Jay Jay

  "Jay Jay!" she sang. I smiled as I turned over in my bed. She sat on the cushioned chair next to it, her smile infectious. Her two front teeth were missing, but it made her look even cuter. 

"Good morning." I slurred, still very sleepy. She wrinkled her nose and giggled. 

"It's noon, silly. Get up, let's go for a walk."

I nodded, getting off the bed and putting on my slippers. She grabbed my hand and led me towards the door. We walked out of the room, past our smiling mothers and out of the house. The sun was really bright that day and I could hear the sparrows singing from the trees around the small house. We sat on the small cement fence, watching adult traders sell their wears and an occasional child with a tray of oranges, groundnut or plantain on his or her head. Dad had washed the gutter yesterday with Lee, so it smelled less like fish and wet earth. I watched a reckless Okada man speed by, his over sized shirt blowing in the wind like a cape