In narrating her experience with a domestic help to me, a lady wrote, “She started living with my family as a young girl. I have two kids and she was there when they were all born. In fact, when I had a miscarriage with my first pregnancy, she was there.
“My husband and I took her as our eldest child and opened an education trust account for her. It’s our dream that she gets a university education while under our care. Unfortunately, I lost my husband about four years ago. After the funeral, her parents began to pester her to come back to the village as there was a relation of theirs that wanted to help her.
“My girl stood her ground and told her parents that she won’t abandon me. That singular deed of hers made me more determined to send her to any university of her choice as long as I can afford it. Last year, she passed the relevant exams and gained admission into a university here in the city. Please note that she is such an important part of my life that I never considered hiding my business secrets from her. She knows my suppliers and most of my clients.
“I built a new house (that we have moved into) this year and she has her own room here. In fact, she chose the decor of the room by herself. Truth to God, even after she gained admission into a university, she was still her dutiful self. The only thing is that I employed a paid domestic assistant because my girl faced more of her school work, despite the fact that she goes to school from home.
“About two weeks back, she told me that they had an event in school; like an all-night party and she would like to attend. I told her that she’s just new in the system and I am not yet comfortable with permitting her to attend “all night” outings.
She nodded and thanked me. As usual, she attended to her chores that evening and we all gathered in the sitting room to pray as always. It was after the prayer that I noticed she was missing. To make matters worse, she even switched off her phone. I called my relatives and friends to notify them.
“I was going to report the incident to the police the next morning until something happened. First thing I observed is that her parents didn’t seem shocked or alarmed when I reported the incident to them. Second, her phone was later switched on that night but she refused to pick calls from me and anybody associated with me; family, friends, etc.
“I had the most restless sleep that night. I became even more disorganised in the morning. It felt like a part of me was missing. That’s a girl who lived with me for a whopping nine years! In the morning, my spirit directed me to go to her room and that’s when I discovered that she also took her luggage with her and only left behind her old clothes.
“My sisters and I shop for her a lot from our overseas travels and those are the things she took with her. That felt like another stab in the chest and I stopped calling her on the phone. It was later in the day (towards evening) that I received a message from her. I did not reply!
“This incident happened about two weeks ago. But the issue now is that her parents have begun to beg that I let the girl back into my home. I am here to read your views on the matter. Is it a good idea to bring her back to my home? She is 20 years old.’’
Credit: Chukwuneta Oby