CHAPTER 4.

Amelia could not believe what she had encountered at Mr Edwards office. She couldn't believe that it was really him or someone else.

She had heard about him for a very long time, since when she was young. Her father used to say good things about him.

She knew his wife too and their two children, though the two were no longer children and they now worked in the big city. Mrs Edwards was a lovely woman who used to visit Amelia's mother every so often especially when she was ailing. She would come with some gifts which ranged from groceries and some times money.

Mr Edwards was a friend to Amelia's father and most times they spent a lot of time together. When he was not working he would pay regular visits to the big house and he would remain there for long hours.

In light of this Amelia thought she would get a fair hearing when she went to the office to ask for the favour. The man she found there was not the man she knew, or thought she knew. He was an animal.

Even the dust on her parent's graves had not settled and their purported friend was preparing to take advantage of her. She regretted having paid him a visit.

Now she sat under a tree, just a few meters from the company's offices, trying to come to terms with what she'd witnessed. Her heart was so heavy such that however much she wished to cry she couldn't, and tears refused to flow. Her grandma had been right, there was little help she could get from Mr Edwards. Now that she had rejected his advances he might hasten his threat of eviction, she thought.

She walked to the house and sure enough there was a man outside, talking to her grandma. When they saw her coming they stopped talking and looked at her, as if counting her every step. She made as if to go past them into the house but her grandma stopped her.

“Wait a minute Amelia, this is Mr Jackson. His family has been allocated this house by the company and he's come to find out when he can come in." She said. The man, in his prime, cleared his throat.

“I would like to move in tomorrow because I won't be around town from the day after, and my wife can't do it in my absence. We got the allocation three days ago and we thought it wise to give you a few more days." He said in a deep voice.

Amelia wasn't shocked, she expected this. What she didn't understand was why Mr Edwards gave away the house on the exact day when her parents died. Also, she wondered whether submitting to him would have altered the allocation. The animal only wanted to take advantage of her vulnerability.

“Don't worry Mr Jackson, we will move first thing tomorrow morning." She said.

“And pray tell, where will you be moving to?" Her grandma asked.

Mr Jackson looked uneasy, but still there was something he needed to say before going away.

“And please, don't take away the furniture with you. As you know, it belongs to the company." He finally managed to say, then moved away sheepishly.

The two ladies watched as he walked away and after a few steps he looked back, and they all locked eyes before he finally hastened around a corner and disappeared.

“You haven't told me where you are moving to." Grandma broke the silence. “But first, tell me about the visit to the office."

Since the day her parents died she had maintained her strength, she had stood up to the challenges and promised herself not to show any kind of weakness, but her grandma's question had weakened her knees, she was wobbly, and wordless. She grabbed the old woman and firmly wrapped her hands around her, then burst out in loud sobs.

“Why, why!" She kept on asking.

Her grandma patted her back and assured her that everything was going to be fine.

Later they sat in the sitting room silently. A glass of water was before Amelia. She had fed the baby and he was back to his sleep.

“You are going to move in with me. Prepare yourself, we'll fit in well in my house. It's not big, but it will be enough for us all." Grandma said. “Mr Edwards may look like a good man, but I know deep inside that he's just like the rest of them. A pest."

“Thanks grandma, I don't know what we would have done without you." Amelia said.

“Listen, and listen carefully. I'm an old woman, I can't work to fend for you and your brothers. But you can. You will have to put a halt on your studies now, or better still wait for some time before joining college. This family needs a breadwinner and you are the only one who can do it." Her grandma said, looking her straight in the eye.

She wondered where to start, having been assured by her father that she will never go out to work before she was ready. Now that remained just that, an assurance.

“Something else Amelia, there are a lot of people, big business people, who can easily employ you in this town, but there may be a problem. Did you in any way do something to infuriate Mr Edwards? He's a very powerful man in this town and I hear he's running for mayor. If you cross his path he may sabotage your chances of getting a job." She was getting her scared now. But what she'd done in the office was nothing more but standing for what she believed in. There was no way she was going to let her body be mutilated by a man older than her father.

Her mother had told her on several occasions to preserve herself for the man who will eventually marry her, not dishing it out for fun or to satisfy teenage urges.

In school she was the laughing stock of other girls, teasing her with their escapades, narrating to her the sweetness she was missing out on, but her mother had prepared her adequately for this.

“I did nothing wrong that may warrant his ire. I only pleaded with him not to throw us out." She answered.

“Well, if that's the case you will get a job, he will give good appraisals, considering that he was your father's employer." Grandma said.

And right then a shiver of fear and doubt went up Amelia's spine.