Lianater was impressed when Boma resumed at exactly 6:30 a.m the next morning. She bade her children farewell and made them promise to behave before leaving for work. Ike drove out minutes later. He was happy because his wife would no longer be too stressed up each day. The situation had greatly affected their sex life. Now, he was going to enjoy the wife of his youth as much as he wanted. Hopefully, the new help wouldn’t misbehave.
Boma was happy that his new boss bathed the children and got them dressed up before his arrival. All he needed to do was feed them, take Ify to the day care center within the estate and make sure that the twins and Ada were ready by the time their school bus arrived.
“What do you think about toast and chocolate tea?” he helped the children to sit on the high stools placed by the kitchen counter.
“Yummy!” the twins yelled and rubbed their tummies.
“Toast! Toast! Toast!” Ada screamed, joined in by her sister who was mumbling something incoherent.
He raised a hand, “Fine, fine. Toast it is.”
The new help found the toaster and everything he needed to make the sandwich. He made the chocolate tea first, served the children, before proceeding to make the toast bread. But for some weird reason, the machine refused to turn on. He checked the plug, the wiring, then opened the toaster. The bread slices were slightly warm. He frowned, closed the lid and switched it one again. This time around, it came on. He sighed in relief, but moments later, sparks flew!
“Fireworks!” the twins screamed in excitement.
“Colourful sparks!” Ada clapped her hands, while her younger sister watched in awe.
The confused young man acted quickly. He looked around for something made of wood and dry. He found the spatula and used it to disconnect the toaster plug from the socket. The sparks disappeared but smoke began to emit from the machine. His heart sank. This was his first day at work! What happened to the toaster? What did he do wrong? Maybe the last persont hat used it didn’t connect it properly. He wasn’t a novice. He had operator dozens of toasters in the past. But this particular one decided to humiliate him. What was he going to do now?
He feigned a smile and turned to the children. “Let’s give the toasting machine a break. It needs rest.”
The children stared back at him, smiling sheepishly.
He wished the children were not in the kitchen when the incident happened. They would surely tell their parents about it. What will Mrs. Briggs do? She might remove the cost of the toaster from his salary. Heavens no! He made a mental note to call one of his friends later in the day. The guy was a wizard when it came to electrical appliances. He could fix anything.
“I can also make toast with a fry pan, your sandwich will be ready in no time,” he mimicked a funny voice, in order to distract the children.
Once he was done, he served them and fed Ify, while the rest ate by themselves.
“Please don’t spill your beverage,” he eyed the twins. The way they were playing with their half-filled mugs, puddles of chocolate tea was spreading all over counter. It would be disastrous if it got on their school uniforms.
The twins giggled and whispered to themselves.
Unexpectedly, the honk of the children’s school bus rent the air. “Phew! It is time!”
“The school bus is here,” Nonso jumped down from the high stool, followed by his brother.
“Pick up your school bags and head out, I will bring your lunch packs.”
Ada climbed down from the stool and ran after her brothers.
“Give me a moment baby girl,” Boma winked at Ify. He hurriedly placed each child’s food warmer into their lunch bags.
The honk of the bus echoed through the walls.
“We are coming!” the help yelled and ran out with the lunch bags. He found the twins and Ada running in circles outside the house. “Hey! Get inside the bus!”
The children obeyed and ran towards the opened gate.
“These are their lunch bags,” he placed the bags on the empty seat by the door.
The bus driver gave him a stern look.
Boma eyed him and stepped away from the vehicle. He remained at the gate until the bus was out of site. “Three children gone, one more to go,” he backed into the compound and headed into the house.
The security guard shut the gate and returned to his seat.
It took him about fifteen minutes to finish up feeding Ify. He packed her lunch box and carried her out of the house. “Girl, you are heavy,” he made his way to the day care center and met other parents at the center’s gate.
“Ifunanya Briggs,” a woman waved at him.
Boma weaved his way through the crowd. “Here is her lunch box.”
The woman collected the child, along with her school bag and lunch box. “Please don’t be late. Once we close, come and pick her up.”
“Roger that, ma’am,” he tried to smile and exited. He started to think of everything he needed to get done that day. It was of upmost importance that he made a first good impression on that day. Nothing else must go wrong.
