Chapter 8: Chapter 8

Chapter 8

I sit up immediately. I am alert, it takes me a millisecond to realize that I am in a strange place, I struggle to stand up to go get the door and I stagger a little as a result of the deep sleep that I was in.

Janet had asked me to rest, I didn’t expect to sleep much but I think I did. The bedroom is big and with two beds set in it.

It is nothing compared to what Clare and I had, back home. It is well painted, neatly arranged and smells really nice.

‘’You scared me!’’ I tell Janet who is staring at me like I am missing the whole point when I finally pull the mahogany wooden door open. Well, I am sure I am, because why would I be sleeping here?

‘’Do you know what time it is?’’ I scan and scrutinize the room before turning back to look at her.

‘’There is no wall clock here, why are you asking for the time?’’ she doesn’t respond. She just smiles. A sweet smile that I hadn’t noticed.

‘’Clara, its two o’clock in the afternoon. You came in here to rest but you took forever. You are just super lucky that madam isn’t in otherwise, it would have been messy for you.

‘’Thank you for waking me up, Janet. I wonder what took over me…’’

‘’No problem. You are welcome. Hey, something else. I am not going away anymore, I am staying here but madam has decided that we will both work here for her.’’

‘’Really?’’

‘’Yeah! Really!’’

‘’What’s with the change of mind?’’ she walks past me to stand at the window facing outside.

‘’Do you really want to know?’’

‘’Try me, Janet.’’

‘’It’s not an interesting story at all.’’

‘’I never said I only listen to interesting stories or did I now?. Smile or make signs to make it interesting, okay?’’ I can almost feel her smirk slightly because she is facing the window and I am facing the door.

I turn to look at her at the same time that she turns to look at me. Her eyes are teary and I feel a slight gnawing in my heart.

She must be suffering a big deal. It tortures and agonizes me to see people suffer. I take two steps towards her and she does the same. We meet midway and we hug like we’ve known each other for all the years.

Her heart is throbbing in her chest and I take a few seconds to feel it. I step back and I can read the disappointment in her face. I pull her gently and motions her to sit on the edge of the bed I was lying in earlier.

I sit beside her. She needs some encouragement.

These are the times I put away my problems and concentrate on helping someone else. Such times, my troubles are too small to talk about.

‘’My dad.’’ She says with a sad expression and I nod very gently to urge her to keep talking. ‘’He passed on and I was to attend the burial. Initially, mum had stated that I would go to the funeral and not come back. That’s the reason madam wanted a replacement for me.’’

‘’Then?’’

‘’Mum called me earlier, immediately you came to rest and said that there was no need of me going to the funeral because my dad’s people have decided to kick her out with her four weeks old baby. They are accusing her of killing dad and that has made me very devastated. I hate to say this but the fact that the family deed that to my mum because dad is dead, makes me want to gun down each and every member of that family. I never planned to be born in that home but if I had a choice, I would just say, I deserve better.’’

I take my hand to her shoulder and squeeze it gently. ‘’You sure deserve better, where is your mum right now?’’

‘’She went back to her family. I am worried, Clara. I have no idea if she has eaten, if she has a good place to sleep in, if she strength to breastfeed her newborn and if she is settled enough to take care of the young kid.’’

‘’You wanna go see her?’’

‘’I would have loved that but I might just break her heart more. I will go when things cool down a bit.’’ I don’t know why but I feel her pain right inside my heart.

‘’Calm down, Janet. All this will come to an end someday.’’ if there is a list of people who are able to console someone, I am sure I cannot be found anywhere close to that list. I suck at doing that. My words are carefully chosen and they make no sense at the end of the day.

I try faking a smile but I suck at that too. What am I good at, anyway? I extend my hand to hold her other shoulder. I feel her pain. Those are like her mum’s family and family rejection is like the most nauseating, god-awful and the most beastly thing I have ever seen. I would say I was in her mum’s situation a few weeks ago but hers sounds more painful. At least they didn’t send me away. Leaving was my choice.

And I wasn’t accused of killing someone either.in this case, that stupid Liam.

‘’Thank you, Clara, I wasn’t supposed to tell you all that but hey, life is a bitch. I will keep working and supporting mum until the end.’’

‘’I have these two big ears mainly for listening. I may not be good at that but I will always try to do my best to make use of them. They cannot be this big for nothing.’’ She smiles at that. I swear I feel my heart leap happily. I think it just felt like I have achieved making her smile. ‘’Your mum must be very proud of you and I like it that you are willing to support her.’’

‘’I am so grateful that you are here today. I don’t know who I would have spoken to if you weren’t here.’’

‘’You are welcome. Um … Do you have siblings?’’ she turns her face away. ‘’Hey, you can choose to talk about it or not. No pressure.’’

