In a tiny room with thin walls on four sides and one equally thin ceiling on top, a room in a cheap apartment to be technical or basically the apartment itself, sat two women. One of them was significantly shorter than the other, but both of them had long black hair. Their hairstyles were different, however. The one on the left, the shorter one, let her hair flow free from her head; the other, the taller one, had her hair tied in a ponytail.
“I have always like the word ‘antagonize’.” said the taller girl. She waited for a while to give her friend some time to answer, but when the shorter girl didn’t, and she continued.
“Because it is a reminder that it is not…” She corrected herself as though she was struggling with unfamiliar words, “…that one is not born an antagonist but is made one by the protagonist, and that given the chance, the protagonist too can be the antagonist.”
“You sure have some interesting views, Daredare.” answered the shorter girl with a quiet smile, to which the taller girl named “Daredare” nodded,
“Thank you.”
“Now, tell me, what do you think about…”
The shorter girl who had yet to be named was about to finish her line when suddenly a high-pitch scream emerged from the apartment next door. She grunted and shivered a little, but then continued as if nothing had happened,
“Now, tell me, what…”
Again she was interrupted by another scream, this time louder and more urgent but sounding nonetheless like the previous one, that was to say, like the squeal of a pig in a slaughterhouse. There were words in that scream, but they were blurred by the paper-thin walls. The shorter girl shut her eyes, sighed, and then resumed,
“Now…”
“Jesus fucking Christ, put that fucking knife down, kiddo!”
And was interrupted for the third time. The shorter girl gave a yelp of fury, and slammed her fist hard onto the table between her and Daredare. Across the table, Daredare seemed slightly annoyed by the cries too, but she did nothing to show it, and only smiled, placing a hand on her friend’s shoulder.
“What’s happening next door?”
“You mean, what’s been happening?” groaned the shorter girl in reply, spreading her palms and smashing the sides of her hands on the table again.
“Yes, yes, what’s been happening?”
“Domestic stuff. Just normal domestic violence. Nothing more.”
This drew Daredare’s attention and sympathy, and she asked further, “Are you sure it’s ‘normal’?”
“Oh yeah, just a bit of knife play and all that. Might seem a bit unsettling the first few nights, but you’d get used to it.” When she saw the worried look of her friend’s face, she added with a shrug, “Eventually.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, a hundred percent.”
“No, I mean, are you sure this whole domestic violence thing won’t worsen?”
“It’s fine, I’m telling you. It’s perfectly fine.”
