Conveniently Inspired

Chapter Two

Miu-miu = elder sister

Go-go = elder brother

Ma-ma = mother

Po-po = grandmother

Nieu = granddaughter

"Hello? Ma-ma?" The door shut, prompting the jingle from the tiny, silver bell. Her two younger siblings trailed quickly behind. Ben, age ten, with his face glued to the device in his palms, and Lena, little, energetic Lena, at a whopping six years who already had more nerve than Skylar's entire seventeen years.

"Go upstairs" Skylar hollered at them. "Do your homework. And Ben, put your tablet away!"

"But mui-mui," Lena whined, tugging on her elder sister's sweater sleeve. "I wanna play a game. Will you play a game with me?"

Skylar sighed. With Lena's mushy cheeks and high-rise pigtails, complete with their rosy pink ribbons, she was a hard kid to resist. Out of the three Lin siblings, Lena was undeniably the most spoiled. And whenever Aaron stopped by with presents, there was always the most designated for her.

"Later. I have homework to do, and I need to watch the store. Go with go-go." With an anguished cry, Lena obedied, her stumpy backpack hitting the back of her knees with every footfall. That knapsack, like everything else she owned, was a direct hand-me-down from Skylar. Just about everything in her brother and sister's possessions were once touched by Skylar. Which is why Lena's backpack was practically the same size as her, why her sneakers had such a gaping hole in the back that they fit like flip-flops, and why her shirt had to be tied up with an elastic at the back. It gave her a tiny tail that made her look like a dog. Lena liked it, so it didn't really matter that they were poor. Kids didn't know any better anyways. Skylar wished she could be that age again- so naive, so unaware. She associated youth with being underwater: when submerged, everything was ten times prettier. All you saw were the colorful sea animals and bright blue waves. But the second your head broke at surface level, there was the entire world to digest, and sometimes, there was so much ugly that she understood how drowning on land was a thing.

Their home was right above the convenience store. Near the back hall, there was a set of very narrow stairs which you had to hold onto the thin wooden railing to prevent falling. In the adjacent room, there was the living room where the Lin family spent most of their leisure time. Skylar watched Ben and Lena go up the stairs, noticing for the first time just how empty the store was. Everyday, Skylar had to walk several blocks down to the local elementary school and pick up her siblings. By the time they walked back to the store/home, taking alleyways as shortcuts, it was nearly 4:30 pm, which was usually peak customer hour on a school day. Skylar hopped up on the counter and spun around so she sat facing the register. She swung the backpack off her shoulder, and it landed with a thud on the ground. Clumsily hopping off, she bent down to retrieve the apron dangling off the hook. It was just a simple cream-coloured apron. Fishing her nametag on the small dish beside the golden plastic cat with its waving paw, she clipped the pin to her left chest.

"Neui-ah?" Naomi's grandmother waddled out, re-adjusting her pants. She wore those ratty old pants everyday, these ordinary black slacks that were so loose they waved like a flag with each step. Judging by her po-po's hand placement, she had just come fresh out of the washroom. Although the Lin family has lived here for twenty years, her po-po only understood fragments of broken English. The only phrases she managed to pick up were the basics: "What is your name?" "Do you speak English?" and "I am going to the toilet" (the main excuse she used when an irritating telemarketer stood on the other line). Aside from that, she always spoke to her family in Canto. "Did you just come home?" po-po asked in their native tongue.