She shakes her head. ‘’Talking is my hobby. I get super relieved when I talk about my agonies. Yes, I have or should I say I had siblings? They are all late. Twins and I am only left with the latest. My dad was very rich. Filthy rich. And never wanted very many kids. Mum sired the twins after me and they died mysterious deaths. I have no idea what caused their deaths though. No one does.’’

‘’That’s painful.’’

‘’Apprise me about it.’’

‘’What age were they when they died?’’

‘’They were ten years old.’’ A tear drops from her eyes and I make an effort to wipe it away. I wouldn’t want to see her cry. I might just break down as well.

I am that puny.

‘’Why are you doing this job, if your dad had all that money?’’

‘’It is not always about money, Clara. Sometimes, peace of mind matters a lot. My dad never gave me peace, he always wanted to marry me of to his partner’s sons. I hated that fact and that’s the reason I decided to do this job. I want to venture into modeling and I am saving towards achieving that.’’

Wow! I hadn’t noticed how beautiful this girl is, I was tired and sleepy when I came in. plus that mind where you only see a house help and not a model? Yeah, that one. She is dark-skinned. Her jaw is set perfectly. I am nowhere close to her beauty. She curvaceous and slightly taller than me and I am sure she and I will team up someday and do better things together right?

I don’t tell her that, though.

‘’Did your dad ask you to leave his home or something?’’

She shakes her head feebly. ‘’I ran away. I came here, to this side of the city without any plans. My aim was to be a street girl but I saw a poster and when I called, madam picked and trust me, I have been here for like ten months and the only time she was mad at me is when I forgot to pick up her special laundry.’’ I cock my eyes towards her. I want to hear more about that. ‘’She has some clothes that are taken to the laundry and they always have to be picked in time, as and when she needs them, they should be readily available.’’

‘’Impressive!’’

‘’You think so?’’

I ignore the silly question. ‘’Did your dad ever look for you?’’

‘’He did beg me to go back home. I went and that very night, we were to talk as a family, there was a dinner with one of his friends and a partner which I didn’t know about. He was all ready to marry me off. I left after his partner’s son forced a kiss on me and never went back. I feel bad that he had to die without us making up but that’s life right?’’ I nod uncertainly. Sometimes, our parents do things which according to them, are or maybe the best for us but in the end, we end up suffering a great deal. ‘’Mum suffered when I left but she told me that if I was happy, she was too. Dad tried to get her to come for me but she never even made an effort. She understood me fully.’’

I don’t know what to feel. I feel both happy that I have here someone who will understand me because her story is almost the same as mine and I feel sad about her story at the same time.

What a sad story! ‘’You will be okay. Janet.’’ I say quietly.

‘’Sure, I will.’’

‘’Um … I spoke to my friend and she mentioned that she wasn’t sure if madam has kids. Does she?’’ I lie satisfactorily and horizontally. I just want to know more about ‘our’ master.

‘’Not that I know of. But she looks to me like she has a mystery that she would love to solve. I have no idea what that is but maybe we will know soon.’’

‘’Why would you want to assume that?’’

She rolls her eyes. ‘’Too many questions, Clara. We’ve been here for less than 12 hours and I shouldn’t be letting too much to your ears.’’

‘’Thank God you realized my inquisitiveness,’’ I say with a fake smile and I walk out with her trailing and ambling closely behind me.

We head to the kitchen and she shows me some food that I am supposed to eat. I don’t feel like eating though.

The kitchen is neatly arranged and well kept.

She shows me to different rooms that she has access to. I have never seen such a huge house like this one before in real life. The few that could have been closer to it, I saw on TV and still, I never believed that someone in their sane minds can be able to build such a huge house

‘’Why does she have all these? Isn’t it too expensive? I mean why would someone have such a huge house like this?’’

‘’Have you been to our home?’’ I stare into her eyes which seem too excited for some reason. ‘’It is huge and if you went in there for the first time, you will end up losing your way. It happened severally to our house helps.

I wonder how she managed to be a house help. I mean if her dad was that rich, then it means she was a spoilt brat that could not cook and was surrounded with maids allover. Anyway, I will ask her that, another day.

‘’Well, take me there one day and I will believe you.’’

‘’Sure thing.’’

‘’Do you cook madam’s food or does she do it alone?’’

‘’I do and now that you are here, you will be doing it for me.’’

‘’Why me and where did you learn how to cook?’’ I decide to ask the question. I just want to know everything about her.

She seems nice. Or so I presume.

‘’Because if at all I am not here, then you should be able to do it okay?’’ I nod firmly and with energy. ''You and I are a team.'' another nod. ‘’I learned how to cook here, she taught me and I will teach you as well.’’ I give her a smile. ''We will work together.''

There is a very slight knock on the door. And we both walk towards the door to get it.