by S M Mala
‘They have machines that can do this, you know,’ huffed Hatty as Monica laughed. ‘I really hate being made to do things like this.’
‘It flour an’ water, it not gonna kill ya!’ sighed Ethel, staring down. ‘Now make dem into balls.’
‘I know what to do,’ she scowled, holding her hands in front of her face as the dough stuck between her fingers.
Hatty sat down on a chair and started to make small balls, throwing them onto the table.
‘Smaller!’ growled Ethel, going towards the stove and checking on the pots.
‘How many bloody rotis do you need? You can buy this ready made in the supermarket like everything else!’
‘It not taste da same an’ none of ya lip, ya ‘ear me? Me slap ya backside if ya were me child. Runnin’ off in da rain. Ya could ‘ave catch ya death.’
‘The only time I got wet was when the local slut splashed me when she drove past,’ said Hatty, pulling the balls off with one hand while resting her chin in her other hand.
‘Hatty man, ya rude,’ laughed Monica. ‘Dey worry ya ‘ave ya funny turn.’
‘It’s not funny,’ she grimaced. ‘But I told them I’m getting better. Maybe if I’m more exposed to things I’m afraid of then I won’t be so scared.’
‘Ya gonna stop wearin’ ya mosquito repellent?’ hissed Monica. ‘Me tink dat what ya really scared of.’
‘Morning ladies,’ said Jake, standing at the door as Hatty ignored him, feeling instantly angry then hurt. She carried on throwing balls of dough on the table. ‘Hello Ha Ha.’
She grunted a response and carried on.
‘Mornin’ Master Jake. Can we ‘elp ya wid anytin’?’ said Ethel sweetly, as she glared at Hatty. ‘Me kitchen staff a bit slow today.’
‘More useless,’ laughed Monica.
Hatty felt turmoil in her gut so focussed on the white dough balls piling up.
‘Ya more dan useless, ya know Hatty!’ snapped Ethel, taking the dough away and twisting the balls off with two hands. ‘If dis was ya neck me be ‘appy.’
‘Then can I go?’ she said, standing up, noticing Jake was staring. ‘I’m sure Master Jake could help out. He’s good like that.’
‘I came to talk to you,’ he gently said.
As Hatty looked at him, the image of him and Gina in bed, having sex on crisp white cotton sheets came in to her head. She imagined the wind surrounding the four poster bed as mosquito nets floated around, with the gentle scent of mosquito repellent in the air. Hatty felt sick to her stomach with jealousy but mostly the rejection she was receiving… and he didn’t even know he was doing it.
‘Me busy,’ she replied, noticing Ethel was giving her a strange look. ‘Shall I fry something?’
‘No!’ both the women exclaimed as Hatty took a step back.
‘Is she that bad?’ laughed Jake, stepping into the kitchen.
‘Dat gal can start a fire where dere only water, dat ‘ow bad she is,’ sighed Ethel as Monica giggled in the background. ‘Go Hatty, ya no good ‘ere. Me tell ya aunt ya punish enough but it is I who is punish wid you in me kitchen. Out!’
‘It was a pleasure!’ Hatty smiled sweetly, quickly washing her hands then walked past Jake off into the garden.
‘Wait up!’ he said, following her as she stomped towards her herb garden, opening the gate. ‘I need to talk to you. We’re supposed to be exploring the island.’
‘Go explore it with Gina Glory Glory,’ she snapped, turning to face him. ‘At least she not borin’ an’ stupid! She a good sport!’
‘What’s wrong?’ he said. Hatty thought she could slap him there and then. ‘I thought I was teaching you how to swim.’
‘Me prefer to drown!’ she said loudly. ‘I don’t want to learn to swim so therefore I don’t need to show you around the island or get butt naked for your amusement. I doubt if you found anything about my background I didn’t know so let’s call it quits. You go back in fifteen days so spend it with Gina Glory Glory.’
‘My father said-.’
‘I don’t care what Murray said!’ she snapped. ‘I don’t need looking after. I’m going to stay put here all day doing chores or whatever so go and play!’
‘You’ve got flour all over your cheek,’ he said, examining the side of her face.
‘Well I better bloody well wash it off then!’ she barked and marched off, wanting to cry at not being able to handle herself or the situation better.
