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Her loose white dress swayed above her knees. Her young breasts, wet from bathing, bounced through the thin fabric. She hurried home, where she had been expected for a long time. My parents didn’t like it when their only daughter, Vendetta, was late for dinner, but today the sea was so warm, so gentle… Click-click. Click-click. Her heels clicked loudly on the cobblestones, drawing the attention of men she passed. These unshaven loafers and beer drinkers were all overjoyed, and some of them were full of compliments, and the girl gave them her radiant smile in return. She couldn’t have been more than eighteen, very pretty, with a nice, refined figure. Passing the embankment, she ran out into the square and bought a bunch of limp rosemary from a bored green vendor. I had to do something to appease my mother. Then she exchanged a few words with the brisk newspaperman. It was a cousin in love with her, and the whole conversation was reduced to this dialogue.
«Hey, prettygirl. You look great.
«Hey, Giovanni, cut some corners.
«I’m going to marry you after all!»
«Never!
Then, at the fountain, she slowed down, licking her lips, very thirsty. But there were a bunch of boys there. They were making noise and laughing as they held the water jet in their hands and pushed it at each other. They could have been chased away, but the town hall clock struck noon.
Oh, Santa Maria! She didn’t have much time left, so she ran, her hips swaying more vigorously, which made Giovanni even more flustered, and he put two fingers in his mouth and whistled shrilly after her. A flock of pigeons fluttered over the square, promising a good rain of droppings, but fortunately, Vendetta had already turned into her own street.
Someone was following her. For some reason, the girl was too shy to look back, maybe she didn’t want to scare off the obsession, sweet languor overcame her young and hot body on the run. She knew for a fact that he was a man, and not a bratlike Giovanni. Had the stranger followed her all the way to the beach? He was much older than she was, a little heavy, and she could feel that heavy, searching gaze, that aggressive stride of his. At one point, he was very close, practically breathing down the girl’s back. АжGoosebumps all over the place. She wasn’t afraid of rapists. Here in their tiny backwater, everything is in plain sight, and she always had a sharpened knife in her purse. But why is my heart pounding so hard? Nervously, she reached for the door handle and finally ducked into the entryway. It seems to be all that a decent girl needs to do. The damp stone w
