Isioma Jemimah Okonicha

I wish I was the daughter of the wealthy family that lived in this mansion, my God! I'll be the happiest person on earth, and I'll definitely not be bothered about Mr. Okuku's silly marriage proposal that mama is already considering. I thought, still staring at the beautiful mansion that'd caught my attention as the driver drove to the house, where I was supposed to work as a maid.
 
 Please stop. This is the house. I told the taxi man. The address on the piece of paper was the same as the mansion I admired. It was the same structure I met as a child, when I'd been brought years ago to work for the Adamas, the rich, business couple. It's been over ten years. I remembered being convinced to enter into this "thing" as I called it, by a woman that'd brought me. She had had to convince me that it was heaven, before I'd agreed to enter. I was so scared of the size of the house. I was only nine years old at the time, and I'd never been to the city, and so it was the first time that I saw such a building, that was why I was afraid, the mansion was a wonder to me with the big pine trees around it.
 
I remembered the cool breeze that blew softly in the garden when I watched Ebuka, the gardener at that time trim the flowers. It was the colored petals in a pot that almost resembled the one we drank from in my home at Gboku village that surprised me the most - I was later told it had a white-man's name, by Ejiri, the only daughter of the rich couple that I nicknamed "oyinbo girl" because of the way she sounded when she spoke. Few days at the Adamas mansion were enough to write a book on "luxury" which was the exact word I would use to describe the experience at their home. They were cocoa business moguls that had defined wealth and were living a good life.
 
I walked straight to the gigantic gate and gave a loud knock twice. 
 
"Who is that?" a male voice answered.
 
 "Abeg dey send me come here," I replied. 
 
 "Wetin you want?" The voice asked without opening the gate. 
 
 "Dey send me to work."
 
 "Who sent you?" he asked and then he opened the pedestrian entrance.
 
 "Na Madam Rukky send me here," I said.
 
 "Wait, make I go tell madam." He said after I'd greeted him. And then, he closed back the entrance leaving me under the unkind heat of the sun. 
 
 After some minutes, he returned and asked me to follow him. 
 
"Waka fast." He said.

BookRix

The Life I didn't think existed: Poverty and Wealth

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