He watched her stomp, furious with her behaviour as he went back in to the kitchen.
‘She!’ he said, pointing to the door in her general direction. ‘Is such a spoilt brat!’
‘Master Jacob, not speak about Hatty like dat,’ scolded Monica. ‘She not like kitchen work.’
‘How does she manage to get away with everything?’ he exclaimed, looking at the sympathetic face of Monica then at Ethel, who was smiling. ‘She disappeared yesterday. No one knows where she is and everyone’s going mad looking for her. Then she appears this morning, after being dropped off by her lover boy, and no one says a thing!’
‘She twenty two,’ added Monica. ‘Twenty tree next month.’
‘He doesn’t even want to marry her. Talk about throwing yourself at the wrong guy!’ he snapped as Ethel started to laugh. ‘What’s so funny?’
‘Which ‘guy’ ya wanna her to trow herself at?’ smiled Ethel as Jake realised what he said.
‘I’m not interested in her, believe me,’ he said, grabbing an apple and biting into it.
‘Ya got Gina,’ said Monica sweetly, stirring the pot as Ethel sat down staring hard at him. ‘She a beauty.’
‘I know,’ he said, nodding while looking across at Hatty’s house knowing she was in there. ‘You know, Hatty promised to show me around the island and she’s hardly bothered.’
‘‘ow lang ya been here?’ Ethel quietly asked.
‘Nearly ten weeks.’
‘Lang enough time for ya to discover it yarself,’ she said, crossing her arms across her chest. ‘But me see why Hatty be such a good guide. She know da island. She spend most of ‘er time runnin’ around it.’
‘Hiding,’ he said and bit another large chunk, chewing it hard. ‘She better keep up her end of the deal.’
‘An’ what is dat?’
‘She shows me the island and I dig up her past.’
He heard a spoon drop.
‘Sorry,’ said Monica, quickly picking it up and wiping the floor.
‘Why ya gonna promise her dat?’
‘Because she says no one tells her anything, it’s like a closed wall. She wants to know why some people are mean and why they gossip about her. Though right now I can understand why. I think she’s worried people think she’s sleeping with my father plus the notion she might be his daughter.’
‘It not worry ya what dey say?’ Ethel asked, tapping the chair for him to sit down. Jake positioned his chair to keep watch on her house. ‘She not go anywhere today. Hatty like me roti an’ chicken curry, she stay for lunch before she go off.’
‘I don’t care,’ he said, feeling anxious she might slip off and folding his arms across his chest. He couldn’t shake off how jealous he felt seeing her and Philip in the morning, knowing they’d be up to something the night before. It was burning inside Jake and he wanted to shake her to find out what exactly she was up to. ‘It doesn’t bother me at all.’
‘Even though dey talk about ya daddy like that?’
‘Idle gossip.’
‘Sumtin vex you Master Jake?’ asked Ethel gently, eyeing him suspiciously.
‘Maybe too much fun with Gina Glory Glory, sorry me mean Gina,’ giggled Monica. ‘Me please ya get on wid Hatty. Ya know she a lovely gal, she really is. It not ‘er fault people tink bad tings cos she not deserve it. An’ me see it hurt ‘er so much as she want people to like she but she pretend she happy and accept de bad talk.’
‘Man, ya know when she mad cos she cut up da garden like she did de oder day. Ya gal vexed her!’ Ethel laughed. ‘Me
‘ear what she told ya girl as an apology. Me laugh hard!’
‘Gina’s not my girl,’ he replied bluntly.
‘Ya friend?’ pried Ethel.
‘Yeah,’ he said and turned to Ethel. ‘I know you’ve worked for dad for years, surely you know about Hatty’s parents and my father.’
‘What ya mean?’ said Ethel, the smile wiped from her face.
‘I’ve heard rumours about my father and Hatty’s mother. Did my father turn his back on her mother and she married someone else? Is that what happened?’
There was an uncomfortable silence in the kitchen as Monica looked at Ethel who was gently sucking on her false teeth.
‘Ya tink dat ‘appen?’ said Ethel, her eyes half closed as she nodded in deep thought.
‘It’s the obvious assumption.’
‘Ya a journalist, want to investigate tings, nah?’
‘Yes,’ he said, curious at her comment.
‘Ya need facts?’
