Chapter 9
Under the sunset, Kate winked at me and said, “I was seventy years old, and I had heart disease and high blood pressure, you know?”
In such a tense atmosphere, I almost burst out laughing.
Diego struggled desperately and shouted, “Even if you kill me today, I will still say it! This woman is cohabiting with two men! She must be a prostitute! Otherwise, why would you all protect her like this?”
Kate swung her arms left and right, slapping repeatedly, delivering several slaps.
“You spread rumors about my daughter like this, even if I kill you today, no one can say anything!”
“What’s wrong with my son taking my daughter to and from work? I’m just asking you what’s wrong.”
“If it weren’t for you, a creepy man, constantly pulling down your pants in front of our house, my daughter wouldn’t be so worried and anxious about going to work every day,”
“Are you saying that we hit people? What about the incident where you beat up my daughter in the neighborhood late at night? Why don’t you mention that? Huh? Do you think that just because my daughter has a good temper, our whole family will indulge you?”
She was scolding while hitting, and her speech was extremely clear, without any stuttering.
The onlookers understood clearly.
“One, this man getting beaten up was spreading rumors.”
“Second, this is a family, and there is also an elderly woman living in the house. She can’t be a prostitute! Third, this man is always being gross, taking off his pants and bothering the little girl. That’s why the two young guys take her to and from work.”
Kate saw that the onlookers had understood, so she stopped fighting.
She calmly smoothed her hair and assumed the posture of the director of the Social Service Center, venting her grievances to everyone.
“My daughter is timid by nature. After this neighbor moved in, all kinds of junk were piled up in the corridor. The shoe cabinet was right next to the crack of my door.”
“My daughter just asked him to move a little, but he reacted by cursing loudly and piling all the dirty and smelly things onto my daughter! He is just bullying my daughter because she lives alone!”
“Speaking honestly, who doesn’t have a daughter or granddaughter in our family? Shouldn’t a girl be able to live alone without being bullied? Why is that?”
“After I moved here with my two sons, well, what a coincidence, I happened to catch this beast taking off his pants in front of my daughter!”
“I’ll be blunt, if you treat my daughter like this, it wouldn’t matter if I chop off your thing with a knife! Everyone, am I right?”
Kate talked non–stop as if giving a speech.
A few elderly ladies who were about to go out to dance in the square empathized with each other. “Oh my goodness, that’s so mean! They deserve to be beaten!”
“If this dog dares to treat my granddaughter like this, I will kill him!”
Diego was pressed down on the granite table by Deshawn, his face turning red and his neck thick, struggling hard.
“You old hag! You were always good at making up nonsense! You and your daughter, I’m sure when you were young, you were also…”
It was too late to say anything, and Kate slapped again, saying sternly, “Your life is not as long as my foot, dare to talk nonsense here!”
“You lied in front of me! How dare you? I will smack your foul mouth until it swells!”
Now it was Deshawn’s turn to hold her arms and make her stop hitting.
Diego crawled and rolled to the corner, trembling, and said, “You’re crazy, I’m going to call the police!”
As soon as Diego heard the police siren outside the neighborhood, he had a happy expression on his face. Andres stuffed his phone into his pocket and calmly said, “Sorry, they came to arrest you.”
