Agaat - Marlene van Niekerk [59]
Plaited onions
Took out potatoes
Weeded the vegetable garden
Took pumpkins down from stable-roof
Loaded cabbage & pumpkin in the trailer for market
At 5 o’clock she told me her hand was tired. Had seen it coming but I was ready for her: Nay what I said lots of work will make that hand of yours strong soon you won’t even know about it. Got a cup of coffee into her & pushed through till 6 o’clock & then said go and make a fire now we’re going to have a nice braai you can clean yourself afterwards you’re just going to be standing around in the smoke now anyway.
12 o’clock
Over-tired. Over-exerted myself can’t get myself to bed. Still nauseous shouldn’t have eaten that meat must be more careful. Hope A. has gone to rest she’ll just have to get accustomed in hr own time. Was fed at the kitchen table everything that we had for supper she’ll never have to fret about that fresh sheep’s liver in caul fat & chops & bread & baked beans & tomatoes. Didn’t want to put her mouth to the food do you think I want to poison you? I asked but the chin stayed on the chest.
Waited till she’d finished washing dishes then I said come see here in the back is a surprise for you.
Pity about the hinge not fixed yet so there the lower door scuffed garrrr over the linoleum. Showed hr nicely you just pick it up slightly & I switched on the light in there & the room looked a bit barer than I’d thought the bulb cast a dark spot on the linoleum & the bed looked too high (remember to find another apple box tomorrow to put in front of the bed).
So this is now your room A. I said, yours alone for your convenience it’s for your own good you’re a big girl now, aren’t you. And I opened the little curtain taterata-a-a! and showed the black uniform dresses. That’s all you’ll wear six days a week then you can save your house clothes I said & I showed they all had nice extra long right sleeves as she likes it & I showed I had specially sewn on broad white cuffs for her.
Explained about the aprons one for every day of the week. See that they’re always clean & stiffly starched & ironed. Showed hr where all the cleaning materials & ironing board & the irons are & the borax & the turpentine for the starch & the blue for the whitening. Underlined I don’t ever want to see stains & creases on hr uniform when she’s working in the house & demonstrated how she must take turns heating the little irons on the electric plate but not red-hot so that they scorch the ironing & how she should iron the aprons under a damp ironing-cloth. The caps were the most difficult. I said I know you don’t like things on your head but you’ll just have to like it or lump it. Asked her nicely she must put on a clean one every day & pin it up nicely. Do you understand? I asked because she was just standing there & staring in front of her. I thought I’d show her how to put on the cap & I said I don’t want to see a strand of hair.
It’s nothing to be ashamed of or scared. It’s as it should be. You’ll be my special help here on Grootmoedersdrift I said. My right hand in your case my left hand & I pinned the cap in place & she held her neck stock-still. The little face actually looked quite small under the white band. I wanted hr to look in the mirror but the mirror was too high & and I was afraid it would crack further if I took it down so I said look into my eyes how do you look to yourself?—like a smart Dutch house but she looked right through me and didn’t look for her reflection.
Close your eyes I said because then I really felt quite queasy but she kept on looking at me like that so then I pressed 5 pounds into her hand. It’s more than the other servants together earn in a month I said & that will be your daily wage & if all goes well I’ll increase it every six months a penny