Mosana - Part X

EPISODE 10

IT was noisy at the docks. Noisier than when I had first landed at England. And there was a smell, I couldn’t decipher if it was foul or pleasant. I joined the throng of people moving away from the ships and walked towards where I imagined offices would be. I knocked on the first door I saw.

It hadn’t been easy in the steerage. People had to cook for themselves the ration they had been given, which meant that you had to struggle for the space and time to cook on a moving ship. Most people went without food for days until they could get to the stove again. I especially pitied the mother with a young child who was with us on the ship. I on the other hand, didn’t even bother to go there. I didn’t think I would be given a chance at all, considering. I thanked the Lord for Lily and survived on the biscuits she had given me. I rationed it out by eating a certain portion once a day. Although it left me terribly hungry, I was used to hunger. I could take it.

Those who were without bedding slept on the floor. That was even worse, especially if you hadn’t eaten all day. Needless to say, the conditions in the steerage were terrible. I survived on pure willpower. I wasn’t going to evade jail and/or certain death only to come and die in a damp smelly hole. I was going to live. So I ignored all the suffering around me and focused on planning my new life in America.

A grisly elderly man answered the first door I knocked. I couldn’t even tell if the place was an office or a brothel or an outhouse. I didn’t care anyway; I just needed information.

‘Good day, sir,’ I greeted politely. ‘I was wondering, do you happen to know any man around here by the name of Marc?’

His response came immediately. ‘Marc? Oi, sure. I know him. What do ye want?’

‘I need a job.’ I was already tired of talking to Mr. Grisly. He had a pipe in his mouth and was spitting tobacco all over my face as he talked. But I couldn’t complain just yet. I needed to know where I could find Marc.

‘Do you know where I can find him?’

‘Yea. But it’ll cost ya.’

I sighed. Of course. This was America afterall. Lily had warned me.

I rummaged in my bag and withdrew the first few coins my hands touched. He looked at it like he was going to demand for more before he snatched it from my hand.

‘Down the street, second building on your left.’ And with that, he shut his door.

It occurred to me that if Mr. Grisly was lying, I couldn’t come for my money. And that was why it pissed me off that Marc’s office wasn’t far off at all. The “street” wasn’t a long one and I soon took the turning to the left and immediately spotted the sign that read “MARC’S PLACE”. I could have found it myself. I could have asked any decent human being walking the streets and they would have pointed me to the place for free.

I pushed all thoughts of the money aside and pushed through the front door. No use crying over split milk.

The lobby of Marc’s Place was very ordinary. There were a few high-backed chairs at one corner, and a receptionist at the far end of the lobby sitting at a simple desk. Her table was bare except for a single telephone. The floor was plain concrete. There were no pictures on the walls, or any medals or that sort of thing.

The receptionist didn’t notice me till I was almost to her. She raised her head up and offered me a simple smile. Even her hair was ordinary, tied in a simple bun.

‘Hello, how can I help you?’

‘Hello. Good day. I’m looking for Marc.’

‘Okay, is he expecting you?’

‘Uh, no. But Lily sent me.’

She eyed me up and down before smiling that simple smile of hers again. ‘Hold on a second.’

She reached for the telephone and pressed a single button before putting the receiver to her ear. She told the person on the other end that ‘a black girl is here to see you. Said Lily sent her.’

She put down the receiver and asked me to sit down on one of the high-backed chairs. I didn’t wait long before a tall man came out from a corner door. He looked to be in his late thirties and I assumed he was Marc. He had an authoritative aura and acted like he owned the place.

I was right.

Marc clapped loudly as soon as he saw me and beckoned me to rise.

‘Well, hullo! What do we have here?’

I stood up quickly and greeted him. ‘Good day, Mr. Marc. My name is Mosana. I’m here for work. Lily sent me.’

Maybe I was nervous, or maybe I perceived that Marc wasn’t the type to waste time, but I rushed my words. I got out the piece of paper that Lily had given me and stretched it out to him. He took it and scrutinized it for a moment.

‘Ah, Lily,’ was the only thing he said before he handed back the paper. ‘Come.’

I followed him into what I assumed was his office and sat down without being asked. I was exhausted. I set my bag on the floor and leaned into the chair as far back as I could without looking unserious. It wasn’t comfortable, but it was a relief.

He sat down opposite me behind a large, misshapen desk and looked at me frankly. ‘So,’ he began, ‘what kind of work are you in for?’

I didn’t know what to answer. I hadn’t anticipated any kind of questions. But I was a fast thinker; my brain had begun working out an answer the second the question dropped.

‘Well, anything really. I’m a fast learner, and I’m not lazy. I could work to earn my pay.’

‘You understand I would need a commission.’ He wasn’t asking me, he was telling me.

I withdrew the last of my money and placed all on the table. ‘This is all I have left,’ I told him. ‘I could pay you more if I find work.’

‘No, no. This will suffice.’

I noticed he counted the money with a single glance, without touching it.

‘What do you reckon?’ he asked again. He wanted me to be specific.

I remembered what Lily said about factory work and clinched on that. ‘Factory work,’ I said. ‘Carrying things, moving things, hurling things; I could do them all. Just let me.’

‘Is that so?’

‘Yes, sir.’

He looked at me, actually, he studied me, and I did the same to him too. While he was figuring out where to place me, I took a good look at his features. Unlike his establishment, there was nothing simple about Marc. Not that he wore anything flashy, he just didn’t look simple. I don’t know how I knew, but I could tell he was a smooth talker. I saw the look in his eyes when he mentioned Lily’s name, and it wasn’t hard to guess who had ended the relationship. I could also guess why Lily would have ended it.

Marc was shifty. It was in his eyes. If you listened to him talk, you would be fooled. But to someone like me who had learned to listen instead to people’s hearts, I knew that Marc said the opposite of what he felt. It was by looking into his eyes that I knew he wasn’t being completely honest with me.

Call me a witch, or call me observant, I confirmed my suspicions a few days after I met Marc. At our first meeting, it was only guesses; but by the time I had spent a month in his boarding house, I was sure something was aloof. Marc always came up with excuses as to why I was being delayed. Later, he employed me himself. He assigned me rooms to clean and paid me stipends, not up to a day’s wager. But I didn’t want that; I wanted a factory job, where I was sure the pay would be higher. Instead of heeding my complaints, he put me in a room with girls whom I was sure were prostitutes. They left in the evenings and returned to the boarding house in the wee hours of morning. I prayed that wasn’t what he had in store for me. I told myself he couldn’t, because I had been specific about what I wanted.

I truly began to regret coming to America and meeting Marc when I heard the news the following year.

Britain had abolished slavery.

___________________________________________

Hey you, 

I'm so sorry for my inconsistencies. I'm knee deep in work, I've not been myself, and come this Saturday, I'm taking two very crucial exams at the same time. Please understand I've had to balance up a lot in the short while I've been gone. But I'll do my best to come back for you each time. Promise!

Till next time,

xoxo,

Ava.