Free Goddess of Gotham by Amanda Lees Page A

almost hear the words before they were said: ‘It’s for your own good, Kumari.’ She’d heard those words
from Mamma and from her Ayah and now she could see them hovering on Ma’s lips. Except it never was all that good and sometimes downright terrible. And so she ploughed her way through several
pizza slices, waiting for the inevitable.
    First, however, she could have some fun.
    ‘More ice cream please,’ said Kumari.
    As Ma ladled out yet another helping of Double Trouble Choc Chip, Kumari smiled with satisfaction.
    At the fourth bowl, Ma put her foot down.
    ‘That’s enough now, Kumari.’
    Beside her, Badmash let out a belch. His feathers were suspiciously sticky. Kumari met Ma’s accusing glare with innocence and turned to stare at the TV. Oh goodie, The Weakest
Link. She counted the seconds, ten, twenty, thirty. Heard Ma clear her throat. It was coming.
    ‘Kumari, honey . . . ’
    Kumari pretended not to hear.
    ‘Kumari, listen to me for a second.’
    Fixing Ma with her best wide-eyed look, Kumari let her lower lip tremble. A momentary falter but Ma was no fool.
    ‘Kumari, you gotta go to school.’ It was said with finality. ‘Ms Anderson and I, we promised those Child Protection people. We also had to give our word to the Immigration
Services to keep them off our backs. They’re not too happy you’ve been fostered. They’d rather stick you in some institution until they can “process” you, as they call
it. OK, I know school is an institution too, but it’s better than some prison.’
    ‘Really?’ Kumari could feel a rush of delight. ‘You mean it? Fab-flippin-tastic!’
    ‘Fab-flippin-tastic’ was her new favourite expression along with ‘checkitout’ and ‘hot.’ She did not even mind that her efforts reduced Ma’s girls to
fits of giggles. Kumari could hear them now, clattering through the door. She turned on them with a beaming smile.
    ‘I’m going to school just like you!’
    CeeCee looked at LeeLee. As eldest twin, LeeLee tended to speak up. And speak up she did.
    ‘You crazy?’ she bellowed at Ma.
    Ma’s eyes flashed danger. ‘Don’t you speak to me like that, girl.’
    ‘Someone’s got to,’ said LeeLee. ‘If you plan on sending her to that place. I guess you mean Moreno. They’ll eat her alive. Rita Moreno Middle School is the
worst around. You ask anyone in the ’hood.
    ‘Liliana! That’s enough!’ growled Ma. ‘You’re frightening Kumari.’
    ‘Frightening her?’ muttered LeeLee, slamming out of the room. ‘I’m doing her a favour.’
    Two days later, Kumari found herself gazing up at a vast, redbrick building. A steady stream of people sauntered and slouched through its forbidding gates, most of them about
her age. Carved above a once-impressive porticoed entrance, the name of this institution. The Rita Moreno Middle School, it read.
    Kumari glanced at LeeLee and CeeCee, standing protectively alongside her.
    ‘That’s it?’ she gulped, a sudden frog in her throat.
    ‘That’s it,’ they echoed.
    Kumari shuffled her feet. Suddenly school didn’t seem so enticing. Tucked down the front of the new red sweat top she sported under a puffa jacket, she could feel Badmash’s heartbeat
getting faster. Her feet felt sore in unfamiliar shoes, her calves cold under her thin grey pants. Her legs trembled, itching to run. She had to get out of here.
    Panic rose in Kumari’s throat. Automatically, she began to chant. She was doing her level best to access Power No 4, the Power to Become Invisible. That way she could hide amongst this
herd, this terrifying crowd of adolescents. Oblivious to LeeLee and CeeCee’s horrified looks, she chanted louder and louder. OK, so it had never worked before. There was always a first
time.
    One or two in the crowd shifted their eyes and stared. The majority ignored her. Just another crazy chick. There was one on every corner.
    ‘Shhh!’ CeeCee grabbed her arm. ‘What are you doing?’
    Kumari’s eyes snapped open.