Children of the Stone City by Beverley Naidoo

Author:Beverley Naidoo
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2022-07-14T00:00:00+00:00

Ms. Roth

MAMA KEEPS LEILA HOME FROM school. “Go back to bed. I’ll wake you if Uncle Musa gets an appointment.” But Leila insists on staying close to Mama and Grandma, who are in the kitchen. She bundles up the duvet from her bed and covers herself on the settee but can’t fall asleep.

In the end, Grandma rescues her. Will Leila help her make cookies?

“We’ll keep some for Adam, won’t we, Grandma?”

Grandma nods, kneading the dough.

“These are his favorites.” Leila’s eyes are becoming wet again as she stirs the chopped nuts into a bowl. She wants to ask how long the cookies will stay fresh in a tin but doesn’t. Usually, Grandma’s cookies are eaten within a day.

When the cookies go into the oven, Mama instructs Leila to change from her jeans and T-shirt into a dress so she will be ready for the lawyer.

“Why can’t I go like this, Mama?” However, one look at her mother’s face tells Leila not to argue. She chooses her green print with small pink butterflies, then curls up on the settee with a book of poems. But the words are erased by memories of dark figures shunting a puppet across the living room. She lets everything blur.

Leila wakes with Mama’s hand in hers. “Uncle Musa is here.” It is midday and his brother is waiting with his taxi at the bottom of the steps. Zak’s mother will stay with Grandma.

In the back of the car next to Mama, Leila remembers the last time in the same taxi, the night Zak’s uncle Rami drove them to the hospital. Adam was with them the night Dad died, when the rain made it hard to see anything outside in the dark. Today is bright and sunny, but what’s it like to be blindfolded?

Leila sees that they are now driving near her school . . . and Adam’s. There’s an empty desk in each of their classrooms. She and Adam are hardly ever out sick. Surely no one will imagine that Adam has been blindfolded and taken to prison?

The car pulls up outside tall green metal gates. Uncle Musa, Mama, and Leila clamber out.

“Call me when you’re ready,” says Uncle Rami. “I won’t be far.”

A man lets them in and the gate clangs behind them. Leila holds Mama’s hand tightly as they ascend the wide steps of a large building with stones the same color as music school. They follow Uncle Musa to the front desk, where the receptionist recognizes him. She gives Leila a special smile, but Leila’s lips are pressed tight. The receptionist nods sympathetically and rings for Uncle Musa’s friend.

They sit in the waiting area. There are signs on the wall with the names of organizations and people who rent offices in the building. Leila is reading the signs when a group of young people walk down the stairs chatting and laughing. They look like students.

“Applying for scholarships, I expect,” Mama says quietly as their voices fade outside. The word scholarship startles Leila. They haven’t

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