Читать книгу Crocodile Tears онлайн

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She pushes a little more and enters, she’s afraid but she’s also so hungry, she hears the deep snoring and takes courage, takes one step and then another, then halts, alert to the loud, regular breathing; she decides, her stomach instructs her brain, she crosses the kitchen in slow steps, her toes resting gently, lightly on the floor, first one foot and then the other; two more steps and she’s standing in front of the fridge, her hand moves of its own accord, reaches out, approaches the handle, touches it indecisively, her gaze vigilant, she looks to either side again and again, her small hand covers the cold metal, grips it, presses, pulls. She is very hungry.

She opens the door.

19She takes out a piece of chicken and raises it to her mouth, her teeth bite into it, rip it, tear at the meat, she swallows, bites again, one mouthful, two; she looks at the jar of jam, takes a piece of cheese and rolls it up in a slice of ham that she uses to push down the chicken; she chews, gulps, looks at the door, opens the jar of mayonnaise, inserts a finger and slurps with lips and tongue; she takes a chunk of potato and dips it in the mayonnaise, swallows, looks behind her, smears two fingers with dulce de leche; she smacks her lips, takes a meatball, some sauce, devours it, rice, another meatball, more sauce, mayonnaise, lips, teeth, the finger in the jam, sucking, slurping, tongue, fingers; she’s in a hurry and pushes it down, she looks behind her, at the door; another piece of chicken, which she swallows almost without chewing; something’s wrong, she eats faster, swallows more, plunges all her fingers into the sauce; palate, lips, teeth; slurps, swallows, again and again. This explosion of sensory and tactile sensations suddenly freezes, her fingers are paralysed, her tongue turns to stone, her lips are open. There is a discordant element, a sound; she hears footsteps in the corridor, approaching. She recognizes them, those footsteps.