We were all praying Asr when Abi returned. I went down the stairs and he told me, "Go tell your mom that we will be doing grocery."
"Okay."
So I told her, and she said, "Whoever wants to go, siap." ('siap' means 'get ready' in Malay.)
"I don't want to go," I said, because my hair was still wet from my late shower.
"I don't want to go, 'cuz my hair's wet and all," S echoed my thoughts.
"Okay," said Ummi.
I went down the stairs again but stopped halfway because Abi and H were sitting there discussing something, blocking the way down. I decided to jump down from the high place where I was, but it looked too dangerous. So I waited for Abi and H to be done. Then I trotted down the stairs. Ummi told me to practice my surah while she was gone. So I played it on Quran Explorer and listened to it until they came back. I jumped up and helped put some of the stuff away. Ooh, three bunches of bananas! And watermelon! And kiwis!
While Ummi was cooking and H was doing dishes or something, I looked at our fruit stash and said, "Hmm...I can make a fruit salad!"
"Ha'a," Ummi agreed.
So when all the food and cleaning was done and the table was set and Abi and the bro's left for the masjid, we all went upstairs for Maghrib. When we went down, we quickly filled our plates with food before the people arrived. Then Abi came home with Z. Seconds after that, the people arrived and knocked on the door. Ummi rushed upstairs and I ran to my room with my plate.
S and I ate in silence and waited for Ummi to enter the room and eat with us. I sat on the ground because my chari was taken out. I ate while reading Outcast in my left hand.
"I'm finishing too fast," S said, sweeping up the last bits of her food with her fingers.
"Me too. We'll have to ask Ummi to get more food for us," I said.
After a looooong time, Ummi came in. She was holding a plate of fruit salad and a plate of food.
"Hi mom," I said.
She took off her abaya and tudung. (Tudung is the Malay word for 'hijab'.) "Where can I sit?" she asked.
"The ground," I said brusquely.
"Nooo, it's hot," she said. "Where can I get the wind?"
"Where the thing is flapping," S said, pointing to the flapping sheet of paper that flapped because it was being exposed to the cooler.
Ummi sat on my desk, which I had just beautifully groomed. I mean cleaned.
Pretty soon we were finished eating, and we told Ummi to get more. She put on her clothes and took S's plate. Then she came back and took mine. "What do you want?" she asked.
"Same thing as S, rice, beef, kuah..." (Kuah is a Malay word for gravy.)
"Okeh."
She gave me my plate. Then we ate. When we were finished we realized we couldn't go out and wash our hands. "We can use the hose," S said. So she went through the mudroom and garage and washed her hands with the hose out in the front yard. When she came back I went and I KILLED MY FOOT WITH A SILLY BIKE PUMP.
IT STUNG LIKE FURY.
I limped out and washed my hands. Then I returned to my room. I dried my hands, then sat on my bed and read my book. Somehow a conversation of books and literature popped up. While we talked, the men in the dining room cackled madly, like goblins.
And that was the end of that. The men left at Isha time, we prayed Isha, and then I killed a bug no the stairs while going to help Z shower.
N
After some time Ummi yelled at all of us to clean the house. I was in the bathroom tying up my hair. I hastily tied it up and cleaned. I wiped the table, tableclothed it, swept, and mopped. Then S told me to clean the bathroom toilet because she was too grossed out.
Then Ummi called me to make the fruit salad. I sliced one banana, sliced two kiwis, halved a bunch of grapes, cubed a watermelon and a cantaloupe too. Then, so as to preserve the bananas, I squirted some lemon juice over everything. Then I stirred everything slovenly together and placed the salad on the table. "This is a rainbow fruit salad," I said.
So when all the food and cleaning was done and the table was set and Abi and the bro's left for the masjid, we all went upstairs for Maghrib. When we went down, we quickly filled our plates with food before the people arrived. Then Abi came home with Z. Seconds after that, the people arrived and knocked on the door. Ummi rushed upstairs and I ran to my room with my plate.
S and I ate in silence and waited for Ummi to enter the room and eat with us. I sat on the ground because my chari was taken out. I ate while reading Outcast in my left hand.
"I'm finishing too fast," S said, sweeping up the last bits of her food with her fingers.
"Me too. We'll have to ask Ummi to get more food for us," I said.
After a looooong time, Ummi came in. She was holding a plate of fruit salad and a plate of food.
"Hi mom," I said.
She took off her abaya and tudung. (Tudung is the Malay word for 'hijab'.) "Where can I sit?" she asked.
"The ground," I said brusquely.
"Nooo, it's hot," she said. "Where can I get the wind?"
"Where the thing is flapping," S said, pointing to the flapping sheet of paper that flapped because it was being exposed to the cooler.
Ummi sat on my desk, which I had just beautifully groomed. I mean cleaned.
Pretty soon we were finished eating, and we told Ummi to get more. She put on her clothes and took S's plate. Then she came back and took mine. "What do you want?" she asked.
"Same thing as S, rice, beef, kuah..." (Kuah is a Malay word for gravy.)
"Okeh."
She gave me my plate. Then we ate. When we were finished we realized we couldn't go out and wash our hands. "We can use the hose," S said. So she went through the mudroom and garage and washed her hands with the hose out in the front yard. When she came back I went and I KILLED MY FOOT WITH A SILLY BIKE PUMP.
IT STUNG LIKE FURY.
I limped out and washed my hands. Then I returned to my room. I dried my hands, then sat on my bed and read my book. Somehow a conversation of books and literature popped up. While we talked, the men in the dining room cackled madly, like goblins.
And that was the end of that. The men left at Isha time, we prayed Isha, and then I killed a bug no the stairs while going to help Z shower.
N
