“Look at you, pathetic.”
This was enough to make Lisa turn from the window, and stare at the little girl who’d said it.
“What?”
Shella, shook her shiny brown curls and slurped on her frosty Kool-Aid.
“Sheila said you complained about housekeepers at school, saying ‘why would anyone be a maid, it looks like a job practically made for getting embarrassed. Sheila’s my older sister-”
“I know who Sheila is,” Lisha said, her voice becoming unsteady as her eyes watered.
Lisha had grown up in the burbs. Her parents were nearly always home since they owned their own business. At her private school, she had a group of friends and many of her friends' families had domestic workers taking care of the homes.
Lisha hated running into them and wondered why couldn’t people clean their own homes, like Lisha and her mother did? Lisha’s mother used to joke that Lisha got a knack of being neat from her Mom.
Then her father learned that he had cancer and the whole house crumbled. Lisha’s mother would break down and cry at random intervals. Every time Lisha’s father coughed, she would cringe. They sold a lot of business locations in an effort to help pay for her father’s treatment, and even then they had to slim up even more.
Then Lisha’s mother died.
Crying while driving on the highway, Lisha’s mother ended up in a crash and just like that, she was gone.
Lisha’s whole world was dark. It was bad for her, but she knew this had to be a million times worse for her sick father.
She found herself sticking around him much more, as her aunty had said, she was the lighthouse in a storm for her father.
Giving up her college dreams, Lisha had to do something. She found she had no talents at all but a knack for keeping things neat.
And so, because her father couldn’t work and a lot of the store chains were closed, Lisha found herself being a maid for the Wooder family, at one of her old school friends’ house.
“Since you’re a maid now, Lisha, do ya still think maids are pathe-”
“No! No, Shella, I don’t,” Lisha’s lip trembled and her eyes were glazy.
She tried, and thought so hard, against crying, but as soon as she blinked, the tears fell down.
She crashed to the ground, her apron spotted with tears. “I misf my Mum! I misf my Mum!” Lisha balled out.
This made Shella leap up from her seat and run out of the room.
She soon came back with her parents, who hovered around Lisha trying hard to understand what had happened.
Lisha told them about her mother’s death, her father’s illness, how her life seemed to be falling apart.
They sat her at the table with a slice of carrot cake. They told her they knew of a club that might help Lisha: The Guild of Elite Maids.
“Excuse me if I sound rude, but, I don’t understand how going to a Maid group is going to help me,” Lisha wiped her tears on a napkin cloth.
“Many of those maids have been through a lot and may have been in a similar situation as you. I really think they can help,” Mr. Wooder replied. “Besides, lots of those maids work in the neighborhood. They might already know you.”
Yeah, but for the wrong reasons, Lisha thought as she sniffled.
The Wooder family’s previous maid, Mrs. Campell, had been in the guild, and they gave her a call and told her about Lisha.
Their former maid remembered Lisha, and was glad to give her the details of where
The Guild met up.
It was 7:00 p.m., and Lisha parked at the inside gym just as people were spilling out.
She followed the sounds of soft voices and laughter to the middle of the yoga room, where a few ladies sat on yoga mats in a circle. Some were so old all their hair was gray and their faces slouched. Others wore stomach shirts and make-up. Rows of dim yellow lights hung from the ceiling and the blinds were pulled shut.
Lisha wasn’t surprised she recognized a lot of the faces who were there.
Lisha put up a shaky hand. “Hi, I…I was invited by Mrs. Campell-”
“We know who invited you. Come have a seat.” Mrs. Brown, a maid Lisha remembered well, patted the wood floor beside her.
Lisha sat between a girl her age and a maid notorious for yelling at children throughout her childhood.
“Hello Lisha,” a woman with big square glasses clapped her hands together. “Since you’re new here, tell us a bit about yourself, and how you got into housekeeping in the first place!”
“Well, my name is Lisha, but I think most of you know that,” Lisha began.
“We do!” Mrs. Brown smiled. “I remember all those days you’d come to get Samantha so you two could play outside, and you’d barely wave at me. You’d talk about how you don’t understand why people would want my job!”
Yeah!” Anther maid chimed in. “Ounce she said, ‘I thought cleaning lady jobs ended in the 1600’s!”
All ladies giggled, and Lisha stared into the ridges of the green yoga mat she was sitting on.
“It’s okay honey, you were young,” Mrs. Brown said between giggles. “Kids will say anything.”
That made Lisha feel slightly better, but she still hadn’t told them how she got to housekeeping yet.
As she told them she sunk in tears again, and she received many pats on the back.
Other women shared sad stories of their own, and Lisha was shocked to hear a lot of them.
Then the ladies began to share the secrets they’d learned from working inside people’s homes, and Lisha found herself gasping, laughing, and leaning in closer, at the edge of her mat to hear what happened next.
After that they practiced yoga, and as they stretched and took deep, relaxing breaths, Lisha felt grounded enough to sort out her problems and feelings. It was the highlight of her week.
By the end of the meet, Lisha was smiling and couldn’t wait for the next meet.
Her days became easier, as she had something to look forward to every week from The Guild. It could be anything from evening walks to sharing secrets to her favorite activity, the yoga sessions.
Lisha also kept a bright mood around her father. So much so that it rubbed off on him, he was always humming and talking about the joys of the day, even as he continued through his treatment.
Lisha delved deep into yoga, where she practiced more and more complex structures until the guild couldn’t keep up with her, so she practiced alone at home too.
The years went by, Lisha met a nice guy who shared her interests, her father survived his cancer, and her maid job wasn’t nearly as dreadful as it used to be.
One night Mrs. Brown brought her granddaughter to the gym, since she was supposed to be watching her. She sucked a lollipopp and played with her toy ponies while the guild gossiped.
“Ladies, I have an announcement,” Lisha put both her hands on the table. “I’m retiring from house-keeping.”
All the women gasped and went into a grumble of chatter. “Already?” “You’re so young!”
“Yeah, I know, but things have changed. Dad’s better and he can manage the hardware store we still have by himself. Riky and I are moving in together, and I think I found my passion: Yoga! I’m going to open my own yoga class at that gazebo at the park!” Lisha’s cheeks were plump with joy.
“What!? Who would wanna work as a yoga lady? Just stretching all day?” Said the girl who barely looked up from her ponies.
The ladies all turned back to Lisha.
Lisha surprised everyone with how loud she laughed.
My latest novel, Shook, is being published to Hive in parts! See all released chapters in this post.
Hey there! I’m Shila! I’ve loved books since I could read, and decided I would write books I wanted to see written for others! Check my children’s book Imagination on Amazon!
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