After walking through several narrow streets and avoiding dog poo on the uneven road, Malee eventually reached her hut in front of the dumpsite. It was barely standing in the wind and dust as if she had left that morning. Puddles from the morning heavy downpour were still visible on the road and, as Malee had guessed, in the hut, remanents of leaks from its straw roof.
Malee couldn’t find her father on the bed as usual, probably out to his friends with drinking and gambling from whatever Malee could earn for the day. It was a world away from the house. Even the toilet in the servants’ kitchen was much more livable than that, she thought.
“Who are you and what are you doing there?,” a man shouted from far. Malee recognised her father’s voice even though the man was so drunk he could barely stand. Malee ran towards him in excitement.
“Oh, it’s you. Where did you stole the dress from?,” asked her father after recognising Malee under the street lamp.
“Pa, I lost and cart but I received some money..,” said Malee with her hands holding the cash. She was too excited to start from the beginning and made the mistake of showing her father the money she had in the pocket. Her father’s eyes widened at the sight of the notes and his hands slapped Malee’s, causing Malee to let go of the notes. Her father caught them in the mid air by her father and without saying another word, he dragged his feet back into the darkness. Malee realised her mistake was that she should have known what would happen and yet still did it. It was as well she had transferred some notes into the other pocket, or else she would have to spend the night with nothing to eat like many other nights in her life.
Malee went over to the entrance to the street which had a few of her mates selling food and had a cup of noodle. It was, Malee was sure of it, nothing like the tea that she had with George, but she realised that she enjoyed it much more than the drink. After the dinner and conversations with her friends, she went back to the hut for the night.
She couldn’t remember at what time her father returned from his outing, but when she was up in the early morning, her father was still asleep with his head slumped and feet stretched on the floor like a lifeless body. Malee sat up and looked at her father for a few minutes, then got up to find some old clothing by the old wine cabinet at the back, which they were using to store all their belongings, and covered the feet. She knew he would have beaten her up for the cart if he wasn’t so drunk as the previous night, but he was still her father.
Malee quietly left for the house as soon as she had completed washing her face by the community water pump. It was actually a fire hydrant, but should there be a fire in her neighbourhood; she doubted anyone would come to rescue them. The sun was barely out on the horizon and the streets were still empty when she arrived back at the gate.
There were two guards by the gate and they denied Malee entry till Mary had to come to the gate herself. Mary took a quick look at Malee and brought her to the servant’s quarter for a bath. Malee was too smelly, she said, which Malee wouldn’t argue since she knew it was true. She had a good bath, and Mary gave her new set of clothes for the day. Then Mary brought her into the kitchen for help with preparing the breakfast for the family.
Malee joined the other servants, two older ladies, in the kitchen. They were preparing traditional breakfast meals and western dishes. Malee started by preparing the flour for the bread, but Mary asked her to prepare the fried potato instead. She couldn’t believe so much work and effort went into preparing the breakfast for the family, but she was also told that whatever remained would be for them. Once done, Malee and the rest of the servants brought the dishes into a large room behind the main lobby with the view of the Olympic-sized pool. The rest of the servants stood by the corner with Malee while Mary went up to fetch the mistress and the young master.