Maid's Tale

Chapter 4

I got on my uniform and met Ms. Maude downstairs. Together, we set the table for breakfast. The chef cooked up the food and we served it out. Then we left the dining area promptly to give the family privacy.

Ms. Maude said Mr. Roberts didn't like the help standing over them and watching them eat. From outside I could see a glimpse of everyone eating, for the first time I saw the whole family. Mr. Roberts sat at the front of the table, his right suspenders framing his belly as he lowered his mouth toward his plate. Maybe he was so self conscious about people being present while he ate because he didn't know how to eat like a gentleman!

But most of all, I saw the boy whom I'd seen before. My heart jumped when his eyes looked up in the foyer, spotting me. I immediately walked off to Maude, hoping that I hadn't interrupted anything. The two of us stood next to the door.

"Ralph." Mrs. Roberts called to her son from across the table. "How was your lacrosse game?"

"It was fine, I guess. We lost, but we're getting better." I could hear Ralph say.

"When I was your age, I only tasted success in sports." Mr. Roberts commented. "I wonder why you boys now struggle so much."

"You didn't exactly raise us to be athletes, did you?" Another male voice asked.

"You should be the last one talking, Nathaniel. You were great at sports in high school and college!" Mr. Roberts almost cheered on. I assumed Nathaniel was the one dressed in the blazer, his hair was perfectly parted and waved in such a way that would make Gary Cooper envy him.

"Well, I'm sorry we can't all be college stars." Ralph chimed in. "Some of us have better things to do, I guess."

"Better things? What better things are you up to? You've got no woman, you hardly want to practice your sports and you have no clue on how our family business works! The only thing you know how to do is get good grades but that won't help you in oil, boy!" Mr. Roberts spoke ten octaves higher at his youngest son. "I try and bring you a girl and you don't want her! I try and put you in sports and you don't want to win! Some days I reckon you're a fruitcake!"

"Vincent. That's enough." Mrs. Roberts attempted to calm her husband. I was captivated by the conversation, in the movies the rich people never seemed to fight like this.

Ms. Maude noticed my interest, and therefore she occupied me with something else. "Do you know how to make up bed sheets?"

"Yes, I do." I told her. "I know how to make the sheets nice and taunt. It's easy as cake."

"Oh no, honey. You've never seen these people's beds. Let me show you how to make one up first and then you can do the rest." Ms. Maude told me, then asked me to follow her. We went upstairs and into the East Wing, where quietly she opened the doors to the master bedroom.

And my, was it master. "This room is bigger than my house."

Ms. Maude definitely wasn't joking when she said their beds were different. It was the highest, widest bed I'd ever seen. And not only did they have a bedsheets, but the comforter was thicker than ever. And they had so many pillows, the Sandman could get lost in them. A huge curtain hung from a wall teester over the bed too.

And here I was a fool, thinking that curtains were just for windows.

"It's bigger than my house too." Ms. Maude laughed. "Well, when I had one."

"You decided to sell?" I asked her, assuming she got rid of it during the market crash.

"No, it's not that. When my husband died I figured it made no sense in keeping it. I lived here full-time anyway." Ms. Maude recalled her hardships. "You know, I hardly got to spend time with him in those last few years. He was sick and I couldn't risk losing my job. And I stayed here and prayed he'd get better, but that day never came. When I went back home and finally took a break, I was burying him. At that point, there was nothing left for me in that house."

"I sure am sorry, Ms. Maude." I frowned. "I know that must've been hard for you."

"Life goes on." She sighed. "The Lord stays with you and keeps you strong. Now, you hold onto these pillows while I show you how to make these beds nice and pretty."

"Will do." I complied and took the pillows. She flopped around, tugged, pulled, folded and flattened those bed sheets until they were perfect. I got the hang of it quickly, helping her set up the pillows just as it should be.

After we were finished, she took me into the next room and left me to my own devices. "I suppose you know what you're doing now."

"Yup! The sheets like normal and the pillows fluffy and even." I nodded. She nodded at me too before leaving me all alone. I did that first room, then I went to the next, and then I went to the other. In the final room I rushed a little to get it done. Those beds took more energy out of you than the sleep you'd get when laying in them.

But my efforts of making up the bed was distracted when I realized whose room I was in. On the side table I saw a portrait of Ralph, who looked even more handsome up close.

He had many photos on his dresser mirror, ones of him and his friends. A particular photograph showed him leaning on a canoe with a paddle in his hand. Even in his swim shorts he seemed to be a dream. It looked as though he had a close knit group of friends, one set of photos showed he and his friends in a photobooth. In a corner of the mirror, there was a naughty little photo of Nina Mae McKinney that almost took my breath away.

But my snooping was interrupted when a door which I assumed to be a closet opened up. Turns out, the don't wasn't a closet at all. It led to a bathroom, in which Ralph himself had just finished a bath. I looked to the floor, hoping that the boy wouldn't be offended I was looking at this photos.