1 Chapter 1

"Nana. Nana. Wake up it's time to go to school." My mom wakes me up. I open my eyes to be greeted by shinning zinc.

Yep you have guessed it, I live in a shack. Yet it's not those ones that make you cringe when you see them. My mom has decorated the interior to the best of her ability and it's beautiful. It has bench stool and a white fridge, next to it is a white super wood kitchen unit with a 2 plate stove with an oven on top of the middle kitchen unit. We have a desk were we put two 20litre buckets, one is for water and the other one if for maize mill.

We have a 32 inch flat screen TV on top of a black TV stand. The TV stand has a small door where we put things we use to bath then it has an opening where I put all my books.

There is a tall table where we put our 2 bath basins, we bath in the big one and put our dirty clothes in the small one. Next to the table is a washing basket where we put all our shoes. I know its weird that we use a washing basket for shoes and a wash basin for dirty clothes but it works for us.

A white wardrobe and my mom's bed. I forgot to mention some things but that's fine.

"Okay mama, I'm up." I say checking the time on my phone and getting up from my mattress to boil my water so that I can bath.

"Wake me up when you are done bathing." my mom says going back to bed.

"Okay." I say starting to pick up my blanket and folding it. I put my now folded blanket next to my mom on the bed.

I take my mattress from the floor and fold it neatly then I put our on top of the wardrobe.

My water finally boils, I take it and pour it inside of a 5 litre bucket. I boil another set of water and make myself some breakfast.

I finish eating my Kellogg's corn flakes. My water has finished boiling so I pour it into the 5 litre bucket. I boil my last kettle of water as I go through my backpack checking if I have everything I need for today.

"Books on the timetable? check! Lunch box? Check! Pencil case? Check! Cards? Check!" Everything I need is in my backpack now it's time to bath.

I pour all my hot water in a vaaskom (bath basin) and start bathing. I finish everything within 45 minutes. The only thing left to do is to dispose the water I used to bath. I go outside and dispose of it directly inside the toilet then I flash it. I rinse the bucket I used to dispose my dirty water along with my panties and my washcloth.

"Mama, I'm done you can wake up now." I say putting everything where it belongs and looking myself for the last time in the mirror. My hazel eyes stare back at me with such intensity I almost run away from me. 'you gotta be head strong if you want to survive my baby' I think to myself. I have styled my hair in an afro way. It honestly looks so good on me.

I am wearing my green school skirt, a white shirt with my school's green and gold tie with grey school socks and a blazer. My uniform wasn't the most stylish but it defiantly looked good on me.

I finish everything and head to the bus station.

I glance at my wrist-watch to see the time, it's currently 6:30. The bus will be here in 6:45 and school starts at 8:00.

Why do I go to school so early you may ask. That's because I'm a business woman, I have a gambling business at school that's underground so that I don't get expelled.

My business starts at 7:00 and ends at 8:00. Then it proceed at short break for 15 minutes.

I wait for the bus to arrive and when it arrives I get in and head to school. The school is so empty! It's not crowded and you can hear yourself think. I prefer it this way, silence is golden especially early in the morning.

I walk to the classroom I use to operate my business. I open the door only to find about 20 learners waiting for me.

"Hey dear, took you long enough! Why are you late?" a tall muscular guy, Bear, from my class who is also a regular customer asks.

"Shut up Bear, I'm only 2 minutes late." I put my bag down, taking our my note pad to write people in class with me. His actual name is Teddy Maloka but we call him Bear because you know teddy bear the doll...

"Ouk guys who's playing?" I ask taking out the cards from my backpack. Bear and three other guys from my grade raise their hands.

I write down their names and they give me R10 each. The other learners write their names down and who they vote for while also giving me R10 each.

"You know what guys I'm feeling happy today, so whoever wins will get double their money and a R5 on top! How's that sound?" I say excitedly.

They all cheer and clap their hands "yeah!".

"Let the games begin."

As we are about to finish round 5 of our game the 7:45 bell rings signalling for us to get ready for lessons. Bear won about 3 of those rounds bringing other players to shame.

"One last game and we go to class guys." I say. Round 6 of our game~ which bear wins~ ends at 7:53 and everyone leaves the room. I stay back to put the money in my purse and hide it from thieves.

I exit the classroom and walk to my locker. Immediately upon opening the door I'm met with noise and God how I dislike noise! Being in a loud environment makes want to scream because it irritates me especially on mornings. I strut my way to my locker and can feel people looking at me but i could careless.

Upon arriving on my locker I leave some of the books I wont be needing for the next 3 periods.

"Hey Sarah. where have you been?" My friend Lebohang, but we call her Lebo, asks. "I was at room 13." I reply taking my books and walking down the hall with them.