WILL YOU MARRY ME
"Make sure food is ready by the time we come back. Remember that no one has eaten since morning. Woe betide you if we come back and food isn't yet ready," Mrs. Nwobi threatened her maid as she led her four children, two boys and two girls, out of the house. Her husband was already waiting in the car. They had just come back from church, and Mrs. Nwobi and her children quickly changed into casual wears. Merry Men II had just started showing on cinema and the family wanted to be amongst the first to watch it. They would have gone straight to the cinema from the church but they needed to take their maid home so that she would prepare food while the family went to the movies.
Ezinne was twenty-two years old, just two years older than Mrs. Nwobi's first daughter. She had been living with the Nwobis since her childhood. She was the only child of her parents who died in a road traffic accident when she was only five years old. Mr. Nwobi, her paternal uncle, had taken over her upbringing afterwards. Her uncle had good intentions for her. He wanted to treat her like his own child. He wanted to give her the best life could offer. He wanted her to never miss her parents. But his wife wouldn't hear of that. Instead of treating Ezinne as a member of the family, Mrs. Nwobi gradually converted her to a maid from a tender age. Ezinne practically did all the house chores while her cousins did nothing but eat, watch movies, gossip and sleep. Ezinne was their slave.
Mr. Nwobi didn't like how his wife treated his niece and in the early days, he tried to get his wife to understand that Ezinne was his blood, that she should be treated as such but over time he became indifferent when it became obvious that insisting would wreck his marriage. Ezinne's ordeal therefore continued and worsened.
The cinema was located in a mall, so the family grabbed some snacks and drinks before the movie started. The movie was very interesting, in fact, it was more interesting than Merry Men I. It was worth the wait. By the time, the family returned home, food was ready..., but Ezinne dared not to eat. She had to wait for them. She must not eat before her masters. And she mustn't dish her own food even though she cooked it.
to be continued
