When You Were My Sister

Chapter Six (What we do not talk about)

Neima 

I helped Auntie Prepare breakfast. The smell of Ackee and salt fish, roast breadfruit, chocolate tea, and coffee permeated the air around us. She kept the mood light joking about her and daddy's childhood, how they use to carry water on their heads for miles, every morning and every evening, to use in the house. How the common fowl was their kind of poultry and she did not understand what the white fowl was. They would catch the rooster from Saturday evening feed it vinegars to clear its intestines, then killed it on Sunday for dinner. She talked about how they use to buy ice from the ice truck back in the days, burring it in the ground in saw dust, and it would keep for days. She reminisced about Great Grandma Gigi, how she would grater coconut in the outside kitchen, and has kids they would eat the coconut cud when she boiled coconut oil. Great Grandma Gigi had been a very industrious woman, beating chocolate and coffee beans with her marter stick, and drying meat in the outside kitchen because they never had any refrigerator. She would sell in the market every Wednesday, Friday and Saturday. Auntie reminded me how privileged our generation was, because in her days they did not have television, their means of entertainment was telling Anancy and duppy stories at night.

Avery joined us in the kitchen in the middle of her history lesson and he was entranced. He could hardly believe that there was a time without TV and internet. Auntie let him know that at his age, she and daddy had so many chores they had no time to be lazy like the current generation, who had become zombies with screens. Her comment sparked a debate between her and Avery about the difference between their generation. I knew it was a debate Avery would lose, but I was amused by his efforts.

I was busy slicing the steaming breadfruit on a plate when James walked into the kitchen. He kissed me on the cheek, snaking an arm around my waist.

"Smells great." He said.

"Thank you, I know I do."

He chuckled taking a slice of the breadfruit and putting it into his mouth.

"Where is Naomi?"

"Busy learning Bible stories with her grandma in her room."

"We are about to have breakfast."

"Do you want me to get them?"

"No." I squeezed his arm.

Nola walked into the kitchen looking sleepy, her hair a tussled mess. She sat down on a stool at the serving isle next to Avery. "What is the commotion about?"

"Auntie thinks our generation is lazy and uninspired." Avery looked at Nola.

Nola raise an eye brow at him. "How old are you?"

"Fourteen."

"What is the hardest job you have ever done?"

Avery looked taken aback. Avery grew up in privilege in a privileged country. The hardest thing he had ever done was putting his clothes on in the mornings.

"I-I, aren't you supposed to be defending our generation?"

"Think of me as Switzerland, I am neutral." She shrugged her shoulders. "But Auntie my generation did create social media, that way you don't have to send telegrams anymore." She said smugly.

James laughed.

"No, my generation created social media." I said.

"What? Don't be ridiculous, how old are you forty?" She said cheekily.

My mouth gapped open in shock. "I am thirty-seven, I am not that old, and my generation paved the way for social media as you know it today."

"Neima, you don't even know what snapchat is." Avery said.