Aeipathy ➳ Normani ✓

ninteen

C H A P T E R N I N E T E E N

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Normani woke up in an empty bed for the fourth morning in a row. Again, she had received another text full of apologies and promises to 'make it up' from Keith. With a sigh, she got out of bed and got ready for the day.

For the past four days, Normani had kept herself busy with whatever was on TV during the day. The Ikandes had Netflix, but the titles weren't as diverse as back home but she was able to entertain herself by re-watching old episodes of F.R.I.E.N.D.S and The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air.

She kept Ayoola company in the kitchens in the late afternoons while she prepared food for the family. Although Ayoola wouldn't let Normani touch, cut, peel, mash, pound, stir or spice anything, she fell into conversations with her easily while she slaved over the pots.

Lunch and dinner were very particular rituals in the Ikande household. Family dinner was observed once a week, where everyone would sit at the table and enjoy a meal together. On every other day, Ayoola would cook Mr and Mrs Ikande's dinner first.

She had strict orders on what to cook every day in the form of a daily menu that was written on a small chalk board mounted to the wall next to the switch that powered the stoves. She'd then make lunch for the Ikande children and with them, she adhered only to a weekly menu.

Most times, the lunch she'd cooked would only be consumed in the evenings as Matilda, Joseph and even Keith preferred to have snacks in the afternoons.

Ayoola and Kalu ate the same thing every single day - fufu and egusi soup. They were allowed to eat rice only on Sundays and special holidays.

Ayoola would make their food last and Kalu would come and fetch his plate around 18:00 with a small grateful smile before slinking off to his quarters.

Normani was uncomfortable with the way the servants of the house were treated like second-class citizens but she kept it to herself, knowing that if she mentioned it to Keith, he'd dismiss it and chalk it all up to cultural differences.

In the evenings, Normani had taken to reading Chimamanda Ngozi Achidie's 'Purple Hibiscus'. She'd found the copy on a bookshelf in the Big Parlour.

For four nights straight, Keith had promised to be home before 21:00 and every night, Normani had read the book while propped up on the large pillows to keep herself awake. Each time, she'd fallen asleep after midnight without Keith having returned yet.

It took Normani less than a minute to realise that today wasn't going to be like the past days. Ayoola was kneeling near the staircase, furiously scrubbing polish into the floor.

Normani could hear Mrs Ikande's voice from the kitchen, "and you will scrub those floors until they shine! Our guests must be able to see their reflections in the tiles!"

Ayoola was dressed in clothing that was even more ragged than her usual tired ensemble of an old long skirt and a red tee shirt that had holes in the back.

"Good morning Ayoola," Normani said, as she usually did.

"Good morning Miss Normani," Ayoola replied, although her voice was so low and so tired that it came as a rushed whisper.