‘Of course.’
‘Well ya not very good are ya?’ Ethel laughed out and smiled at him. ‘Not very good at all.’
‘Why not?’
‘Because Master Jake, Eloise marry a man she not love to make sure ya fader was safe an’ ‘ave a good life. She knew ‘is family would never accept ‘er, so she try an’ break ‘is ‘eart only by breakin’ ‘ers an’ givin’ ‘im ‘e freedom. It she who decide not to be wid ya fader, believe me.’
‘It was her doing?’
‘She ran ‘ere, to ‘ide away but ya daddy found ‘er.’ She want to protect da man she love. Any woman would do da same.’
‘Where does Hatty come into it?’ He saw Ethel’s face darken and Monica looked anxiously out the window.
‘Hatty not comin’,’ whispered Monica.
‘‘ow me know me can trust ya Master Jake?’ said Ethel. ‘‘ow me know ya not ‘urt Hatty wid dese words?’
‘I’d never hurt her,’ he said sincerely, feeling his heart beat faster. ‘I’d strangle her on a day to day basis but not purposely make her upset.’
‘Ya a little late for dat,’ he heard Ethel mumble. ‘Why ya tink Hatty mum die?’
‘After child birth. She died two days after she was born.’
‘Eloise should not ‘ave gat pregnant. She ‘ad a weak ‘eart an’ even wid modern day, she told not to fall wid child. Me not want to say what ‘appen but she marry an’ dat night, she fell pregnant but me not want to tink about dat. Eloise should ‘ave got rid of ‘er baby but she not want to. After a day, de man she marry disappear an’ ya fader look after she.’
‘A weak heart?’ he said, noticing Ethel’s sad face.
‘Eloise ran ‘cos she not able give ya fader a child, a future. She tought it best but, man, she not to know ‘ow everytin’ would turn out.’
‘How did my dad meet her?’
‘In England, London. Me not say any more. Ya tell Hatty good bits but not bad.’
‘Why doesn’t anyone tell her the truth?’
‘Me not want to ‘urt Hatty. She need to know an’ Mister Murray an’ Delores can’t ‘ide it forever. We told not to talk to Hatty about it, even when she ask.’
‘Dat true, Master Jake,’ agreed Monica.
‘Why are you telling me?’
‘Ya not Hatty. An’ ya fader and Delores say Hatty, not you?’ smiled Ethel as her dentures dropped down, revealing her very dark pink gums. Jake smiled. ‘Hatty a beautiful child and a kind ‘earted soul.’
The kind hearted side of Hatty was missing as the people who worked on the estate and the house sat together to have lunch. Jake was sitting opposite Hatty, who frowned every time he glanced at her. He just shook his head each time.
‘What’s wrong?’ she snapped, taking a roti and laying it flat on her plate. ‘Stop pulling faces at me.’
‘Why are you in such a mood? You’re just a little brat sometimes,’ he said, glaring at her.
Jake could see some of the others looking at them, smiling. Hatty immediately got up, put some curry on her roti, grabbed a bottle of pepper sauce and sat on the porch. Jake frowned and saw Thomas laugh.
‘Maybe give ‘er some rum,’ he said as Jake smiled.
‘And that would help?’
‘If it stop ‘er from destroyin’ da garden, yes.’
As Jake ate, he watched her putting together her lunch and nearly choked at the amount of pepper sauce slathered over it, before she rolled it up and ate. Even he winced in anticipation at what she was doing.
‘It’s what she does,’ he heard Delores say. She was sat a few seats away from him. ‘When she was a child, she used to cut up hot chillies, put them in bread and eat it while drinking a hot tea. I asked her why she did it. Her answer was it tasted strange on her tongue and the difference between the heat of the chilli and tea was good. I’m surprised she hasn’t perforated her stomach lining.’
‘Why is she in a mood?’
‘You don’t know?’
‘She must be tired from spending the night out.’
‘Will you be at dinner tonight or are you going out?’ asked Delores. ‘As Hatty is staying put I thought we’d have a small barbecue.’
‘What do you mean she’s staying put?’
‘She’s not going to take you out for a tour of the island, she told me. What she’s done is arranged for someone else to do it. You’ll be pleased to know Gina has offered to drive you around this afternoon to visit other attractions of interest.’
