August.27-2025
Pick a Title. No. Poetry Contest
Sponsor- Edward Ibeh
~ Placed Second~
I struggled in vain to conceal my shock at the sight of the lady in her thirties but looking much younger in flashing dress with a lot of makeup on – obviously dressed to kill. In her presence, I suddenly became conscious of my poor appearance. The dame, as if dressed for a stunning fashion show looked a bull in a China shop! The scene was an agency letting out house maids. Slogging under the weight of heavy household chores and my duties as a college teacher, I have been in frantic search for a full time maid. Her appearance and her luggage (six huge boxes) annoyed me and made me view her through the grid of suspicion. But I brushed aside all apprehensions and put on a casual air. a thing out of place causes great discomfiture~ soup served in spittoon I helped her place the luggage in the car. As we were riding back, there was a dead silence. To break the ice, I asked who she had served earlier. She said, she had been with a family in Gulf (that justified the enormity of her possessions!) and of late, she was with an aged lady whose children were abroad. When she said how she had been adored by that good old lady as a daughter for the compassionate care and concern, I felt, she was humane despite her formidable appearance. She also said that she was a good cook and gave a long inventory of tempting dishes she could make. I instructed what routine works she had to look into. By 8 0’ clock the next day, all of us left, leaving her to her solitary domain. Back from college, I found my kitchen given a facelift. Everything was prim! Each day, she reserved similar surprises for us. Somehow, she earned my trust. One Saturday, by noon when I was at home, she came rushing to me telling, she had an urgent call asking her to be beside her dying mother. She said, she was going home and would be back within a couple of days. I don’t know what prompted me to say that she could leave for good. As I saw her loading her things into an auto and speeding away, I felt relieved, as if all the weight of her baggage had been on my shoulders. Later, what a shock it was to learn that few of our valuables worth thousands of rupees were missing and that she was being chased by the police for sedating an old lady and looting her ornaments and some other costly things in whose house she had been a home nurse! A link in a nefarious lobby, the man who ran that agency was an accomplice to her. It was on his warning, she abruptly left. We still wonder if she had seen our house as an interim haven to hide her belongings or if she had a heinous plot up her sleeve. When I think of it, goosebumps start creeping over me. I chided, myself for the naïve faith, I put, never having a watchful eye on her. (A real story that took place years back.) my trust was so blind not going beyond façade~ untouched by doubt’s sting
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