Rage Read Online Free Page A

household, aren't you?"
    Rosa nodded.
    Israel swivelled his gaze towards Maria in order to
address him next, when he felt a sudden blow smashing
his nose up between his eyes. He backed off, lifting a
hand to his face. When his hand fell back it was dripping
blood. Maria leaped forwards and unleashed a headbutt to his forehead, along with a follow-up punch,
this time to the stomach. Israel let out a groan, his legs
buckled beneath him, and he wove from side to side,
finally managing to reach out an arm and prop himself
up against a wall. Maria and Rosa carried on walking.
    "Let's go, darling."
    Israel collapsed into a sitting position on the threshold
of the building. He left the bloody imprint of his hand
on the wall behind him.
    The doorman, who had witnessed everything, emerged
from the building, his eyes round with wonder.
    "Police!... Police!..." he started shouting.

    But Israel, using the last vestiges of energy remaining
to him, yanked at his leg and said, his vanity still intact:
    "Don't wake sleeping dogs, you idiot, can't you see
what state I'm in? Help me inside..."
    The doorman took him by the arm, supporting him
until Israel managed to scramble to his feet, then
brought him into his office, closing the door.
    Over the following days, every time Rosa left the
mansion to go to the Disco supermarket, she crossed to
the pavement opposite and avoided passing in front of
the building, for fear of coming face to face with Israel.
Not that she actually saw him again, but she was obliged
to pass the doorman more than once, and he followed
her with his gaze, as if to say "I'm going to get you". She
told Maria about this.
    "Don't let it worry you. It's nothing to do with you, it's
all my problem."
    Always, whether coming or going from the Disco
Supermarket, Rosa made a short detour by the construction site, just to catch sight of Maria for a minute:
there she could hear the racket of the machines,
the blows of the pile-driver, the scraping of spades
in buckets, everything slowing down, as if the film of
reality was slipping in its reel. Rosa wasn't pretty, but
she shone with the glow of a million good intentions,
a light which set off her physical virtues. Her love for
Maria was so obvious that, on leaving his workplace, the
machines, hammers and spades reverted to their usual
rhythm with excessive application, as if in a rage. Just
for an instant, the noise was deafening.
    At the end of winter, Senor and Senora Blinder went
on holiday to Costa Rica. Rosa remained alone in the
house. The Blinders' departure signalled the (provisional) end of the absolute control of finances over sexual activity: from then on Rosa admitted Maria into
the kitchen to make love. Now they could make love
on a daily basis, not only on Saturday. So they made
love twice a day, morning and evening. In addition,
Rosa could make him a meal, which Maria would call
in to collect from the house early in the morning: most
often an escalope with potatoes - fried potatoes, roast
potatoes, mashed potatoes. They ate a lot of escalopes
and potatoes. That afternoon, she was waiting for
him with two escalopes and a bottle of wine. They ate
together, and Maria left the house as night was falling.

    There was an absolute ban on bringing outsiders
into the house. Rosa knew the rule, of course (before
leaving, the Blinders had reminded her twice over, each
time with a fixed stare), but she was so utterly besotted
with Maria that admitting him into her kitchen was the
lesser evil. In any case, she was cautious: she mounted
a real smokescreen in front of the neighbours; at times
she'd dally in conversation with Maria at the grille by
the tradesman's entrance for a long while before letting
him into the house as soon as she was entirely confident
that no one was watching; sometimes she went outside
to greet him with a rake in her hand, as though Maria
were the gardener... As soon as he was inside, they ate,
made