“Oopsie,” she says, “Was that your foot? Better keep your distance next time.”
Kat snorts from where she leans against the door frame, visibly amused. I have my mouth half open, my hand in front of it as I question all my life choices. Something that never happened before, and I ask the Lord what I have done to receive this.
The pain in my foot vanishes, and I take a deep breath.
“You know what,” I say. “I am not doing this. I’ll just let the commission kill you.” With that, I walk. I come to the door, where Kat stops me, takes me by the shoulders, and turns me back to her.
“Remember your mission. That woman,” Kat says, emphasising the word woman, “Is your way to reach it. Be nice.”
“I am not a nice person; you should be aware of that fact by now.”
“I am, reason I am still here, try your best.”
“I am a really nice person,” says the girl from over at the desk, as she swings her legs down and jumps off it. “People like me, because I lighten their day. And you,” she walks up to me, so close that I feel disturbed in my personal space, “Are one hell of a grumpy, angry, prejudiced, judging, mean-tempered person I ever had the unfortunate luck of meeting.”
My nostrils flare. That girl is becoming a stone in my shoe, and I have to do something about it. I grasp her jaw and lick over her face, just like a dog would. The metallic taste of blood on my tongue. I quite enjoy it.
“Eww!” she shouts, jumping backwards.
“Who’s too close now?” I ask her smugly, because it ticked her exactly where I thought it would.
She shakes herself and rolls back her shoulders, wildly wiping off my saliva.
Kat leans in from behind and whispers in my ear, chuckling.
“This will be so much fun indeed.”
I close my eyes for a second because I know there will be more than one annoying stone in my shoe very soon.
“Now, to the more pressing matters,” I say to navigate the topic elsewhere. “How do you intend to convince the commission you’re valid?”
“Well, it’s all in here,” she says and holds up the book she was reading. “They prepared it. Scripted it. Already talked it through. I’ll let the commission know. It was all set. Giuseppe was sick. And he said it in front of all the men, that I am to take over.”
“You’re foolish,” I say. “Foolish to think everything will be easy. It will get you killed, and hell will break loose.”
“Don’t radiate your negativity onto me,” she says. “I believe in positive thoughts. If I believe good things will happen, they will.”
“Foolish and naive,” I say.
“Well, I made it out of your little dungeon and was saved from being raped and managed to have you not at my throat every other second.”
I don’t know if I want to scream or laugh.
“I can’t,” I say, and aim to leave. “I can’t deal with someone like that.”
“You are a bitter woman,” she says. “I don’t want to deal with you either.”
My hands clench into fists and begin to tremble.
“Breathe,” says Kat. “Remember the mission.”
“Cazzo la mizzioni!” I shout, step out of the door, and draw back immediately.
“Gun!” I shout, pull Kat with me, and aim to get the gun from one of the dead men on the floor, but before I have it, the girl fires a shot, and a man falls to the ground.
He’s not dead.
“Did you come alone, or is there anyone else who wants to test how far they can go?” asks the girl as she takes the gun from him in a very different tone.
