The Maid 3

Shade couldn’t breathe properly. The walls seemed
to move in on her like zombies from a horror
movie. She felt the floor move under her feet and
she held onto the door of the bathroom for
support. She entered the bathroom and splashed
some cold water on her face. She felt better.
She returned to the room, brought out a valise
from the wardrobe and threw it on the bed. She
looked out the window at the setting sun. It would
soon be dark. She didn’t want to spend the night
in the same house with Gbenga and the maid.
She tried to arrange the clothes but she was
depressed and order was the last thing on her
mind. She opened a drawer, picked up some
underwear and threw them into the case.
She stopped in front of the dressing mirror and
looked at herself. She looked dishevelled. How she
looked was the last thing on her mind.
Voices rose from downstairs. Ngozi asking Gbenga
to confess his misdeeds.
“Why did you do such a thing to my friend?” Ngozi
shouted.
” I didn’t do anything. I am innocent,” Gbenga
insisted.
Looking at herself in the mirror, Shade realised that
her job was killing her. She made a lot of money
but she had aged in the past four years. She
looked like a forty five year old woman but she
was only thirty five.
The room swayed before her eyes. It felt like
someone with absolutely no talent was using her
head for drum practice. The pain throbbed. She
slowly sat down on the bed.
“Mom, I am so sorry,” she whispered to herself.
About two years ago her mom told her to give up
her job, but she wouldn’t listen.
“Shade, I pray that this job will not be your
undoing,” her mom started.
“Mom, what do you mean by that?”
“Hmm,” the old woman breathed deeply. “My
daughter, money is not everything. You cannot
pursue money and build a good home at the same
time. The way you hold on to this job makes me
fear for you.”
“Mom, I am in the human resources department of
the bank. I am not a real banker.”
“But you keep the same hours, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. But what has that got to do with
anything?” Shade asked.
“My daughter, your marriage is young. This is the
time to build it and make it strong. If the pursuit of
money takes over your life, you won’t devote
enough time to your husband and the children the
good Lord will soon bless you with.”
Shade was stubborn. “Mom, we need the money to
live a good life. It cost a lot of money to maintain
this home. We have so many bills to pay. Gbenga
cannot do it alone. I have to support him.”
“Shade, if anything goes wrong with his marriage,
your money won’t be able to salvage it,”her mom
said.
“Mom, are you placing a curse on my marriage?”
Shade asked in anger.
“No, my daughter. It is not a curse. Don’t you have
enough already? When will the money be enough
for you? Why don’t you get another job that will
give you enough time to pay attention to this
marriage?”
“Mom, please don’t bring your superstitious beliefs
into my home. I love my husband very much and
he loves me too. Nothing will ever go wrong in our
home.”
That was the last time her mom brought up the
subject or even came to her home.
Shade sighed. She had been promoted twice in the
past three years. That meant more money, but it
also came with more responsibility and pressure at
work.
How could she face her mom after her arrogant
and rude behaviour? How could she tell her that
what she predicted had finally happened: that the
maid was carrying Gbenga’s child? Tears started
flowing down her face. She held her head in her
hands and sobbed like a child. How could she
reverse this misfortune she had brought upon
herself, with her own hands?
She packed the valise, opened a drawer, brought
out three cheque booklets and put them in her
handbag. As she descended the stairs she heard
Ngozi shouting at Gbenga.
She got downstairs and headed for the door.
“Where are you going?” her husband jumped up to
confront her.
“I can’t bear to spend another minute in this
house. I am leaving,” Shade kept walking towards
the door.
Ngozi stood up. “Where are you going?” She asked
her friend.
“I don’t know. Anywhere but this house is good
right now.”
“Darling, we should sit down and talk this over.
The maid is a liar. I never touched her.”
“Right now I don’t know what to think or who to
believe. I need some alone time.”
Ngozi held Shade’s right hand. “Do you want me
to come with you?”
“I will be fine. I need to do this on my own.” Shade
said.
“Where are you going to stay?” Gbenga asked.
Shade was silent.
Gbenga and Ngozi followed her to her car.
“Darling, this isn’t right. We should talk this over,”
Gbenga pleaded with his angry wife.
Shade entered her car and started it.
“Shade, you should talk to your husband,” Ngozi
pleaded with her friend.
“What do you want me to tell the pastor in church
tomorrow?” Gbenga asked.
“You should have thought about that before you
slept with the maid,” Shade said and moved the
car forward.
Gbenga walked back to the house in anger.
Like an owl, Ngozi watched the tail lights of
Shade’s car disappear throug