Chapter 6: Out of Bounds

Temwa wanders off during a tour of the school and discovers some interesting information.

President’s Girls
4 min readApr 25, 2015

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My roommate is going to drive me insane. She has been nothing but rude to me until she found out that I know Alinafe. Now she is convinced that I’m her ticket into the cool crowd. She hovers around me waiting for her chance to worm her way into Ali’s circle but the thing about Ali is, the more you want in, the harder she pushes you out.

Elita has been giving us a tour of the school all morning. We were all excited about the pavilion because we heard that the sports teachers had set up games. When we got there, however, some Mbelwa boys had already taken them up and so Elita took us elsewhere until they were done.

We had barely finished walking through the block of classes that served as the English and Classics section when someone heard that the tuck shop was finally open. Elita could barely control a gaggle of girls wanting to spend the first real cash they’d ever been given outside of a bake sale.

I’ve been sitting on this excuse of a bench made of brick for twenty minutes now. We weren’t the only ones to hear about the Tuck Shop so there is a line stretching out the door to buy Fanta and doughnuts.

“Temwa this is Reverend Kaunda. He’s my favorite teacher here.”

The Reverend is a tall and incredibly dark man with a kind face and a balding head. It’s hard to imagine that a face like that is married to Mrs. Kaunda’s stern one. I wonder if she is as strict with him as she is with us.

“How are you enjoying orientation week?” Reverend Kaunda says.

“I’m actually ready for it to be over.”

“Eager for classes to begin. That’s a good spirit. I’ll be seeing you in my class soon. I teach Religious studies.”

“Really? Elita never talks about her classes much. I really want to learn about Hinduism. When do you cover that?”

Elita and the Reverend exchange a look.

“I actually don’t teach that.”

“Islam?”

“No.”

“Buddhism?”

“Your first year is actually a study of the history and principles of the old testament.”

“Oh…so it’s just Christian studies then.”

I pull out my tamagotchi and pretend to feed and walk it until Elita and the Reverend walk away. The line still hasn’t moved and I’m getting restless. I could probably slip back to the hostels without anyone realizing I’ve left.

The dining hall is to my left but to my right is the path that leads to the boys hostel and the garden where a lot of the fruits and vegetables for the Kamuzu Academy community are grown. I look around as I get up and casually walk away towards the boys hostel. No one pays me any mind; the Southern Bottlers truck has just arrived to bring more soft drinks.

The boys hostel is identical to the girls. I walk past it and a row of houses. Beyond that the road stretches out to the unknown. Freedom.

I am just about to take a turn that will lead me closer to the fields when I hear a male voice calling me to stop. I continue to walk. If I act like I belong here he’ll leave me alone.

“Hey you! I said stop!”

The person is now running towards me. If I run now I might have a chance of getting away from him but what if Elita has discovered that I’m missing and sent people to find me? If he already knows it’s me then running is useless. He catches up to me faster than I think but I have already made up my mind. I turn to face him with my most concerned face.

“Do you know where the Tuck Shop is? I think I’m lost.”

The boy doesn’t seem like he believes me at all. He looks to be about Elita’s age, wearing a blue shirt with sleeves that have been cut off and the words ‘Mbelwa boy’ written on the front in black marker.

“You’re Temwa right?”

I knew it, they did send out a search party. I’m going to be in so much trouble. The boy laughs at my expression.

“Don’t worry I’m not going to bust you. My name is Mathew; I’m Elita’s boyfriend. She’s shown me pictures of you. You really shouldn’t be over here though, it’s not the boys hostel but it’s still out of bounds to all students unless you have a slip.”

He is walking me back towards the Tuck Shop but I stopped listening after he said the word ‘boyfriend’. My sister, my precious, perfect sister broke one of my parents’ biggest rules. No boyfriends until we turn 18 or graduate high school, whichever comes first.

I think I’m going to like boarding school after all.

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President’s Girls

Khumbo Mhone is an actor, writer, and entrepreneur currently living in Malawi.