The Day I Kissed An Older Man

"He's a waste of oxygen. From the looks of it, he's probably done it countless times," Rita said. She had already grabbed a brick just in case the homeless man had not come to her aid. If he had not struck the drunkard on the back, it might have been his head that was in jeopardy.

When they relocated to another spot, Rita finally remarked, "Ah, so you can speak. I thought you'd keep quiet forever."

The man did not respond to Rita's jibe. He draped a thin blanket over himself and wrapped a torn cotton jacket around his neck.

"You haven't been through what I have," the man muttered.

that she had not gone through what he had and was thus unable to understand the reasoning for

to speak out rather than just remaining homeless on that soon-to-be-repurposed land. Rita frowned and wondered why he refused to speak to reporters, but she received a decidedly unfriendly

I lost my family too. Now let me ask you: if you were in

had long noticed his aversion to reporters, but she did not expect that the

also want to understand what transpired on this land, such as why the developers appear to be at

why still have this grudge when others have moved on. Perhaps I should've just left like everyone else. Then I won't have to face everything that happened after that. I was naive, and I thought that collective resistance would prevail. In the end, it was all just wishful thinking on

are you referring to the developers? Did they force everyone to leave?" Rita's heart