Like Chalk and Cheese | ✏️

Chapter 6 - Rith

Yeay = Grandma
Mteay = Mother
Aupok = Father
Pou = Uncle

==========

Like most mornings, they start off busy in the Duong household. Most people wake up with an alarm clock blaring by their bedside, do a yawn and a stretch, take in their daringly-awful bedhead in a mirror, and get up and freshen up and start their day with a delectable glass of coffee and breakfast. 

Not mine. My alarm clock is the sound of my parents angrily shouting something in Khmer to each other, followed by my grandmother tearing up the kitchen like she's on MasterChef, and Pou singing in the shower. Most of the time, I don't remember waking up. Those sounds meld into my dreams, and my brain blurs the line between unconsciousness and awake. 

I wake up, my head already spinning from my mum calling dad an idiot for the nth time, my eyes bleary. I wipe away whatever sleepy dust has formed and throw on my shorts. My room's at the back of the house, but the house is tiny, so I'm still quite close to the high-traffic areas, like the kitchen, bathroom, and living room. I scratch my back and walk outside, nearly colliding with Pou as he gets out of the shared bathroom. 

"Mornin'," he says, his old towel wrapped around his waist. His toothbrush stuck halfway out of his mouth, his eyes on Yeay, who was about to throw some pork into a pot of oil. 

I half wave at him, nearly slipping on a puddle of water as I step into the bathroom. Wiping away at the condesation on the glass, I pick up my toothbrush and nearly gag at the mould that's creeping up in the bathroom again. "Pou! Didn't you clean up the mess in there?"

Pou ducks his head in again, taking the brush out of his mouth. "I did! That's what your parents are arguing about. One wants to renovate the whole bathroom and the other one wants to bleach it for a week." 

I scoff. "We don't have the money for either. God, must they argue this early?"

He shrugs. "Must they argue at all? Anyway, food'll be ready soon. I gotta finish brushing and getting changed. There's only a little bit of paste left, so make sure you save some for Yeay!"

Nodding, I put the tiniest pea-shaped blob of white onto my brush. "I'll save her some. Food smells good."

Pou leaves, and I'm left alone in the bathroom. As I brush, I look around the room, trying to focus on anything but the broken mirror in front of me. A family of daddy-long-legs have overtaken one of the ceiling corners, dozens of fly carcasses strung to the invisible webbing. A few plastic plants sit sadly in a corner, looking as vibrant as they are dusty. Mum always fancied the fake plants, stating that they'll look pretty for forever, but I just thought they were tacky. 

I spit and rinse. Food's smelling delectable, and since Grandma's making it, I'm guaranteed a swathe of flavours. 

As I finish freshening up, I rush to my room and throw a shirt on, going into the kitchen. Yeay's pulling out chunks of golden brown meat from the deep fryer, placing them on a bed of lettuce leaves and rice. On the side of the plate was a freshly cut bundle of cucumber (she sliced them into stalks) and some wild tomato. My mouth was already watering. 

"You gonna help?" she asks. I nod, immediately heading toward the dishes. 

"You a good boy, you know? Your Mteay and Aupok are stupid. You're so helpful."

I smile to myself. "Thanks, Grandma. I love you."

She waves a hand dismissively, but I know that's Yeay talk for I love you too. "Set table, please? And can you get those wild animals to come in and eat?"