1 year and 6 months had passed since George had left home for overseas and Malee had become used to the school life. The house had become a hotel with occasional overnight stays from the master and the mistress between their business trips. Servants spent more time on maintenance of the house and the garden to ensure that there will be no dust on the desks when the family gathered once again.
“Leaving for school?” shouted Mary.
“Yes, Ma!” replied John. Malee smiled and waved at Mary as she left for school with John. Although they did not attend the same classes in school or they were used to leaving home together. Both John and her had started the school life behind others in the respective classes but with hard work and determination, had done well for the first year to the surprise of the professor. He had expected both to take a longer time to complete the course than the rest, but it seemed as if they would finish both at the same time as their classmates.
And her classmates, that topic alone would fill over 1 volume of the textbook she was carrying to study at home. They were unlike those children that she had seen playing on the street in the rain. They were children of rich and powerful men around the country who weren’t good enough to enter the university via a traditional route. Each of them, at their young age, owned several cars and houses which they boasted non-stop, but they all stopped to listen when Malee told them she served George and Georgia. Even among the elites of the country, Malee never felt intimidated by their stories of wealth and overspending because she always felt George and Georgia standing behind her.
She learnt from the conversation with her classmates about twins and their biological mother, who was a cousin to the king, marriage to their father, son of one of the wealthiest men in the country. Their potential inheritance, an untold amount of money and more importantly, their royal titles from their mother. Not that their step-mother was poor by any measurement, but paled to her stepchildren. Wealth from their father along with royal blood from their mother meant the twins were most exclusive and in-demand of the parties and gatherings among the elites. Shaking hands with them would elevate one to the most exclusive of the clubs. One reason for the rich and the powerful to send their children to the school was that it was founded and funded by the trust held by their mother, which was passed on to George.
Every day, Malee had to ignore letters and gifts from not-so-mysterious suitors who would love to be seen with a personal servant of the twins. They worshipped on the ground that she walked! She wondered what would George say to that because she knew he was nothing like them. Georgia would take delight in the limelight and adulations, but impressed by those below her brother? Malee shook her head.
Malee opened the textbook to the page, which she folded at the corner to remind herself. She knew she had nothing to boast of or owned anything. It was a chance for her to get out from the slums into the street like the rest. She wanted to make her father proud. In her mind, she could smell the fried potatoes around her, reminding her of her tragic past. She was given a chance to redeem herself, and she was determined to do just that.
John, too, must have been influenced by her and spent more time studying than going out with his friends to the beach. He was turning out to be a fine landscape designer and had scooped several awards for his designs. The bus had arrived at the stop outside the university and half the bus alighted but only two of them walked towards the small building by the side of the entrance. The rest of their classmates would have been terrified of being seen on the bus, but not them. After all, their master, George himself, rode a bicycle to school.
“Are you ready for the mid-year exam?” asked John. He didn’t seem as confident of himself even though he had been near the top of his class for every test for the current year. Malee smiled and nodded. The memories of studying under the bright blue moon by the mountain of rubbish gave her more courage than she ever needed to pass it. She would ace it.