Fatima Tate Takes the Cake by Khadijah VanBrakle

Author:Khadijah VanBrakle [VanBrakle, Khadijah]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Holiday House
Published: 2023-06-13T00:00:00+00:00

thirteen

I wake up Wednesday morning after the sun has risen.

Jumping out of bed, I take less than five minutes in the bathroom, then rush to make up my predawn prayer. (Up here, at least, avoiding my mom’s disappointed glare for missing Fajr is possible.) After I’m done and my prayer rug is folded, I grab my phone and hurry downstairs to find something to eat.

My dad is front and center at the dining room table reading today’s Albuquerque Journal. From the sounds coming from the kitchen, my mom is also awake.

“Salaam, Fatima. How are you this wonderful morning?” The paper is between us, but I can hear his joy. “Excited to be graduating today?”

Kinda. “Just glad finals are over.”

Being here with my parents, it hits me that very soon this might not be my home anymore. Other than the Islamic calligraphy on the wall and our comfy couch, there’s not a bunch of stuff I’d miss. All my baking tools would go with me wherever Raheem and I end up.

But it’s the three of us, together—the Tate family—that make this place special to me. Am I ready to become a Harris?

“Fatima, are you okay?” my dad asks.

“Oh…yeah. Everything’s fine.”

“Good. Your mom and I have a gift for you.” He hands me a plain white envelope. “Don’t be shy, open it.”

My mom joins us, studying every move I make.

I lift the flap, take out the single piece of paper and unfold it. My eyes bulge.

Thank you for your payment in full for Fatima Tate’s Driver’s Education Class. Her thirty hours of classroom instruction will start the first Monday in June.

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