HER'S TO TAKE

0015

FREYA

The next day was the D-day. We had no cabs in the remote neighborhood, so, we walked out on foot till we got to the big road leading to the city.

Only heavens know how I managed to bump into the remote neighborhood after I delivered the parcel the dying man asked me to go drop for him at a certain address I can’t remember.

“Zain’s place is a bit far from here. I had been there before. I have a friend who works there.” Nania said.

I wasn’t asking her questions, but she was the sort who wouldn’t settle for a boring adventure. She wanted to keep our trip lively, but I wonder why she doesn’t want to go seek for a job at the same place.

Maybe she doesn’t want to do that because it would keep her away from her kids and her husband.

“She always told me of the good working condition there, and how difficult it is to get to see the young billionaire, Zain.” She added.

A cab came by and I flagged it down, while she bent by the window to haggle the price for the trip with the driver.

“A hundred buck is head swelling; won’t you do twenty?” she said. That was the thing with the people of the neighborhood. They would always haggle over everything, and I was already learning the same from them, though I wasn’t raised that way.

All my life, I had never seen my mother who was late before my father thought of giving me off for some money, haggle over stuffs in the mall where she got the stuffs we use at home in those days when she was alive.

“Too poor, ma’am. Make it fifty.” The driver, a man who seemed to be in his late thirties said. His teeth were black of caffeine, I could tell, and his chin bore beards that are untrimmed.

He looked more like a drunk, an addict, than a driver, but that’s common around here. The men are mostly unkept, and the women don’t care.

“Thirty. That’s all we have.” She said as though in conclusion, but I knew she was not done yet. She would likely go up if the driver declines her offer.

“Thirty can’t do us any good. The city is far from here.” He said, tapping at his steering wheel as he said so.

“No, it’s big money, man. Won’t you take us along? Look, she is pretty, don’t you like to pick her up in your cab?” she said pointing at me.

This was literally the first time someone from the neighborhood was saying such about me, but I understood she wanted to make some savings out of the budget we made for the trip.

The driver leaned back and turned to see me, and I waved at him with a smile. If that’s enough to win his heart and make him bow to Nania’s price, then, I would do it.

He smiled and beckoned on us to enter the cab.

“Do you have good music? Something from Andrea Bocelli.” Nania said as we hopped in and shut the door.

“Sure. I have all his records, and I can play you as many as you want, only if your beautiful friend wants the same.” The driver said and took off.

“Oh, she wants whatever I want. Just go on and give us something nice.”

...........................

The journey was long though, but we got to the city before noon. It was bustling with life and pride, and it woke memories I had long buried in my mind.

I remembered being ferried to this same city the very night I fled from Jaxton’s crib, by the man who thought I was a roadside harlot.

“Freya.” Come on, lets go.” Nania tugged at my right hand, and I alighted from the cab with her. Then, she bent once again by the car window with a smile on her face.

“Thanks for the ride, we would meet again next time.” She said and passed the man thirty bucks, but the man did not accept it.

“For the sake of your friend, keep the pay.” He said and turned to look at me. “Hey, I didn’t charge you two. I did it because of you. You are beautiful, but I have a wife.”

His words brought laughter to my lips. He was such a funny fellow, but even though he just made it clear that he is not an infidel, I knew his wife won’t find it funny if he should tell her that he didn’t charge his female passengers just because one of them is beautiful.

“Oh, thanks a lot, and, do greet your wife for me.” I said with a smile on my face.

He smiled back and honked, then, he took off.

......................

I had been here before, I thought as soon as we got to the gate of the mansion. Nania was leading the way, and I did the good bidding of following her like a novice.

The gates were still the same, and the guards were on the same post they were the last time I visited to drop the parcel I was asked to drop her.

I can remember not checking the parcel that night to check out what’s inside it, and I could remember as well that the guards did not ask of my identity when I handed the parcel over to the man that collected it.

“Stop!” the guard standing at the tower by the gate, which had a machine gun pointing towards our direction, yelled.

We stopped and looked up to him.

“What do you come for?” he asked with a harsh voice, as though he was employed to shoot people like us off the gate whenever he sees such.

