This is the male I see around the village during the day, up on a roof with a hammer or loading up the back of a pickup truck. All business, economical movements, and easy efficiency.First, he quickly unpacks and sorts my backpack. My clothes go in a neat stack, thick hoodie and jeans at the bottom, panties and bras on top. My cheeks don’t even warm. My reactions have been shorted out.He takes my one pair of sweatpants and tugs them on, pulling the drawstring tight so they stay on his hips. They come to mid-calf on him, and they’re pale yellow. Somehow, with his tan skin, they look good.The food goes in another pile, cans in a row, boxes stacked. Personal care products go in another—my little floral makeup bag, toothbrush, toothpaste, shampoo, a bar of soap wrapped in a blue handkerchief.The rest goes in its own small pile. A box of kitchen matches. A small, rusty hatchet that was at the bottom of the trunk where I keep the Weedwacker. A brown envelope with pictures of my dam and
Last Updated : 2025-03-31 Read more