Half life

THE NEW MAID

We finally got home at last. Getting out of the car, I took my backpack and waited for Dad to turn off the ignition and lock the car so we can go in side the house together.

"Finally we are home!" Dad said as we walked into the sitting room

"Yeah and I'm so so happy" I said

"Really?" Dad asked in surprise

"Yeah" I said

"Why? Did you win a lottery ticket?" Dad asked

"No" I said

"Then what?" Dad asked

"I'm happy because today is Friday" I said

"What is the big deal about today being Friday anyway?" Dad asked motioning to sit down on the long couch adjacently positioned in a such a way that it was touching the wall.

"Jeez don't tell me you don't know Daddy!" I said half yelling

"No. I don't." He said

"You do." I retorted

"No. I don't" he said

"C'mon Dad you do" I said visibly getting irked

"On a serious note I don't" he said

"It's a lie. You are just pretending" I said

"I'm not" he said

"Okay. Whatever" I said

"Tell me what is the big deal about today being Friday?" Dad asked

"Ok. Let me do this" I said then took in a deep breath

"It simply means there is no school tomorrow which also translates to no waking up early tomorrow so I get the chance to sleep as long as I want" I said sighing softly

"Oh that" Dad exclaimed

"Yes that" I said

"I thought you were about to say that you were organizing a home coming welcome party" Dad said, letting out a light chuckle.

"A home coming welcome party?" I asked in surprise

"Yeah." He said

"Whose home coming welcome party?" I asked

"Yours!" Dad teased

"Dad, tell me whose home coming welcome party?" I asked still not satisfied

"don't worry there is nothing like that" Dad said

"Okay" I replied

" Don't sit down yet, go and change your clothes upstairs then come back downstairs so we can talk about what to have for lunch" Dad said as I made to sit down on a sofa.

"Oh Dad!" I growled in frustration

"Yes you heard me right. Go on just go upstairs, drop off your backpack, change your clothes then come downstairs afterwards let's talk about something" he said in an almost inaudible tone.

After standing for what seemed like for ages, I took my backpack and headed for my room. It was not a new thing for Dad to have insisted I go have change of clothes first after returning back from school altogether. He has done that to me on several occasions mostly in the past whenever he was around.

To think that he was going to change his mind about my going upstairs was a practical joke because it was like expecting an unwavering lime not to get spoilt in the absence of air.

Cascading the stairs, I took one last glance at Dad then walked off to my room.

Getting to my room, I quickly glanced at the bedsheets lying haphazardly on top of my bed with the pillows each placed at awkward positions.

"Oh damn" I exclaimed

I was so in a hurry such that I even forgot to make my bed before leaving my room in the morning.

I quickly walked over to the wardrobe and selected a pair of denim jeans and a grey shirt and then changed into them. Then walked back to dress my bed.

When I was through dressing my bed, I sat quietly at the edge to rest a bit as my eyes scanned through the whole room looking for nothing in particular while my mind raced with random thoughts.

Suddenly, I heard a loud sound from the back of my wardrobe so I stealthily stood up to go check what it was that actually fell down.

I got to the back of the wardrobe d and peered intently at the corner of the wardrobe but didn't see anything tangible.

So I bent down low and stocked my hands into the little space in between the wardrobe and the wall in search of what must have fell down.

After fumbling with my fingers underneath for seconds, I got up and headed back to sit down on my bed but decided to look up the wall at the back of the wardrobe then noticed the still-life protrait that was hanging just over the wardrobe was missing.

Perturbed by it sudden disappearance, I decided to look up again to be sure I wasn't hallucinating.

But it turned out to be real. The protrait was gone. But who must have taken it off the wall?

Could it be Dad? But that is not even possible because he knows about the mystery of that protrait and how it came about.

Or did the protrait suddenly grew wings and then flew away to God knows where?

How long has it even been missing or was it the thing that fell off some minutes ago?

I bent over again this time around peering intently here and there in search of the protrait.

Sighing in frustration, I rubbed my eyes and headed to sit down on the bed in disappointment.

