Halfway Across the World

Chapter Six- Youth Church

The first time I wake up, it's to my Nigerian alarm. Six am there is one am here, and I practically break a finger trying to turn the alarm off. I sleep through my new Canadian alarm, and when I finally peel myself out of bed it's seven am.

Today is Sunday, so I get up to get ready. The house is quiet, and warm. I step onto the soft carpet and pull my carry-on from underneath my bed. I need something to wear for church, but all my church clothes are in my luggage, which still hasn't arrived. After a bit of rummaging, I pull out a yellow sundress that should work well enough for church, though if my mother ever saw it she'd tell me to go get changed.

My mother! I pick up my phone and find that she did call me, severally. Good morning Mama. The time is weird here, I missed your calls.

No response. She must be in church. I open my world clock and find that it's past twelve. Makes sense.

I head out into the hall to get to the bathroom. The younger ones' room door is open, and I can hear clatter downstairs. Oh God, I woke up late and they're all waiting for me. 

I hurry into the bathroom and hop into the shower. It's one of those fancy glass ones that my aunty in Lagos has, and the water runs so hot I almost burn myself. When I'm done I brush my teeth, and rush back to my room to use lotion, deodorant, and get dressed.

I head downstairs apologizing. "I'm sorry, I overslept-" "Hey, Adeola! Don't worry about it." Mrs. Watson is nowhere to be seen, though I hear her voice. Chioma and her siblings are at the dining table, eating. Well, not all of them. Lilian is throwing bits of cereal from her booster seat.

Their mother's head pops out of the kitchen. She has her hair in the same bun from yesterday, but she's wearing a simple red blouse and black jeans. "Is there anything you want for breakfast? Pancakes? Bacon? We still have a while before we leave." I shake my head "I'm fine, thank you." "Okay. Chioma, want to help her choose a-" "I got it."

Chioma gets up and comes over to me. "We have Krave, Fruity Pebbles, Cheerios, Cocoa Puffs, and my mom's gross granola." I blink at her. "Um." I don't know what half of those are. "Cocoa Puffs," I say, because I used to eat that sometimes at home. Plus, you can't go wrong with chocolate.

Chioma nods and goes into the kitchen. I follow, and find that her mother is assembling some sort of sandwich. She offers me a bit of pink meat, and I try not to wrinkle my nose as I say "No thank you." Chioma dumps an embarrassing amount of cereal in a bowl, loads it with milk from a bag, and hands it to me.

As we go back to the dining table, Chioma steps on something that crunches underneath her foot. "Mom, Lilian is throwing her cheerios again." "Lily!" Lilian only giggles from her seat, shoving a handful of Cheerios in her mouth with one hand. Christopher's eyes are glued to his iPad next to me as I sit down.

We all eat in silence, and when I'm done I take my dish to the kitchen. The sink is empty but for a spoon and sippy cup, and there's no sponge, just a weird brush.

I get some soap and scrub the dish, and then place it on the counter awkwardly. Chioma comes in. "Oh, just stick it in the dishwasher," she says, dumping her milk out into the sink. "Do you guys not have dishwashers? Sorry. I know that's totally stupid of me to ask." I shake my head. "It's fine." I know what a dishwasher is, but when I asked Mama if we could get one after seeing Femi's, she laughed and told me I was the dishwasher. Ha ha.

Chioma opens the dishwasher and puts her plate in. I take a glance at her clothes. She's wearing a green shirt with white dungarees. Her flats are black and bedazzled. "Are you not going to church?" "Hmm? Yeah, I am. We should leave any moment now." "Oh." I feel embarrassed going in this dress, but Chioma looks like she's going on a stroll. I guess it isn't too bad.