After Georgia and the professor had left the table, Mary appeared from behind them.
“I am proud of you, Malee. Nobody could imagine you would graduate, and definitely not with a top 3 prize.” smiled Mary. In her head, she sighed. If only her son could be more hardworking. She raised the glass from her hand and touched the one Malee was holding and then emptied it in guilt. With her busy with the twins and her husband taking care of the garden, both of them had left John to take care of himself since young. It was pure luck that he wasn’t into gangs or drugs. Only after Malee had joined the servants, she could allocate more time for him.
Malee, in contrast, was able to take care of herself without much guidance, it seemed. She helped with the chores and could take care of the school works as well. If not for that fact that she was born into a drunk man from the slums, she would be someone appearing in the news. She seemed more capable than George himself, Mary thought. Georgia was an exception to all, so no comparison.
“I didn’t see you or Georgia from the stage.” asked Malee.
“No. As you can see on that wall, the trustee or the head of the donation is George, not Georgia.” replied Mary.
“Aren’t they twin?” asked Malee who was perplexed by the division in the family.
“Yes. But the George is a boy.” smiled Mary. She understood the pain from Georgia and why she didn’t attend the local university. Although she was the more intelligent of the two, George would always be preferred just because he was born a boy. George, however, unlike his sister, wanted none of the limelights pointed at him. Hence, the tragic irony of the twins. Mary left Malee along to follow Georgia around the crowded tables and groups.
Malee walked around the party with the glass in her hand and a smile on her face for photo sessions with the rest till she was tired of it and accidently bumped into George at the corner.
“Are you with master and the rest?” asked Malee. She wondered what was the VVIP doing at the corner by himself, alone, deep in the thought.
“No. I am wondering if I did the right thing.” answered George.
“You have done all rights.” assured Malee, not knowing what was it that George was talking about. George turned around to look into her eyes and whispered , “You are the top student.” Then he left Malee standing still, stunned by the news. So that was why she had never seen the top student before. They gave him the prize because of his family and not because he was the top student. That also explained why the top student was given the prize by the master and not the dean himself. It was just a play to get them in the news. No papers will publish Malee, a lowly servant girl from the slum who made it to the top of the cohort.
Malee wanted to cry after realizing the facts. All her late nights studies meant nothing at all in the grand scheme of things. She wiped her eyes away and slipped away from the party outside the University. She could hear voices from other students about her being a top two students, which made her more upset and quickened her steps to escape from the charade.
“Malee.” shouted a familiar voice from behind. Malee turned around to find a group of students that she was very familiar with. A few of her friends from the slums had made it all the way to the university and seemed they too graduated. Malee waved back and soon she was walking with them towards the coffee shop near her house, their usual meeting place.
“Why were you out from the party so early?” asked one of them.
“I just wanted to get away from there.” replied Malee. “What about you guys?”
“Oh, we can’t even approach the place. VIPs only.” replied another with disgust, remembering the words from the security guards at the entrance to the party. Malee nodded. If not because she was working for the twins, she doubted they would allow her to enter the party too, even if she was the top student.