Chapter 4

I put clean panties on, a pair of loose shorts and a t-shirt. I went down to join Kisi in the kitchen. She has prepared a light lunch. I’m not hungry but she went to all that trouble so I slowly nibbled and ate as much as I could. She kept asking me what else she could get me and what she could do for me. I finally just smiled and said, “What I’d like you to do is calm down, sit down and relax for a while. You aren’t responsible for any of the bad things which have and will in the future happen to me and my family. Quite the opposite. You’re so sweet and so adorable that you make things better just by being here. I have quickly become very fond of you. I feel better just having you around. So relax. Okay?”

After I finished as much of my lunch as I was able to I spent half an hour going over the pamphlet which came with Vicky’s birth control pills. It’s all standard information but I haven’t been on the pill since before I got married.

Before we got married Todd and I had talked about our plans extensively. We were both anxious to have a baby as soon as possible. Actually, we planned on having two or maybe even three kids but the complications from my first pregnancy made that impossible. We had some regrets, of course. But Vicky turned out to be our dream child. We couldn’t have asked for a more perfect baby. There has never been a time when she was a problem. She never once disappointed us. Quite the opposite. She has always made us so proud. It’s breaking my heart that through no fault of our own we have brought her to this.

I’m going to need to get interested in a hobby or join a club or something. I have absolutely nothing to do until Vicky comes home from school. I’m still upset about my unexpected guest and I don’t feel like reading. I don’t care for daytime television. I ended up putting my bikini on and swimming laps in our pool. I did that for half an hour but then I still had nothing to do for almost two hours so I got dressed and went for a walk around the compound ... well, not all the way around the compound. This place is larger than we realized.

I had walked a couple of blocks when my phone rang. It’s a call from Mr. Boateng. My entire body tensed up but I knew I had to answer it. When I did I was surprised when he sounded pleasant and said he was pleased with the report he got from my visitor. I didn’t know what to say to that. His visitor is an asshole. I guess I’ll be having sex with a lot of assholes for the next few years. After an uncomfortably long silence I finally replied, “I don’t know what to say to that. I did what I had to do.”

“Yes, you did. I want you to know I appreciate it. I know you couldn’t care less but you saved me a large amount of money this morning. I want you to know I’m grateful.”

I’m certainly not going to say you’re welcome. Instead, I just said, “Yes, sir.”

During my walk I finally stopped concentrating on looking at houses and yards and looking for people. I started looking around and what I began to see was very disturbing. I began to see small cameras everywhere. They seem to be attached to every pole I pass! Then I noticed that near every camera there are several small cone shaped devices which I’ve never seen before but I strongly suspect are listening devices. The entire fucking compound is bugged! Boateng must be the most paranoid son of a bitch in the world! He must employ an army of people to monitor all those cameras and listening devices!

I had hoped that as I walked I might run into someone outside of their house and start up a conversation. Hopefully I might get a better idea of what life here is really like. Apparently, the only way to have an honest conversation with anyone from the compound is to meet them outside of the compound. Boateng has built a very nice prison here. But it’s still a prison.

I wasn’t paying any attention to the time so it was pure coincidence that on my way back from my walk around the compound I was passing the school just as the kids were streaming out and heading home. I waited for Vicky to come out. She came out walking with two girls who are about her age. They were talking and not paying any attention until Vicky almost ran into me. She introduced me to her two new friends. We talked for a few minutes and then Vicky and I headed for our house. I refuse to call it home. It’s a fancy jail cell.

I asked Vicky about her day. She shrugged and said that except that she’s now in a classroom with first and second graders it was just like a normal day in school. The teacher spends most of her time with the younger kids but she monitors the older kids pretty closely, too. I asked if there are any boys her age. She grinned and replied, “There are four who are close enough to my age that we hang around together. There are a couple more who are close to our age but they’re probably Freshman. There are a couple more boys, I think they’re in the third and fourth grades. But the majority of the students are girls. It’s almost an all-girl school. Do you think that’s just a coincidence? It looks like if I’m going to have a love life I’m going to have to become a lesbian but I can’t see that happening.”

I didn’t bring up the fact that unfortunately, though she may not have a love life she’s definitely going to have a sex life. She asked about my day. I spent a few minutes thinking about what to say but before I could come up with a response she said, “I guess you had company.”

I nodded and said, “Yeah. I’ll tell you about it when your dad gets home. I don’t want to have to tell that story twice.”

She reached over, held my hand and said, “You’re really catching hell. I’m sorry.”

“It’s going to get worse, baby. For both of us. The asshole who came to visit this morning went on and on about how much he’s looking forward to coming back when you’re home. And of course, Mr. Boateng made it clear to me when they had me at the city jail that you and I are two major factors they considered when they hired your dad.”

She shrugged and said, “We already know it’s going to happen. It’s happening to girls much younger than me.”

