The Nameless

Chapter Twenty Five

*** Anyanwu ...

I open my eyes as footsteps arrive at the door. Swiftly, I roll off the bed, controlling my fall to not raise too much noise and rolling underneath. I watch two pairs of feet walk in, water splashing by the jug and bowl while the other comes to the bed, moving the sheets about. What are they doing? Agu stirs but goes back to sleep.

After a while, they leave, shutting the door behind them. I roll back out of the bed to find the room clean, the bed looks like I never even slept in it. I move to the dresser to take out my cloth, wrapping it around myself. I move to the door and open it slowly, peeking out into the hall.

Thankfully, Peter is standing there and he sees me. He gestures at me to go back. I slowly shut the door, going to sit at the table. Agu wakes up, coming out from under the bed and stretching. Then he comes to sit next to me. I brush his hair with my fingers, waiting for Peter.

"Thea?" He calls silently when he opens the door.

"Yes?" He comes in and shuts the door, a pile of clothes in his arms and those feet clothes Elias calls shoes on top. "Agu need to...ease himself." He nods, dropping the clothes on the bed.

"Very well, I'll take him out in a moment. These are your new clothes, you put this on first, your drawers..." He raises a white soft cloth of two legs. "...then this, a corset, up here..." That one looks stiff. "...then this, a petticoat..." Multiple layers of white see through cloth held together at the top which he holds to his waist, the length sweeping the floor. "...then this." I stare at it, "A dress." He explains, "It should cover everything." He comes to me handing me a black round rubber thing. "For tying your hair, then you braid it, gathering it behind, just above your neck. When you put this on, no one should be able to see your hair, except the knot behind." He holds up a cloth cap, "A bonnet."

"I understand." He nods, moving towards the water at the end of the room, down from the door.

"The bowl, you pour water into it to clean yourself." He picks up the cloth hanging beside the bowl from the metal table, "You put this in water with oils and wipe your body with it till you're clean." He picks up a long stick-like thing and a container, "This is a toothbrush and a solution  for your teeth, you open this like so, scoop some out on this like so and clean your teeth and tongue." I nod, watching him move a few steps to a wooden container. "Chamber pot, you relieve yourself in here then let me know and I'll have the maids clean it up."

"Maids." I repeat, the footsteps that came in and cleaned the room.

"Yes. Now clean yourself while I take out Agu and fetch us breakfast. Before you come out, every time, knock on the wall like this," he touches his knuckles to the wall at the head of the bed, two separate times, "then listen for my reply. If there isn't any, you can't come out, if I knock twice, you can. Understood?"

"Yes, understood." He clicks his tongue at Agu, gesturing for him to come. Agu lays still, watching him. I whistle and he sits up alert, eyes on me. I click my tongue, nodding towards the priest. He gets up and walks to him.

"Thank you." I wait for them to leave before I get up. I clean myself like I had been showed to, then my teeth and tongue which was rather hard as the stick was strange to use. I divide my hair into two down the middle and braid it to a stop at the back of my head. I tie the loose mess of hair and roll it up, knotting it. When I tie the cloth cap around my hair there is space for the knot to show, the strings tying the cap around my head underneath it.

I begin to put on the clothes, in the order he showed me. The drawers, the corset-which when tied up is very stiff and very painful-, the skirts he called the petticoat, and finally the dress which I tie together before my chest.
Fully dressed, I take a few steps. I feel heavy and very covered. I move to the wall across from the bed and knock two times, loud to match his strength. Two knocks return.