Story: Maid in China. Part 4.

It's been well over a year, but here it is finally, the much anticipated follow-up to Maid in China!

by Barefoot Servant
           

Maddie balanced the serving tray on her left hand and summoned her courage. Inhale and she knocked on the bedroom door.

“Yes,” the two occupants—Jenny and Skye—answered in unison.

“Um,” Maddie stuttered, never previously having to ask permission to enter her friend’s room. Calm down Maddie. Just put yourself in Rosario’s shoes—or lack thereof. Do what she would do. Say what she would say. “I have breakfast. May I come in?”

“Of course, Maddie, come on in.” This time it was only Jenny’s voice.

Maddie reached for the door knob. The serving tray tottered, but did not fall. Maddie sighed relief and cautiously entered the room.

Jenny and Skye were sitting upright in the bed, backs against the headboard, whispering and giggling about something to which Maddie was not privy.

Maddie forced herself to smile. “Good morning ladies.”

“Good morning Maddie,” the two answered in unison.

“Where, uh,” Maddie started, “actually, nevermind, I’ve got this.” Thinking back to the many nights she had spent as Jenny’s guest, Maddie placed the serving tray at the foot of the bed and retrieved a pair of lap tables from her friend’s closet.

Maddie struggled briefly, pulling the stacked lap tables apart, but otherwise she worked quietly and efficiently, placing one lap table across Jenny’s legs, then Skye’s. Next she retrieved the tray and served the girls in the same order.

Skye wrinkled her nose at the plate’s contents. “What is this?”

“Uh,” Maddie started, trying to remember how Rosario had described the dish.

“Breakfast buns,” Jenny beat her to it, “stuffed with eggplant and chives. They’re good… and good for you.”

Skye’s nose unwrinkled, but she did not look entirely convinced. “I don’t know. Don’t you have any, like Cornflakes?”

Jenny sighed, feigning exasperation with her friend. “I’m sure we probably have something close. Maddie, could you please go find Skye some cereal. I’ll eat her breakfast bun.”

“Uh, of course.”

“I’ll take skim milk with that please, Maddie.”

“Of course, Miss Skye, I’ll be right back.”

Maddie scurried back to the kitchen, emotions racing. She silently praised herself for having done a passable job serving both Mrs. Kim and Jenny and Sky; but part of her hated how easily she was slipping into her new role as a servant.

In the kitchen, Rosario was loading up yet another serving tray with two breakfast buns and orange juice. “Here you go, Maddie. This one is for Billy.”

Maddie sighed. “Can you take it? I have to get cereal for Skye.”

“Cereal? You just took her a breakfast bun.”

“She didn’t like it?”

“No.”

“She didn’t even try it. Jenny’s eating it.”

“That girl may have a hard time in China,” Rosario chided, while pouring a bowl of Special K.

“Skim milk.”

“I figured as much. Don’t worry Maddie, we have some.”

“What if we didn’t?”

“Under normal circumstances, one of us would run to the grocery. Today, there’s no time for that.” Rosario topped the cereal with skim milk, and added under her breath, “little enough time for this.” Rosario added the bowl of cereal to the tray intended for Billy. “Drop the cereal off for Miss Skye, then get this to Billy.”

           

“Speak of the devil, and he shall appear,” wandering into the kitchen, Billy announced his presence without looking up from his phone at either of the two maids. “I’ll eat down here today.”

Rosario sighed and immediately began relieving the serving tray of Billy’s breakfast.

Imitating Rosario’s sigh, Billy began relieving the plate of breakfast buns.

“Master Billy, if you would just have a seat, I would gladly serve you.”

“No need for that, Rosario. I can help myself.”  

Maddie and Rosario worked side-by-side washing and drying breakfast dishes—including Skye’s half-eaten bowl of Special K.

“Look at that,” Maddie complained, “first she has to request something special for breakfast, then she doesn’t even eat it all.”

“Maddie,” Rosario interrupted, “more working, less complaining.”

“Please tell me I was never this bad when I would visit Jenny… I mean, like, as her friend.”

“Maddie, I will say this. You are a better guest than maid.”

