The humillation

"Joshua told me you were coming this morning, and his sister said the same thing. But you showed up late last night. Why?"

The accusatory tone and the total difference in attitude from Thabata's earlier moment causes total distress to Emanuele, who can't even formulate a sentence.

But the blonde doesn't even let her manage to organize her own thoughts. Slowly walking around the room, Thabata continues:

"My boyfriend is a very good person. He would throw himself off a bridge to save a helpless person. But don't put any ideas in that head of yours, you hear me?"

"... What?"

"What?", Thabata repeats debauchedly. Then she returns to her angry countenance. "He won't be here long, it's only until my sister-in-law returns from her trip. And I'll be keeping an eye on you."

"But-"

"He's quite handsome, isn't he? Attractive, charming, brave.... Everything a girl like you has probably never seen in her life."

Emanuele just stands still, listening endlessly to the offenses uttered by her roommate's girlfriend.

"I've been with him for almost three years. Three years, you understand? And it's not some random girl with weird hair who's going to take him from me. Not that you have the slightest chance of competing with me, but consider that a bona fide warning."

Thabata moves closer to Emanuele, whose face is practically on the floor from so much sadness at the gratuitous and senseless attacks.

"Don't look at the ground when you're talking to me, girl."

A whirlwind of emotions runs through Emanuele's mind. When she left the house, she needed to arm herself with all the courage she could muster. Even though she had agreed to arrive on Thursday morning, by Wednesday she was already on the road. All this because she knew that she simply would not survive if she stayed in that place.

The trip itself was also a real hell. Not only was the bus delayed by TWO HOURS, but there were endless stops along the way, completely disobeying the pre-established rules of travel conduct. When Emanuele tried to eat, she realized that many of the honey buns given as gifts were expired. She looked around, but no one even bothered to open their own packages.

She had been without food for almost twenty-four hours. Not to mention that she had been the victim of a terrible crime last night. All this had happened in an incredibly short period of time.

And now, for a change, the girlfriend of the strange man, who turned out to be the brother of the owner of the apartment, put it into her sick head that Emanuele was a threat, a fake or a worm; maybe a little of all three. It was a lot of humiliation.

That kind of thing unfortunately happened to her with absurd frequency. Like a frightened puppy dog, all Emanuele did was stand still when someone started to kick her. And not only metaphorically speaking. Violence was something horrible, agonizing, and terrifying: but not uncommon. Quite the contrary.

At school, even the teachers took advantage of her passivity to embarrass her. They took pleasure in demoralizing her, making her look foolish in front of the others. After all, how could one fear something that never even did anything to stop an attack? 

Emanuele was constantly the favorite target of bullies, cowards and heartless people. Her adolescence was marked by "pranks" of terrible taste, constant intimidation, rigid control and demarcation by not only her mother, but also by people of terrible character.

In a world where she was wrong for supposedly wanting justice and to get rid of those filthy and unfair beings, how to get rid of this deep-rooted pattern of behavior? How to react, how to fight for her own dignity, for her own rights? 

It was hard for her, mainly because her sick brain was already used to this kind of thing. But all those conflicting emotions in her chest simply overflowed.

Into rage. Pure and genuine.

"Do you have a problem in your head?", Emanuele asked softly.

Thabata was not expecting that, but she was not shaken.

"What?"

"I asked," Emanuele spoke louder, with more authority and intimidation. "If you have a problem in your head. But apparently, you must have something in your ears too."

The blonde almost choked at the girl's boldness.

"Listen here, you little..."

"No. You are the one who will listen to me. You're right. Your boyfriend is a great guy, not every man is like him. Which begs the question, why would someone so good, with such absurd integrity, waste precious time, THREE YEARS, with a person as horrible as you?"

Thabata turned red with anger, but remained quiet while Emanuele returned all the venom at the same time.

"But you seemed quite sweet a few minutes ago. Concerned about my integrity, you came to me with eyes so bright you almost fooled me. So I believe that's it. He is someone who tries to see the good in people, and you are an excellent actress. I have to admit it. Congratulations too."

Emanuele took a breath and continued:

"But I would be careful if I were you. Lies have a shelf life, no matter how good and big they are. And nobody likes to be lied to. I believe that your boyfriend is someone who takes this much more seriously than most people. Wouldn't it be horrible if he found out just today, for example, that his sweet girlfriend is nothing like she appears to be?"

"What are you implying, shambling little thing? That he'll believe anything you say? Joshua eats out of my hand and you're never going to change that."

"I don't need to do anything. Sooner or later he'll come to his senses. Your perfect mask will fall off, Thabata. People like you have a special corner in hell waiting for them."

The redhead walked over to the blonde, who surprisingly backed away.

"And I will be delighted to be there the day that happens. In the front row, with a huge bucket of popcorn."

"You cheeky little slut, I will-"

The clatter of a bunch of keys quickly interrupts the discussion. 

After opening the door, Joshua, holding a brown paper bag in his hands, looks at the two girls and raises one of his eyebrows. 

"What's going on here?"