Songbirds(19)

‘I can’t concern myself with these foreign women. I have more important matters to attend to. If she doesn’t return, my guess would be that she’s ran away to the north. That’s what they do. She’s gone to the Turkish side to find better employment. These women are animals, they follow their instincts. Or the money, more likely. That’s what I have to say on the matter. You would do best to go home and start cleaning out her room. If she’s not back by the end of the week, call up the agency to find another maid.’

With that, he stood up to signal that our meeting was over, holding out his hand to me.

I rose from my chair and looked at his hand, but didn’t shake it. There was so much I wanted to say, but it was clear this man wasn’t capable of hearing me. I gathered Nisha’s things from the desk and tucked them back into my bag, purposely stepped on the paperwork that was scattered on the floor, and walked out of his shabby little office.

*

When I got home, I saw that Yiakoumi’s maid was in the antique shop, polishing things. I went across the street to have a chat with her, to see if she knew anything.

Yiakoumi was in the back with his feet up on a messy desk. He nodded at me when I entered. ‘Get Nilmini to help you,’ he said. ‘I’m waiting for an important call.’

‘Nilmini,’ I said. She was sitting on a stool amongst items of copper. She looked up. How young and self-contained she was. A beautiful Sri Lankan woman in her early twenties, with such long hair it looked as though it had never been cut.

‘That’s a lovely name,’ I said.

‘It means “ambitious woman”.’ She continued to polish an old urn.

I noticed behind her a pile of tattered books – Alice’s Adventures in in Wonderland, Huckleberry Finn, Peter Pan. One of them was open on the floor in front of her, pages held back with two pebbles from the beach. She saw me looking.

‘I love reading, madam. In Sri Lanka I wanted to study literature. Sir bought me these books from the market. He said I can read as long as I do my work.’

I nodded and glanced up at Yiakoumi, who was yawning and reading something on his phone.

‘I am wondering, Nilmini, if you have seen Nisha or heard from her.’

She paused and looked up at the ceiling where a brass chandelier hung above her.

‘The last time I saw Nisha, madam, was Sunday night.’

‘What was she doing?’

‘Usually, madam, she comes to say hello. This time she was walking very quickly.’

At that point Yiakoumi’s mobile rang and he got up to speak in the storage room at the back.

‘What time was that?’ I asked.

‘I arrived here maybe an hour earlier, so I think it was after ten. Sir wanted me to work Sunday night because customers come in the morning. I cleaned his house in the morning, had a break and then came here at nine o’ clock.’

‘Did Nisha say anything to you?’

‘No, madam, she said nothing. Normally she waves, sometimes she comes in and makes a joke and we laugh, often she brings me fruit. No, she didn’t stop to see me and I tell you, she looked worried.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘Yes, madam. I have been working here opposite Nisha for a year. I know her face. I know my friend’s face when she’s happy, sad, angry, tired. This time I tell you she was worried.’

‘Do you remember anything else at all?’

‘Well, madam, maybe this not an important thing, but the cat was following her.’

‘The cat?’

‘Yes. I looked down the road as she walked off. I was outside. The cat followed her all the way and turned the corner when she turned. So the cat might know where Nisha is.’

I stared at her. Was she being serious?

‘It was this cat, madam.’ She pointed out of the window, where the black cat with the different-coloured eyes was sitting on the table, washing itself amongst the pots and vases. The one my daughter now called Monkey.

*

That afternoon, I picked up Aliki from school. I didn’t take the car because I wanted to walk with her. She was wearing her favourite K-pop idol girl T-shirt with some light blue jeans, and she’d released her hair from its ponytail so it hung in thick waves over her shoulders.

‘Aliki,’ I said, ‘I went to the police today.’

She quickly glanced up at me, cheeks rosy.

‘I went to report Nisha missing, but they wouldn’t help me. They said she’s probably run away to the north. But I don’t believe them,’ I said.

Suddenly, her eyes filled with tears.

‘I’m not saying this to upset you. I want you to know what’s happening. I’m looking for Nisha but I’m confused. Did she say anything to you? Do you know anything that might help me to understand what is going on?’

Aliki looked down at her feet as she walked.

‘Aliki?’ I said. But this just made her withdraw further – she walked over to a shop front and stared at the shoes on display. She’d cut herself off from me completely.

*

At home, I made potato salad. The vegetables in the fridge had started to rot – Nisha had always done the shopping – so I chopped them all up and threw them in the salad: red peppers, tomatoes, spring onions and parsley. Aliki poked at the food with her fork, humming something under her breath.