TOXIC BLOODLINES 1/4

BLUE SKIES

KIMBERLY

The electricity returned in the early morning hours, and the work began. Aaron and I cleaned up what we could around the house. The rest would need skilled professionals, but I was sure Baba would find a way to do it himself because he's stubborn. Sweeping up the broken glass from the floor, Aaron joked about his mom's vases that didn't survive the quake. He thought taking pictures of them and posting them in the family group chat would be funny... She did not find it funny at all.

Aunty Aminah had been checking in from the hospital whenever she could; we could barely hear her over the chaos in the background. She told us how bad things actually were. The hospital was packed, and there weren't enough nurses. She was supposed to be back home, but she had to stay. 'I can't leave them.'

The mess inside the house was overwhelming, and it felt like the work would never end. I needed a break, or at least five or ten minutes, to rest my feet. Somehow, I ended up doing most of the housework—not surprised about that all. The day Aaron washes a dish pigs will fly. Tying up another trash bag, the sweat on my skin began to irritate me. I can't. I'd been up since four in the morning.

Taking a few minutes to rest, I sat next to one of the many shattered windows in the lounge. The devastation that befell my street the previous night was lit up by the sun. It was jarring—post-apocalyptic. Okay, that was a bit of an exaggeration. But it was deeply unsettling. I still couldn't believe it actually happened. My street looked as if we were hit by a terrible storm or a bomb had gone off.

Wiping the sweat from my forehead, I saw something strange. Crows perched on the ash-caked rooftops on my street. They weren't moving; they just sat silently.

Weird.

Aaron walked into the room and sat next to me. He pointed out how blue the sky was, not a single cloud in sight, a seemingly perfect day. As a joke, he stuck his head through an opening in the broken window. I was too annoyed to give him a laugh.

"Oh, lighten up," he sneered.

"Aaron, I've been cleaning since four a.m.," I sneered back, reminding him about the unfair division of labor.

He scoffed and pulled his head back inside. I continued to stare at the birds. "...Do you see that?" I pointed.

"See what?" Aaron looked out.

"On the rooftops, the crows. They're just sitting there. It's weird, right?" I looked to him for a reaction.

"Maybe IT'S THE END OF THE WORLD," Aaron deepened his voice, not taking it seriously.

"Really," I rolled my eyes.

He started convulsing and rolled his eyes back. "THEY'RE COMING TO GET YOU, BARBARA," Aaron tried to scare me. "BRAINS, BRAINS," he acted like a zombie.

"Stop it, Aaron!" I poked him in the stomach with the broom.

"Ouch!" he yelped. "When did you get so boring, sis?"

"When are you going back to campus? Which girlfriend are you hiding from this time, it is Piya, Nadia, or is that white one who has been messaging me on Instapix?" I replied.

"Geez, you don't need to be mean," Aaron hit me with a pillow as he got up. "What the fuck?" His eyes widened at whatever he saw. "Holy shit!"

"Aaron, it's not fun—" Before I could finish my sentence, Aaron ran out of the room, and my heart began to race.

"Baba?" I called out for my uncle in case nature wasn't done messing with us. I chased after Aaron; he rushed out the front door.

I stopped in the doorway.