Book Excerpts

“Five Teens on the Loose in Lourenço Marques” from the No Reservations chapter

We were hot and sticky from carrying our luggage across town in the stifling humidity, but when we walked in the front door of our house, the cool of the brick walls and floor tiles was like a cold-water plunge. We staked out the bedrooms we wanted, the boys in one and the girls in another, and I suddenly felt less shy with the boys. Moving from bare acquaintance to living together in the brief span of three days had transformed them into something more akin to brothers. The sexual edginess I’d felt around them softened into comradeship. (Read more…)

“Tez” from the Prologue

Maria Teresa. Her birth name too long for her tiny body. At seven months, she was a wizened eight pounds, unable to hold up her head, roll over, or smile, and so she became simply Tez. I gazed at her soft brown skin, her dark eyes, and her springy curls. She grasped my finger and held on. (Read more…)

“The Case of the Missing Rooster” from the Love Lines chapter

I spied Tomás, our cook, on the cement driveway in front of the garage, squatting in front of a white enamel basin spattered red with blood. I paused for a moment, fascinated by what I saw, and then hurried down for a closer look. A headless white chicken weaved on unsteady legs around Tomás. I couldn’t understand how its legs kept moving or how it held itself upright without the head. Tomás appeared amused at the sight of blood pulsing from the chicken’s neck until it keeled over dead. I clutched my neck in sympathy for his suffering, then burst into giggles. The chicken did look ridiculous, walking headless on wobbly legs. Tomás rather absently picked up the chicken, plunged it into the hot water in the basin, and started plucking off the feathers. Would I ever treat my chickens like they were just food, not animals? (Read more…)

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  • Umbundu Proverb

    Cimbungu o kuatela voku sikama.
    A hiena apanha a presa no tempo de serão. Cuidado quando descuidado! O inimigo fila quando menos se espera.

    The hyena captures his prey at night. Beware of being careless! The enemy pounces when you least expect him.