I was reading Dee Cee’s post about the servant girl who got a womb wash and it made my mind travel back to roughly eight years back. The girl I am talking about too is a servant girl working at my aunts since I can remember. She was landed on their door step when she was five by her mother who could not feed her and has been there I believe now for at least 40 years. To call her dumb would be to desecrate that word.
Well anyway she is clueless about the birds and the bees it seems and I doubt my aunt would have thought of teaching her about sex since there was no real opportunity for her to dabble in it. This is a double edged statement. Firstly because she was not really anything to look at and secondly she was always in the company of my aunt and if there were no people she would wait with the doors locked. But then what the human man cannot conceive circumstances does. Well before I go down the road of this story a long time back this girl had run away with a laborer working in the office next door. It seems that he had used her and abandoned her and she was found walking about aimlessly by the police somewhere in Pettah a couple of hours later. In this case my aunt was wise enough to get a medical test done and found out that she was pregnant. Of course a womb wash was done and the problem was solved. Please note that these people are strong Christians who are against abortion when it suits them.
They say lightening does not strike twice and this incident was another reason why that my aunt thought this kind of situation would not raise its ugly head again ever.
Well she was wrong.
Many years later the girl started complaining of sickness and not feeling well. Her ankles had swollen. And she was vomiting regularly. Many trips to the doctor ensued. Many medicines were consumed but nothing could relieve her condition. The third trip to the doctor which was about two months down the line the doctor finally asked her if her periods were regular and she said that she had not had them for a couple of months. This sparked off a thought in the docs mind and amazingly everyone realized that the poor girl was pregnant again! Well the question which was going through everyone’s mind was HOW? She denied complete ignorance or any knowledge of what had taken place.
Slowly but surely it was revealed that it was a man who used to come to the house to carry out minor repairs and clean up stuff. He was quite older than her and no one thought that there would be any nefarious activities between these two. So my aunt has been going out leaving the girl alone at home and since this guy was a known party had allowed him to come and work in the house in her absence. Guess he really made use of his welcome. He he Pun intended.
Sadly this time it was too late for a womb wash.
I wonder if it is right to use the word sad? Actually let me rephrase.
Luckily this time it was too late for a womb wash. So the baby had to be delivered. This created a major set of problems which could be summarized in one line. What would the neighbors say???
So a plan was engineered. When this girl started showing her tummy she was sent away to the salvation army. Where she was put up in a room and guess decently looked after. And whilst she was there another lady who was looking to adopt a child came across this girl. Now this lady was barren and was having enormous pressure from her in-laws about not producing grand children for them to pamper and molly coddle. Well guess as luck would have it supply met demand and a deal was made. Yes the baby would be given to this lady. Of course there was no fee involved but this unleashed another whole chain of activity.
Firstly the lady announced to the world she was pregnant and started walking about with a pillow wrapped around her tummy. Secondly as the baby became due the servant girl was whisked away to a nursing home in Kandy where the baby was born. But all the paper work was done as if the mother was the Lady thereby leaving no evidence of this sordid deal. Well from what I hear it was a beautiful baby boy.
During the time this baby was born my second daughter was born too. I found it ironic. Two kids were conceived. One brought great happiness and hope and joy and everyone could not wait to bring her home. The other brought stress, duress and deceit and people could not wait to get rid of it.
The servant girl had to stay at our place for a couple of days after the birth to make sure all her signs of pregnancy disappear and she could make a respectable comeback to the neighborhood. This was the same time our new born was brought home. So there were two mothers but one baby under one roof. And every time our daughter cried in hunger the servant girls breasts too used to leak with milk. What a shame.
Anyway the story has a happy ending I guess. There is one blissful couple who are enjoying the joys of parenthood. The child is happy and doing well. I really wonder what the real mother was feeling. But she has resigned herself to her fate and now she is back to cooking and sweeping the house and cleaning pots happy that her child is enjoying a future and a lifestyle which she could not ever dream of providing for him. And my aunt is happy because the neighbors never got wind of any of the goings on and are blissfully ignorant about the whole episode.
1 comment:
That was a sad situation. :( Sexuality should be discussed and open so people know what to do.
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