The Housemaid

Episode 8

Madam didn’t give me breakfast that morning and by noon I was disoriented.
My tummy was on fire and the hunger pangs in my stomach had increased ten folds.
Madam handed her little baby to me around eleven o’clock that morning.

I carried the little baby from that time till around four in the evening on empty stomach.
Even the pap I was to give to the baby, I drank half out of hunger.

I needed to quell the pangs in my stomach and any edible could do.
Madam woke up around 4.30pm in the evening and collected her baby from me.
She didn’t even mention anything about giving me food and this piqued me.
I didn’t know what to do.
I just sat in the kitchen deep in thought. I had no money on me so I couldn’t think of buying food. So I just sat there hoping that a miracle would happen.

Around five minutes past five, madam called me and gave me N200 to go to a nearby supermarket and buy bathing soap for her.
I took the money and left immediately.
There was a woman selling freshly prepared Okpa along the road and the sweet aroma of the woman’s Okpa suggested new ideas into my hungry mind.

Before I knew what was happening I bought two wraps @ N50 each and sat at one corner of the road to devour it.
The Okpa was very hot yet I ate it quickly and hungrily.
When I finished, I bought sachet water and augmented the Okpa and my stomach returned instantly to normal.

Then I started thinking of a believable narrative to tell my madam…