Chapter Six

Esther walked inside the kitchen and wailed. Leaning forward and propping her elbows on the worktop, she cried her eyes out. Her suffering had just begun. One wonders how long she would be able to withstand the cruelty of her kindred. Conceivably only time will unveil this. Jina drums the door in anguish and as she does, her daughter keeps a deaf ear as she reels with great fury. "Leave me alone, mom. I don't want to talk to you." She gasped in tears and slumped on her bed.

"Melisa dear, open the door, please, I beg of you. Will you now turn your back on your mother?" Jina begged her daughter but it was useless. "Does the foolish girl want to turn everyone against me? No, it won't happen." She talked to herself and anger clutched at her heart. In her opinion, Esther was the route cause of all the troubles and misunderstandings. "It has not been a day since she came to my house and the whole mansion is full of hullabaloo! I can't stand her. She won't ruin my life. I won't give her the pleasure…" She grumbles in fury. Her eyes were filled with hate.

"Esther!" She wriggles her bottom and stomps heavily as she walks towards the kitchen as if she would shake the ground on which she treads.

Esther could distinctly hear the loud sound of her footsteps and her heart thumped in her mouth as if soon it would jump out. Her body shook terribly and she felt helpless. "Mother, where are you?" She flung her arms around nervously and clasped the rosary that hung on her neck and muttered a short distorted prayer. "She will kill me if I don't hide." She said as her lips trembled. Jina ranted her name over and over again as she neared the kitchen,

"Esther, where are you, you leech? You want to break my family apart, eh! Ha-ha-ha, you will never succeed." She brays a burst of scornful laughter and heads on ranting as if she was deranged.

Esther wandered her scalded eyes around. The kitchen was an open space and there was visibly no place to hide. She paces about ill at ease and could feel her pants wet. "Think of something, Esther, think!" She gallops to the kitchen window and leans out of it gauging its depth from the ground. Jumping out of the window would be a suicide attempt. "No, I have always wanted to be a..." Jina roared again. Esther hopped behind the door and rapidly drew back in nervousness. Jina pounced at her unawares as though she were a hawk and slashed her as if she was killing a snake. All the pleading and crying didn't amount to anything. Such were the agonies of the helpless. Suddenly Jina's face turned red and her eyes narrowed. Her nostrils flared up and her face scorched in indescribable fur. All of a sudden, she was monstrous, She quickly grabbed a knife from the rack and raised it. "Let me see if you will be able to corrupt my kids again." Esther gasped and screamed, "Auntie..." the sound echoed in the mansion. Out of the blue, Mercy roots solidly in front of her mother. She was fearless and she spoke with confidence. "You will have to kill me first, mom. Let me see you do it." She looked at her with spite.

****

Jina had decided to read a romantic novel as she waited for her husband's return. Despite the commotion in the mansion earlier. She was now calm. She turned on the music loudly and seemed to derive her pleasure in the noisy environment though it was at night.

"Careful," Mercy whispered to her sister who was carrying a plate of food.

"Mom might hear us."

"I am being extra careful. With that loud music, she can't hear anything outside her room." They tiptoed to Esther's room which was a neighbouring room to the kitchen.

Esther crouched on the floor in front of the bed in sadness. Jina would have made her a punching bag if her daughters hadn't intervened with her.

Mellisa knocks Quietly as she whispers her name.

"Esther, open the door." She said in a low tone. Esther didn't stir. Her mind was too absorbed in her misery to listen to them.

"She won't open." Inferred Mercy

"She has to. She can't sleep on an empty stomach." They were stuck. Their endeavours were not successful. Jina's behaviour towards Esther was upsetting. Her hatred towards her grew every passing minute.

"Why does she hate me so much? I have just been here half a night and a day, but she loathes me as if I were excrement or a devil!" She gasped in tears and climbed the bed.

"Wait here and be vigilant. On no account should you let mom see you?" Mercy said, sounding the warning with much clarity.

" Ok, but be quick. We don't have time."

Mercy nodded in affirmation and quietly climbed upstairs to spy on her mother. Carefully, she peered through the keyhole and noticed that Jina was too engrossed in her present ecstasy.

Mellisa knocked on Esther's door repeatedly but there was no response.

"Mum is still distracted." Knock loudly.

Esther was aroused by the loud hammering on the door. Her heart palpitated in tension.

"Has she come to give me more whippings? If she continues like this, I won't live long." She thought and her heart twisted.

She got up and headed for the door. In great fear, she turns on the latch with a trembling hand. Her heart thumped violently as if it would rip out of her chest. Quickly, she hid behind the door. Her hair stood stiff and her eyes dilated with fear as the door slowly opened.

The girls shuttled stealthily, wandering their eyes in the room.

"Where's she? Do you think she has escaped?"

"I wouldn't know either."

"I am here." She gasped and gulped the clogged tears down her throat.

Mercy held her hand and settled her on her bed. They stared at her pitifully and soon their eyes were teary. They both were feeling wretched at their mom's disquieting character towards the poor girl.

"Now don't cry. Eat your food. Don't worry. Mum won't come down soon."

Esther stared at them in turn and was hesitant to hold the plate.

"She might find out. I don't want to disobey her. She might disgrace me again."

"And I guess you don't want to die of hunger either?"

She shook her head and ate the food. She was tense. Anyone in her position would have choked, but she didn't.

The horrible events that occurred earlier seemed like a bad dream; a bad dream whose horrors she would have to experience for a long time until the uncertain future. Although she tried to push its memories to the back of her mind, it was hard to anticipate a better future after that. "I wish I could see my mom and pa. Their embrace would feel me with a new lease of strength." She thought and reflected on the happy times back at home. The funny jokes, the legendary stories that her mother always narrated to her before sleep time and her father's humorous tests. All these, she missed and a lot more that weighed more than all the luxuries in the world. However, she realised that they too weren't enough because they couldn't help put food at the table. This she would have to withstand to prepare for a better-unseen future.

"Essie, you are misplacing the hand!" Melissa said and chuckled.

"The food is on the plate, not on the floor."

Esther jerked. She hadn't realised that she was wiggling her hand rooting for food instead of eating from the plate placed in front of her. "Sorry, I didn't realise…" She gave a mournful smile and resumed eating trying to hide her embarrassment.

"It shall be well sis. I will not allow mum to despise you even if I have to rebel against her." Mercy thought and sadness crept over her heart.

Melissa, seeing that Esther was now finding it hard to swallow the remaining morsels, snuggled to her and patted her shoulder dabbing it simultaneously and remarked, "Eat up dear. We need food for energy. One day you will no longer be sad. You will be treated like a queen and not a slave. Just remember that we love you so much."

"Yeah," Mercy joined in, "Queen Esther" They both giggled. Esther smiles lightly as she begins to draw the image. They had managed to pacify her and she was lost in that ecstasy for some time