The Wife ESCAPED!

Caro worked fast but carefully. She wrote neatly and solved smartly. As far as she was concerned, the questions were easy. Simultaneous equations had never posed a problem for her before. She had taken to the topic like a duck takes to water and had been the authority on it during her time in school.

Trisha watched with a calm but curious expression on her face as she saw Caro go steadily about her business. She really had not known anyone to be this calm, sure and quick when it came to math, but the end would tell the whole story. And she knew that at this rate, the end would not be far off. But she was stunned, when few seconds later, Caro announced that she was done.

“A… are you sure? Did you crosscheck everything?”

“Yes, ma.”

“Trisha,” she quickly corrected, eliciting a smile from Andrews.

“Can I have it now?”, he asked, reaching for the notebook and Caro let him take it. He threw on his glasses once again and scrutinized her work as he reached into his pocket for a red pen. But just as he finished uncovering the pen, he slowly covered it back and returned it to his pocket.

Oh dear, Trisha thought. Carol had probably failed everything! But the horse soon spoke from its own mouth.

“Ah,” Andrews sighed, shaking his head. “Nothing to mark here. She finished everything perfectly.”

“Really?”, Trisha almost shrieked in disbelief peeping at the notebook in his hands. “She really got everything right?”

“See for yourself,” Andrews said, handing the book over to her.

“Oh, don’t bother. I know nothing about math. But she solved all the problems correctly?”

“She did. Every single one of them.”

“Wow. You really are a genius, Carol.”

“Thank you,” Caro beamed shyly.

“The exams are over, aren’t they?”, Trisha asked of Andrews.

“No, no. But they’ll soon be.”

“Then you’ll resume school the very day the next session begins. I wish I could make you get into the next class by then… but no worries. I’ll make make sure you write your final exams in SS2. I’m so proud of you, Carol. Go have fun!”

“Thank you, ma. Thank you, sir,” Caro curtsied to both of them, not minding Trisha’s mock anger, and promptly darted up the stairs.

**

The day after the math test was a Saturday and Caro was looking forward to a free weekend. Since she neither worked nor attended school, everyday was a weekend for her, but not so for other members of the house, especially the boys.

She always looked forward to the weekends when she would be able to play with them, teach them new things, help them with their housework and be the umpire during their rough-housing moments. All these in the absence of their mother. The boys would be angels in her presence, which was the one flaw Caro noticed in her benefactor.

She was a staunch advocate for letting kids play to their satisfaction, perhaps that was one of the few good things she could attribute to her parents. Because they had let her play with total abandon, she had learned more about the world than anyone could teach her.

From age 10, she had learnt how to manage her own affairs and that of her siblings without any intervention from her parents. For as long as she could remember, she had been able to get into and out of fights, deceive and avoid getting deceived, and stand up for what she wanted. Her environment had made her strong and she knew her place in the world. It wasn’t just to be where life wanted her to be, but where she wanted herself to be.

“Carol,” Trisha called as she knocked on the closed door.

“Ma!”, Caro promptly answered, jumping off her bed and rushing to the door. She opened it and found a frowning Trisa staring at her. Then she remembered.

“Trisha,” she contritely corrected herself.

Trisha sighed in exasperation. “Look, I’m going somewhere and I’d like you to accompany me.”

“Okay. Let me go and change.”

“No, no,” she stopped her, “you’re fine the way you are. Fash… Oh well, let’s keep the cat in the bag for now. So… yeah, let’s go.”

And she led the way with Caro following behind.

Trisha’s goings-out were normally long in duration and Caro would have loved to remain at home to rough-house with the boys, but this was her first opportunity to leave the compound since she first came into it. And also, there was that cat that was hiding in the bag. What on earth could it be?

“So, I take it you’re enjoying those novels I bought for you?”, Trisha asked as they sat in the car on their way to where only she knew.

“Very much, ma… Trisha.”

“I’ve learned to ignore you. Anyway, I knew you’d like them. I guess I’d have to buy one each time I go out.”

“I would love that, m…”, Caro said, clasping her hands in earnestness.

In response, Trisha only smiled and nodded, keeping her eyes on the road ahead.

It took over two hours to get to their destination which was not so far away. Difficult traffic hold-ups was their biggest problem, but Trisha took as much shortcuts as she could get away with, which surprised Caro since she saw her host as someone who was a stickler to rules and good behavior.

When they finally arrived at their destination: a large business-like building that emitted certain sounds that were a little familiar, she was eager to get in and see what was going on inside, but still she allowed Trisha to precede her.

“Immaculata, where are ye hiding?”, Trisha called as she stepped in just at the same time Caro discovered that it was a cloth-making shop.

She quickly surveyed her surroundings, taking in all the sounds and sights of the machinery and young men and women who were hard at work making various types and colors of wears.

“There you are!”, a tall dark woman shouted as she made her way down the aisle toward Trisha who was inspecting a baby cap one of the young women was working on. “It seems you’re on time as usual.”

“Traffic, my dear,” Trisha sighed.

“Always traffic.”

“Yes. And it’s true. Ask her. By the way, this is Carolina… the girl.”

“Oh! The girl, huh?”, Immaculate asked, eyeing Caro with a critical eye.

“Good Morning, ma,” Caro greeted, managing not to curtsy.

“Good Morning, my dear. How do you do?”

“Very fine, ma. And you?”

Immaculate’s eyebrows shot up in surprise before she replied, “I’m good. Thanks for asking. So… what’s your experience with fashion and…”

“Why would you ask such a question?”, Trisha interrupted. “Or rather, why ask it in my presence?”

“I’m sorry, ma’am. I humbly seek Your Ladyship’s forgiveness,” Immaculate said, raising both hands in mock surrender.

“So what do you think, Carol? Like what you see?”, Trisha questioned, turning to her ward.

“Yes. Very much. Thank you,” Caro answered in a low tone, clearly trying hard to suppress her glee.

“Then it’s a deal, right?”

“Sure is,” Immaculate concurred.

“She’ll come sometime later, perhaps on Monday, to answer your twenty questions.”

“Good. Hopefully, she won’t adopt the traffic excuse template from you,” she shot back.

“Whatever. Come on, Carol. Let’s head home before afternoon traffic sets in. See you later, Lata.”

“Sure thing. Here Carol, have this one. Fits you nicely,” she said as she fitted a face cap on Caro’s head.

“Oh thank you, Ma. I’m very grateful,” Caro beamed.

“It’s okay. Go catch your Auntie before she zooms off now.”

With one last word of thanks and a promise to be back, Caro clutched her new gift with both hands as she ran to Trisha’s jeep. Only when she had stopped running did she realize how stupid she must have looked holding her head like a madwoman as she ran.

After she had climbed into the front passenger seat, she looked toward the building and found Immaculate smiling at them. Maybe she had found the head-holding funny. But Caro could not fault herself that much. It was her first ever face cap after all.