Age: 16
Words: 1554

Hey, I've just been in the mood to share my original stuff no matter how bad it may be. So this is the first chapter of yet another novel I tried writing. This time my Junior year? I think. October 2018. This was supposed to be the first book in a five or six book series I think called Sutton Grimes and the Claimed. Media is cover.

Most ten year olds were held awake by the horrible thought of a demon in their closet, a monster under the bed, or perhaps a mangled face in their bedroom window. Those kinds of thoughts still kept little Sutton Grimes awake at night. But each of those monsters had an odd little feature about them. They were all were all wearing glasses. They were all wearing his grandmother's glasses. Or his father's. Or his mother's. Or his older sister's.

It was because Sutton's grandmother had the dirtiest glasses in all of Accra. To him, it seemed like everyone in his family had filthy glasses. He hated looking at them. They were always covered in dust and dirt with fingerprint smudges to mix everything together.

Sutton always tried to get his family to clean their glasses- in his mind they couldn't even see through all the dirt and grime. He always said that to them, too: "Just because our last name is Grimes doesn't mean your glasses have to be grimy." He thought he was the cleverest ten year old on the planet.

When he first said that to them, they thought it was funny. They got tired of it around the second time.

But it wasn't like Sutton hated dirt. He really didn't mind it. It was just the glasses. They're right in his family's faces, right in front of their eyes.

He was just a concerned citizen who couldn't- wouldn't- let it go.

"Nana," Sutton would say.

Before he could even finish, Awesi would speak. "Yes, Sutton, I know. I need to clean my glasses. I'm sure your parents do as well," she would say, "Are you going to tell Esi, too?"

Sutton would end up telling his sister, along with his parents, the same thing.

Every.

Single.

Day.

They would eventually miss Sutton's pestering when he went away.

***

"SUTTON ADDAE GRIMES! I SWEAR ON EVERYTHING GOOD ON THIS EARTH IF YOU DON'T GET YOUR BEHIND BACK HOME THIS INSTANT-" Ama Grimes shouted over one of the two cell phones the family owned. This one was to stay inside the apartment and it wasn't to leave under any circumstances. The other was for the children, Esi and Sutton, to take when they left the home to hang out with their friends in the city.

"There is a thunderstorm, Mama. We are going to wait it out!" said Esi over the cell phone in her hand. She and Sutton had taken shelter in a diner from a surprise thunderstorm.

"I DON'T CARE. COME HOME NOW."

"But-"

"ESI MOROWA GRIMES, I SAID GET HOME NOW!"

Without waiting for another word from either of her children, Ama hung up the phone.

Esi and Sutton stood in the diner a moment longer; the sibling's stared at the phone, waiting for it to ring once more and their mother's screaming voice, a voice that was laced with fear for what may happen to its children who were out alone during a horrible storm.

They looked up from the phone as thunder rang out in the distance, slowly getting closer and closer to the center of the city.

Outside the windows of the diner, Esi and Sutton could see the people of Accra who were unlucky enough to be caught outside speeding to find a shelter. Some ran into the same diner. A diner that was quickly getting crowded with cold, wet customers.

Their eyes stayed upon the city streets as people rushed around them, watching as rain pounded into the pavement and the people still outside. They couldn't feel it yet, but they could see and hear the wind that blew harshly against the buildings, roaring the people hiding from its fury and attacking the unfortunate.

Sutton was still watching the beautiful anger of mother nature when Esi took her hand in his. He looked up at her, his dark eyes meeting hers before looking back outside.

"Come on, Sutton. Mama's waiting."

The sibling's looked back at each other, nodded in solidarity, and ran out into the storm.

Almost immediately, Esi was blinded by the thick rain coming down and covering her glasses. The wind bit at her cheeks and nose. It pulled tears from her eyes as she struggled to move against it.

Mother nature grabbed at her hijab, clawing at it in a desperate attempt to pull it from the sixteen year old's head.

With one hand on her brother's and the other on her head, Esi Grimes fought against the wind to make it home.

Sutton being much smaller than his sister, fought even harder against the wind lest he be blown away. He struggled to keep his hand in Esi's as they ran down the street toward their complex.

"Sutton," Esi Grimes yelled as her little brother slipped out of her grip. She could barely make out his frame through her dirt and rain covered glasses, but she managed to grab his hand and drag him toward their complex where Ama, Harry, and Awesi were waiting for them to return home from their day long venture into the city.

Sutton's sneaker clad feet struggled to keep up with the long strides of his older sister. The almost sixteen year old was much taller than him: a single stride for her equaled around five for him. He managed.

The two ran, hand-in-hand, to their complex. Their feets splashing in puddles, soaking their shoes and socks, as they dodged the other's running through the city to take cover from the harsh rain and winds that blew people every which way. Esi and Sutton pushed through the wind, the former trying to keep the latter in her grip so he didn't slip away again whilst also keeping a hand on her hijab to keep from getting exposed.

With their complex in sight, the Grimes siblings picked up speed and rushed to the front doors. They pulled themselves inside to the warm entrance hall of the tall building.

The storm clawed at the doors. Rain and wind pounded against the glass, trying to get everything and everyone that was inside exposed to it's wrath. Eventually it would give up and the storm would die down before appearing again some time later. The people of Accra never knew when a storm would come. Rain was a rarity in all of Ghana. When it did grace Ghanaians with its presence, it seemed horrible.

Thankfully for the Grimes siblings, the storm would be gone within the next hour. It would have disappeared over the Atlantic by the time Ama would even think about letting them venture into the city once more.

Until then they would stay inside their small, lovely apartment and find ways to entertain themselves.
Their father Harry set up a game of mancala for them. As he did so, Sutton couldn't help but notice the dirt on his father's glasses. But before he could even say something, Harry took them off and cleaned the lenses with his shirt. He pushed them back onto the bridge of his nose as he looked towards his only son, "Are they clean enough for you?"

"They're okay," Sutton said before looking down at the game, waiting for his sister to return from removing her hijab.

"Good."

Sutton and Esi played their game as the storm died down outside their complex. Ama and Harry stood in their kitchenette, talking about something the kids couldn't quite hear. Awesi sat with the children, watching over the game.

It was quiet in the Grimes' home as Harry and Ama set out the dinner. They set the food on their small table before calling for Awesi, Esi and Sutton to join them. The many smells from the small dinner mixed together in the air of the apartment, blessing them with a beautiful aroma as they sat at the table and said their prayer.

"How was the rain earlier?" Harry asked as he bit into the wonderful dinner his wife had made them. He would have liked to help, but there was a certain way they had to cook the meat that he didn't know. Harry, unlike the rest of the family, did not believe in Allah or any version of him that existed in the minds of the people. Ama and her mother were firm believers and would not raise Esi and Sutton without Allah in their hearts. And Harry was okay with that.

"It was a blast, Papa," Esi said sarcastically. Her beautiful black hair hung in front of her face as she spoke. She pushed the parts behind her ears before she began to eat.

"The wind almost carried me away!" said Sutton. His chewed up food was on full display inside his mouth.

"No one wants to see your food, boy," Awesi scolded. "Finish eating before speaking."

Sutton swallowed his bite before speaking again, "Sorry, Nana."

"Just remember next time."

The dinner went on with nothing much happening. Sutton wanted to horse around with Esi as they ate and she humored him like the good sister she was. Awesi talked about what she planned on doing the next day as Esi and Sutton would be at school and Harry and Ama would be at work.

"What did you two find on your little adventure?" Awesi asked her grandchildren, "Anything I may be interested in?"