“I am here to see Maria. I bring my friend here to take the screening for the domestic staff vacancy.” Nania said aloud so the guard would hear her.

Now, I could tell that the guard was not being as harsh as I thought. The tower was a long one, and for us to hear him well, he had to shout, and for him to hear us well, Nania had to shout.

“Maria is busy, you must go and return another day.” He said those words like someone who had spent his life learning to say such words.

“No, come on, no!” Nania held her waist with her hands and spread her legs, to make it clear to the guard that she was not here to be asked to return some other day.

“Look, we came from afar, and we have an appointment with Maria who asked us to come. We must meet her before leaving today.” Her voice was twice as loud as it ever was.

The guard scuffed and moved his gun to our position. It was a massive machine gun, the sort that would tear a full-grown man into countless pieces if it is launched on a man.

“You booked an appointment with Maria? Is that possible?” the guard withdrew his gun from us and rested his chin on the palm of his right-hand like a gossip.

Nania swallowed hard and shook her head. I noticed she was scared of the big gun, but she knew somewhere in her unseen mind that the guard would not fire a shot at two unarmed women. He might do it on men, but not women.

“Yes. She told me about the need for a domestic staff, and she asked me to get her someone who is capable of taking up such job.” Nania said in response and turned to me. “Here is my friend, Freya, she is the one for the job.”

The guard shook his head and turned away from us, going deeper into the tower, and out of our sight.

“He just left without saying a word.” I said, not quite certain of an admission, and neither sure of rejection.

Nania smiled. She seemed to have been fond of sort of treatment we got from the guard.

“Don’t worry, Freya, they would open the gate for us and let us in. Maria would make sure you are hired and well paid. She is a top officer in the mansion.” Nania said, and just before she finished, the gates creaked open, and three armed men came out of it.

They were clad in suit, the same way Jaxton’s boys dress, but they don’t seem as rude as Jaxton’s boys. They look a little calm.

“Which of you is here for the job?” one of them asked, fingering his gun as he did so.

“She is the one.” Nania turned and placed her right hand on me. If her intention was to sell me, then, I’m certain I had been sold off already, but I trust her. I knew she would never do such to me or anyone.

“She?” the men posed simultaneously. Maybe they just saw an angel, whom they thought is not fit to serve as a domestic staff.

“Yes.” Nania said and they shook their heads as though they planned to do everything together at the same time.

“Come in, ma’am, Maria is waiting to have you inside.”

........................

First, I was told that the mansion belongs to a man named Zain, and he is a billionaire, but now, I’m being told that Maria is waiting to have me.

I understood the fact that Nania said Maria is her friend who works in the mansion, but I was confused with the way the guards uttered that name with such great importance. It seemed she was a big madam, and I had been tossed into her crib to serve her and get paid.

“Come on, Freya, go with them.” Nania gave me a slight push and kissed me good bye with tears in her eyes.

She had been my friend for three years, so, leaving her behind and working in a place where I would only get to see my family twice a month, was a thing to get emotional for.

I smiled and waved my right hand at her in response, and then, walked into the gate with guards who shut it immediately, leaving her behind.

..........................

I can’t deny that I didn’t feel really good while I was standing outside with Nania, because it was rough and sunny outside, and the tall fences kept me from seeing what was inside, but stepping into the compound, I nearly screamed.

It was a whole different world in our world. It was heavenly, but I picked something out, there were male guards everywhere.

“This way, ma’am.” One of them led the way and I followed, passing through a pretty garden with a few men in suit, and walking into a building by the massive pool in the massive property.

“You are Freya.” A voice said as we approached the building.

I looked around to see who owns the voice, but I saw nothing until I looked up and saw a slim woman who seemed to be in her mid-fifties standing in the balcony at the first floor, staring down at us.

“Yes, ma’am. Good…”

“Nania already told me so much about you.” She said and beckoned on me to come.

The guard led me into the building, which was lit to the brim, and secured by a few men in suit.

“Welcome to the abode of the humble billionaire, Lord Zain. I do not need to run an interview here. Nania already told me all I need to know about you. So, you can go downstairs and ask the maids there to show you to your room, where you would change and wear our duty outfit.”