Chapter 28

• I woke up the next morning and washed all my clothes. I cleaned the whole house and rearranged it. Mum called to inquire if I would join her later during the day, but I declined. When the clothes dried, I ironed them and arranged them in a suitcase. I had made up my mind that I would leave home the next day. I looked for my phone to call Ray and tell him that I would be joining him but couldn’t find it. I peeped through the window and saw Anita making a call. She came back minutes later and told me that she had called Ray. “Ray got to know what is happening here. I don’t want to see you going mad yet he can help” she said. I asked her what they had discussed but she couldn’t say more. I made us lunch and packed some for mum. Just when I was about to leave to take the food to her, she came in. She said that Ray had called her and said that he would be waiting for me the next day.
• Mum had tried to object, but Ray insisted saying that I was no longer at peace there. We ate lunch in silence. Then, mum went back to her shop. I could see that she didn’t want me to leave. She didn’t want her daughter to be in the care of a stranger who was posing as the boyfriend. I was still young for unplanned marriage. She was heart- broken.
• Hours later, I got a call from a strange number. The caller was a woman. She had gotten my number from one of my friends in church and wanted to offer me a job as a house-help. We talked and finally agreed that I would go the next day. She didn’t care about my age. All she wanted was to get someone to look after her kids since the previous house-help had left without notice and she was going on with her university examinations. She sent me details of her place of residence via SMS. I called Ray and he was happy for me. He said he knew the area, thus would meet me in town the next day and gets me there. I went to mum’s shop and told her about the new development. She hugged me tight and told me to reconsider my decision.