TAMAR - Episode 3

“You can’t do this to me, this is not fair mother… I thought you loved me, no mother. I can’t accept this… I can’t…”

“We want the best for you princess. You know we love you, right?”

“Then, this is not the right way to prove it, this is not just fair!!! You say you want the best for me but you are giving me the worst, she doesn’t even have any hair on her head. Zain, my friend has beautiful maids attending to her. They are Tivi girls with long hair and round waists. Her father makes sure he buys beautiful slaves for her, she boasts of her personal maids to me and I have told her that mine will be far more beautiful than hers. Now, she will laugh at me when she sees this, she will mock me if she sees the kind of slave that my parents have given to me. I don’t care what you say but I just do not want her. I don’t…” She began to sob.

As we went inside that day, Abel had asked me to wait till tomorrow before going to meet the Lord and Lady of the house. He took me to the out-house, a big house within the compound built for all the slaves. I stayed in one room with two other girls, who never said a word to me because Abel had asked them not to bother me. They were big and beautiful and could be mistaken for royalty with the way they acted and dressed. I was given cloths to wear and good food to eat, and I slept all through the night.

Abel later came to fetch me when it was time to present me to the master. I cleaned up and dressed in the cloth I was given, and wrapped my head up. Abel had told me not to be afraid or worried, that even if Zity didn’t want me and her parents agreed to it, he would put me in the kitchen as one of the assistant cooks or in the garden.

Zity, the princess is very beautiful, she was far bigger than her age, maybe because her parents were very tall. Her brother, Vim was also handsome, he had his father’s stature. The house was big and beautiful, different shapes of animals and images were carved and positioned at every corner of the house, there was a water fall and a large garden, and lots of beautiful slave girls doing different things.

I watched as one brought a tray of gizzard and liver, well spiced and garnished. She brought it to Lord Reese and Lady Phin, the master and madam of the house. She knelt down and served them, while they picked from the tray of meat, and another slave brought red wine. I watched as Vim looked at the girl carrying the gizzard tray, and when she brought the tray of meat to him, she knelt down and without fear, looked fully at his face. I was told slaves were not allowed to look at their masters’ faces while serving them, but the girl did. Vim smiled and Lady Phin, who noticed what transpired quickly dismissed the maid. The maid promptly stood up and walked seductively, and Vim looked at her behind as she whined her waist. She went to Zity but she was very angry and threw the tray of meat off her hand and it all scattered all over the place.

Lady Phin spoke,
“You can be angry from now till tomorrow Zity, it’s all fine, but your father and I will not change our minds on this. I feel comfortable with this one, I don’t know where Abel got her from but she makes me feel at peace. I know I can trust her with you. Your friend, Zain may have all the beautiful maids attending to her needs but she still feels empty and sad, and with time, she will also get jealous of your maid if you treat the innocent girl well, but, it’s my choice to make sure you are in safe hands. Forget about her hair, it will grow back, and with good food, she will grow fat. Stop worrying…”

“Zity, please listen to your mother, and take her…”, the master of the house, Lord Reese spoke calmly.
He looked at me while my head remained bent. Then, he spoke to me:

“…Child, Abel said you’re fourteen, and that you’re very devoted. I trust Abel and I know whatever comes from him is good. so, if he picked you for my daughter then I have no worries. Abel has spoken greatly of you. What is your name and where do you come from? What of your parents? What god do you believe in?”

“My name is Tamar, my Lord. I lived close to the Abkhazia, across the black sea with my parents and siblings before the war broke out and they are all dead. I was captured and sold off, and was later shipped down to this place. And about the God I believe in, I serve… I ser…”

Getting to the last part I became speechless. denying my faith had seemed normal, hating God for everything I went through and the death of my parents and siblings had appear okay to me until I met Abel, and I began to feel ashamed of myself. Abel displayed God’s kind of love to me and had told me I was special and that God must have sent him to pass that road and meet the merchant who sold me to him. He said he didn’t like passing there because it was too broad but there must be a hand that guided him to pass there and he met me. He asked me not to give up on God because God had never given up on me, He had kept me for a purpose and I would find out what the purpose was, soon.
I stammered as I was about telling the master the god I served, I didn’t want to lie neither did I want to expose myself to another danger. Abel had warned me to be careful so that none would find out the kind of God I served. As I stammered, Lady Phin spoke,

