Read Online The Colour of Gold by Oliver T Spedding - Free Book Online

and
then came the bathroom followed by the kitchen. Next to the lounge
was the dining room followed by a large scullery. The back yard was
enclosed by corrugated iron fencing with a washing line and a small
storage shed.
    The furniture
in the house was all about the same age as the house – heavy wooden
tables and chairs with ball-and-claw feet in the dining room, large
overstuffed chairs and a settee in the lounge and a wooden double
bed in the main bedroom. The bathroom contained an old
free-standing enamel tub and two basins with mirrors attached to
the wall. In the kitchen, a magnificent iron and brass coal stove
with a black chimney running up through the ceiling stood in one
corner. A more modern electric stove stood beside it. A large white
fridge and a chest freezer stood against one wall. A white marble
shelf with varnished wooden cupboards below it ran along the
opposite wall. Despite its age the little house had a comfortable
homely quaintness about it.
    “I’m going to
love staying here.” Julia said. “We need cutlery, crockery and
linen and food. Let’s make up a list of all the things that we
need. But where are we going to buy them and with what?”
    “Mister Moore
said that we can open an account at the concession store near the
black miner’s quarters.” Bogdan said.
    “Concession
store?” Julia asked.
    “Yes. It’s a
shop on the mine premises that keeps just about everything.” Bogdan
said. “Food, bicycles, furniture, radios, cutlery, crockery – you
name it, they’ve got it. The owner of the store has to bid for the
right to use the building and sell his goods. That’s why it’s
called a ‘concession’ store. Anyway, let’s get the list drawn up so
that we can buy what we need and start living properly. I’ve got a
feeling that we're going to do very well here.”
    "What about a
domestic servant?" Julia asked. "After all, most white households
in South Africa have a domestic maid to do the washing and ironing,
clean the house and sometimes even do the cooking of meals."
    "Yes." Bogdan
said. "From what I've heard most of the domestic maids up here on
the Reef don't have permission to live and work here so they are
prepared to work for very low wages. They're also very honest and
reliable and don't cause any trouble. They know that their
employers can very easily have them sent back to the homelands
where there's no work if they cause trouble. Apparently a lot of
them do indulge in petty theft though, stealing small amounts of
sugar, tea, coffee and that sort of thing but they very seldom
steal anything of value like jewellery or money. Not having a
"pass" for this area makes them very vulnerable and most homeowners
take advantage of this."
    "How do we find
one?" Julia asked.
    "I don't think
we'll have to find one." Bogdan said. "As soon as the word spreads
that we are new in the area the women will come to us looking for
work."
    "Can we choose
one together?" Julia asked. "I wouldn't know which one to
choose."
    "From what I've
heard there are certain things that we need to take into account
when choosing a domestic." Bogdan said. "Obviously, they must know
how to do the washing and ironing and keep the house clean. Then
they should not have permission to live and work here. That's very
important. As long as they know that we can have them sent back to
the homelands if they give us any trouble they'll work hard. And
finally, they must be clean and have a good knowledge of what
cleanliness and neatness is. As they'll be spending a lot of time
in our house and possibly even doing some cooking for us this is
very important. We must also make sure they know how to work the
machines like the vacuum cleaner, the washing machine and the stove
properly."
    "If they show
up here what should I tell them?" Julia asked.
    "Tell them to
come back at five o'clock in the afternoon." Bogdan said. "I'll
come home straight from work and we can interview them
together."
    The following
day, while Julia was