Chapter One Hauwa stood before her new mistress, Madam Lydia, whose eyes were staring in scrutiny all over her. She asked Hauwa to open her mouth to see her teeth, then to put her hands forward to inspect her fingers; she checked to see beneath her hair to be sure she has no lice. In fact, Hauwa was taken aback when she finally asked her to take off the gown she was wearing to inspect her body. She looked hard at her when Hauwa hesitated, and told her she didn’t want any form of rashes brought into her house. At this request, Hauwa noticed her young son, almost about her own age who was working on his laptop, but having heard his mother asked her to take off her clothing, he turned to her direction. Madam was so engrossed in inspecting every part of her that she failed to notice the intense gaze of her teenage son staring at her or maybe she cared less to have her expose her whole body in public. Hauwa used her tiny hands to cover up her chest since she wasn’t wearing any bra to cover that up. Growing up in a very poor family didn’t provide her with daily necessities. Her only possessions were five long dresses passed down from her elder sisters and three briefs which were also passed down. At the age of fifteen, her parents had pulled her out of their local secondary school in a remote village in Nassarawa, a northern state in Nigeria to start work as a maid in Lagos. In fact, her parents were so thrilled when Mallam Abu, the local trade man returned from Lagos, and announced he found a job for their daughter. They were all excited at this offer, knowing it would bring more income for them every month. Hauwa is the last of eight children, two boys and six girls; three of her elder sisters have been given in marriage after having to work as a maid for several years. Her elder brothers were also away from home, working in one of the states in Nigeria. Hauwa had no idea where they are as they move from one place to another to make ends meet. Hauwa had hoped to finish secondary school and proceed to university with or without her parent’s help or approval but the future looks unseemly now. “I know girls like you are always very dirty.” She heard Madams voice but the shame of having to take off her clothing held her from speaking. Hauwa fought the tears about to drop from her eyes. Her face was fixed on the boy staring at her as she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her in tears. After their faces met, he immediately took his face away, aware of the intense gaze of Hauwa on him. “Why are you staring at my son?” Madam slapped her back which made her jolt. “That is your master too; you don’t look him in the eye, OK!” She snapped. “Yes Madam.” Hauwa replied with her eyes moist. At last, she had given him the satisfaction of seeing how weak she was. “Get dress.” Madam ordered. “Gloria!” she called out. Chapter One Hauwa stood before her new mistress, Madam Lydia, whose eyes were staring in scrutiny all over her. She asked Hauwa to open her mouth to see her teeth, then to put her hands forward to inspect her fingers; she checked to see beneath her hair to be sure she has no lice. In fact, Hauwa was taken aback when she finally asked her to take off the gown she was wearing to inspect her body. She looked hard at her when Hauwa hesitated, and told her she didn’t want any form of rashes brought into her house. At this request, Hauwa noticed her young son, almost about her own age who was working on his laptop, but having heard his mother asked her to take off her clothing, he turned to her direction. Madam was so engrossed in inspecting every part of her that she failed to notice the intense gaze of her teenage son staring at her or maybe she cared less to have her expose her whole body in public. Hauwa used her tiny hands to cover up her chest since she wasn’t wearing any bra to cover that up. Growing up in a very poor family didn’t provide her with daily necessities. Her only possessions were five long dresses passed down from her elder sisters and three briefs which were also passed down. At the age of fifteen, her parents had pulled her out of their local secondary school in a remote village in Nassarawa, a northern state in Nigeria to start work as a maid in Lagos. In fact, her parents were so thrilled when Mallam Abu, the local trade man returned from Lagos, and announced he found a job for their daughter. They were all excited at this offer, knowing it would bring more income for them every month. Hauwa is the last of eight children, two boys and six girls; three of her elder sisters have been given in marriage after having to work as a maid for several years. Her elder brothers were also away from home, working in one of the states in Nigeria. Hauwa had no idea where they are as they move from one place to another to make ends meet. Hauwa had hoped to finish secondary school and proceed to university with or without her parent’s help or approval but the future looks unseemly now. “I know girls like you are always very dirty.” She heard Madams voice but the shame of having to take off her clothing held her from speaking. Hauwa fought the tears about to drop from her eyes. Her face was fixed on the boy staring at her as she didn’t want to give him the satisfaction of seeing her in tears. After their faces met, he immediately took his face away, aware of the intense gaze of Hauwa on him. “Why are you staring at my son?” Madam slapped her back which made her jolt. “That is your master too; you don’t look him in the eye, OK!” She snapped. “Yes Madam.” Hauwa replied with her eyes moist. At last, she had given him the satisfaction of seeing how weak she was. “Get dress.” Madam ordered. “Gloria!” she called out. Within seconds, a lady walked hastily into the living room. She was dressed in a blue and white uniform. “Yes Madam.” Gloria stood, straightened with her hands behind her, avoiding looking into Madam’s eyes. “This is Hauwa; she’s the new maid I talked to you about. I want you to show her what she needs to do and tell her all the rules.” Madam said. “Yes Madam.” Gloria said. “I’m going out now, take care of the house.” she took her car keys and her bag, walking towards the door. “Yes Ma.” Gloria said. “C’mon Edward,” Madam called her son. “We have to leave now if we want to meet the store.” Edward stood up from the couch, trying to avoid looking at Hauwa. He followed his mother behind and closed the door. Hauwa pulled the bag with her only possession tightly to her chest “What is your name?” Gloria smiled at her to ease the fear in her. “Hauwa.” She trembled. “Ok Hauwa; my name is Gloria and you will be helping me in the house.” she looked with pity on the young girl. “Ok madam.” Hauwa replied quickly, almost afraid of her. “Don’t be afraid Hauwa,” Gloria brought her face upward. “I am not the ‘madam’ okay.” She said softly. Hauwa nodded, unable to utter any word. “Come; let me show you to your room.” Gloria said, leading the way. She led her to the room at the end of the long corridor. It was a medium size room with two beds facing each other. It had a ceiling fan and a wide window for easy ventilation. There was nothing too special about the room, but the best Hauwa had even seen. “This is your bed and this is mine.” She pointed to the beds. Hauwa was surprised to have a bed all to herself. After all, all her life, she’s had to sleep on the corridor leading to the kitchen, but now in an actual room with Gloria, and a bed to herself was a great deal to her. And the room has a door; seeing that sealed the excitement in her, at last, real privacy to the young girl. “Have you eaten?” Gloria asked. “No.” She replied. “Alright then, let’s start with feeding you and then, all other things will follow.” Gloria smiled at her. Her smile was soothing and soft. She led her to the kitchen and poured a plate of rice for her with stew and even gave her a piece of meat. Hauwa was overwhelmed with this. She couldn’t remember the last time she ate meat, probably during the Muslim festival where their king had shared ram to every member of the community Hours later, Madam was back from her outing but Hauwa didn’t have to attend to her. Gloria gave her easy chores to pass the rest of the day with. At night, when everyone was off to bed, Gloria asked her to go to bed while she waited few more hours before she joined her in the room. The bed was very soft and comfortable that it didn’t take long before she slept off.
Posted on: Fri, 02 Aug 2013 20:19:02 +0000
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