Playing Chess with Adus
Adus is my helper. She is young, kind, and above all, generous. Although she comes from a modest family, she has labored to better herself. All the work she has done so far makes her stand out in relation to those around her. ‘There is a wound,’ she once told me, ‘that will never heal as long as I live.’ When I asked her what she meant by ‘wound,’ she blamed her father who interrupted her schooling when she was only 12.
A stout man, dark in complexion, her father is a short man with an unpleasant face to look at. According to her, he is also an ignorant, cruel, and utterly selfish man, who decided one day that Adus must stay at home, not to cook or clean the house, but to look after his flock of sheep for free until someone came to ask for her hand in marriage. She shepherded for five years in a row without pay of any kind. She would leave home around three in the morning and come home after sunset.
Adus used to spend the entire day alone in the woods or near the neighboring hills without food or drink keeping wolves away from the flock. None of her sisters (six of them) would bring her a snack or a drink. ‘Loin des yeux, loin du coeur,’ you might say. One day she had an argument with her mother in my presence and spoke of slavery: ‘You have kept me in bondage all these years,’ she said angrily. ‘You treated me worse than your sheep. If only I could leave you, it will be forever. I shall never look upon your ugly faces again. That will be my blessing. I prey to Allah to give me the strength to carry on until I break away from your bleak house.’ It was painful to hear her complaint, which was, it seemed to me at the time, true. I could see that this young and intelligent woman was wronged in so many ways.
I realized then and still do today that Adus loathes her family, her father in particular. She would poison him if she could.
One day, Adus looked at my chess board (a classic one) and asked what it was. I told her that it was a chess board and that playing chess (a royal game) can be gratifying in that the player has to adopt a strategy every time he plays and that no matter how good he is, he can always be defeated in a surprising attack. She asked whether I could teach her how to play, which I did, and low and behold, she check-mated me the other day. I must admit I was happily surprised because I never expected Adus to learn so fast as well as to defeat me in a game that was full of anticipation. I was also pleased because I knew that she has the potential to do very well if she had the chance.
It is odd how mysterious life can be. Here is a young woman who was degraded by her own family yet she has turned out to be a pleasant person. She is optimistic, hopeful, and decent. One would have thought the opposite after the savage treatment she endured for years. On the contrary, she gives comfort to those who are in need of it. I have already learned a great deal from her humanity and I know there is still plenty to impart. I have also found myself more than once leaning my ear to the sounds of the wise words she utters every now and then.
À suivre…