"There are no secrets that time does not reveal."
— Jean Racine
What wasn't normal though was the minister's new lady love.
Over time, he had relegated Amanda to being his companion only during the day, when she would saunter around the house like she owned it, dishing instructions to the staff.
They minister had cleaned her up, so she no longer looked quite as dirty and unrefined as she used to.
But that wasn't even the bizarre part of the situation.
One evening, I noticed him with another woman, a much younger woman this time.
On the one hand, I was happy that Amanda's monopoly on the old man had come to an end, but on the other hand, I couldn't help but feel threatened by the fact that his new woman looked almost as young as I did.
She was very tall, over six feet, and even though she also wasn't particularly pretty, she had more refinement than was the norm for his courtesans.
As she walked into the lobby with him, she strutted like a beauty queen…a supermodel.
She had a whole lot more confidence than was commensurate with her looks, so much so that one could even be deceived into thinking she was better looking than she really was.
She came home with him most evenings, spent the night, and left first thing in the morning.
Then later in the morning, at about 9am, Amanda would arrive, she and the minister would spend time in his bedroom, before leaving together for the office or where ever the go to
He no longer went there as early as he used to, and sometimes didn't even go at all. But as threatened as I was by his nighttime girlfriend, I couldn't help but admire the effective timeshare he had with his two mistresses.
Until I found out the shocking news that the younger woman was Amanda's daughter, who was barely out of her teens.
"Really?" I exclaimed when madam Maria gave me the scandalous piece of information, as we watched the young girl catwalk out of the house in the early hours of the morning. "It can't be true!"
Madam let out a long sigh, barely able to contain herself. "These men are beasts! It almost makes me believe the rumour that has been told around . If it's not father and son sleeping with the same woman, it is mother and daughter sleeping with the same man!"
She went on to tell me how she knew Amanda from her hometown, and even knew when she had Clara , her only child.
"I know them very well. That's why when that useless woman comes here, raising her shoulders, I just look at her, wondering whom she's trying to exercise authority over, because it's clearly not me. I knew when she married her late husband and how she struggled to have clara. I know them very well," she shook her head, her upturned nose an indicator of her disgust. "Clara just got into the College in Alabama . I hear that is one of the reasons Amanda has been following the minister, to be able to pay for her daughter's education. I'm sure she doesn't know the man is getting his repayment from the two of them."
"Oh my Godi!" I exclaimed, unable to believe what I was hearing, and when Amanda showed up shortly after, I couldn't help but stare at her, wondering if she really didn't know what was happening between her lover and her daughter.
But she was as oblivious as ever, her loud voice reverberating around the house as it typically did.
And when she walked out of the house later that morning, arms interlocked with the minister's, I couldn't help but cross my own arms over my chest in amazement.
If what madam maria had said was true, then it was the most bizarre thing ever.
That evening, when Clara returned, looking at her, I saw that, indeed, this was Amanda's daughter.
They both had the same large face, wide eyes, and overbite, but Clara was clearly the younger and slightly better looking version.
I watched her disappear upstairs with the minister, my mouth agape as I beheld the spectacle that it was.
In fact, it wasn't just a spectacle, it was a downright circus.
By the second month, I was convinced that both women had to know about each other. There was no way they could be in the dark about their dalliance with the same man.
There was just no way the minister could have been juggling them so efficiently for so long.
The longer it went on for, the more convinced I was that both mother and daughter knew what they were doing.
I was in my garden one afternoon, just as the minister ,Amanda and his convoys drove out.
As I did every time I saw them together, I remained rooted to the spot, gaping at the car as it made its way to the gate, still floored by the soap opera playing out before me.
"It's disgraceful, isn't it," came a voice from behind me.
I turned around to see the young gardener who'd been recently hired. I had never given him a second glance before, and was suddenly struck by how good-looking he was up close. But he wasn't good looking enough not to have any respect for my husband. Madam maria, I could gossip with, but not him, some random, domestic staff who might not even be there the next day. "Excuse you," I retorted.
He immediately realised his mistake and gave me a curt nod. "Apologies, Ma."
As he walked away, I couldn't help but check him out. Tall and very well built, he looked like he belonged in a bodybuilding competition. I was suddenly regretful of silencing him, wishing instead that I'd listened to him.
He might have even had some juicy information about Amanda and Clara that I would have loved to hear, and now I would never know.
When I returned to my bedroom, I watched him from my window, his sweat glistening on his glossy ebony skin as he worked under the sun.
At one point, he looked up and our eyes held. He waved, and I briefly contemplated shutting my window blinds and ducking so he wouldn't see me. But instead, I waved back, eliciting a smile from him, a perfect smile revealing deep dimples running down both sides of his face.
"Who is that new boy I saw mowing the grass?" I asked madam maria casually, as she dished my dinner that evening.
Her brows furrowed before she finally realised who I was referring to.
"Oh, you mean Jason?" she laughed. "We hired him about a month ago. The grass was looking too unkempt, and the boy needed the money. I know his family; very decent and hardworking. He said he's trying to save money for university."
Saving for university. Interesting. This gave him several points in my book. A good-looking, sexy man with ambition…there was everything to like about that.
Everything.