Page 11 of Marked for Execution

I would gain no new answers here, so I continued with my task. Once everything was back in order, I rummaged through the dresser and looked for another pair of panties. I only had three. Grabbing the dark pair, I slipped them on. Aknock knock knockreverberated through the front door downstairs at the exact same time.

What the hell?

Looking around for fabric or tape to band my breasts, my adrenaline skyrocketed when another knock came through impatiently. I still couldn’t find my tape. Growling in frustration, I grabbed an oversized black shirt and quickly tried to braid my wet hair. Running down the stairs with light steps, I jumped the rail the last few steps and loudly skidded on the floor in an attempt to grab my baseball cap.

Shoving everything under it, I tightened it down and unlocked the front door, opening it just an inch.

It was the tattoos I saw first. I didn’t know whether to be more nervous or relieved.What the hell was he doing here and how did he know where I live? Was he following me?

His voice was calm, almost amused. “Fitri.”

I didn’t like the way his tenor made me feel when he was like this—not brooding or commanding someone.

“What do you want?”

He lowered his arms slightly and leaned against the outer frame of my door, blocking anyone’s view. I guess I should be thankful for that. I didn’t want any unexpected visitors and I sure as hell didn’t want him here.

He stared at me for a few moments. The air between us felt thick and awkward.

“I need to talk to you,” he finally said.

“You already did.”

He smirked, and I slammed the door in his face.

“Fitri, open this damn door.”

There was the asshole from earlier.“What for?”

“Fitri.”

I growled at his incessant use of my name out in the open and swung the door open a little further than the last time as I bared my teeth at him.

“Can you not?” I tried to look around him, but his torso was too damn broad; I couldn't.

He smiled, and my eyes widened.What the hell was he smiling about?I quickly found out when he forcefully shoved his large body through the door and shut it behind us with abang.Fuck these inward opening doors!

“What iswrongwith you?” I tried to keep my voice down. There weren’t many who lived near me, but the ones that did didn't need to know anything about me.I just wanted to be left in peace!

Eliseo looked around my humble abode and then ripped the cap off my head. I gasped at the audacity and clenched my fists.Calm down, Fitri. He was just purposely pressing your buttons.

“So why are you trying to hide the fact that you’re a girl?” he asked over my head, still looking around, and then finally, down at my now loosely-braided hair.

Straight to the gut with this one. No manners at all. He wasn’t even invited in.

Flashes of a man’s tanned face smiling at me while he gardened hit me with sadness.Why was this memory hitting me now?

“It doesn’t matter how much this desolate existence tries to suck the humanity out of us. There’s still time for courtesy and manners. It helps us live in harmony. We are already at odds against one group; we need to keep our community together.”

The memory of his voice was soothing to my soul and my eyes burned. This wasn’t like back then. This was a whole other community. One full of different people.

A tear escaped and I ground my teeth. Eliseo looked panicked and suddenly lifted both of his hands up, palms out. “Hey, hey now. It’s just a damn question.”

“I just want…” I gritted out but stopped. What do I want? What can this man before me, standing here like an intrusive fucking no mannered giant, understand about what it was like being a woman in this day in time?

He never will.

“What does it matter to you? I did what I had to do. We came back alive. I need you to take your large ass out of my house!”