Chapter 1: Lindani
Lindani’s whole world is about to change when, just like Harry Potter, she receives her acceptance letter to Kamuzu Academy.
The night before I leave for Kamuzu Academy my mother, who rarely comes into my room except to tell me how I have done something wrong, helps me pack.
I’m on the floor in the room that I share with my two younger brothers when she knocks. My mother is very particular about knocking. I tell her to come in, already scanning the room to make sure there’s nothing out that will offend her.
“Are you still packing?” She asks.
“Yes.”
I would just nod my head but my mother prefers affirmative answers to questions.
Then she kneels down on the floor with me. I don’t notice until this moment that she’s carrying a basket with her.
“I brought you some things.”
I don’t know what else there is to buy at this point. After I got my acceptance letter my mother and father both went crazy. They planned a special trip to South Africa to see my grandparents just so they could congratulate me personally. I have a whole wardrobe of new clothes because of that trip. I’m going to be the best dressed eleven year old in High School.
My mother is rearranging things in my suitcase. She then turns to me and gives me the only thing in the basket. A square blue box with scrawled purple handwriting on it.
I remove the cellophane wrapped carefully around it, my hands trembling as I remove the bottle of Angel perfume from its box.
“This is for me?” I say.
My mother, who usually likes affirmative answers, nods at me. She has been wearing the same perfume for as long as I have known her and now I get to have the same scent.
“We are so proud of you Lindani. You have made us proud.”
I hug her then; really embrace her in a way that I have not embraced my mother before. Her arms wrap around me and hold me close.
“Watch out for boys Lindani. They are nothing but trouble.”
I laugh and squeeze her a little harder. Tomorrow is the beginning of the rest of my life.
