Chapter 3 The Glass Bowl

The tiny six-year-old Maeve Arrendale was washing the dishes while standing on a high stool, as the sink was too high for her. Her mother, Eleanor, was scalding the chicken after killing it. She was extremely careful with the hot water. Her old grandmother, Harriet Basting, was chopping the veggies. Meanwhile, the owners of the house, Mara and Melvin Carrington, were laughing at the TV and chomping on expensive dry fruits.

“Huh… hmfph…” Maeve was groaning and moaning as it was getting difficult for her to clean the huge number of dishes.

“Let me help!” whispered Eleanor. Her heart was breaking after seeing her sweet child doing household chores when it was her age to play around.

“Why can’t they hire help? They are rich now. Why are they making you do all the work?” snapped Harriet.

“Mom! You know why. After John’s death, it was so difficult for me to keep a job and then raise Maeve on my own. Even if I am doing all the work and they are making my kid do all the work, I don’t have to worry about a place to live, what to eat or how to feed my kid. Even if they are using me, at least half of my worries are gone,” replied Eleanor and rushed to take the chicken out of the water. Now she had to defeather it.

Abruptly, a loud smash jolted everyone out of their work. Eleanor turned to see if her daughter was okay, but Maeve was backing away from the sink in fear. Her whole body was shivering violently. No one said a word to her, but she started crying.

“Eve! Eve! Sweetie! Are you okay?” Eleanor rushed towards Maeve, but she stopped mid-way. Her eyes fell on the big glass bowl that was shattered into a million pieces right at the foot of the sink. It was clear that the bowl slipped out of Maeve’s hands as it was slippery from all the soap water.

“What the hell happened now?” shouted Mara and came running. “You bitch… you broke my favourite bowl!!” shrieked Mara when she saw the colour of the glass on the floor. The tiny emerald-like pieces were scattered all over.

The moment Maeve heard the yelling, she stopped crying. She knew what was coming. Her back already had bruises from the morning beating, and now she would receive more.

“Bring me the cane, Melvin!!” shouted Mara, and Maeve started crying again.

“No, please, don’t! Mara is your niece. How can you be so cruel? First, you asked a little girl to wash dishes. You know her tiny hands cannot handle that. Please!” begged Eleanor.

“Ugh!! How are you my sister? You ugly, poor bitch! You raised your child as a brat. I am teaching her about life. She needs to learn everything about work. She might get a job as a maid in future. Just like you are my maid. Melvin!!!! Where is the cane, you idiot?” shouted Mara.

“Teaching her how? By beating her every day? I am working for you, why do you make her work too? She is a child. She is going to make mistakes. Please don’t hurt her, please, I beg you,” said Eleanor and fell to Mara’s feet. She grabbed her feet and kept begging and crying.

Mara kicked her away and shouted, “you don’t work for free, you whore. I pay you. With the quality of work you do, I should throw you out of the house, but because of Mom, you are here.”

Melvin arrived with the pliable cane and smirked at Maeve, who was hidden behind Harriet.

“Stop it! Both of you stop it! You are sisters. You should help each other. Mara, helping others is a good thing. Why do you forget about how you were living in poverty, and the day Eleanor arrived with Maeve, you guys won the lottery? It's because you decided to do a good job, and karma awarded you with money. Just imagine how much karma will return to you if you do more good deeds,” Harriet tried to save both Eleanor and Maeve. But she knew nothing was going to help them.

Melvin handed the cane to Mara and, smiling, moved towards the fridge. Maeve, who was hiding behind Harriet, grabbed her grandmother tightly as she thought that Melvin was coming towards her to grab her. But to her relief, Melvin opened the fridge and didn’t even look at her.

“Come here, girl!” shouted Mara and looked at Maeve.

“Auntie! I am sorry. I am sorry,” cried Maeve, but Mara just gritted her teeth.

“Mara! I beg you. Stop this torture!” shouted Harriet, but no one was listening to her.

Mara raised her cane and whip! A loud sound cracked the air. Eleanor screamed in pain. No one could see it, but she knew that her upper arm was red now. “If you don’t come to me right now. I will kill your mother and then throw you before the dogs. They love tender meat,” Mara’s face had a creepy smile on her face.

“Ha-ha, yeah, the dogs love that. Or better, we will leave her to fend for herself on the streets. Ozul would love to kill a child,” laughed Melvin and lowered himself to look inside the fridge.

The name of Ozul sent a shiver down Maeve’s spine. Even though she was a child, she knew who Ozul was. Her classmates would talk about him. The apartment aunties, uncles, grandpas and grannies used to talk about him. She knew what he used to do to his prey. She had heard about the horrifying stories. She didn’t want to end up like that.

“Where is it? Where is it?” shouted Melvin, took out a container from the fridge and smashed it on the floor.

Maeve shouted loudly and crouched at Harriet’s feet in fear. She could think about how, first, only Mara was angry, and now Melvin was angry too. She knew they together were going to beat her.

“Girl! Come here!” shouted Mara.

“Where is it?” shouted Melvin.

Mara and Melvin both kept moving forward towards Maeve. Harriet stood before Maeve to protect her, whereas Eleanor again grabbed Mara by her feet. Two were trying to harm Maeve while two were trying to protect her. Who would win, everyone knew.