Kapitel 45: CHAPTER 45: SETTLING IN

The day quickly passed and after being away for nearly five weeks, Tapiwa had a meal in her own house and the feeling was very refreshing.

The next morning, Tapiwa woke up very early, as usual, a habit that had taken root. Since the house was all sparkling clean, there was no need for her to bother with all the cleaning.

So, she simply washed her face and wore some homestay clothes before leaving the bedroom for the inner house kitchen.

Inside the kitchen, she fetched some mealie-meal from the bigger container and poured it into a wooden bowl. She also took another container of peanut butter, plus the salt, cooking oil, and sugar.

All the food she cooked before was finished and now that she was back home, it was time for her to start cooking again.

She thought about it very seriously before going to bed and decided.

As long as she wasn't eating fancy foods, she was going to let Tambudzai cook for her. For some other kinds of foods, she was going to share with the family as long as they didn't have it in their kitchen, but this didn't apply to fancy foods.

Even if they didn't have it, until the day she trusted them fully, she wasn't going to let them have a taste at all.

While she was busy with all that, Tambudzai and her daughters were a bit worried as they sat in the side house's reception room.

Being laborers throughout the year they were used to sleeping late and waking up very early working.

And yet now they were quite bothered, for there wasn't any work for them to do.

After waking up, cleaning the rooms, and the outer kitchen, and sweeping the yard, all the work was completely done. How were they supposed to spend their day or even have a face to cook food or look at their mistress?

Tambudzai especially was very stressed, and the worry was killing her deeply.

However, just as the mother and daughters were sitting quietly and thinking to themselves, Tapiwa's calling suddenly reached them, jolting them out of their thoughts.

Tambudzai looked very relieved upon hearing that her mistress had awoken. She quickly urged her daughters as she stood up, "Let's go and greet the mistress. She is awake!"

Tinotenda, who had spent some time with the mistress the previous day, looked at her mother shyly but her eyes were sparkling, showing how excited she was to see her again.

'Mistress smells very nice!'

Outside, Tapiwa was standing in front of the kitchen, admiring how tidy the yard was. Even the kitchen was clean, showing that her servants had indeed cleaned everything, which was very good.

When the four reached her, they quickly greeted her with slightly bowed heads, something that Tapiwa failed to control. She didn't want them to keep on greeting her like that, but they insisted.

And when she thought of how some slaves even knelt in greeting, receiving a slight bow was much better.

"Good morning, mistress."

The four greeted her, and she returned the greetings as well, "Good morning, the four of you. Did you sleep well?"

Tambudzai this time answered with a smile on her face, "It was a very pleasant night. Thank you for taking us in."

Tapiwa shrugged her shoulders as she responded to Tambudzai, "This is what I am supposed to do. Anyway, let's stop with all the pleasantries. Have you cooked breakfast yet?"

Since it was normal for her to eat three meals a day, she asked this question. There won't be any need for her to have a lot of porridge cooked if others have already eaten.

Tambudzai was a bit taken aback when she heard this. Her eyes wavered for a bit before resolution filled them in a matter of seconds.

Answering truthfully, she said to her mistress, "No Madam. We haven't cooked breakfast yet."

As slaves and servants, and even before she was staying with her mother-in-law, having one meal a day was already a blessing.

During this one week, she had spent with her mistress, she and her children had been having healthy meals. Since they were all feeling sick, she just assumed that it was for them to get better quickly.

And now that they were faring much better, she didn't want to waste any food. And when she thought of the luxurious food that was bestowed on her, Tambudzai didn't even want to cook it anymore.

"Oh, that's perfect then. You cook your share with mine. From tomorrow going onwards, when you wake up, make yourself some porridge and eat. I will expect you to have at least three to four meals a day. Since you will be working, your energy needs to be compensated," Tapiwa said to Tambudzai who happened to be wearing an expression she didn't want to see on her people especially now that she didn't lack food or money.

She could understand why Tambudzai would be a bit stingy, but wasn't she afraid that she might get sick again because of that?

"You eat porridge when you wake up, tea around ten, and at lunch, you make something, and lastly dinner. Don't worry about food, I will buy it for you but as a woman, you should also know how to save too. Just because we have it doesn't mean we should splurge a lot. And just because we shouldn't splurge a lot doesn't mean that we need to starve ourselves as well."

Although being frugal was good, people should still know the boundaries.

Tambudzai looked gratefully at her mistress and nodded her head without saying a word.

Seeing that Tambudzai understood her words, she beckoned the other to the kitchen, where she instructed Tambudzai or Ma Tino to prepare the porridge.

People in her era, or let's say in villages, were very stingy when it came to cooking oil, salt, and mostly sugar.

And the porridge that she wanted to eat consisted of all three, something that only the rich would do.

So, when she started explaining the process to Ma Tino, she automatically ignored her dumbfounded expression and let her follow the procedure properly.

"All my porridge in the future should be made in this manner. If there is peanut butter to add to it, then add it, but if there isn't, I can still eat it plain. I don't have much peanut butter on me, but once I get it made, I will give you some. It's very good for the body and will keep your stomach full."

It wasn't that peanut butter didn't exist in her world. It was there, just that it was mostly used to cook vegetables in place of cooking oil.

So, something as precious as that couldn't be wasted in making porridge.

Porridge was cooked and served. Since Tambudzai and her kids weren't used to eating with her, Tapiwa just went inside the house to enjoy her food while they ate under the shade.

After having porridge, Tapiwa finally took a shower inside the store space. It wasn't cold, so boiling water was not a must.

After showering, she changed into a casual brown and green dress, and, looking at how dull the colors were, she was looking forward to having a change of wardrobe.

And that would only be achieved by getting her designs made into outfits. How nice would that be?

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