The Paper House Read Online Free PDF Page A

clinic. And only those who can afford it have to pay.” Mrs. Pakua adjusted her head scarf and took Safiyah’s hand. “But let’s not imagine the worst. Rasul, I am going to take this child home to see what we can do for her cucu.”
    â€œGood. I’ve got things to do.” Without saying goodbye, Rasul turned and disappeared back into the alley.
    His mother stood beside Safiyah as they watched him hurry away. Safiyah had never thought about gang members having mothers!
    â€œIs it just the two of you?” asked Mrs. Pakua.
    Safiyah nodded.
    â€œYou look after your grandmother, I expect.”
    Safiyah nodded again.
    â€œLet’s see what I can do to help.” Mrs. Pakua moved as quickly as Rasul, but her hand on Safiyah’s was gentler. “We’ll go this way.” As she led Safiyah through the neighborhood, Mrs. Pakua talked about the clinic, telling Safiyah how good the doctors and nurses were, even with so little equipment and medicine.
    As if Mrs. Pakua realized that all the talk about doctors and medicine was making Safiyah nervous, she squeezed her hand. “Whatever is wrong with your grandmother, we will find help for her.”
    Mrs. Pakua greeted many people as she led Safiyah through the maze of unfamiliar alleys. They passed tea shops and newspaper stands. The women filling their wash buckets at the standpipe waved and called out to her. Not everyone in Kibera washed their clothes in dirty ditch water, Safiyah realized. Not everyone was as poor as she was.
    When they at last turned the corner at the familiar water vendor’s stand, they found the alley full of people stumbling through a blue haze of smoke. At first Safiyah could not make any sense of the words in the hubbub of voices. But then she heard, “Not enough water.”
    â€œLet us pass! Let us pass!”
    A man pushed past Safiyah and Mrs. Pakua. His hair was singed and a dark smudge ran down his face. “More water!” he cried.
    A flash of panic swept across Safiyah’s chest. “My house is along there.” She let go of Mrs. Pakua’s hand and pushed through the crowds. She ducked between two men and raced past a crush of uniformed children being led away by an old man.
    â€œPendo!” cried Safiyah.
    Her friend’s face turned toward her above a sea of heads. “It’s a fire!” Pendo waved wildly above the crowd of children pressed against her. “Saffy! A fire at Mrs. Okella’s.”

Chapter Ten
    Fire! Mrs. Okella! Pendo’s words pounded in Safiyah’s head as she shoved through the crowd. Fire! “Let me through.” She stepped on someone’s foot. An elbow banged the back of her head. A basket scraped against her bare legs. “I need to find my cucu,” she yelled.
    Two church elders held back the crowds outside Mrs. Okella’s house. Their clothes were blackened and torn and their faces shone with sweat. The burning walls of the house were crumpled in on each other. Sticking out from underneath was a table leg and a tangle of fabric.
    â€œCucu!” cried Safiyah.
    A woman grabbed her shoulder. “Is that your house?”
    â€œMy cucu…” Safiyah sobbed.
    â€œThis child lives over there,” the woman called to the people who filled the narrow alley. “Her grandmother…”
    â€œThat’s my house.” Safiyah pointed next door. Her wall of pictures was blistered and peeling. Ashes swirled in the air. “Where’s Cucu?” Safiyah screamed, just as she had screamed the day she had found her mother in a heap in this very spot.
    â€œI thought I had lost you.” Rasul’s mother was beside Safiyah.
    â€œCucu!” wailed Safiyah as Mrs. Pakua held her tight.
    Men scooped water from the ditches and hurried toward the house. Others kicked the rubble as the flames flickered through heaps of scorched wood and paper. Safiyah saw a woman tuck Mrs. Okella’s blanket