SHE. OK?
Silence.
SHE. The war had begun. It became clear that there was no “safety cushion”. These days, the news arrived that the girls had earned 250-300 thousand dollars and sent them to support the military forces. This news was sent to me by a friend on Telegram, “You see! What an opportunity.” He has nothing to do with webcams, he just sits on OnlyFans and understands how it works. You give your passport, you sign up and that’s it. I felt angry. Didn’t understand what to do. Cleaned apartments through friends. The rest of the time I lay in bed and cried. I understood that I could not approach my parents, because for them there was no war – it was territory protection. All my friends have left. I did not want to call them – they are also not doing very well.
I constantly thought about what I could do or say. Nothing. All I did was sit in front of a candle every evening and pray, realizing that was the only way for me to contribute.
VI
SOMEBODY. Why are you without underwear?
SHE. I burned it.
SOMEBODY. You are not a saint.
SHE. It burned down. I cut it into pieces and made a fire. Like this.
She lights a candle.
It’s very dark in here. I don’t see where to go.
Silence.
This underwear ideally covered all the tattoos on my body, by which I could be recognized. And for some reason, I knew that it would work. I’ve burnt it as liberation from dirty thoughts.
SHE stands in the dark with a candle.
SOMEBODY. How much did your underwear cost?
SHE. 100 euros per set.
SOMEBODY. How often do you pray?