Maddie turned to Rosario, brow furrowed. “Hey, what’s that supposed to mean?”

The maids’ banter was interrupted by Mrs. Kim’s return to the kitchen. “Rosario, Maddie, when you are done there, load the luggage. I have arranged for a maid service to take care of the house for the summer. They can take care of whatever you lazy girls have neglected.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Rosario answered with a curtsy.

“Yes, ma’am,” Maddie echoed with her own awkward curtsy.

“Maddie, I will get Mrs. Kim’s and Master Billy’s luggage. You get Ms. Jenny’s and Ms. Skye’s, okay.”   

“Yeah, sure, of course, I’ve got it,” Maddie answered already setting off for Jenny’s room.

Without thinking—or knocking to announce herself—Maddie opened the door to Jenny’s room to find both Jenny and Skye in various states of undress. All three girls gasped in unison. Skye covered herself, blushing deeply. Jenny’s face contorted into an unhappy frown. “Maddie, what are you doing,” she demanded, almost yelling, “you can’t just barge into my room like that. You have to knock and announce yourself. I could have… we could have… nevermind, just don’t let that ever happen again.”

“I’m, I’m so sorry, Jenny, er, I mean Miss Jenny. I’m just here to… I mean, I’m sorry. Let me try

again,” Maddie stuttered, stepping back out into the hall.

“For the love Maddie,” Jenny shouted from inside the room, “you’ve already barged in on us.  Just get our luggage down to the car. That’s what you were here for right.”

Maddie swallowed hard and opened the door. Eyes downcast on her bare toes, Maddie could tell that Skye was smiling smugly. Jenny’s anger on the other hand was already abating.    

It took Maddie three trips to carry the girls’ luggage down to the family Escalade, where Maddie noted that Mrs. Kim and Billy were similarly packed. Maggie strained to lift the large bags into the back of the vehicle.

“You’d think Mrs. Kim would hire a male servant to help out with stuff like this.”

“Oh Maddie, do you ever stop complaining,” Rosario chided. “But in China, the Kim’s do have some male servants, an old gardener and a porter. You will meet them both.”

Maddie answered with a thoughtful “hmm,” wondering if the porter might actually be kind of cute.

“Come on Maddie, let’s go get our bags.”

Back in the tiny room they had shared the previous night, Rosario shook her head disapprovingly at Maddie’s luggage. “Too big, Maddie.”

“What do you mean’ it’s too big? It’s the same size as everyone else’s carry-on.”

“Maddie, Mrs. Kim has to pay for all that luggage, well except for Skye’s. I assume her parents are paying for hers. But the point is, Mrs. Kim has to pay for our luggage too, which mean you have to fit everything into a backpack.”

“A backpack! Are you kidding me Rosario? I can’t fit all my stuff into a backpack. We’re going to be gone all summer Rosario.”

“Why do you need so much anyway, Maddie?”

“For like the tours, the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, stuff like that. And I may want to look nice for the porter too.”

Rosario guffawed aloud at that. “Maddie, why in the world would you want to dress up for Hop?”

“What’s Hop?”

“Not what, Maddie, who. Hop is the Kim’s porter.”

“Forget Hop. What about the tours?”

“Maddie, whatever tours you go on, you’re still a maid this summer. You’ll be wearing your Uniform… and working. Here, I actually have an extra bag, my old one. Let’s see if we can get your most important stuff into it.”

With Rosario’s help, Maddie divested herself of most of her suitcase’s contents, keeping toiletries, a handful of undergarments, and two casual outfits. “What about shoes, Rosario? I can’t go barefoot all summer.”

“We’ve been through this Maddie. The servants on Hainan Island all work barefoot. Like it or not, you’re one of those servants this summer. That said,” Rosario turned to shuffle through her closet, produced a pair of cheap blue flip flops, and tossed them to Maddie.

Catching the flip flops, Maddie noticed that they were at least new, still bound together by a plastic tie.

“You’ll need them when—if—you go off the island. Don’t bother packing them though. You can put them on when we leave the house and wear them in the airport.”  

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