Xxxxxx
The ringing of his phone woke him up. Boma took a look at his wrist-watch and he cursed under his breath. It was already past one. How long has he been sleeping? He took a nap after breakfast and here he was, four hours later! He cursed again and got to his feet. He went into the kitchen, cleaned up the place then proceeded to other rooms in the house.
The school bus returned at exactly two o’clock. Boma was barely done with the chores. He cursed again and ran outside. The security guard locked the gate the moment the children raced into the compound. The new help called one of the women he met at the day care center that morning and begged her to bring Ify over.
Once the children were indoors, he instructed them to take their bags to their rooms, while the help carried their lunch bags to the kitchen. Just as he was about making lunch, the doorbell rang. Boma wiped his wet hands with a napkin and headed out.
The doorbell rang again and again.
“Coming!” the new help yelled. He got to the door in three long steps and yanked it open. He sighed in relief when he saw Ify in the guard’s arms.
“One of the day care center staff brought her,” the Security guard handed the girl over.
“Great, thank you,” Boma collected her bags, used his leg to shut the door and headed up the stairs, to the room the todder shared with her sister.
He found Ada still in her uniform, jumping on the large bed.
“Madam, it is time to take your bath,” he eyed the girl.
Ada continued jumping. “What’s for lunch?”
Boma shrugged. He had the intention of stuffing the children with food, so they wouldn’t bother him for the rest of the day.
“Can I get pizza?” Ada moved closer to the new help.
“No, pizza,” he pointed towards the bathroom. “Get in there, now!”
“Fine, fine…” Ada climbed down from the bed.
Boma looked heavenwards. Fifteen minutes later, he ushered the girls down the stairway. “Wait for me in the kitchen, let me check on your brothers.”
The girls ran down the stairs, laughing and screaming for no just reason.
The new help placed both hands on his head the second he stepped into the twins’ room. The boys were lying on their beds, thankfully bathed and clothed, but, there were heaps of clothes at every corner of the room, toys scattered here and there and a mini pond flowing from the bathroom to only-God-knows-where. His day was turning into a nightmare per hour.
“You two! Get to the kitchen.”
The boys raised their heads and looked at him.
“It’s lunch time.”
“Hurrah!” they chorused, jumped down from the bed and ran out.
Boma took another look at the room, shook his head and shut the door. Maybe once he was done feeding the children, he will clean their rooms.
Back in the kitchen, he brought out everythign he needed to set up lunch. “What do you think of Semovita and Melon soup?” he looked from one child to the other.
“Yummy!” the children shouted.
“Beautiful…” Boma opened the microwave and placed a plate of soup inside. But the machine refused to come on. His brows creased in a frown. He flipped the switch again, but this time around, sparks flew. “What the hell?!” he jumped backwards.
“Fireworks!” the children yelled.
Boma watched in shock as smoke rose from the microwave. What was happeneing? He quickly brought out the plate of soup. “Let’s give the microwave time to rest,” he feigned a smile at the children. “I will use the gas cooker to warm the soup.”
The children ignored him and continued to watch the fading smoke coming out of the microwave.
The new help made the lunch quickly and served the children. His thoughts were centered around the toaster and the microwave. Those were two electronic appliances that refused to work that day. What was he going to do?
While the other children ate by themselves, he fed little Ify.
“Can we watch some TV programs once we are done?” Dozie asked.
Boma nodded. “As long as you three will share the remote without any arguments and fights.”
“Roger that,”Nonso saluted the new help.
“I am done!” Ada jumped down from the stool and ran out.
Her brothers watched her in surprise.
“The last person to finish his food is a rotten egg,” Nonso grinned and started to eat very fast.
Dozie swallowed the rest of his food and headed out. “You are the rotten egg!”
“No way!” Nonso emptied his plate and ran after his brother.
“I don’t want any noise or infighting!” Boma screamed after them.
About thirty minutes later, the new help loaded the washing machine under the stairway with dirty clothes. But, the moment he turned it on, it began to make weird noises. Soon, soapy foams flowed out of the machine and covered the whole area with water bubbles.
Boma switched off the machine and ran out of the house.
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