The Mending Season
by Kagiso Lesego Molope

It’s 1990, and thirteen-year-old Tshidiso lives with her three aunts at Number 4, Mabele Street. Feared for their eccentricity, their house is known as the home of the witches, and parents don’t allow their children to visit Tshidiso. She spends her free time hiding in a lemon tree while she eavesdrops on the neighbors to hear the township gossip. An unexpected opportunity to attend a private, multiracial convent in the city throws Tshidiso into a new world of fancy cars, expensive clothes, and proper accents. Through trial and error, Tshidiso learns to adapt to this new environment and gains courage and respect when she has to deal with the consequences of a racial incident on the netball court.