CHAPTER 42: EXPANDING THE FAMILY 2

THREE HOURS LATER

'I am dreaming?'

'Who am I? Where am I?'

Continuous thoughts continued to roam through their minds as they looked anxiously and curiously toward the very same woman who had changed their lives.

Honestly, when she woke up earlier that day, she knew instantly that it was going to become one of the worst days she would experience in her entire life.

She was married off by her parents. She came from a very poor family and her family didn't mind marrying her off over ten years ago for just a sack of grains.

This might have been saddening, but when she thought of how all her sisters suffered the same fate while her brothers were spoiled despite their living conditions. How her brothers had enough to eat while she and her sisters had to eat the leftovers.

Being sold off and married off was actually for the better. At least they won't make her sleep hungry, for they would want her to work for them tirelessly and if she was married off, then as long as she gives birth to sons, her life would be better.

Unfortunately, she was unlucky and as years passed by; she began to wonder if her fate was so dull like this.

Why did she ever get born in this world if she had to suffer so much?

If it weren't for her three daughters, she would have killed herself, a very long ago and finished everything.

Her name was Tambudzai, a mother of three daughters and also a widow of two years.

She had been married for eleven years and was blessed with three daughters.

She also wanted a son to carry her husband's name, but unfortunately for her, her womb wasn't able to just listen to her prayers.

Her husband was loving, caring, and the best man she could ever ask for. Although they were poor, he treated her well, and despite the numerous times her mother-in-law, Madam Sekai, urged him to marry another wife. He refused and kept on protecting her.

Unfortunately, over two years ago, he suddenly got sick, and Madam Sekai, who had gotten to dislike her son very much for he was disobedient and didn't listen to her very much, was unwilling to take out money for medicine.

In the end, her husband couldn't make it and joined his ancestors.

And this opened a new path for Madam Sekai. In the past two years, she and her daughters had never had a rest. They were working throughout the year and having scuffles for food.

They worked in the fields and yet there wasn't any day they enjoyed a fresh maize cob for a meal. She also couldn't remember the last time she ate meat.

All delicacies were given to her younger brother-in-law and his family. She and her daughters did all the work and yet all harvest was given to other people in the end.

In fact, she didn't mind the harassment, discrimination, and abuse. She didn't have anywhere to go with her children and being a widow with just girls was already a hurdle.

By herself out there, she would starve and she didn't want to give up on life just like that. No one would be willing to hire a woman, a widow, mostly with kids. Women were afraid of having their husbands snatched by other women and being a widow in their village. She had suffered a lot.

A lot of younger wives would distance themselves from her and whenever their husbands looked in her way, she wouldn't have peace for a very long time.

So, for her, it was better to struggle whilst living with her mother-in-law than to leave.

Above all, she was a coward and afraid of what life would give to her once she left the home, she had known for eleven years.

But who would have known that her mother-in-law would successfully sell her and her daughters for half a silver coin just like that?

It all started a month ago when her daughters started getting sick one by one and since they never visited the doctor, she also wasn't aware why they were sick.

Luckily, through home medicine remedies, they have been surviving and since she had to take care of her daughters, she also got sick. With all four of them sick, there was no one at home to do the chores, and every single day, Madam Sekai had been at her throat.

Finally, earlier that day, she finally had enough and in the end, she sold them.

The plan was to send her to town and find someone to sell them to, even if it meant selling them one by one.

She was quite confident that no one would buy them. After all, they were so sick, and with her youngest daughter being in that state; she was very confident that her mother-in-law would be disappointed.

But fate had other plans for them. A woman, no, her mistress, came out from nowhere and struck a deal.

She could still remember how her mother-in-law rushed towards the carriage like a crazy person, only to be offered the final deal, which was half of the ridiculous silver coin she had rejected earlier.

Actually, five hundred bronze coins were a lot, especially for village folks. One could build a house, buy groceries, and do a lot of things with that money.

However, when considering how city folks live, Tambudzai knew that she and her kids had been sold at a very ridiculous price and there was nothing she could do about it.

Looking at her kids who were sitting nervously inside a huge wooden tub bathing with a fragrant soap, something that she never used in her entire life but had seen several times inside some shops, tears streamed down her cheeks.

'I think that things will get better. As long as my kids live well from now on, I don't care if I work hard like a donkey. Even if I suffer hardships, I will do it faithfully. Let my babies live well.'

This was all she could wish for at the moment.

After agreeing to the selling price, her mistress took Madam Sekai to town where they signed the contract under the eyes of a magistrate who then issued the slave indentures over to her mistress.

In just a few hours, Tambudzai watched as her free, non-existent life turned into a life of long-term slavery. Not just for her, but also for her children.

And being slaves meant that the next generations would continue being slaves, that was unless slavery becomes officially and permanently abolished.

But before that happens, she and her children are going to be living like slaves. And at their mistress's command.

She just prayed that her mistress wasn't a bad person and that she would treat them well and not give a side eye when she and her daughters were in peril.

'Whatever will come, will come. Let's take it a day at a time.'