“You don’t talk about it do you?”

“No. Just the occasional whisper when some poor kid had a particularly bad time of it the night before. When a girl comes to school walking funny we all know it wasn’t from horseback riding. Have you noticed all the cameras and microphones in this place? The people dad works for must be the most paranoid assholes in the damn world.”

That’s almost word for word what I thought when I noticed all the cameras and microphones. I squeezed her hand and nodded in response.

When we got back to the house we sat at the kitchen table and had a cold drink. Kisi has just started getting ready to make dinner. I asked her if there’s anything I can do to help. She smiled and said, “We already had this talk, Lexi. Are you trying to get me fired. I’m nervous enough about using your first name.”

“If anyone has a problem with it just tell them I ordered you to do it.”

Vicky went up to her room to do her homework.

I sat at the kitchen table. From time-to-time Kisi and I spoke but for the most part I just sat there bored out of my mind for half an hour until I couldn’t take it anymore. I went into the family room and turned on the television. We turned it on once the day we arrived just to see what there is to see. Much to our surprise we get almost all the same stations we received on our cable service back in Norwood, except for our local stations, of course. That’s nice ... I guess. But we don’t watch a lot of television. Or at least we didn’t back home. Now I’m desperate, though. So, I started surfing. I managed to catch the last forty-five minutes of one of my favorite movies. By the time that was over I had only another hour to wait until Todd gets home. It’s going to be a long damn three years! I wonder if I can talk Kisi into going into town with me tomorrow. That could kill a few hours and I’m very curious.

I turned the television off and spent half an hour thinking about how I’m going to explain what happened to me this morning to Todd and Vicky. I have to tell both of them. Vicky needs to know because it has been made more than clear to me that she is going to be used the way they’ve already begun to use me, and Todd because he’s going to be forced to witness Mr. Boateng and his friends using both of us.

What a fucking mess!! I don’t know how we’re going to survive three years of this.

I went back to the kitchen to see how Kisi is doing. Dinner is almost ready so ignoring the look on her face I set the table. Todd came into the room, said hi to Kisi, kissed me and said, “Give me ten minutes to change clothes. I’ll be right back.”

“Take your time. Tell Vicky to come down. Supper’s ready.”

Kisi put our dinner on the table and we sat down to wait for Todd and Vicky. While we were waiting I said, “After we eat I’m going to tell them what happened this morning. If that makes you uncomfortable you can leave the room.”

A couple of minutes passed before I asked about something that’s been bothering me. “Kisi, you probably don’t know any more about this than we do, but there’s something I’ve been worrying about. Do you think they’re going to leave you alone? It would break my heart if they started doing these things to you. You’re so young and you’ve already had such a hard life. I already feel guilty because I can’t protect my daughter. It will be so much worse if they start molesting you, too. Has anyone said anything to you? Have you heard any rumors?”

“No, I haven’t heard anything. But the only other housekeepers I’ve met are the girls who were in training with me. Abam brought me here directly from the school just a day before you arrived. I’m still settling in, too. I haven’t met any of the women who have been doing this for a while. And no one has ever said anything about it. I didn’t know it would be happening to you or your daughter either. I’ve been thinking about the same thing since that evil man burst in here this morning. I came to the conclusion that there are two possibilities. Either they only want to do those things to white women or I can expect at some point to be treated just as badly as they’re treating you and Vicky.

“Please don’t concern yourself with me If that happens. I’ve been lucky so far, but rape is not uncommon in our country. I’m sure if it happens I’ll survive.”

After a thoughtful pause I said, “I hope it doesn’t. You’re so young and you’re such a nice girl. But I suppose we need to see about getting you on some form of birth control just in case.”

She smiled and reminded me that because of an infection she had when she was younger she can’t get pregnant.

Oh yeah. I forgot.

Todd and Vicky entered the room and joined us at the table. Todd poured two glasses of wine and we enjoyed another of Kisi’s great meals. It was another quiet meal. Todd’s work is of interest to no one but him and he knows it, thankfully. I’m waiting until after we eat to say the only things I have to say.

I sent Todd and Vicky into the family room after Vicky, Kisi and I cleaned the kitchen, ignoring Kisi’s pleas to let her do her job. I asked Kisi if she wants to join us.

After a long pause she said, “If you won’t be more embarrassed if I’m there I’d like to join you. I don’t want to hear what you’re going to say. But after our conversation ... I can’t stop thinking it can happen to me. I think I should be prepared. What do you think?”

“That’s my fear, too, Kisi. I feel guilty, like it’s our fault you’re in danger. I worry about you.”

She smiled and said, “It can’t possibly be your fault, Lexi. I was in training for nearly a year before I came here. Mr. Boateng never met you or your family, never even heard of you until my training was nearly complete. Nothing that happens here is your fault or your husband’s fault. It’s all Mr. Boateng’s fault.”