CHAPTER ONE.

A young girl in her teens strutted outside in front of a huge mansion situated along Luwum Street. A painted wall fence with a narrow gate enclosed it and seemed to seclude it from the other buildings aligned on the street. The gesture on her face arouses pity in any kind-hearted human. Her shrunken form and her lean face define her poor and unhappy circumstances. It had been nearly ten minutes since she arrived at her new home. As she rubs her hands continuously, she appears to be puzzling her brains about how and where to begin her duties of serving her new employers.

 In a moment, someone yelled her name from inside, 

“Esther!” She didn’t concede at once. Her mind was still startled by the vastness and tremendous spectacles around. She must have glimpsed at the stunning scenic appearances for the first time. 

“Esther!” the lady of the house screamed out her name again, this time with an undertone of resentment in her voice.

Esther snapped out of her delirium as if a basin of cold water had been poured on her thin body. She strode rapidly towards the entrance of the living room and bumped into a fat lady with a plump figure. Her purple silky tight dress and a belt around her waist enhanced her sophisticated appearance. Esther incidentally steps on her long painted nails which plunge deep into her skin. A shaft of pain crept inside her injured toe.

“Ouch! Ouch.” She grunts in pain frightened at the sight of blood that oozed out of her injured toe. The latter fixes a scowl at her.

 "Use your sight, or are you a sheep?" She growls a sarcastic statement and glares at the poor girl resentfully.

“Auntie, that hurts horribly. Your nails are too long and as sharp as a palette knife. ”  Jina’s anger was expedited. In a flash, she kicked the poor girl. Esther rolls on the paved floor like a ball. She screams and tears roll down her face. Jina's eyes glistened with anger. The poor girl props on her elbow and looks at her in apprehension.

“Auntie, what have I done wrong?” Esther innocently asks Jina as she gasps in tears.

“You dare to tell me nonsense! Foolish girl!” She rasped and clicked her tongue and jeered in contempt, her hands akimbo. Esther was of a nervous disposition. She shook feverishly and lowered her face.

“ You are nothing more than a servant here, so don't get ahead of yourself. The earlier you knew your place in this house, the better, do you understand?” She roars and surveys her unpleasant appearance without any dearth of love in her gesture. Esther is frightened at her auntie's cruel behaviour towards her.

Jina's words were making her neurotic.

" Mother, dear, I won't let you down. I will keep my promise." She thought and blushed off her tears. Knowing her poor background, she would have to withstand everything. Wasn't it obvious that it made no difference with Jina if the latter chose to stay or go back home to her poor parents?

 Esther lifts her face and looks at Jina, her sad countenance seeking pity and compassion. A mixture of tears and snort from her teary face and a dripping nose forms an awful slime on her face. Jina stole a glimpse at the disgusting sight and turned her face away instantly in a grimace.

“I shouldn’t have accepted her. She’s so irritating!” She muttered and pursued with her lecture.

“You will…”  the latter interrupts her with her sneezing.   Her nose drips wet. She lifts her face to listen to her superior with the intent to get her instructions at heart lest she should make another mistake.

“Will you hold your repelling face down or wipe it clean? You are disgusting! My stomach rises at such a sight.”

“I will, Auntie,” she said abjectly and sprang into action.

“Don’t Auntie me! Just call me ma’am from now on.”

“Ok, mom.”

“What? Did I hear you say mom again?” Jina shakes her body amusingly as she severs into a loud sarcastic chuckle. Esther didn’t find anything amusing about what she had just said. There was nothing wrong with referring to her maternal aunt as a mom. She looked at Jina with a bemused expression on her face as the latter laughed her heart out in an offbeat manner.  She reiterated the word mom often and elicited a toothy grin now and again. When she had satisfied herself with her present enchantment, her countenance changed immediately and she spoke vigorously and with much arrogance. 

“Look at me, do I look like your poor wretched mother?” Jina asked, turning her plump figure around. An air of snobbery was definite in her. The trance in her luminous eyes concealed the chasm of hatred she felt towards the poor girl. The fascinating beauty on her face greatly opposes the nature of her character. Esther was tingled by the latter’s utterances. They were offensive." If only you could be a little more accommodating…" she muttered, quietly and clamped her lips tightly together swallowing her anger down her throat.

" There's no doubt, you have an alluring beauty, but you are stone-hearted." She thought. "My mother might be poor, but she is incomparable, and she has a heart." She could have told all these thoughts to Jina's face if it were possible. Nevertheless, gratifying Jina wouldn’t take a strand of hair off her head. With a light smile at the corner of her mouth, Esther appreciates her Auntie perhaps to alleviate her fury.

 “No, mom. You look more beautiful, especially with make-up.”

“ Wait, '' she interposed, “point of correction, the word is ma’am not mom.” 

She said trying as much as to distinguish the two, “Say it again-”

“Ma’am,”  Esther repeated the word after she stressed all the syllables amusingly. 

Eventually, she pronounces it flawlessly.

“Very good!” Said, Jina.."How will I put up with this creature? I have had a bellyful of her already! " She scowls and looks at her wristwatch. Esther was delighted. At least, she had made an overachievement.

 “Now get up and follow me. There’s a lot of stuff to do, and you are lingering outside as if you are a fool." Jina remembered that the gate was still open. She turned to Esther and motioned to the green metallic gate that had been left half-open.

"First go and close the gate. Many crooks are roaming around. Esther hopped towards the gate and closed it with a bang.

"Hey," Jina yelled, "do you want to break it? Can you imagine how much it costs to put up that gate?" The poor girl shakes her head nervously in hearty disagreement."

