Linksshifter II

A Path Between The Waves - ~~~

"Mum lets us help."

"Mum is better at this than I am – and she's got loads more experience watching out that kids don't hurt themselves messing about with stuff they shouldn't." Sonali laid the fork down on a spoon rest and picked Ajay up under his arms, plopping him over onto a chair. He was getting big – she could barely lift him up like that any more.

"I'll help set the table," Anjali said, pointedly at Ajay as she got the plates and bowls down from the cupboard, "because I'm a good girl and I don't cause trouble." She put the stack down on the table with a clatter. "I didn't get sent up from the shop because I was playing Transformers underfoot behind the counter."

Ajay shifted himself uncomfortably and reached out, taking the bowls off Anji's stack. "Come off – that was weeks ago. And it was only once – I'm not the one that keeps draining baba's battery out playing phone games." He plunked the bowls out around the table, still obviously cross.

"What, are you hunting those Pokemons? Is that still popular?" Sonali scooped through the ghee with a strainer, lifting the first batch out, tapping the scoop on the edge of the pan to shake the oil away. "First batch is out, gies a second while I scoop you some porridge." Sonali leaned over the table, sliding the malpuas onto their plates and picking up their porridge bowls. "Careful, they're still hot yet."

"No, I don't play Pokemons," Anji said, sounding like just thinking about it was getting her down. "Baba doesn't let us walk about with his phone, and you've got to walk to find them or hatch eggs." She picked up a malpua with her fork, nibbling cautiously at the edge.

Sonali turned back to the table, a bowl in each hand. Yeah, that would be a problem – there was no way that the twins would have their own smartphone just to play Pokemons on. Even if they could afford it, there was no way that baba would allow it. "You don't sound too chuffed about that – is that popular like at school?" Ajay was munching on one of his malpuas with a weird look on his face as she set the porridge down. "Well? How are they?"

"They're... okay," he said with a sigh that had no business coming out of a ten-year-old. "I like mum's, though, the ones with coconut."

"Well, coconut's expensive, and bananas aren't. So I did them like this – we do have them this way sometimes, they're the ones mum makes when baba's talking too much about how things were back in Africa when he was wee." Coconut was also harder and needed a much better hand with the amount of sugar in the batter and Sonali would get scolded if she wasted it, but that wasn't really here nor there.

"I like them," Anjali said, and looking back as she was dropping the batter in for the next batch, it looked like she really did like them, and wasn't just scoring points on her brother. "They're good. Nice and crispy, and they're sweet, so they go with the porridge that isn't."

Sonali scooped herself a bowl of porridge and speared the last of the first batch of malpuas with her fork. The ones in the pan would cook even if she wasn't standing up watching them constantly. "Good; I'm glad. I'm glad someone appreciates me. Maybe next paycheck, I'll go up to Currys and see about getting you a pre-paid, so you don't have to waste baba's battery."

It was like someone'd turned on a foglight behind Anjali's face. "Really? Really?! Are you serious? My own phone?" Ajay had his spoon stabbed down into his porridge like a dagger, face twisted up like he was still trying to articulate how atrociously not fair this was.

"A pre-paid, mind," Sonali said, crunching up the malpua – much less good than it was supposed to be, but she'd given them the ones that were the least burned on purpose – and taking a spoonful of porridge. "You run that out, and you've to reload it on your own off your own pocket money. And it's not going to be on nobody's card, so you're no going to be able to cut about buying premium candies or nowt with real money." Anji was a little less radiant now, but still wriggling with excitement, like she was already planning what to do with it, how to ration her data usage so she could keep connected on three pounds a week.