense, release.The dough was smooth and malleable, not sticky or flaky.His movements mesmerized me.When a shadow stretched across the square of sunlight from the door, I looked up, blinking, waking from the calming movement of David’s kneading.A dark shape stood in the doorway—I couldn’t see the person’s face with the light behind him, but David stopped his movements, pulled away from the bowl and stood trembling against the refrigerator door.I stood in front of David and waited.The man took a step into the room, out of the sunlight, and now I could see the heavy brow, thinning hair and deepset eyes of Celso, Belen’s brother.The man who’d chained me to the doghouse.David breathed hard behind me.“David, David, David,” Celso said, his voice singsong, light and teasing.His eyes didn’t match the tone, though, and I moved closer to David.“I’ve told you before, kid, you’re not cut out to be anyone’s protector, not even your reject sister’s.Making the bread for her, were you?”A squeak entered David’s breathing, a high-pitched wheeze that sounded almost like the buzzing of the cicada.The rhythmic squeaks began to increase in speed until there was barely a pause between them.David held my arm, and then he slid to the floor, his other hand against his throat, his breath coming in gasps.Celso pushed me out of the way and stood over David.“And look at you now.Can’t even breathe.Your mother never should have taught you how to bake the bread.”I turned on the cold water at the sink and ran a cloth under the tap.I knelt next to David and wiped at his face, around his eyes, around his mouth.He stared up at Celso, his eyes huge, his breath ragged.The cool water on the cloth didn’t seem to help, but I kept wiping at his face while Celso watched, a half smile on his face.“Like brother, like sister.You two are both damaged, he with asthma, you with ugliness.”I stood then and pushed Celso in the chest so hard I grunted and he fell, landing on his back in the doorway to the house.I bent down again and wiped at David’s face.He could no longer see Celso, but as he watched me, his breath began to slow, began to lose its squeak, and the skin around his lips became pink again instead of blue.When a shadow stretched through the room, sending its darkness like a blackened cloud over us, I leaped to the side and David raised a hand to shield his eyes.Where I had been the moment before, the flash of a blade came down as Celso swept his knife through the air above David.I crouched now, hands out, and he charged at me, but I leaped aside and ran through the kitchen and out the front door.I could hear him breathing hard, almost growling, but as soon as my feet touched the grass, I knew I could outrun this man.I could run back to the camp in the woods and never see this village again [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.I wanted to sweep in the daylight, dust the edges of the room before starting this day’s bread making.When I returned to the house, David stood in the kitchen, his hands kneading and turning the contents of a large bowl.His hands were coated in flour, his face had a slight dusting, and his shoulders rotated in rhythm with his hands.I dropped the basket for dirty clothes inside the door and stood beside him in the kitchen.As I watched his hands turning and kneading, the muscles in his arms tensing and releasing, I understood that this was not new to him.“You almost had it,” he said.“The last batch would have worked if you’d ignored Mateo.”“You don’t need me to bake the bread.”“Yeah, we do.Dad doesn’t want anyone to know I’m doing woman’s work.”I continued to watch his hands and could see the confidence and enjoyment he found in doing this.It soothed me to watch him, and I leaned against the stove.“But they’ll send you away if you don’t do the bread right, and if you don’t stop making Dad mad.” David’s dough was soft and stretchy, matching the pictures next to the recipe.“Where will they send me?”“The city.And I like what you did to Mateo yesterday.He deserved it.He needs it.Mom used to keep him in line, but there’s no one to do that now.I want you to stay here.”Tense, release.Tense, release.The dough was smooth and malleable, not sticky or flaky.His movements mesmerized me.When a shadow stretched across the square of sunlight from the door, I looked up, blinking, waking from the calming movement of David’s kneading.A dark shape stood in the doorway—I couldn’t see the person’s face with the light behind him, but David stopped his movements, pulled away from the bowl and stood trembling against the refrigerator door.I stood in front of David and waited.The man took a step into the room, out of the sunlight, and now I could see the heavy brow, thinning hair and deepset eyes of Celso, Belen’s brother.The man who’d chained me to the doghouse.David breathed hard behind me.“David, David, David,” Celso said, his voice singsong, light and teasing.His eyes didn’t match the tone, though, and I moved closer to David.“I’ve told you before, kid, you’re not cut out to be anyone’s protector, not even your reject sister’s.Making the bread for her, were you?”A squeak entered David’s breathing, a high-pitched wheeze that sounded almost like the buzzing of the cicada.The rhythmic squeaks began to increase in speed until there was barely a pause between them.David held my arm, and then he slid to the floor, his other hand against his throat, his breath coming in gasps.Celso pushed me out of the way and stood over David.“And look at you now.Can’t even breathe.Your mother never should have taught you how to bake the bread.”I turned on the cold water at the sink and ran a cloth under the tap.I knelt next to David and wiped at his face, around his eyes, around his mouth.He stared up at Celso, his eyes huge, his breath ragged.The cool water on the cloth didn’t seem to help, but I kept wiping at his face while Celso watched, a half smile on his face.“Like brother, like sister.You two are both damaged, he with asthma, you with ugliness.”I stood then and pushed Celso in the chest so hard I grunted and he fell, landing on his back in the doorway to the house.I bent down again and wiped at David’s face.He could no longer see Celso, but as he watched me, his breath began to slow, began to lose its squeak, and the skin around his lips became pink again instead of blue.When a shadow stretched through the room, sending its darkness like a blackened cloud over us, I leaped to the side and David raised a hand to shield his eyes.Where I had been the moment before, the flash of a blade came down as Celso swept his knife through the air above David.I crouched now, hands out, and he charged at me, but I leaped aside and ran through the kitchen and out the front door.I could hear him breathing hard, almost growling, but as soon as my feet touched the grass, I knew I could outrun this man.I could run back to the camp in the woods and never see this village again [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]