NOMZAMO

a slave

Maya Angelou once wrote a poem titled "A caged bird".I never got a clear understanding of the whole poem.I was made aware of what she meant after I got an ordeal similar to the great Maya Angelou.It was when my father got ill.My mom was a stay-in domestic worker.She had to make a tough decision which meant that I had to exchange roles so that she would be able to take care of my Father.Being a girl who knew that she was going to live at the Suburbs, I couldn't contain my happiness. I felt like a newborn tasting her mother's breast milk for the first time.I arrived at the house with my mother.My ears were as sharp as a knife as I listened to the conversation between the master and my mom.The Master reassured my mom that I will be taken care of .I felt like a teenager who had fallen in love. After my mom left I was taken to my room but when I arrived i noticed that it was similar to a prison.No human being would sleep there .The room was cramped,unsatinary,unsafe and the mattress had a horrible smell like urine that has stayed there for the longest time.The roomed screamed dirt.The master gave me this room to compliment me very well with it.I had nothing to say all the happiness I had disappeared as I felt worthless and dirty. In summary life was the worst at that place. I lived a life of a slave dressed in rags which were cream white.I saw myself back in the times of Olaudah Equiano.

Conversation...

Mom:I got you a dress ,take it.
Me:Mom why does it not have a price tag?
Mom:Ngane yam this dress I bought it today ePep but I removed the price tag so that it does not scratch your back.
Me:This looks old .It seems like it had been worn twice or thrice (cries).Why should I always get to wear clothes which were once worn?Don't I deserve new clothes and this even looks oversized.
Mom:Don't talk like that dear child.I am going out there to work for you and make sure that you have a roof over your head and clothes to cover your body my dear.God is always here with us. There is a saying that every black person always recites "imini iyeza nakuwe".Musa ukukhathazeka my baby.God's timing is always perfect. Now go and bath I have some nice food.The whites gave me some leftovers for lunch and I said I'll eat with my baby girl"
Me:surely the food must have been poisoned .I mean we do remember what your Master did to me.Yet you still go there it feels like you begging them for those little pennies they keep on rewarding you for the good job you do.I mean mother look at what you are currently wearing,those clothes are similar to the ones I wore the time I spent months in that hell hole.Your title in that house will always scream "SLAVE "