Matron sounded very ecstatic as she related what was taking place at the hospital. She said that the army had shown up at the Hospital like a boss! When the protesters saw the army tankers they ran from the hospital gate. I laughed, because one thing with Jamaicans, they will curse and belittle the members of The Jamaica Constabulary Force but they would never do the same with the members of the Jamaica Defence Force because they knew that the soldiers didn't play! Onlookers nearby were ordered to remove every barrier and debris from in front of the hospital gate. This they did reluctantly saying that they weren't the ones who placed them there in the first place. The Minister of National Security had assured Matron that the soldiers
would remain at the hospital for the next three days so based on that, she said, I could return to work tomorrow. After telling her I would be there bright and early I ended the call. Darn it! I was planning to use the next couple of days to finish reading the last of Charmaine’s diaries and catch up on my crochet. One of the best and most important of all the things that I learned from my Grandmother was how to crochet. It was fast becoming a lost art and I was proud of the many pieces that I had done for my friends and relatives. My phone rang again, it was Reverend Julian checking up on me.
I told him I was fine and informed him about the latest happenings at the hospital. He said he would be stopping by tomorrow when he knew I had returned home as he had a surprise for me. I tried to get him to tell me what it was over the phone but he would not relent. He would only say that I would be pleasantly surprised. I rolled my eyes. I hated surprises! I told him that I could not wait to see him and ended the call. I think he was trying to say something more, but seeing that he did not call again I guess it could wait until when he came by tomorrow. I looked at the clock on the wall, it was after four in the afternoon. Where the dickens was Maud? I didn’t think that her interview would have lasted that long. The uneasy feeling in my stomach returned. Just then I heard a car pull up at the gate. I peeped through the blinds, it was Maud being dropped off by her ‘Samson’ and giggling just like when he picked her up in the morning! I waited until I heard the car driving off before I went outside. No way was she going to bypass me and escape my questions! She smiled broadly when she saw me. “I got the job!” she shouted. I told her I was happy for her and asked her when she was going to start the job? When she said Valentine’s Day I was taken aback. This did not give me enough time to find a replacement for her! I told her as much and all she did was shrug her shoulders and said they had wanted her to start the next day and it was out of consideration for me why she had asked them for a week to get her affairs in order. There was something about Maud that was new. I knew what it was. It was a new found confidence in herself and I realized that I was no longer a buffer for her. She could now make it on her own. I knew this day was coming but I always thought that it would be because of something I did for her and not something she did on her own. I knew it was selfish of me to think like that but deep down inside I wished she had not gotten the job. I faked a smile and told her again that I was happy for her and returned inside to the confines of my bedroom where I sat on the edge of my bed and contemplated my future. I would be lying if I said that I knew how I was going to manage without having Maud at my beck and call. Who was going to prepare my clothes for work and my meals when I came home hungry and tired? Who was going to make sure that I was okay every night and made sure that I got up in time for work? I wiped the tears that sprang from the corners of my eyes. I am Charmaine’s granddaughter, I said to myself, I can make it! I will make it! I laid back on my bed and looked up at the ceiling. There were no answers there, just the cobwebs that Maud had neglected to take down. I sighed. There were so many things that I had overlooked where Maud was concerned. I wondered where she was going to live when she started her new job. Would she expect me to allow her to stay in her quarters free of cost or would she be moving out anytime soon? I just hope she was not being blinded by ‘love’ and thinking of going to live with that man! I sighed again. Maud was brought up in the church so all I could do was pray that this ‘Samson’ did not become like ‘Delilah’ and cause her to backslide! Love always made people do silly things!
I must have dozed off. I awoke to a knocking on my door. It was Maud. I told her to enter. She had come to return my handbag. She could barely look me in the eyes as she handed me the handbag and I could see that she felt badly about the entire situation. Her eyes also looked as if she had been crying so I told her not to worry as I could take care of myself and that’s when she dropped the bombshell! I fainted when I heard what she had to say!
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