“It’s fine Tarmar, it appears you don’t know the god to serve. you can choose any god here. Your master worships Jupiter, the god of strength and success, he also worships twail, the god of thunder. I worship Venus the goddess of love and protection, my children serve whatever god they like, and every slave in the house chooses a god for themselves. Feel free to choose any god, we are not gods, don’t be afraid. Abel must have told you that we’re good people, and that’s the truth. Serve us with your hard work and obedience. You are dedicated to my daughter Zity. Make sure you serve her well, don’t see us as gods. We give out one shilling to every slave here everyday, you can do whatever you like with the money. I told Abel to get me a little slave girl, within Zity’s age range and it has taken him time to do that, because I asked him not to buy just an ordinary slave girl. Beauty is all in vain, I’m not counting on that. I guess Abel prayed to his god who directed him to buy you. Be a good girl and you will always find favor before us. Serve your mistress Zity as is required of you. I know my daughter can be difficult to please but just do your job dutifully, don’t do eye service like most of the slaves here does. I feel at peace with you already, you’ve got some special thing in you Tamar, be of good behavior…”

Lady Phin spoke with compassion in her voice, while my head was bent in respect as she spoke.

The master of the house, Lord Reese stood up and left. He was being called upon to attend to an important issue. Zity cried out again,

“I said I don’t want her mother! Why will you and father team up against me? Why can’t you listen to me? I don’t want her, just take a look at her, bare head, tiny body like she has some kind of disease! Do you see her big eyes? I wonder how she makes you feel at peace with those big balls of eyes mother. She is too strange, I can’t even boast to Zain about her, she will make jest of me to everyone, I’ll rather allow other slaves to serve me instead. this is not just fair…”

She sobbed as she turned to her brother who wasn’t really paying attention. “..Vim, say something! Your friends will laugh at me if they see the kind of slave mother has given to me. everybody will find reason to mock me, try to convince mother that I don’t want this slave girl…Please…”

I watched as Vim suddenly started laughing, but suddenly stopped when his sister’s cry turned into whimper.

“Okay… It’s okay Zity, sorry that I laughed. I know you are sad, don’t be… None of my friends will dare try to mock you because of your servant girl, I will break their teeth if they try it. Zity, the slave girl is not that bad, her hair will grow back as mother said and she will add weight with time. If anyone says anything bad just tell them that she can…uhmm sing. I don’t know if she can actually sing, but just tell them she has got a good voice and that she can sing much better than all of Zain’s maids put together. I know Zain is jealous of you because you are much more prettier than her. Don’t allow her to intimidate you with all those beautiful maids of hers, intimidate her with yours instead…”

Vim turned to his mother and said “…But mother, you can as well allow Zity to make her choice. Since she has said she doesn’t want this one, then get like three beautiful slaves and let her make her choice. this slave girl looks like she won’t be able to do much work, she looks worn out and malnourished. She appears like she has been cursed by the gods. I want my sister to have good things of life, she is royalty and her personal maid should be as beautiful as the sun. Abel could have brought one of the Tivi girls, I know they can be very lazy but they are very beautiful. this slave is far from beauty, I can’t lie but she’s not appealing to the eyes…”

Lady Phin spoke up, hushing Vim to be quiet.
“You mean like Obia? Yes, I know what havs been going on between you two… Vim. I saw the way you looked at her when she came to serve the gizzard. I swear by Venus I will sell that girl off like a bag of potatoes. she acts all seductive whenever she sees you and you look at her hungrily. I have told you severally to take your pleasure outside. If the girlfriends you have are not enough, then get more and leave the household servants alone. Obia is displaying arrogance and bad attitude because you are sleeping with her…”

“Mother! That’s not true… I only admired her. I’m a man mother and I have girls dying for me outside here, I’m not always allowed to bring them home, only April is allowed here. I respect you and father’s policy, Obia is trying her best like every other maid in this house to get to me. I have not touched her, who told you that? Why will I stoop so low to have anything to do with household slaves? I have a woman, mother. If April hears this, she won’t find it funny, please. I have nothing with Obia, you can sell her if you want, that’s none of my business…” Vim said loudly in his defense.

