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Sixteen years ago...
I went up the narrow stairs of the building I lived in with my family, not even bothering to try the lift, which was always experiencing some sort of malfunction. I specifically went up the stairwell where each floor's disgusting, stinky trash was disposed of, because it was the safest way to avoid the unemployed men who hung around the corridors, drinking cheap spirits, smoking cheap weed, and looking for free sex wherever they could find it.
When I got to the eighth floor, I drew in a nervous breath, wondering what fight I might walk into. As I got closer, it became apparent that it was quiet for once in unit 803. Strange. I was still holding my breath as I dug into my backpack for my keys and unlocked the door, walking into the small living room with its mismatched furniture and a permanent fish odour, courtesy of my grandmother's insistence on mostly making traditional meals in her home.
I stepped into the tiny kitchen and found that the day's breakfast and lunch dishes were already washed, dried and packed away, the pealing fake marble countertops spotless, the floor sparkling and smelling like my grandmother's favourite brand of pine gel. My sister was home.
"Hi, Latoya," I said as I walked into the room we shared, finding her on her side, face buried in a book as she lay on her single bed and stretched her legs out against the wall.
"You're late." my eleven year old sister said to me, face still in book, legs still elevated.
"I was at the computer class with Ashley and Koffi."
My dark skinned sister, average in height but much shorter than me, sporting a buzz cut just like mine, finally sat up at the sound of Koffi's name. She was as crazy for the neighbourhood cutie as was almost every other girl who lived in the area.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Latoya complained. "I could have joined you. Last time you guys walked from the bus stop together and I was walking behind you, he turned around and winked at me. I think he likes me, too."
"If he does I'm punching him in the face. You're too young for him."
"Three years isn't much, Chey."
"It is."
"It's not. You just don't want to see me happy."
"Whatever, Toya." I said, shaking my head and finally getting out of my uniform and into the shorts and tank top I'd laid out on my own single bed, identical to my sister's, ready to go and eat. "Where's Gogo?"
"I don't know." Latoya said, rolling her eyes at the subject change. "She wasn't here when I got home. She left a note saying she'll be back and she better find her house clean, so make sure you wash your plate when you're done eating."
