The pampered one

8/2/2019 The pampered one

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THE PAMPERED ONE

ittle Louise was born after ten years of her parents marriage.And her parents got married when they were about 30 years

old. They were afraid of everything, in regard to the child. Theycould not imagine their life without her.

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Every home gets a new decoration, after the first childs birth;but with them exaggeration was so intense that the baby becamealmost the whole of their concerns. If the child was going to dosomething, they anticipated the dangers that could occur and theydid for the child, whatever the child was willing to do.

The mother dressed her as an earthenware doll that couldbreak into pieces at any moment. She never played on ground norwith toys which presented danger that could be dirty with bacteria oranother source of disease. The father exaggerated even more

Already grown-up, she would not change clothes or batheherself alone. She always slept in the parents room. Her bedbecame almost attached to the one of her parents. The bedroomsupposed to be hers became a place for her toys, which were many,many.

Her little female friends were always chosen among childrenwith instruction, good manners, clean appearance, etc. One of theparents was always alert to see anything that could threaten her.

- What kind of menace?- Any one!When it was time for her to go to school, there was much

doubt, at last the choice was for a quite traditional school havingstrongly established security. When they were told every teachercared for ten children, they could not accept it. They even proposedto the administration to pay a probationer just to care for her. As

their proposals were not accepted there were other ones, similarto this and after trying the same at other schools, they enrolledtheir daughter at this first one.

Her little colleagues used to take her toys but she didnt speakanything, she did not react. It seemed that she did not miss them.She, indeed, did not know how to fight. She would occult the factfrom her parents, whenever she could, as they would go to theDirector, to complain fiercely. They, the colleagues, also beat her,whenever they could, and she pretended not to feel a thing. This,

fortunately to her, was a disincentive to her aggressors. For all thesereasons, she hated school.

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- She was not born for a mans profession. My little bibelotlikes home, she was born to be a housewife. And she will be aperfect one!

She learned with her mother, how to cook, to embroider, how

to do crochet, to make knitted cloth and other domestic works.Besides etiquette. Nothing she learned or wanted to learn well.When she became a teenager, she never went out alone. Her

only leisure without her parents was the youth program of herchurch. And not all of it. Youth did not change this situation. Herfriends used her, due to her navet.

- She is fool, cant you see it?She wanted to be alienated of everything, as she had been

since she was born, because she was not allowed to have a normallife.

A lady-friend of her mother had one of her children, Dimas,who got interested in a lady who was quite free and about whompeople spoke evil things. Her name was Tricia.

- All Patricias have, for a nickname, Paty- Not me, all people call me Tricia.He became very fond of her. He only thought about her. She

was a hurricane. It was a dynamic love affair and it lasted longerthan one year. Then, the girlfriend became pregnant. It was a horror!His mother even had to be assisted at a hospital. The situation was

getting worse, when the young lady announced:- Im going to have an abortion!

Another commotion. The young mans mother quite religiousand against abortion even proposed to take care of the child, afterbirth, but she said no:

- Ill have the abortion, thats it! It is my child and I may decidewhat Ill do about him. Im not even sure if this child is his. Nobodywill detain me. I wasnt born to be a mother.

And so she did. The whole event presented just one

advantage: the love affair with that gal finished. The two weremutually deceived.

Then, the young mans mother started to think that Luluzinha(Little Louise) could be a perfect daughter-in-law. She talked to herfriend, who said that would think about the issue. She also talkedwith her husband and, after much meditation and conversation, thetwo decided to promote the encounter of them.

They talked with the two, prior to the approach.- Well, he is handsome boy, a bit fat, but he is not ugly.

- A bit fat is not important, every man gains weight, aftermarriage.

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- She is kind of pretty, not much appealing, a bit silly, shenever uses make-up.

- What do you want, someone with a lot of make-up to attractmen and be unfaithful to you? Gradually you make her become the

way you wish. It wont be difficult, she is so obedient.They had a snack together and got close together,satisfactorily. Less than a year later, they were married. On thatoccasion he was transferred to Brasilia. There was no other choiceand he had also the advantage of financial betterment and careerascension. They moved to the Capital city. Unfortunately, herparents died in an accident and his mother became seriously ill. Hercondition was so bad that she had to stay, most of the time, in bed.

Thus, the two stayed alone in Brasilia and they had their son.Tasks began to accumulate. She never worked out of home,

but as she was lazy, there was the need to hire a maid. At thebeginning it was difficult but they finally got Valdenira. She had twovirtues necessary to be hired: she wanted to work and she liked herwork. She had had two children, each one with a different father.Life had been tough to her and she considered lack of money to bea hindrance to her tranquility.

Her husband treated Luluzinha as a bibelot and she really waslike one. As her life was still and she wanted it to be that way, herdesires were almost childish:

- Clothes, to me, must have a neckband, a pocket andsleeves

- Why do you need pockets?- Well, one always needs to keep the house key, some change

or a hair flapIt is indispensable!- On my praying altar there must always be a flower. I wont

give up!- At home we only accept to have products of such brand. I

cannot do without it, its a quality requirement!

- But the janitors wife is doing some quite well done things, ofhigh quality, with much dedication and much hygiene

- Is it of that brand? Otherwise, it wont be good enough forme. Im sorry!

- Disposable glasses, not even think of them. By the way, anydisposable item, I hate it!

- Computers, I hate them!Prejudices lead to a false feeling of safety and to an illusion of

control.

She didnt drive cars and she rarely went out alone. She livedin a quite small part of the world.

