Photographs

Chapter 1

"Alaiyah!!!"  I flinch.  "Alaiyah!" I wrap the duvet tighter around me. "Alaiyah!" I grab several pillows and pile them on top of my head. "Alaiyah! Come On! Get down here right now! Don't make me come up there!" My Mom bellowed. "I'm warning you!" I sighed in defeat, threw the covers away and huffily made my way downstairs. My feet stomping down each step. There she was the source of all the noise, sprawled on the sofa while she barked out commands to my little brother. “What?!” I yelled. “Why are you screaming my name at god knows what time in the morning?!” I stared her out then used her favourite phrase. “What will the neighbours think?” She looked me over got up and made her way to the kitchen gathering empty breakfast bowls on the way. “Well if you’ve got nothing else to say I’ll be upstairs sleeping.” I stalked off but only got as far as the second step before she spoke. “Alaiyah, seeing as it’s your first day at college I would’ve thought you wanted to get up early and prepare because we all know you take bloody forever. So being the good mother I bloody I am took the liberty of waking you up but no it’s fine you go back to your slumber and I’ll wake you up five minutes before you have to leave. Just so I can watch you run around like a headless chicken. So please don’t stop on my account.” With a sly smirk on her face she shut the kitchen door. I supressed a small gasp as to how I could’ve forgotten I start college today and kicked myself for letting her get one over me.

I walked into the kitchen ignoring her irritating presence  and busied myself making breakfast, my mom however stood by the window drinking tea and watching passing people. “You won’t believe what your sister wanted to do with her hair this morning.” she said. Moving and sitting next to a stall near me, I sniffed primly and went and stood at the counter to eat my cornflakes. I waited. “Two buns on the side of her head and the rest of it out showcasing her bloody, frizzy curls to the public!” exclaimed my mother, “I mean at least tie your hair up on the first day of year 3 or if she insists on having it out, a slick of oil isn’t going to harm anyone.” She stared at me waiting for me to agree with her. I carried on munching on my cereal till the madam herself appeared.

“Maya, I’ve already said you can’t go to school like that. You look a mess for God’s sake!” she shrieked, Maya ignored all this and rummaged through the one of the junk draws. “You look a bloody mess for Pete’s sake!” she complained, lowering her voice a little, “And WHAT are you looking for?!” Maya huffed noisily then span on her feet with a disgusted look on her face. “I need an extra grip!”

 I started to turn around to tell her to shut the hell up when I nearly choked on a cornflake.  Maya’s hair is extremely curly so sometimes it has the tendency to frizz itself out however no amount of extreme frizziness compared to what greeted me. There siting on top of her head lodged between two tightly, coiled buns  was what looked like some fricken’ dodo bird or something had given birth and then died.

Maya noticed my choking and so told me that “didn’t I prefer this than to a year 3 straightening the hell out of her hair”. And I kid you not she used those exact words; I threw a distained look at my mom who had already retreated in defeat. I shot a glance at Maya who was already expertly staring me out I muffled a bad word before I launched into a full-on slang match with her- that girl may only be 7yrs old but damn she can cuss me from here to the moon and back and quite frankly I just don’t have the time to whoop her arse so I left with as much dignity as I could muster. Seems like my little sister is going to school looking like a burlesque dancer fresh from the 90’s.