EPISODE 7
682 Words
Amara woke up before the bell rang. Her bones were tired, her head was heavy, but she remembered Aunty Rose’s voice:
“Wake up by 4:30. Don’t let Madam shout.”
She quietly left the small room and picked up a broom. The compound was still dark, only lit by a flickering security light. The air was cold, but not colder than her chest.
As she swept, she looked up at the sky.
“Mama, are you seeing me?” she whispered.
She finished sweeping and walked into the kitchen. Aunty Rose was already there, boiling water.
“Good. You're early,” Aunty Rose said without turning. “Wash the plates from last night.”
Amara nodded and got to work. The soap was harsh on her tiny hands, but she didn’t complain.
By 6:00 am, Madam Stella walked into the kitchen with her usual frown.
“Has she taken her bath?” she asked Aunty Rose.
“No ma. She just finished the compound,” Aunty Rose replied.
Madam Stella turned to Amara. “You have five minutes. Use the boys’ bathroom. Don’t waste water.”
Amara rushed off, only to return quickly when she saw that the bathroom was locked.
“I can’t open it,” she said softly.
“You better push it hard,” Madam Stella snapped. “Lazy girl!”
She went herself and tried the lock. It didn’t budge.
“Who locked this bathroom?!” she shouted.
Princess came out, rubbing her eyes. “I locked it yesterday. It was smelling.”
“Then why didn’t you say anything?” Madam Stella shouted again.
“I forgot,” Princess shrugged.
Madam Stella turned to Amara. “Go and bathe with the hose behind the kitchen. If I smell body odor on you today, you will sleep outside!”
Amara turned quietly and walked behind the kitchen. She took the hose, and turned it on. The water came out cold and strong.
She shivered as she poured it on her head. Her dress clung to her small body. Her teeth chattered.
She scrubbed quickly with her hand. No sponge. No soap.
Just water.
When she was done, she stood in the sun to dry off.
She squeezed the water from her torn dress.
She felt like a dog.
No… even dogs were treated better.
After the house chores, Amara sat alone under the mango tree. She touched the tiny folded paper Mama gave her.
It was getting weak and dirty.
She opened it again, carefully.
“My child, be strong. The world is hard, but your heart is soft. Let no one take your light.”
She traced Mama’s handwriting with her finger.
Then she added her own line at the bottom.
“I will not die here.”
Suddenly, she heard the driver’s voice behind her.
“You still have that letter?”
Amara quickly wiped her eyes and nodded.
“Good,” he said. “Don’t lose it.”
He walked away before she could say thank you.
That night, something strange happened.
Madam Stella’s phone rang loudly. She answered it in the sitting room and shouted, “What?! What do you mean Princess is not registered?! Her name is not on the school portal?!”
Everyone in the house froze.
Amara listened from her corner.
Madam Stella kept shouting on the phone. Then she turned to her husband, “You said you paid the school fees!”
“I gave the money to your brother!” he replied.
“Well, your brother didn’t pay! Now my daughter is not going to write her exams!”
Princess burst into tears. “Mummy, I want to go to school tomorrow!”
Amara looked at the scene, confused.
For the first time… the shouting was not because of her.
That night, as she lay on the floor in her small room, she whispered to the stars through the tiny window.
“One day, I will go to school too.”
She didn’t know how.
She didn’t know when.
But she believed.
Even if nobody saw her tears.
- Writer