"This protrait can't go missing I'm sure it's somewhere around in this room. But where could it be?" I thought to myself as I sat quietly lost in thought about the sudden disappearance of the protrait.

"I'll have no choice but to inform Dad then. Who knows he may have seen it or better still have an idea about it whereabouts" I soliloquized.

The protrait was a very special gift from Mum to me. She'd have told me on several occasions that she bought it when I was 2.

According to her narrative, she said she'd have gone out on that fateful day to see a mutual friend of hers and Dad.

So, on her way back home she'd stumbled upon it at a trade fair that was organized just by the road side.

And what attracted her to that very protrait that day was the young artist amongst the other artist who drew it. She said he was just a poor kid over 9 years or so struggling to make ends meet and ever since she'd have told me the mystery behind that protrait, I came to love and cherish it.

"Let me go and inform my Dad then'' I soliloquized then got up as I headed for the door.

Plodding loudly along the stairs, I got to the sitting room only to meet Dad's absence.

"Where could he have gone to?" I asked rhetorically

I mean he was right here before I left for my room some minutes back.

Let me go check the kitchen then I muttered to myself as I walked over to the kitchen

"Dad!" I called out as I got closer but got no response

"Dad!!" I called out loudly but still got no response.

Where could this man be?

I wondered as I walked in to the kitchen.

I guess he'd be in his study so I quickly walked out of the kitchen and headed for the study, literally jogging up stairs and skipping some steps on purpose.

Breathing heavily, I opened the study and glared inside but saw no one in there.

"Dad!" I called walking over to the giant desk in the study.

"Are you there?" I asked as I turned and walked towards the back of the bookshelves but still got no response.

Crippled with fear, I leaned on the desk as my heart began to throb faster against my chest so as to calm down a bit.

If he is also not here then I wonder where he'll be. I said after I have calmed down and my heartbeat have returned back to normal as I walked out of the study.

I have almost walked past Dad's door already when I abruptly stopped and decided to go check his room as well.

I got to his room and shoved my head in after cracking the door open.

Dad was still not inside so I walked out of his room in disappointment after shutting the door.

Walking back to the sitting room, I jogged down the stairs and headed to sit down.

Hardly had I sat down when I heard a car horn.

Probably that could be Dad's car. I thought as I sprang up to my feet and headed for the door.

On getting outside, I saw Dad sitting comfortably in his car with the car engine still running.

''Perhaps he'd have gone out to get something" I muttered to myself as I walked over to the car and stood by the driver side then Dad looked up and whined down his glass.

"Hey baby girl" Dad said

"Good day Dad" I said

"Yeah. What's up? " Dad asked

"Nothing. Where have you been?

I have literally searched for you everywhere and didn't see you " I asked

"Oh. I went to get us lunch. I am sorry I didn't inform you before leaving the house" Dad explained softly

"It's fine." I said

"Well it wasn't even my fault entirely you know. " Dad said

"Huh" I said

"Yeah" he replied

"I asked you to go have change of clothes upstairs then come back so we can talk about lunch. Didn't I?" Dad asked giving me a quizzical look

"You did" I muttered

"But then you took so long to come back. And after waiting for ages, you still didn't show up so I decided to go get the lunch myself from the eatery" he said

"Oh I'm so sorry but it wasn't intentional Dad" I said

"It's fine"

"Something kept me inside." I explained

"And what was that?" he asked looking intently at me

"Its a long story Dad" I said and exhaled deeply

"Go on tell me. I want to hear it" he said

"Never mind" I said shrugging my shoulders as I found it difficult to tell Dad about the missing portrait in my room

"I insist just tell me" Dad said

"Ok let's just go in first" I replied then Dad turned off the car ignition, cooling off the engine then stepped out of the car.

After taking out the plastic bag containing our lunch and locking the car, we walked back into the house.

Immediately we stepped in to the house, I ran to the kitchen to get some dishes then returned to the sitting room to meet Dad sitting on the couch and punching meticulously away on his phone

After placing the dishes on the table, I sat down on the sofa to rest a bit.

"Amanda please get me some water" Dad requested taking his gaze off his phone for some seconds.