Zity who has stopped crying said,
“Vim, i have seen Obia sneaking into your chamber at night and sneaking out too, but I have not told mother anything. I swear by the gods, I’m only saying it now because you are lying to mother. You lied of not having anything with her. Obia throws herself at you every time you are around, she acts like a harlot because you are having something with her. Don’t you know you empower her when you admire her or lie in bed with her? If she dares act disrespectfully to me any day, I will break her neck. Vim, you have a woman outside and also have one inside. I have lost count of how many women that are frolicking with you. Definitely, it’s not just April. April is beautiful and I want to be like her when I grow up but you are not satisfied with her. Her father is wealthy too and she is the only child of her parents… Do you see her personal slave girls? She has two and they are so beautiful…”

I listened in silent, still with my head bent as Vim stood up and spoke angrily to his sister.

“I’m soe glad that mother got you this kind of ugly slave girl as your personal maid, it’s your good reward for not shutting up and minding your business. What I do with my personal life is nobody’s business, and I was even trying to convince mother to get you another slave, now I see that with this one that looks like a little temple witch, you’ll learn to mind your business. Yes, keep crying, I don’t care! Mother, if you want to sell Obia, please go ahead so that I can have peace in this house, I’m going to the port to foresee things for father. I will be back after twenty nine days, I need to breath in fresh air from the sea, before I get choked from everybody meddling in my affairs.”

Vim stomped out while Zity cried and ran to her chamber. Lady Phin dismissed me.
Abel smiled on seeing me back to the out house. He reassured me that everything would be fine, and I believed him.
The next day, Zity did not ask for me. Even on the third day when her friend, Zain visited, I did not go near her as her friend, who was not as beautiful as zity, was busy boasting loudly about the beautiful maid she came along with. Her miads were even more prettier than her, but Zity never reacted to any of what Zain said. She changed the topic to something else and they ate and laughed together.

Abel put me in the kitchen as one of the assistant cooks when Zity did not send for me after five days. Another slave girl was attending to her. I was already feeling comfortable with my new job in the kitchen when I was told that Zity was asking after me. I quickly ran to her chamber.

“Where have you been since..? You are meant to serve me, now, you can not even do your job. I was told you are in the kitchen. Is that where you are supposed to be?”

“No my lady, my apologies. I was waiting for the right time for you to send for me, I’m here to serve you my lady…” I replied with my head bent in obedience.

“Good, then serve me here not in the kitchen, I’m bored. No slave has any good story for me, do you have any? I love romantic stories, and stories of handsome men fighting wars. I love to listen to those love stories, that is why I pray to Venus, the goddess of love to give me a handsome prince whom I will love so well when the time comes or when father thinks it’s time for me to start a romantic journey… So, do you have any interesting story to tell me?”

I thought of stories I could tell, I remembered all the bible stories that mother and father used to tell my sisters and I back then, so I started telling her the story of Sampson and Delilah, but I never told her it was from the Bible. Abel had been teaching me wisdom, and how to be careful with my kind of faith.

By the time I finished the story, Zity was happy and she said she was going to tell Zain that I may not have long shiny hair or fat like other slaves, but I can tell good stories.

She laughed and clapped her hands, she couldn’t wait for Zain to visit so she could tell Zain that I was a good story teller.

After that day, Zity never complained of changing me or wanting another maid again, she became comfortable with me around her. Sometimes, I would tell her stories until she slept off. I had a space in her chamber where I slept at night. I hardly left her sight except if she asked me to.

My curly black hair started growing again with time. a rare genetic trait I inherited from my mother. I was gradually adding weight. Abel looked at me one day and said, “You’re more beautiful than anyone I have ever seen, inside and out. Don’t allow anybody to tell you otherwise, God didn’t make a mistake when he created you. after God created you, he smiled and said, ‘my daughter is so perfectly made’, so believe what he says about you and not what the world says.”

Abel gave me hope everyday, he make me believe in God and myself again and my faith was gradually being restored.

I know hard days were coming, but I was not afraid anymore.
Nothing surprises me, I was where God wanted me to be.
I’m glad Abel found me.