It is the year of the great flood and Amara's heart is drowning in a sea of its own.
Amara has just graduated from one of the biggest Tier-1 institutions in her country, but what saddens and breaks her heart is that she's been looking for a job for quite some time now with no luck in sight just yet.
She is a young and humble woman who lives with her mother and sister, Agatha and Jane. They help their mom with work at a local farm owned by a white family.
"Amara, my dear, you need not worry about your job hunting. You will find one", her mother spoke out. It is one of the usual mornings when they head to the farm early.
"Yes, Mother, but it has been months now, and not even a single letter has come back with good news" Amara said, sobbing on her bed while her sister was lying asleep beside her.
Her mother walked closer to the bed and enclosed her with a hug to stop her from crying. "Don't waste your tears, my child, your time will come. But now we're running very late, please wake up your sister and get ready. We're leaving in 15 minutes".
Amara's mother spoke as she was leaving the room in a rush to go check the soft porridge she'd left on the stove minutes ago.
Amara was in her deep thoughts and busy on her phone checking for any updates or interviews she might have received from the companies she had applied to when she heard a loud bang coming from the kitchen. And that shook her back to her senses, and her mother's last words, when she was leaving the room, hit her.
Her mother was hurriedly trying to dish up the porridge she had made when the lid of the pot fell to the ground and made a loud sound.
She responded promptly to her senses and jumped from her bed to wake up her sister. All of that happened quickly because she knew her mother did not like to repeat herself.
She was shaking her sister to wake her. "I'm woke, I'm woke, geez, Amara, so early in the morning!" Jane shouted, as she just wanted to go back to sleep.
"Mother is expecting us to finish getting ready in 10 minutes now" Amara responded. Her sister jumped from the bed the same way Amara did and they went into the shower. A few minutes later, they were done with everything and went into the kitchen to eat.
"I was about to come to get you two out of there, Mr. Thompson will not be happy with us coming to work this late; I've been waiting for you two way too long!" their mother spoke loudly and angrily.
"Uhm hmm sorry Mother," they both mumbled, scared to say a thing. They knew they had made her angry.
Agatha took her seat, and they started eating in silence. When they were done, they headed out, making their way to the farm that was a bit far from where they lived.
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At the farm
They arrived an hour late for work. When they got to the gate, Mr. Thompson and his son, Frank, were already on the other side of the gate, waiting for them.
"Good morning, Mr. Thompson, good morning to you too, Sir Frank how are you this morning" Amara pointed out to avoid and break the silence.
Mr. Thompson's face reflected how he felt. He has put on this angry and disgusted face; he. was also growling of resentment.
"Is this the time to show up for work Mrs. Johnstons? Dus nou is jy jou eie baas? Jy kom werk wanneer jy wil?" Mr. Thompson shouted out.
This translates to "... so now you are your own boss? You show up to work anytime you want?"
Frank was amused and had a face that showed that he enjoyed watching what had just happened.
Amara's mother was frightened and kept quiet to avoid any further ruthless words from Mr. Thompson.
She knew that when Mr. Thompson started to speak Afrikaans, he was really angry and was not to be messed with; hence, she kept quiet.
"Oh, so now you have nothing to say, so you keep quiet to look innocent !?" Mr. Thompson pointed out again. Causing Amara's mother to take a few steps back, "I'm so sor…" Amara's mother gasped out.
Then she was interrupted when Amara tried to step in politely. "Mr. Thompson we are truly sorry it's not Mother's fault it's ours we took time to get ready". Amara spoke looking down
Her heart was pounding so fast, she was scared that she'd find herself matched with a slap from Mr. Thompson's palm.
Mr. Thompson never said a thing to respond, that shows how angry he was. "Frank unlock the gate" he ordered Frank.
Frank opened the gate.
"If you find yourselves late again, you will never live to tell the tale to your useless upcoming generations," Mr. Thompson said as they were both heading back inside the house.
Amara's mother was never late for work, none of them were.
Mr. Thompson is one of the most ruthless and heartless men one would ever meet, and he never liked Amara's family, he just wanted to servant them as much as he possibly could.
"Mother today will not be a good day at work I can feel it" Amara's sister who was quiet and scared all this time said quietly.
They all went inside and started to work right away. Amara's mother was the maid and Amara, and her sister were there to assist Mrs. Thompson at the farm field.
But Mrs. Thompson was already out that morning, to go buy some food for the farm livestock. She is heartedly sweet, but she is badly influenced by her husband and son towards Amara's family.
Mr. Thompson's son would always forcibly ask for Amara's sister in private. What always shook Amara about this was the fact that her sister always comes back to finish her work late, she'd take hours alone with Frank. And she'd come back with her eyes watery and sobbing, looking like someone who was crying for a while, but she doesn't mention a thing to her mother or sister.
Amara's mother worked for the Thompson family for as long as she could remember.
In the past, she had a conversation with Mr. Thompson, that any evil doings will not ever be suppressed on her generational line.
But will Mr. Thompson keep his end of the bargain, or was he just making the agreement to keep Amara's mother, quiet? And as a result, no lawsuit shall follow him.
Frank did call for Amara's sister, as per usual. But when Amara noticed that "Jane, can you come to help me feed the livestock, now..." she said.
Jane was confused as to where to answer first, she looked at both of them in perplexity.
Amara called out again, "I cannot do all this work alone, can you hurry?" Jane moved towards Amara's direction as Frank went back inside the house.
Amara asked Jane what it was that Mr. Thompson's son always called her for in private. As she was about to answer in fear, Amara's phone made a notification sound causing Amara to check it immediately.
It was one of the companies she had applied to, sending a rejection letter.
That made a way out of the question for Jane.
Amara's spirit was down all day from then.
Few hours later
It was time to knock off and head home.
Amara's family finished off their last chores for the day and went on their way kneecap the way home, they came across a few local males who showed interest in Amara.
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