THE MAIDSERVANT

She was easy to spot. You could tell she was the odd one when you compare her to the other members of the family she usually came to St. Francis Parish Rumokwuta with. She always seemed to be short of something. Short of good shoes, short of fine clothes, short of one earring. But somehow, you still liked the way she looked.

Last Sunday, she limped to the alter to receive the holy communion. I wondered what she had done to her leg. Or was she now also short of one leg? I stretched my neck to get a better view of her feet and she was short of heels;

The same shoe, unequal heels. 'How odd' I thought.

 She effortlessly walked with it to the alter and back like she had become used to it, as though it had been bought that way. She owned it, just like she owned the thorn clothe three weeks ago and the weird scarf, the week before that.

This Sunday was better, she had managed to tie her scarf correctly on her head while struggling between bags and coordinating two young children.

She reminded me of my primary school quantitative class work that usually started with the heading 'Pick the odd one out' and they would place several similar items and one odd one. She was the chair among tables, the bird among books, the sweet among plates.

Typical of most Nigerian families, the maidservant is usually the odd one out, like my quantitative class work. 

But this particular maid servant made oddity her own, she made you want to be the chair, the bird, the sweet. She owned her difference with so much confidence. 

Yes, CONFIDENCE was what she had in spades. Confidence makes an 'Eke-Awka' market clothe look like it had been custom made by Oscar de la Renta. Confidence made the maidservant's tacky heels look like the newest Christian Louboutin collection.

Have some confidence!

Eke-Awka Market- A popular local market found in Awka, Anambra State (Eastern part of Nigeria).