THE MAID Part 6
I almost jumped in fear. Ekanem afar off. Then I looked down, it was one of
the victims. The hand was bloody and the face was disfigured. But I could tell
from the clothes that she is a female. I squatted as I looked closely at her.
‘Help me, please’, she said. She was groaning in pain. I paused on my tracks. Reality swirled around me.
I was shocked to my bones. 'Fate is cruel.' I thought. 'To bring my tormentor at my feet.' I may not recognize her face, but I most definitely cannot forget her
voice, Aunty Egondu’s voice, that hoarse voice that tormented me for years,
the voice that haunted my dreams. That voice that unleashed cruelty on me.
The stripes of her cane are still on my skin. They were the badge I will
forever wear, the agony that I had survived.
I looked at her. Anger boiled in me like a volcano threatening to erupt.
The same way fear gripped me, years back, when I was shaking like a leaf,
helpless in the wind. The horror I had endured roamed my mind like a
hundred demons that had broken free from jail. I tried to scream but no word
came out.
‘Water, biko ‘, Aunty Egondu pleaded. I was jolted back to reality. I stared
at her, her jaw was torn open. Her head is cracked open. A metal scrap was
dangling from her ribs. She was bleeding from her ears. Broken pieces of glass were
trapped to her skin like beads on a necklace. Whatever anger I felt dissolved like an ice. I grabbed her
gently, placing her head on my laps. She drifted in and out of consciousness..
‘Sweetheart!’ I screamed at my husband, my eyes roaming through the crowd.
Ekanem saw me and ran in my direction. We didn’t need words to
communicate. He quickly checked her pulse.
‘She will not make it’, Ekanem said. His eyes soothing. He tried to hold my
hands but I snatched it off.
‘No, she will make… She cannot die. Sweetheart, do something!’ I screamed.
Fear gripped me. I began to say prayers in urgency. God must surely grant
her mercy.
Ekanem grabbed Aunty Egondu from my arms. We ran to the car. I swung the
door open. The kids quickly shifted to the far end. I entered and gently
laid her on my laps.
We rushed to the hospital. Our car was drenched in blood. My yellow dress
was soaked too. I stood vigil at the hospital as I waited while Ekanem and the
doctors worked on her. I prayed. I cried. I suddenly realized the futility of my rage in the threat of death.I did not
hate my aunty anymore. I wanted her alive. I wanted to tell her that I had forgiven
her. I needed to heal the wound in our minds, I realized.
It was a 2-week battle before Egondu was brought out of the intensive care. I
walked into her room, She was straddled on oxygen and pipes. She looked
helpless. I held her hand. She was fragile. Too fragile! I looked up at her. Her eyes were open.
She was staring at me. Her eyes were unreadable.
‘Aunty’, I said, my voice held that same fearful treble. I was the maid again.
‘Nnedi thank you! I heard your prayers, I saw tears. I don’t deserve your
mercy but…,’
I quickly held her mouth. She was quivering. Her eyes were misty.
‘Today is not for agony, Aunty, ‘ I said. ‘Today is for celebration of life.’
My Aunty did not talk again. Her eyes spoke for her. Pain, regret and agony
flowed from her being. She held my hand in a strong grasp.
‘I am sorry. I am so sorry’, she sobbed.
I gently folded her in a bear hug. Tears flowed from my eyes. For the first
time in a long while, I felt whole. I felt free.