Part 4 Claire
Learns How to Clean a KitchenClaire
hobbled down the stairs into the main part of the house looking for the
kitchen.She could hear some noise
coming off to her left and walked toward the sound.Thankfully, it appeared that she had found the
right place.A middle-aged woman,
dressed in a similar manner to Claire was busy scrubbing the floor.As Claire walked in the woman looked up and
smiled softly.Perhaps things were
beginning to look up.The woman said
something to Claire in Thai, which she did not understand.Claire replied, "I am sorry but I do not
understand."The older maid
repeated herself again, but Claire could do nothing but stare at her.Finally, angry at the lack of response from
Claire, the maid stood up and pushed Claire to the ground.She pointed at the rag and shouted at Claire.It became very obvious that Claire was being
instructed to scrub the floor.While
this was not an ideal situation, it could be worse.Obediently she grabbed the rag and dipped it
into the water before using it to wash the floor.The water felt warm, but was really only air
temperature.Hot water was a luxury in
the country even for a family as wealthy as Mei's.It would certainly not be wasted on something
as simple as scrubbing the kitchen floor.The
older maid watched her as she worked diligently on the floor.Her look went from a soft smile to a frown as
she mopped the floor.Claire did not see
this change as her focus remained on the hard floor.Suddenly, out of nowhere, the woman began
shouting at her.It was impossible to
understand what she was saying as Claire knew very little Thai.The maid seemed to get more and more angry.Finally with little warning she backhanded
Claire across the face.The blow sent
Claire tumbling to the ground.She could
taste the warm salty hint of blood in her mouth as she realized that the maid's
blow had cut her lip.Not sure what to
do, she went back to scrubbing the floor, working faster than before.This seemed to placate the woman and she moved
away from Claire.Claire was working
feverishly on the floor.It was still
only morning, but the temperature in the kitchen felt like it was almost 90
degrees.She was hot, thirsty and
exhausted, yet at the same time, she was terrified to stop.Her formidable taskmaster was not that far
away washing pots and pans.The work was
grueling.The floor was hard stone,
which caused her knees to ache after only a few minutes.Surely this was just a test.No one in this day would scrub a floor by
hand when mops were so easy to come by.Eventually
the pain became more of a blur as Claire's mind tried to zone out what was
happening.She became lost in her work
and her mind cleared as she focused on the floor.About an hour later, she realized that she
had finished the job.For the first time
since the ordeal began, she got the courage to look up at the other maid in the
room.The woman was smiling and seemed
genuinely pleased.Apparently, Claire
was a fast learner.She was relieved by
the smile and breathed a long sign of relief.The
relief did not last long as the older maid motioned for Claire to
approach.Claire quickly realized how
much pain her body was in as she tried to rise.Her knees nearly buckled beneath her as she stumbled forward.The other woman was waiting with a rag for
her as she approached.There were still
dozens of pots and pans left to be cleaned.Without a word, Claire took the rag and began scrubbing the pots and
pans.The older maid looked on for a few
minutes, seemed satisfied and then walked out of the room.For the first time since the early
morning, Claire was alone.Although she
was exhausted and out of breath, she managed to think back on the last few
days.So much had changed.In just two days she was expected back at school,
but that seemed less and less likely as she worked on the dingy pans.The soap was abrasive against her skin.She felt like she was rubbing her own skin
off as she carefully washed each pan.A
tear rolled down her cheek.How long was
this nightmare going to last...
