"Jamery.....have you seen Nathalie?"
"No mom..."
"Where is she…., NATHALIIIIEEEE"
Uhg there she is again….calling me…to wash her clothes.
Yes I am Nathalie...Nathalie Schenkfeer...an orphan.
My parents did not come home one day, ... I heard from my aunt ... yes aunt 'Felicia', the one who called me awhile back, that they died in an accident, but i didn't belive her...i thought they didn't want to go here, they wanted to stay abroad. My brother does child labor...because my aunt and her husband...don't have the money to pay his school fees. I'm lucky that I can go to school...because I saved up money.
"Nathalie didn't you hear me calling you?"
"Aunt, I'm sorry I didn't hear you"
"Girl, fuck off… go straight to the bathroom and wash my clothes, look at my underwear, you have to wash them well too….they have to be dry in 3 hours because Mildred is coming to get me."
I got up and went to the bathroom, I turned on the washing machine. Out of nowhere, Jayden appeared and pulled me towards him.
"JAY...LET ME GO" I yelled very loudly so that someone could hear me.
He heard his brother coming and said ;
"Why are you yelling..you..you stood in the WAY"
"HEEYYY, what's going on here?" Jamery came here….thank you God.
"He...He...held me so..." I didn't know what to say, I couldn't find the right words.
"He what..Nathalie? Have you lost your tongue?"
"Jamy she's just shouting like a mad man, I just wanted to go to the toilet...I then asked her if i could pass by and she pretended not to hear me… then I pulled her away so she could move...nothing else.."
"Nathalie...NATHALIE...NATHALIE...how many times have I said your name?"
"T-Th-three.."
"If this happens again, you'll see" Jamery said and he walked away.
Well… what a liar Jayden is. I really hate them. If only I could leave. Nothing is going to make me happier than to run away from here. Jayden is just crazy...he needs psychological help...that bum. I don't even know what he came here to do. I ran away from there so I wouldn't have to see his ugly face again.
Half an hour later he still hadn't left. "JAYDEN AREN'T YOU DONE YET?"
"No.. honey, I was waiting for you"
"A bastard that's You Are"
Oh no aunt came.
"GIRL YOU HAVEN'T WASHED MY CLOTHES YET"
"No aunt, yes-"
Pats...I got one in the face...and i fell down.
"You know what….don't wash my clothes. Don't wash anything…you're going to your father's people"
There I laid down...crying...thinking...why my parents left.
Why did they leave my brother and I in this world...why didn't they take us...to the country they went to. I always felt so safe in Daddy's arms. Knowing that nothing and no one could hurt me. Where I was allowed to go into the kitchen with mom to make coleslaw and russian salad on my birthday. *But you see* that was 2 years ago. Now I'm 19 and well...I just wanted to leave.*Those times won't come back.*
......…..Moving To Uncle Remy......
Aunt Felicia took me to Uncle Remy...daddy's brother. I don't know Uncle Remy's wife. And I wasn't really on good terms " family relations" with them. I do know Shivayenne...and Merreline...they used to come home to stay with us. I see them again today after 8 years. I am a year older than Merreline and 3 years older than Shivayenne. It is true that Uncle Remy and Daddy had been arguing for some time over an estate parcel left behind by my Grandpa Schenkfeer (Schenkie). Because my father was 2 years older than my uncle...the land was given to him. Which Uncle Remy didn't think was fair. Uncle Remy wanted to sell the land, but Dad didn't agree. Dad told me of course.
At home with Uncle Remy it was even worse. I was not allowed to sit at the table with his family, Merreline treated Fme as if I were a trash can, which never got a 'turn'. Sometimes I was punished for going to work for people. After a while I was no longer allowed to go to school. Because I had no money. I had to hustle to have money so that I could save it. I sold peanuts, cassava and banana chips, sweet, salty and cheese sticks. Every day. But the money was still not enough to pay for school, to buy uniforms and to pay for the bus. So I decided...mainly to buy my uniforms one by one.
And one day I met... Chike. He was my favorite customer. My favorite customer, because he always bought 4 packs of each product. One day he came to me and asked me : "But girl, why are you always crying... why are you always alone under this tree, and always crying, why?"
The moment he asked me...my smile disappeared.