A Chicken in the Kitchen

“I’m not sure if I want to eat this,” I say, examining the bread closely. It’s only three days old, but the bread here has a very short lifespan and it looks like it's starting to get little dots of mold on the bottom. Sometimes, if that is all the bread we have, we simply cut off the bottom and eat it anyway, but today, I know we have some fresh bread, so I’m a little indecisive and reluctant about eating the moldy stuff. “I’ll just stick it on the counter for now, and decide later”, I say to Jason. “I’m going to go check up on Jayden now, he’s been playing outside for awhile.” “I’m going to talk to Todd”, Jason says, and we both head out the door.
Well, ten minutes later when I come back inside, who is sitting on the counter feasting on the bread? A chicken! “Shoo, shoo, get out,” I yell, startling my fine feathered friend and with one mighty flap, it flies right on top of our cleanly washed dishes. “No, No, get out”, I yell again. It loses its balance on the precariously mounted glassware and with a loud squawk tumbles clumsily through the air. Then it lands with a smack on the slippery cement floor. A split second later it’s out the door, squawking all the way.

Well, if I wasn’t sure about what to do with the bread before, I am sure now. “I`ll just feed it to the chickens”, I mumble, secretly a little relieved. I`m okay with the chickens eating some leftovers, as long as they don`t come and help themselves, so I collect whatever bread is left and go throw it outside. Little do I realize that two little eyes are watching me from behind the bushes. When I return minutes later, to see how the chickens are enjoying their treat, I’m surprised to see a little boy shooing the chickens away, frantically picking up as many pieces of bread as he can find and filling his pockets. When Ken sees me, he looks embarrassed and quickly runs away. “Se oke, (It’s okay) I say. “Ou kapab gen li” you can have it. He smiles shyly at me and then picks up the rest. “Yon Poul tap manje na kozijn na” I said, (A chicken was eating it in the kitchen) he laughs, but continues picking it up.

What do I do now? I feel bad that he’s grabbing the chicken bread, but he hasn’t come to me and said he was hungry. On the one hand, I could offer him some fresh bread, but I know he’ll still take the chicken bread either way, so I decide just to leave it. Instead, I ask if he wants something to drink with his bread. “Silvouple”, he says, and I head off into the kitchen and get him a drink.
The next day I’m still thinking about what happened, and wondering why he didn’t just tell me he was hungry when I see him come running towards me. Out of breath, he greets me and then says “Mina, eske ou jette pen jodia?" (Mina, are you throwing any bread today?)

Puzzled, I can’t help but laugh. Then realization dawns. He’s not particularly hungry at the moment, and he knows I don’t like him just asking for things, so instead he’s found away around the dilemma by asking if I’m throwing out any bread! Marveling at his quick wit, I tell him I’m not throwing out any bread today, but I do have some fresh bread he can have. “Eske ou gen sache?” (Do you have a bag?) I nod, and then get him a bag so he can save it for later. Smiling at his own cleverness, he thanks me profusely and then skips off home.