My first short story, Pies for Lunch, was recently published in Volume 35 of The Caribbean Writer and shortlisted for the The Canute A. Brodhurst Prize for best short fiction. Here is a preview from the story:
The smell of curry wafts through the door as it slams shut behind me. My head jerks around, and I scan the area to see if anyone noticed. Luckily the court is empty, but as I make my way across the pavement, a movement catches my eye. Robbie is standing discreetly outside his door a few houses down, smoking a cigarette. Our eyes meet for a brief second and I wonder if he caught the smell. Focusing on the pavement, I run past his house and through the gates of the townhouse complex.
Munira is waiting for me at the corner of the street. Her braids are tight, which means that her mom styled it recently – maybe this morning for church. Her eyes light up as I approach, and we exchange greetings with a giggle. We’re going to Baskin Robbins to get an ice-cream cone, and I squeeze my hand, feeling the hardness of the coin in between the coupon.
The ice-cream store is a ten-minute walk from the townhouse complex and we have to make our way past the detached houses where Tanya lives. As we near the home with the tall flower vases on the porch, I force myself to look straight ahead, but imagine her looking out of the bedroom window on the second floor, and watching us walk by. Perhaps her blue eyes are widening in wonderment as to where we are going on our own. Her room is probably pink with a white iron canopy bed like the photos in the magazines at the doctor’s office. I bet her house doesn’t have any smells.
Get the full story from Amazon.
Read the press release from The Caribbean Writer.