Kate Udoh spent the rest of the day pretending not to be bored out of her skull. Imoh Itah tried his best to be pleasant company, showing her around the house and even giving her a quick rundown of how the entire place was run.
As long as the house had existed, there had always been a full set of household staff, numbering over fifteen, not inclusive of the security men. Their job was to keep the house and it surroundings spotless, provide every comfort to the inhabitants and their guests, while at the same time making themselves as invisible as possible. Imoh introduced Kate to some of the staff, outlining their various skill sets; cooking, laundry, cleaning and gardening.
Kate was a bit embarrassed that Imoh repeatedly introduced her as ‘The long lost daughter!’ with a flourish. His dramatics were beginning to get on her nerves especially since she had begun to sense a bit of sarcasm in his tone. The men and women of the household staff were unfailingly polite to Kate, examining her curiously before they scurried away in their black and white uniforms. It was obvious that they were run under a tight ship, all due to the efforts of the young lady that had welcomed Kate to the house.
She was surprised to discover that Idara was a graduate and also currently running a Masters program in the nearby University of Uyo.
“This job is an honest way to make ends meet. Things got a bit hard for my mother recently, and she’s raising me alone.” Idara admitted. Kate felt a twinge of empathy. She could relate to the girl’s position, having never known her own father and then losing her stepfather in his prime. As an entrepreneur, she approved of the girl’s industriousness and felt a new respect for the young lady standing before her, chin raised proudly. “I’ve been here for almost two years and have yet to receive any major complaints.”
“Yeah, Idara’s a real soldier. Takes her job seriously and can never let anyone be caught slacking on her watch.” Imoh enthused, then winked. “Pretty too, very easy on the eyes.”
Idara’s responding smile was a bit tight around the edges, and Kate noticed, wondering if the girl found Imoh’s flirting as discomfiting as she did. “Thank you for the compliment, sir.”
Imoh rolled his eyes. “How many times do I have to tell you to stop calling me ‘Sir’? if you won’t call me boo, call me Imoh. Every time I come back home, you make me feel like an old man.”
“Your mother would not like me to do that…”
“Oh, please!” Imoh cut in, annoyance flickering in his eyes. “Must we always do whatever she wants? Who died and made her Queen?”
Kate could see Idara had decided to keep her own response to herself. Of course the young house manager could not afford to annoy her employer. What was Imoh thinking?
“Our father.” A female voice cut into the conversation. “Forgotten so soon, dear brother? She runs everything now, since Dad inconvenienced her by dropping dead of a heart attack.”
They all turned to see the slim and tall owner of the voice sashaying towards them. No one needed to tell Kate that the young lady had come from the loins of Mrs Clementine Itah. The resemblance was stunning. Her fair skin glowed in the places where her skin-tight shorts and bright yellow crop top failed to cover; from a distance she looked almost Caucasian. Kate’s eyes ran down legs that seemed to go on forever. She immediately felt stodgy and plain compared to the stunning beauty that was approaching them.
Idara flashed a smile that seemed tinged with sympathy at Kate and quickly walked off. It was evident she was trying to avoid talking to the young lady approaching them and that piqued Kate’s interest.
The girl reached them and flipped her long weave to one side, twirling a set of car keys on her fingertips as she stared at Kate insolently. She smacked loudly on a wad of chewing gum in her mouth, blew a pink bubble and made it pop before letting a small smile curve her lips. “Is this her? I was almost about to ask why one of the staff was wearing jeans.” she added dismissively. The girl’s words were also faintly accented, making it evident that, like Imoh, she had probably lived outside the country for a while.
Kate felt a trickle of irritation run through her. From quick calculation she knew she was probably older than the young lady and Imoh as well. The girl could be no older than twenty and her rudeness had already rubbed Kate the wrong way. She could now guess why Idara had chosen to avoid her employer’s daughter.
Imoh grinned. “Kate, meet the older of my two sisters. This is Mmenyene…”
“Please, Imoh. Stop.” The girl cut in, rolling her eyes.
Imoh laughed. “She prefers to be called Mimi. I guess Mmenyene is too much for your foreign schoolmates and teachers to handle.”
Kate raised her brows, surprised at the coincidence in the fact that the pretty girl used the same name as her 6-year old sibling in Lagos. The shortened names were where the similarities ended, however, as the rest of their conversation would show Kate.
“That’s amazing. My little sister is also called Mimi, although her full name is Miriam. It’s a pleasure to meet you. Mmenyene is a really pretty name. “Kate said politely, choosing to ignore the girl’s rudeness.
Imoh’s sister rolled her eyes again. “Puhleeze. Who needs such a mouthful? I don’t need to stress my friends out that way.”
“well, I don’t know about that.” Kate countered. “If we Africans take pains to pronounce names like Schwarzenegger, Dostoevsky, Miyasaki and the likes, why not make them pronounce yours as well?”
Mimi raised a brow, but Kate held their shared stare until the other girl rolled her eyes.
“Well, whatever. Kate, right?” Mimi sneered, and examined Kate from head to toe. “Welcome anyway. I’ll try not to mix you up with the staff, but do try to wear brighter things, alright? Those clothes are sooooo dreary.”
She moved off before Kate could recover from the rude comment, pausing to roll her eyes at her brother. “You look just as boring in that dark green shirt, Imoh. Please, stop falling my hand.”
Kate struggled to keep her composure as Imoh quipped after his sister. “If you roll your eyes any more often, they may fall out of your pretty head one day.” Mimi made a rude gesture with her middle finger, not turning around as she walked off towards the car park, her small behind swaying seductively in her tight shorts, heels tapping. Imoh scoffed and turned to Kate. “Ignore her. she’s spoilt, irreverent and rebellious, but has her good side.”
Kate swallowed a retort. She had seen nothing about the girl to speak positively of, and her mood was totally ruined. it was the first sign of true antagonism she had experienced since her arrival in Akwa-Ibom; she only hoped it was the last. A part of her felt envy that both Itah children seemed to have been educated abroad, while she had been relegated to sweating through the Nigerian education system. But another part of her was just relieved she was not as spoiled as Mimi.
She only hoped if she turned out to be due some of her late father’s money, she would never become as cold or glib as Mrs Clementine Itah and her daughter were.
Maybe fate had ensured that she had been raised poor for a reason.
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To be continued tomorrow.....