Chapter three.

Pacing back and forth in the kitchen, May felt restless. She was debating on how to start the clean-up. Efua had left after encouraging her and making her promise that she was going to do better. She said yes because it looked easy to do. Now, looking at how unkempt the house was, she didn't know where to start and this worried her.

Should it be the sitting room, the bedrooms, the toilet, or the kitchen?

Talking about the kitchen, she looked over at the dirty dishes in the sink and her face scrunched up in disgust.

How was she supposed to wash that?

The sight of house flies perching around the rotten plates was a distasteful thing to see. Worse, the bad smell from it made her stomach churn so terribly she clutched her side.

It had been like this for three weeks, that was when she sacked the fifth housemaid. She had noticed that Bella, the housemaid, had tried to have an affair with her husband so she sent the bitch packing out without a second thought. She was thinking Edric would employ another one but when she brought up the idea, surprisingly, Edric was against it.

She looked at the plates again. This time, she scrunched her lips so they pressed against her nose.

How was she supposed to wash that? She wondered for the second time, concluding that starting with the living room would be better.

May grabbed the broom from the back of the kitchen door and walked out. Getting to the living room, she faced her next problem. How she was going to sweep the medium-sized room all by herself?

With a sigh, she bent down to sweep, knowing the job was going to be a tough one for her. She had barely swept half of the room when her back started aching. She stood straight, groaning whilst rubbing her aching waist in an attempt to ease the pain.

After some time, she continued using the same method. Gradually, she finished sweeping and cleaning the chairs. Breathing heavily, she slumped into the armchair, sweating profusely and trying to catch her breath. She felt like she'd just ran a marathon.

She remembered how when Bella was there, she would do all the household chores without breaking a sweat. She wondered how she did it so effortlessly.

After she rested for a while, she went to the bedroom. She dressed the bed and swept the room. By the time she went to Maryam's room, she was exhausted, but she encouraged herself. Within three hours, she had finished everything except the kitchen.

The kitchen was a major problem now since the plates were rotten. May contemplated throwing away the plates, thinking she could replace them later with new ones, but she shook the thought away. 

Edric would be upset if he found out and wouldn't give her money to buy a new set.

She would have preferred buying it herself without his knowledge. But that would only be possible if she had finished school, got a degree, and worked a brown collar job or even a menial job. But Edric wouldn't permit her to work.

He always rebutted, saying, "A woman's place is in the kitchen."

But she knew that her place wasn't in the kitchen. It wouldn't have ever been, but she made that mistake. She could argue that he was using that excuse to keep her idle in the house, but she didn't want to start anything.

So what should she do? She decided that washing the plates would please her husband. She wanted to make him happy so there would be peace in the family.

May tied a handkerchief around her face so it would cover her nose and wore a pair of gloves. She held the stinking plates up like they were shit. Putting them all aside, May poured some water and Mama Lemon into a small bowl and used her hand to make sure the water foamed before she picked up the sponge and started washing the plates. During the whole process, she looked at anything but the dishes. She knew looking at the plates while washing them would discourage her, and might even make her puke.

Finally, May finished with the house chores for the day. She made a mental note that she was going to wash the curtains on another day. She checked the time to see that it was getting close to Maryam's school closing hour.

She needed to cook something before her daughter's return. The noodles she had cooked last night had turned sour, so she had fed it to the fowls outside the compound.

Edric didn't drop a dime before leaving for work. On the morning before she carried Maryam to school, she had gone to the nearest shop owner, Mama Ada, pleading with her to give her snacks for Maryam. She'd made a promise that she would pay later in the day.

May could not go back to mama Ada again. The woman wouldn't agree to give her anything until she was able to pay off her debt.

The more she thought of what to do, the more time she spent thinking. Not wanting to waste much time again, she rushed to the bathroom, took a quick cold bath. She dried her body with her towel and applied palm kernel oil on her skin while shaking her head in pity, thinking about how her life was way better years ago while she used the expensive cream on her body. Now she's using palm kernel oil on her body. What a pity.

May wore a chiffon flowered gown that was long enough to touch her feet. Looking at her reflection in the mirror, she began to drown in self-pity again. This is what she got for having an affair with the gateman's son.

Sometimes she thought Edric did it on purpose, just so she wouldn't look attractive or so better men wouldn't look her way. If he was doing it on purpose, then he was doing a great job. She was sure she didn't look anything close to being attractive now.

Her once light skin had become dull with small dark spots on it from the nightly mosquito bites. Her once chubby body was bony to where she looked malnourished. Her bones were almost jutting out of her thin flesh. Thus the only good thing so far about losing weight was that she looked taller. Yet, even with the newfound height, she didn't like the way her cheekbones and neckline were now more visible.

May sighed and rubbed Vaseline on her scalp and combed her long, ebony nappy hair that was almost touching her shoulder backward before using a rubber band to put it in place.

Soon enough, May is locking the front door of her house and putting the key under the flower vase outside. That had always been the key hiding place.

She began to stroll out of the compound. Plastering a big smile on her face while greeting the owners of the few shops she walked past as she took the route that led to Maryam's school.

"Such a happy woman," she heard a woman selecting beans in front of her shop say to her friend. "She has no money but her family is always happy."

May shook her head. If they only knew.

The school was an hour's walk, but since she had no money to board a cab, she had no other choice than to trek.

Two hours later, she was at home boiling water to prepare golden corn cereal for her daughter. Corn cereal was Maryam's favorite, especially since her mother didn't cook anything other than noodles.

As May set down the plate for her daughter's meal, the door opened and in came the last person May was expecting.

Once she looked at the unexpected and unwelcome visitor, she knew that her home would never be the same again.