News that my youngest uncle’s prospective wife and her family were coming to pay us a visit caused such a stir that even I who was not expected to know anything was affected to a certain extent.
Innocent of being in their way or of shifting the furniture away from the recently changed position, I was unjustifiably shoved off to play or to stay out of the house as much as possible. Even when I was indoors my movements were restricted, certain parts of the house had became inaccessible.
That had aroused my curiosity a great deal and many times, I tried to snoop around but was caught by my ‘always on the alert’ grandma. She knew that both my elder brother and I would not give her peace, especially my crafty brother who always had eyes for her cookies that were secretly hidden in a corner of her bedroom. How did she know that I was assigned by my brother to snoop for him?
As my mother and grandma busied themselves to clean up the house, both my brother and I were constantly reminded to have our feet cleaned before coming into the house. I was told not to rummage the cupboard in the bedroom for any specific clothes because my mother had been made tired by her endless effort of stacking them neatly.
Every part of the house was ensured of its neatness and cleanliness lest the ladies in the house be ashamed by the long nosed visitors. Ah Peng and her siblings were kept out of bounds by the scowling look of my grandma. At one time, one of Ah Peng’s younger brothers was so slow in running away from the veranda of my house that he nearly fell when my grandma wielded her broomstick to scare him away. I was very upset about her behaviour although I knew she had not meant to do any harm to the poor boy.
Innocent of being in their way or of shifting the furniture away from the recently changed position, I was unjustifiably shoved off to play or to stay out of the house as much as possible. Even when I was indoors my movements were restricted, certain parts of the house had became inaccessible.
That had aroused my curiosity a great deal and many times, I tried to snoop around but was caught by my ‘always on the alert’ grandma. She knew that both my elder brother and I would not give her peace, especially my crafty brother who always had eyes for her cookies that were secretly hidden in a corner of her bedroom. How did she know that I was assigned by my brother to snoop for him?
As my mother and grandma busied themselves to clean up the house, both my brother and I were constantly reminded to have our feet cleaned before coming into the house. I was told not to rummage the cupboard in the bedroom for any specific clothes because my mother had been made tired by her endless effort of stacking them neatly.
Every part of the house was ensured of its neatness and cleanliness lest the ladies in the house be ashamed by the long nosed visitors. Ah Peng and her siblings were kept out of bounds by the scowling look of my grandma. At one time, one of Ah Peng’s younger brothers was so slow in running away from the veranda of my house that he nearly fell when my grandma wielded her broomstick to scare him away. I was very upset about her behaviour although I knew she had not meant to do any harm to the poor boy.
Ah Peng grew very angry at me after her several unsuccessful attempts to lure me out of the house to play. The bustling in the house was too great an attraction for me to leave it. The different aromas coming out from the kitchen made my mouth drool and my stomach was groaning so loudly that I was sure anybody near me could have heard it very clearly.
I tried to make myself useful, bringing the elderly ladies this and that. Now and then, when there was tasting of any food I too would want a share. When my brother pretended to come into the kitchen for something, he would, with his quick hands, pop some food into his mouth and run off.
My mother would be so confused about the number of spring rolls she had just counted that she thought she was getting old and had poor memory. My grandma was heard grumbling about one of the ‘cookie’ containers not being closed tight enough. She suspected that my brother had got his hands on the cookies and she was afraid that he might finish them before the guests had even arrived.
The fried meatballs made everyone’s mouth drooled. Its aroma must have drifted far because it brought back my elder brother from ‘who knows where he has gone’ to see what was cooking in the kitchen. As he stood in front the big bowl of hot fried meatballs, he ‘sang’ praises of my grandma’s cooking. My grandma was swooped off her feet by his sweet talk and offered him one to taste.
Pretending to be satisfied, he dragged his feet to leave the kitchen but not without pocketing another one when my grandma’s back was turned. I was quick to imitate him and as fast as lightning, I popped one into my mouth and another, when none of the ladies was looking.
The heat scalded my tongue a little and I was huffing and puffing some air to cool it before chewing. I was careful not to let them roll off my mouth due to the fact they were so very hard to obtain and that they were extremely delicious. I could not open my mouth to speak when my mother asked me a question. I had to run off to finish eating the meatballs before I dared to remain in the kitchen any longer. Indeed they were delicious!
I tried to make myself useful, bringing the elderly ladies this and that. Now and then, when there was tasting of any food I too would want a share. When my brother pretended to come into the kitchen for something, he would, with his quick hands, pop some food into his mouth and run off.
My mother would be so confused about the number of spring rolls she had just counted that she thought she was getting old and had poor memory. My grandma was heard grumbling about one of the ‘cookie’ containers not being closed tight enough. She suspected that my brother had got his hands on the cookies and she was afraid that he might finish them before the guests had even arrived.
The fried meatballs made everyone’s mouth drooled. Its aroma must have drifted far because it brought back my elder brother from ‘who knows where he has gone’ to see what was cooking in the kitchen. As he stood in front the big bowl of hot fried meatballs, he ‘sang’ praises of my grandma’s cooking. My grandma was swooped off her feet by his sweet talk and offered him one to taste.
Pretending to be satisfied, he dragged his feet to leave the kitchen but not without pocketing another one when my grandma’s back was turned. I was quick to imitate him and as fast as lightning, I popped one into my mouth and another, when none of the ladies was looking.
The heat scalded my tongue a little and I was huffing and puffing some air to cool it before chewing. I was careful not to let them roll off my mouth due to the fact they were so very hard to obtain and that they were extremely delicious. I could not open my mouth to speak when my mother asked me a question. I had to run off to finish eating the meatballs before I dared to remain in the kitchen any longer. Indeed they were delicious!
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