by Addison Hughes
The sound of loud banging at the door of Shoma Chowdhry’s affluent Upper East Side apartment prompted her to chastise her home servant for the last time.
“Joba, they are coming for you now. I told you that this is what would happen,” she said, speaking to her in their native tongue.
There was a slight hint of disappointment in her voice as a replacement would not immediately be forthcoming, but what choice did she have? Joba had not only asked to be paid a fair wage, she requested back pay as well. The impudent brat did not know her place, Shoma reckoned. Transporting the indigent girl with her to New York City should have been payment enough. Her new accommodations were better than anything she deserved back home and yet, the live-in maid demanded more.
Joba narrowed her eyes defiantly and spoke in English, “This is the land of the free and the home of the brave.”
