Chapter 13
1118 Words
He was gone.
Naledi felt betrayed by his disappearance.
He turned her life upside down and then he left at first light as if he was running away from something. From someone.
She’s never felt so humiliated or so small in her entire life.
She sat in the bathroom until she couldn’t cry anymore. Her head hurt from all the crying. Naledi got up, unlocked the door and walked to the basins. She stared at her face in the mirror on the wall. Grey tracks ran down her cheeks to connect at her chin. She was a mess. Her eyes were puffy and red. There was no way anyone couldn’t notice that she had been crying. And she couldn’t go home to hide there. She had to work. Breathing deeply she washed her face. And tried to pull herself together.
She walked back to the kitchen prepared to ignore everyone and do her work. But she found the chief’s adviser, Tutu, lurking around, staring at the now cold breakfast sitting where she had left it.
His face was pinched in a sour look that didn’t bode well for anyone. He was a mean little man, who was full of himself and thought he was the answer to every royal problem.
Naledi took one look at him and knew she was in trouble. She quaked in her shoes when she came to an abrupt stop. She bit her tongue as her brain blanked out. Naledi couldn’t think of any excuse to give him. The food sat cold on the kitchen table behind him. And it was her responsibility in the kitchen to see that food was served and on time.
“There you are,” he turned to her managing to look down his nose at her. Naledi never knew how he managed it. He was the shortest man she’s ever met, but he managed to look like he was looking down at the world from his lofty seat above. Now Naledi felt like a disgusting bug beneath his haughty stare. He waved his hand to indicate the unserved food on the kitchen table.
“Are the guests supposed to eat in here?”
“No,” Naledi said looking down, she wilted under his stare. Her heart pumped double time. She normally could manage him, not taking his veiled barbs to heart but today she was raw and vulnerable – everything hurt.
“I’m sorry about the food. I…I was supposed to … and…”
Naledi felt tears fill her eyes. After her session in the bathroom she never thought she will be able to produce another drop. But it seemed she was wrong, because her eyes filled up and she had a hard time keeping them at bay. She wiped at her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt and moved to warm up the food. Silence followed her as she moved.
Oh, she was in so much trouble she knew it.
Naledi cleared her throat nervously, “I’ll have the food ready for you. Please forgive me for the delay.”
She looked everywhere and not at Tutu, that when a hand landed on her she almost jumped out of her skin. Naledi stepped away from him, feeling cold.
“Forgive you? Forgive you?” Tutu bounced up and down with every word. His eyes blinked rapidly as his voice rose to a grating pitch.
“This should have been done a long time ago. People are starving in there and you’re out here playing princess. Did you forget what you are here for? Let me remind you. You are the help, a servant. We throw and you go fetch. Your opportunistic behaviour last night isn’t going to change that. ”
Naledi suffered through every word and swallowed every insult he hurled at her. He paced from one corner of the kitchen to the other. And it didn’t seem like he was anywhere close to the end of his tirade.
She was really not having a good day today, Naledi thought as she stared at the food getting cold all over again. She wished last night hadn’t happened at all. If only she could turn back time. She would refuse to go to the dance and appreciate her life more.
Tutu finally came to a stop in front of her. He was fuming. His nostrils flared with each laboured breath he took. He blinked rapidly, choking on his spittle. His anger was a palpable being in the kitchen and it was all directed at her. Naledi took a tentative step back, suddenly feeling unsafe in his presence. His eyes narrowed on her and he bared his teeth.
Naledi held her breath as fear gripped and twisted her stomach.
What was happening? She didn’t understand.
“Remember your place little girl, or else you will get burned.” Tutu snarled at her. He turned and left the room.
I said no! Naledi wanted to shout at him, at all of them. Don’t they remember what happened?
Emotions swirled within her, she trembled from head to toe. Naledi bend over at the waist trying to catch her breath. Her heart hammered in her chest.
I said no! She shouted in her mind again and again.
But she knew no one would care. To them she was an opportunistic maid who had dared to set her eyes on their prince.
By sheer will Naledi straightened and pulled herself together. Like an automaton she went through her chores even though she couldn’t breathe.
The day went by quickly. Naledi found herself elbow deep in work, cleaning away all traces of the dance. With every wipe and scrub the house returned to its opulent and sparkling splendour. If only she could wipe away the memories of last night just as easily, Naledi wished. She wiped the marble floors roughly imaging it.
The people around her wouldn’t look at her like she was a leper. And the prince would have chosen someone else to marry, someone the people of Ga-Tloung would be proud of and wouldn’t look down on.
Tears filled her eyes, but she smiled through them. And squared her shoulders. This was her life. It took her glimpsing a fairy tale dream to realize where she belonged. Right here on her hands and knees scrubbing floors for others to step on.
She was the great-great-great granddaughter of a slave. And no dreaming and wishful thinking will ever change that.
- Writer
