Yellow Tales of a Nigerian Housemaid (completed)

Chapter Fifty Seven

It was actually surprising to me when aunt Agnes came home that morning with a beautiful baby walker, just two days after the confrontation. She'd carried it into Mama's room while I was busy mopping the floor.

"Nneogo" She called as she pushed the door open.

I startled at the sound of her voice. It hasn't been easy relating with her since after our fight even though she'd done a good job avoiding me.

"Aunty" I replied glancing up to behold her sweaty face.

"Take this, keep it safe somewhere in this room." She said putting it down and kicking it slowly towards me. I watched as it rolled smoothly to where my mopping bucket stood. Hitting it, the walker came to a stop. "Whenever you see Oby, give it to her. Since she asked you to beg me for it, it'll be wise for you to present it to her also. Or don't you think so?" She asked staring at me. I just nodded.

"It's beautiful" I said, not being able to hold off my admiration.

"And it did cost a lot, just keep it safe. I'm going somewhere" She replied moving away from the room and shutting the door behind her.

The walker was predominantly blue in colour though it still had patches of colorful designs and arts on it, especially cartoon arts. It was strong with a good amount of padded foam all around it. It also had a music box which hung on what served as the dashboard, and other chains of fun stuffs to keep the child busy while he learns to walk. Mere looking at it, I didn't need to be told it wasn't a fake, it was of the best quality.

Aunt Oby will be thrilled.

I gave the walker a slight push which had it move slowly to a corner by the wall, then continued with my chore. Done, I carried the mopping bucket outside to dispose the dirty water and washed the mopping stick too. I leaned it facing up on the fence so as to get it dried.

It was while outside that I noticed the extreme quietness in the compound. Mama had left very early in the morning, she said she needed to get to an important event. Aunt Oby and her boyfriend had left early too, for an occasion hosted by her boyfriend's elder brother.

Yesterday when uncle Kc brought this event to Mama's attention, Mama had voiced her opinion against aunt Oby attending it with her little baby especially after the spiritual ant attack; but as usual aunt Oby would never hear of it.

Uncle Kc didn't want her to attend, his argument was for the sake of their child and for peace to reign at the occasion since his family members were against him marrying her. The presence of his baby mama will surely fuel things up which might turn messy. Aunt Oby on her own agreed not to go but only if uncle Kc stays back home. She'd insisted that if he insists on going, then she too must, so every appeal to her fell on deaf ears.

Uncle Ugonna had gone to work and aunt Agnes had just left, so that means it's just aunt Onyi, her son and I in the whole building. What a relief!

Mama had asked that I mop the common room too but I was so weak and lazy to do it, so I just brushed out the dirts with a long brush. To satisfy my pricky conscience, I grabbed the mop and without using any leathered water, retouched the tiles my moving the mopping stick on them while dancing. Satisfied, I placed the mopping stick outside to dry.

After completing my chores, I moved to the bathroom to have my bath. The water was cold for me and the mere thought of scooping it on my body, made me shiver in cold. After wondering for a while on what to do, I decided to do the unlikely.

I walked into the kitchen and without thinking twice put on the gas. I filled the kettle with water and placed it on the burner. I stood beside it, counting seconds with my fingers, each movement outside throbbing my heart rapidly. Once I was certain the water was warm enough, I put off the gas and carried the kettle to the bathroom. I poured the water in a bucket, adding some quantity of cool water to dilute it. Happily, I returned the kettle to the kitchen, replacing it where I'd got it from. I then went back to the bathroom to have my bath.