"Ok sir" I replied

Springing up to my feet, I walked slowly out of the sitting room to the kitchen and returned back with a glass cup and a bottle of chilled water.

"Thank you so much dear" Dad said as I handed him a glass of water after emptying some water from the bottle into the glass cup.

"You are welcome Dad" I replied as I walked back to my sit and sank down into it.

"So you said you wanted to tell me something" Dad said after gulping the glass of water down his throat.

"Oh yeah" I said scratching my hair uneasily

"So go ahead then I'm all ears" he said looking at my direction

"Well did you by any chance take a protrait from my room?" I asked softly

"What protrait are you talking about?" Dad asked giving me a cursory look

" I mean the still life protrait in my room. The protrait mum bought for me." I said

"What happened to it?" Dad asked

"It is missing" I said

"You mean you can't find it there or something?" Dad asked

"Yes sir" muttered

"When did you notice it got missing?" Dad asked

"Just today" I replied

"I have no faintest idea about it whereabouts or disappearance" Dad said casually.

"I'm not sure I've even seen it recently." Dad added

"Dad you have to do something real quick about it. I want my protrait back" I said

"Don't worry dear. I'll do something about it just be patient." He said and continued punching meticulously away on his phone while sat quietly.

After some time I stood up and headed for the stairs

"Won't you eat your meal again?" Dad asked, as I made to climb the stairs

"I'll Dad" I replied absentmindedly

"When do you plan on eating if not now?" He asked

" Soon Dad. I just lost my appetite" I said

"Okay" he replied and then I continued climbing up the stairs

I got back to my room and decided to take a quick nap.

Lying on my bed I waited patiently for nature's call

--------

"Oh finally you are awake" Dad said as I cascaded down the stairs.

"Yes Dad" I replied, staring at the redheaded lady in her mid thirties donned in a flowery gown that was sitting down quietly on the sofa opposite Dad.

"Hey come sit down here" Dad said pointing at the sofa he was sitting on as I got into the sitting room.

Casting one last glance at the lady, I walked over to Dad's sofa and sat down beside him.

"Okay without much ado, let me go straight to the point" Dad said after clearing his throat

"Mena, meet my beautiful daughter Amanda. And yes, Amanda do meet miss Mena. She is our new house keeper do make sure you respect and obey her. Is that clear?" Dad asked

"Yes Dad" I replied absentmindedly still staring blankly into space as I tried to figure out what just played out right here

"Nice to meet you Amanda. Your Dad have really said nice things about you to me and I'm super excited to be around a great personality as you" She said beaming with smiles

" Thank you ma. It's a pleasure" I replied forcing a giggle

"No ma please you call me by my name. I'm Mena'' she corrected with a smile still plastered on her face

"Ok ma … sorry Mena" I said stuttering

"It's fine" she replied giggling

"Okay already" Dad said

"Amanda please show her to her room" Dad said

"Alright then go refreshen up and come back. Amanda will show you to your room as well as your way around here too. Once again, welcome to our humble abode please do well to make yourself comfortable" Dad added as I stood up.

"This way" I said walking towards the stairs as I helped her with her handbag while she trailed behind with her then headed for the guest room in silence

"Here is your room ma… sorry Miss Mena" I said as we got to the guest room.

"Wow. This is beautiful. Thank you so much" She said in admiration as she took a quick glance at the room with her eyes darting back and forth.

"You are welcome. I'll like to take my leave now." I said motioning towards the door

"Oh ok. I'll join you guys soon downstairs. Let me take out a few things then take a cold shower" she said

"We will be waiting then" I said then walked out of the room.

"She doesn't look like she can even hurt a fly. She is not even anything close to what I'd have imagined a maid to be at all.

She sounds so friendly and nice. I think putting up with her won't be too difficult but isn't she too beautiful and young to work as a housekeeper?"

I thought to myself with a shrug as I

walked back to the sitting room cascading the stairs.

I got to the sitting room and saw Dad lying comfortably on the couch with his eyes closed as though he was half asleep and legs placed on the table .