" I thought as much. Next time do it properly. You must know your way around here or else…" She went forth swivelling her plump figure awkwardly rolls of fat swelling out on her neck. Esther followed a few paces behind her aunt. She was sad and bitter. Her mind was blurred with thoughts. It was hard for her to reason out why her maternal aunt was treating her indifferently. “She’s a queer one! But I won’t complain yet.” Esther thought to herself. With the plight of repelling poverty at home, there was no way she could resign easily. Endurance was a prime factor in achieving anything. Jina, unlike Esther’s mother, was lucky to have married into the rich family of Bwaku’s.  This was one of the richest families that owned the biggest estate in the city. Richard, her husband, was the first son of Bwaku and the apparent heir to everything his father owned since he was Bwaku’s only son. 

They passed through the living room and Jina swivelled on the left. The magnificence of the spacious beautiful living room captured Esther's attention. She walked at a slackened pace and studied the surroundings in great admiration.

 “This must have cost a fortune!” She muttered and hurled herself in a voluminous seat near the huge flat television set that glued on the wall. 

“Wow, the gods must be crazily unfair! How can they offer all this fortune to one family, and sheer deprivation and sorrow to another? If the gods themselves are unjust, how then do we expect men to dispense justice?” She smirked and wandered around the whole room, her mouth agape.

"Don't worry, Esther, keep dreaming. One day you will own more than all this."

She told herself and beamed, her heart full of optimism. A moment’s thought convinced her that she should first relax a bit.

  Suddenly, a beautiful lady and a gentleman surfaced at the door.   Esther sprang up promptly. There’s a display of fear and guilt on her face. 

 The gentleman, seeing Esther, flickered a generous smile on his face. He was smartly dressed in his frenzy jeans and a blue rolled-up sleeve. The gentle smile on his face made him appear younger than his age.

“Honey, isn’t she a darling?” Mr Wabua exclaimed after nudging his wife in the arm.

“Hmh, Jina has got some taste. Come, dear,” he said, beckoning Esther with his hand. Esther walked slowly towards the strangers. 

“How are you, dear.” The lovely couple greeted her with charming smiles. Esther notices a big contrast between them and Jina at the first acquaintance. They were friendly and approachable. Mr and Mrs Wabua were Jina’s close friends. Their apartment was a few meters away from Richard's mansion.  The beautiful apartment could be easily spotted as you stood on the terrace on the left side of the mansion.

"What do they call your pretty face?" he asked with a sense of humour.  Esther was intrigued at the funny question," I mean your name-"

"Esther."

" Did you hear that, my love? she's Queen Esther…what a beautiful name!"  They smiled and sauntered to the long couch. The couple settled down and made Esther sit amidst them.

Jina entered the kitchen which was filled with dirt. Her face grimaced at the unpleasant sight. Everything was out of order. "These girls are spoiled. See how dirty they left the kitchen!" she walked to the worktop. It was topsy-turvy.

"All this needs to be cleaned up. Clean the draining board and the sink after washing the crockery. I want the whole place sparkling clean.” Jina said moving through the kitchen giving instructions on what should be done and how it should be done 

“You must learn how to use the cooker properly or you might be electrified in a flash. I know this is the first time you have seen a nice kitchen like this. She said sarcastically her tone full of spite and pursued,  

 “Come, I'll show you how to operate the cooker.” Jina advanced to the spot and swivelled around to talk to Esther. She was outraged that she was in her own company. All the while she had thought that Esther was behind her. Anger boiled inside her and she flared up.

“Esther! Foolish girl, Esther...” She stormed out in fury and headed to the living room. 

“This is why I  loathe wretched people.  They are always a mess and troublesome." She grumbled continuously.

“There is nothing as beautiful as being a child. Look at how innocent she is! if I could turn back time!” Mrs Wabua exclaimed. Her husband gazed at her for a  while. 

"Do you know what would happen?" 

“No, I don’t.  You tell me.” The latter cleared his voice and answered.

“I would have to marry another beautiful woman my age.” He deduced his point with a wry smile at the corner of his mouth. The gesture on his wife’s face altered. She pouted and then clenched her teeth in anger. Wabua leapt off his seat and stood aloof.

“ I will pay you considerably.” His wife exclaimed.

“I know how best...” retorted Mr Wabuwa, giving a toothy grin.

Esther was delighted by the attitude of her new company.  They were an adorable pair, cheerful, kind-hearted and deeply in love. She was in a vast mood as if she had known them for a long time.

" If I grow up, I will be like them." Esther thought and her heart was lighted with hope.

“ Esther, did you see him? He illustrates the character of men.” Mr Wabua looks at her with a broad smile. 

“You all are too mean and provoking. Don’t mind him, my dear.” She said cuddling Esther’s hair. 

"I like both of you. You are good people, not…" Esther stopped realising that she was about to make a big blunder by mentioning Jina's flaws to strangers she had just met once.

“Your Aunt must be lucky to have a niece like you. And her daughters, they will be happy to have you around.”

“You think so? Are they friendly and cheerful?”

“You’ve guessed right, my dear. They're just like you." Said Mrs Wabua.

“ Where's this silly girl? This is why I don’t normally relate to the poor. You endeavour to help them, but all they want is comfort and nothing else, Parasites!” grumbled Jina and walked all the way ranting. Suddenly she could hear noises in the next room. Mrs Wabua’s chuckles were now distinct all around the house.

 “Such a sweet, tender-hearted young girl! Jina should have sent you to our house instead. Honey, what do you think?”

“Esther reminds me of Cynthia when she was her age.” Mr Wabua said as an afterthought taking his former seat.

“Cynthia was too playful and mad. She would turn the entire house upside down and cause trouble all the time.” Said his wife in retrospect.