I'm A Brown Girl

~ Chapter 2 ~

After two long days and two long nights, we have finally moved all of our things in Oendis. Apparently, it took a 6 hour flight and the mover's truck delayed a lot of things. Plus, Mummy and Papa asked me to help assist with moving the furniture. Our new apartment is called Maverick Gardens. Our old apartment had two floors. It was really a 'town house' but I was used to calling it an apartment. This one is a plain old standard American apartment. Only one floor, but two bedrooms and two bathrooms with a small kitchen. In front of the kitchen is a small space that is called the living room with a TV and sofa set, and to the right of the kitchen is the dining table. To the left of the living room is a really small place for a balcony, and Mummy already put our herbal plants, the Tulasi plant, and money plants on. I opened the door to the balcony to get a breeze of air. It reminded me of the winds in Mumbai at night. It was chilly, rather, but it felt more welcoming than our old town.

Mummy and Papa sat tiredly at the sofas in the living room, turning on the TV. They switched the channels with the remote, eventually settling for the news channel. The weather reporter looked happily at the camera, smiling as she pointed at the USA map, showing the rains and the highs and lows. It's all in the 60s and 70s where we live right now, which means a light jacket would do. But Mummy and Papa didn't feel entertained and turned off the TV instantly. Mummy then got up and handed me a schedule of my new high school, Oendis High School.

"You are starting school tomorrow," she explained. "This schedule tells you all of your classes for the year, what rooms they are in, the teachers, whatnot. I would suggest you to eat something and have a rest. Tomorrow, the bus will come at 6:50 am, so be up bright and early."

"What is for dinner?" I asked.

"I couldn't make anything today, Diya, sorry," she said, looking apologetically at me. Mummy looked like she suffered those migraines. I remember in Mumbai she literally just laid there when she got one, and my grandmother would put on a Bollywood movie on television to wake her up. I remembered Mummy's laughter, which took the pain away.

"You want to watch a Hindi movie?" I asked, turning on the TV.

Mummy shook her head. "There are no Hindi movies on the TV, Diya. I'll just go and sleep."

I eventually got up from the armchair and opened the fridge. There was absolutely nothing but two plastic water bottles, a can of soda, and a leftover sandwich. On the counter, there were a pack of potato chips, Cheez Doodles, and cookies. Back in India, there was an abundant supply of food.

Diya, you can't just complain about how golden life in India was! You will NOT go back to India and you have suck it up and learn how to make things better where you are now. I thought in my head. I was right. Perhaps complaining wasn't the right choice. Since the beginning, I kept complaining about India. India isn't so golden though—Mumbai is one of the most polluted cities in India and is home to robberies and kidnapping. Maybe there is something golden about America I shall find soon.

After settling on the leftover sandwich and cookies, I watched a cartoon on TV while eating. Tom and Jerry was playing. I watched it back in India, too. The lovely arguments of Tom the cat and Jerry the mouse. The funniest show ever that I wouldn't want to miss. After the show ended, I turned off the TV and headed towards my bedroom to rest.

Before I knew it, it was 6 am, time for school. I glanced at my schedule to see names, subjects, and numbers. It looked rather confusing — but I was able to make out what it said. First, I had Honors English with Mrs. Ramirez, then Algebra 2 Honors with Mr. Roberts. After that, I had elective class, which was drawing, and finally lunch. After lunch, there was US History, Gym, and Biology class until dismissal. It didn't seem too bad.