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Her husband did not have a strong character. He gainedmoney because he submitted to his bosses for anything, includingcorruption.

At home Dimas lived life carelessly. He also loved eating. He

seemed to be always sleepy. Inside his interior world, he lived ofthe remembrances of the hurricane Tricia. He had been fixed on her.Despite her madness she represented the sole event in his life inwhich he did not vegetate. He still kept some of her photos andother items which belonged to her in a box locked with a key, andthat only he could open. His wife was never worried about it, not thatshe was secure, but due to omission. He would spend hours andhours living his past remembrances. Regarding movie or TVactresses he would find to be pretty only if they were similar toTricia. All this did not disturb the couple relationship, at least inappearance.

As Luluzinha hated to do housework in fact she did notappreciate doing any kind of work she overvalued the maids work.She also played little house, the same way she did when she wasa child, with her employee.

- Now you put the white plates and I will arrange the yellowones, with flowers.

- Let us see who can count them, firstly?And she laughed as a child. Valdenira found it out of this

world, but as she saw no disadvantage in all this, she participated init and pretended it was OK. She was quite experienced and herboss had no experience of what life really was. When there was aproblem to be solved, the clever maid would do it.

But the maid began to exceed the limits. Luluzinha would lether do it. Abuses grew in scope and intensity. The employer couldnot do anything without the maid and began to be dependent on her.

Valdenira got the habit of missing on Mondays:- I have to see a doctor at a health office close to my house, at

10 AM. To get a medical advice takes too long time, I cant comeback here today.

And the treatment lasted and lasted for more timeShe often came late and had a mediocre excuse for it. It was

usual for her, right after lunch after eating a lot to come withanother queer story. She convinced Luluzinha it was almost arequirement to buy a dishwasher. Of course they already had awashing machine for the clothes and similar houseware.

Every maid has a tendency towards abuse. There are worse

professions as, for example, the ones that require standing hours ina row in front of a machine, doing the same movement. In this case,

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the employee looks at his side, sees his colleagues doing the samekind of work and resigns well to that situation. On the contrary, at ahousehold work, the employee is in a condition of poverty and seeshis employers profiting from a social and financial condition quite

above the one he lives in. Then he makes comparisons that annoyhim. Many times he rebels against it. On their side, employerspractice false charity and feel regrets they should not feel. Manytimes the whole situation gets to be very complicated.

Valdenira ate the best that was at home. She would even eatthe imported cheese and leave the national ones to the bosses. Shedid the same in regard to the fruits. In regard to meat, the bestportion was hers. The only one who complained was their son.

- This son of yours has a poor characterhe is not equal toyou and your husband.

There were also the small thefts. At first she took away foodleftovers and other food in small pots. Right after she even decidedto prepare more meals than necessary, in order to have leftovers tofeed her family.

One of Luluzinhas cousin came to visit her in Brasilia, stayingin her house. She then saw the absurd Luluzinhas maid did andtried to alert her about it.

- Cousin, forget about itI ask myself why some people haveso much, while others have so little. And I cant find an answer to it.

How is that?- I had all in life. I was born after my parents had tried, for

years, to have a child. My layette was gorgeous. Even today myfamily makes comments about it. I was raised having all andeverything. When I became a woman, I did not have to look for ahusband, my parents presented Dimas to me and he is the besthusband in the world. He gives me all I need. My wedding was like aprincess one. My mother accomplished all she had planned, in thatparty.

- What about you?- Me too My beautiful one knows my preferences for

clothes, he knows where we should go on Sundays, or for anevening walk or in regard to a trip we decide to do. I dont need tothink about a thing, I just enjoy myself!

Her cousin looked at her, astonished. Her family and friendsalways had a quite different idea. Her parents had a fixed idea abouthaving a child and they didnt think about anything else. When shewas born, she was brought up like an earthenware doll. They neither

let her play nor live. She grew up seeming to be behind a shopwindow or inside a glass bell. They not only worried about her, they

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also decided about all issues, for her. She became a woman andthey provided a husband for her. The husband gave continuation tothe process. As it happened in Ibsens history, House of Dolls 1897, pay attention to the date -, she was a doll in her parents

hands and later became the same to her husband. But there is adifference between the character Nora Helmer and Luluzinha. Thefirst one perceived her condition and revolted against it, ourcharacter, no. On the contrary, she even thought her life to be betterthan the one of everyone else.

She did not have enough courage to manifest herself againstthe woman who worked and who faced life with determination,nevertheless she judged her to be inferior. Firstly, because she didnot succeed to find someone to support her, to give her all I want.The emancipated woman has really everything she wants.

Her cousin went back to her State and only remembered herbecause, from time to time, she used to tell her way of being,laughing among her friends.

Years passed by. On a grief day her husband died and shewas left alone. Her son had already left home. She didnt know anddidnt want to take care of money. She let herself be cheated andher brain found a way to be alienated. She went to a sanatorium andthere she stayed, supported by her pension. She even looked well,like a little girl. By the end of her life she made hair curls and put

ribbons in her hair. Maybe she resumed sucking nursing bottlesThe sad part of it was left to Valdenira. She abused so much

and Luluzinha allowed her to do so much absurd, that the maid gotused to it. When she lost her job, she could no more get used toany other. Yes, why would another boss accept that limitlessattitude? After all, a maid is engaged in a house to do thehousework and to eat within the limits of dignity, without living thesame life of her bosses. Luluzinhas and her husbands attitude ledher to the transgressions she did. After all, they spoiled who would

be a good maid

THE END

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The pampered one

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