Four Eids and a Funeral by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé

Author:Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Feiwel & Friends

15

SMELL THE ROSES

Said

Ammu and Abbu are busy with their morning routine when I come downstairs the next morning. Abbu is putting away his lunch for work and sipping on his mug of tea, while Ammu sits at the dining table with a book propped up in front of her.

“Said!” Abbu says when he sees me. “Where are you off to so early in the morning?”

“I was going to go around town. I wanted to have a look at some of the murals,” I say. I already have my backpack ready with my sketchbook and pencils.

Ammu puts down her book and glances at me with a smile. Her morning routine always consists of praying fajr, having breakfast and tea, and then sitting down to read at least a chapter of her current book. I feel bad for disrupting it.

“Mayor Williams commissioned a beautiful mural on the corner of Somerset Drive and Adelaide Street,” she says, and Abbu nods in agreement.

“We went for a walk one evening and stopped by to see the artist working on it. He wasn’t up for chatting too much, though,” Abbu adds.

I wonder what exactly Abbu even had to say to him. It’s not that Abbu and Ammu hate the arts. They’ve always been able to appreciate them. They’re Bangladeshi after all, and Bangladeshi people’s love of language and literature transcends almost anything else. But they’ve also always been practical, and there’s nothing practical about pursuing art. At least, to them.

“I’ll definitely go by there,” I say. “I’m also going to swing by to pick up Laddoo from Tiwa’s place after, so I might not be home until late.”

Ammu’s eyes light up at that. “Oh, good! You know, the house just isn’t the same without Laddoo.” I don’t remind her that Laddoo is hardly a staple in our home, considering we only got him from Clara last week.

“Do you want me to drop you off?” Abbu asks as he picks up his keys from the bowl in the kitchen. “I’m going the other way but I don’t mind.”

These days, any conversation between Abbu and me seems to inevitably land on college applications, and that’s not on my list of topics to discuss. So I just shake my head.

“It’ll be better if I walk. I wanted to see, you know, how the town’s changed and everything.”

“Smell the roses…” Abbu smiles. “Good. Enjoy it, but not too much. You still have a lot of work to do this summer.” With that, he slips out the front door.

I’m about to follow behind but Ammu’s voice stops me in my tracks.

“Said, you don’t mind dropping something off for me, right?” she asks it like it’s a yes or no question, but she’s already up from the dining table and getting out a box from the fridge so I know I have no say in the matter.

“Sure, I don’t mind.”

“Oh, good. It’s just, remember your Anjana auntie?”

“Um—”

Ammu doesn’t wait for me to respond before continuing on. “Well, she is painting a mural right by Almond Garden.

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