Jake turned to Delores who he knew was happy with this new arrangement.
‘I see,’ he said quietly, looking around the table at the others eating and chatting then seeing Hatty take a bit off her roti and offer it to Barney. ‘She’s giving the dog-.’
‘Barney loves it,’ laughed Delores. ‘Hatty loves that dog. I know it looks like she treats it badly but I think the worse she treats it, the more she loves it.’
Jake sat there and wondered if that was what she was doing to him.
‘What do ya mean ya not want to come?’ said Gina, glaring at him as he stood outside his father’s office after lunch. ‘It arrange.’
‘I don’t feel well,’ he said, gulping hard. ‘I’m just tired today, I guess.’
‘But me got half day to spend wid ya Jake. Come on, we can got to an ‘otel an’ ‘ave some fun.’
‘I can’t think of anything else more wonderful but I’m really not feeling well.’ he held onto his stomach for a moment as she glowered at him. Jake then pulled out his wallet and handed her a few hundred US dollars. ‘But you shouldn’t have to ruin your afternoon because of me. Go ahead.’
‘Ya not tryin’ to get rid of me?’
‘Hey,’ he said, stepping closer and kissing her gently on the lips. ‘Why would I want to do that?’
As he looked up into the offices, he noticed his father looking down at him with a distinct frown.
Jake wasn’t giving up on talking to Hatty and waited for Gina to leave before he decided to hunt her down. He stopped when he walked around her house to the back garden and saw her lying on the hammock, her foot on the ground swinging back and forth. She looked up into the sky, deep in thought.
‘Fifteen days to go, so how do you think you’re going to learn to swim,’ he said, walking up to her as she did a double take and sat up.
‘I thought you’d-.’
‘I asked you to show me round the island, no one else. I also wanted to teach you how to swim.’
‘Naked,’ she added. He noticed her dungarees were undone and she wasn’t wearing a bra under her vest. Jake tried to focus. ‘I don’t want to swim so go away.’
Hatty flopped back in the hammock. Jake picked up the side and yanked it, watching her fall to the ground.
‘What the-!’
‘Listen to me and listen closely,’ he said, crouching down to meet her pretty dark furious eyes. ‘I’m finding out things about your life and if you want to know then meet me at the spot.’
‘What have you found out?’
&
nbsp; ‘I know my aunt said something horrible to you the other night and I think that’s why you’re mad at me.’
‘Who told you?’
‘Meet me in an hour. It’ll give you enough time to cycle to-.’
‘No, I won’t cycle. Drive me. I want to know what you know right now.’
Hatty jumped up and he watched as she pulled her dungarees up before searching in her pockets for something. ‘Let’s go.’
‘Fine,’ he said, as she walked quickly towards his jeep.
Jake saw his father watching them, this time confused, as Jake waved and smiled.
‘Hurry up!’ she snapped. He wanted to wring her silken brown neck but jumped in and drove to the house. After he parked the car in the bushes, she marched to the side of the pool. ‘Come on tell me.’
‘Tell me exactly what Caroline said,’ he asked, stepping closer. ‘Because I know she said something to you.’
‘It’s not important,’ she shrugged. ‘I didn’t know what she was talking about but she told me to stay away from you and that’s what I’m doing. What do you know?’
‘Why to stay away?’
‘Because I’ve caused problems for you,’ she said, looking confused. ‘Like you said yourself maybe she means because you father comes here so often and should’ve spent more time with you. Tell me what you know.’
‘Why do you want to get married to Philip?’ he blurted out, feeling something rage inside his chest. ‘He obviously doesn’t want to know, yet you keep him as a friend. Isn’t that stupid?’
‘He’s the only one that knows and cares about me the way I am, other than Louisa,’ she said frowning. ‘I have no real secrets from him and he hasn’t from me. He’d be a good husband and I’d have a friend for life.’
‘Why does he keep saying ‘no’?’
‘He doesn’t find me attractive in that way,’ she replied, looking down to the ground. ‘Please tell me what you know.’
‘We meet every day for the next fifteen days at the same time and I’ll teach you how to swim, agreed?’
‘Yes.’
‘And you’ll show me around the island, all the hiding places and be nice to me.’
‘Yes. ’ He noticed she frowned. ‘When am I not nice to you?’