Chapter 1
13-year-old Michie took a long deep breath as she stepped into the waiting area of the Justin Trudeau International Airport for the first time. She had never visited anyplace outside of her home country until this day, the 11th of January, 2023. Michie remembers this exact date because it not only has significant meaning but this when her whole life changed and flipped upside down. Partly for good and also for worse.
She looked through the glass windows and doors of the airport as people in their heavy winter jackets and boots went in and out of the place. She watched the magical French-Canadian City through the glass filled up with snow. Michie was from a fairly popular country in West Africa and had never experienced snow until this very moment. She stood waiting with her mother and younger sister for her father to show up. Michie and her little sister, Anita giggled and watched as the beautiful white snow fell down slowly and buried the ground and everything on it.
An hour passed by and her father finally showed up. She watched with happiness as their dad came in through the automatic glass door.
"Daddy!" They jumped for joy. They run really fast to give their father a hug.
"You better close your jacket and wear your clothes. it is really freezing out there. Montreal winter is no joke," he said
Michie shrugged and did nothing to adjust her clothing. It can't be that bad, she thought. It really was that bad.
Michie stepped outside as her dad and uncle helped them with their baggage. The second she stepped outside she regretted not listening to her dad. She dashed over to her uncle's car that was parked at the side of the street. She fumbled to open the door for a second and then dived right into the back seat. She was shivering all over as she shut the door and struggled to put on her gloves, tuque and zip up. She saw through the window her parents laughing so hard at her. It was the first lesson Canada taught her.
Everyone else got settled into the car and they went ahead and took off.
Michie was 13 years old when she first arrived to Canada as a Permanent Resident (PR). She was about to begin a new life in a new city with new people. She had left everything and everyone she knew to come to a new country and begin a new life. Michie's life back in her home country was very different from the one she was going to have now and she looked forward to it. She was filled with hopes and dreams and was happy to see first hand all the things she dreamed about as a young African child.
The car finally pulls over and they stop right in front of an apartment complex in a fairly rough looking neighbourhood which she was convinced was much nicer looking than what she had back home. They step out and take out their baggage as their dad took out his keys to open the door. They take a short set of stairs up and then another short set down once they get in. They all walked towards the door with the number 2 on it. Michie did not expect her new place to look the way it looked when she got in.
Her father lived in a tiny one bedroom apartment with the smallest kitchen and the smallest living room and bathrootm. It looked like an apartment meant for a single, underpaid bachelor and not for a family of four, soon to be five as the eldest daughter was still back home. The kitchen had no door and was not too far from the living room. The kitchen could only fit a maximum of one person at a time. The living room was a little sizeable if it was supposed to be a bedroom instead of a living room. it had one old, beat up mini couch that could barely fit three people in comfortably. Right beside the little beat up couch was a small student mattress that Michie and Anita had to share. They had a little TV that sat on an old shelf table. The bathroom of course was so small it could make a person develop claustrophobia. The bedroom was also a small space but obviously reserved for the parents.
Michie was a little disappointed by the state in which her father lived in when she arrived. It hadn't even been 24 hours and her dreams have already started falling apart. She was not much of a rich kid back home but this was definitely way worse than she imagined. She could tell on the face of her mother and sister she was not the only person that thought that way.
She silently put her bags away and headed to the little bed that was reserved for her. It was an old mattress on a very unsteady bed frame. Her dad who was in the kitchen at the time was making his signature jollof rice which he never did after that day because "Men don't cook when they have 3 daughters and a wife".
They all sat together as a family for the first time in 7 years to eat and chat and catch up together. The evening was lovely, even though not everything met their expectations.
At nighttime, the family decided to go to bed, after the yapping and babbling but the kids found it particularly hard to fall asleep because of the difference in the time zone they were used to. They were still running on the African clock. Michie and Anita lay side by side to each other on the small student bed giggling and laughing and watching the pure white snow outside trickling down.
Soon enough their eyes felt heavier and heavier and they finally closed their beautiful eyes to finally fall asleep. This was a new beginning for them and she vowed not to screw it up this time. It was a chance at a whole new life, a whole new identity.....
