What We Learned Along the Way Read Online Free PDF

won’t be.”
    Kalimah hated when her sister talked
negatively about herself. “What’s stopping you? You’re beautiful
and intelligent. You just have the wrong attitude. If you don’t
believe you’re a good catch, it’ll be hard for someone else
to.”
    “That’s easy for you to say. You’re gorgeous.
I don’t look like you.”
    “Actually, you do look like me. We have the
same eyes, nose and hair. We’re sisters, remember? But even if you
didn’t, who cares? You don’t have to look like me to be beautiful.
You’re just as cute as I am. All you need is a little makeover.”
Kalimah stood up and walked over near the full-length mirror. “Come
stand here,” she said, pointing to the ground in front of the
mirror.
    “For what?” Malikah pouted. She hated looking
in the mirror.
    “Just be quiet and come,” Kalimah demanded.
Malikah got up sluggishly and walked over to her sister. Kalimah
stood behind her and put her hands on her shoulders. “Stand up
straight. Roll your shoulders back. Look like you have some
confidence. See, that looks so much better,” she said after Malikah
stopped slouching. “You have to learn how to dress for your body.
This shirt is too big. It makes you look sloppy.” Kalimah grabbed
the extra fabric on her sister’s shirt and gathered it in the back,
making the shirt look a lot more fitted. “Now, see how much better
that looks?” she said with a smile. Malikah had always hated her
body, but there in the mirror, it didn’t look so bad. “Now these
pants, on the other hand, are too small,” she said looking down.
“Unless you’re wearing some type of cropped pant, they should never
stop above your ankles. And, contrary to popular belief, a looser
fit would actually make you look leaner.”
    Malikah was surprised at how much her sister
knew about fashion. She felt like she was on one of those makeover
shows. “How do you know all this?” she asked.
    “You know I’ve always loved clothes; and
since I got married, I’ve been watching a lot of TV, mostly fashion
and makeover shows. And Adam spoils me. I shop a lot.”
    “I wish,” Malikah said.
    “You don’t have to. Let’s go shopping now!
I’ll give you a real makeover, with clothes, makeup, shoes, hair,
everything!”
    “That all sounds nice, but I don’t have money
for any of that.”
    “It’s fine. I’ll pay for it,” she said,
fumbling through her purse and pulling out a credit card. “Well,
Adam will pay for it,” she corrected herself.
    Malikah didn’t know what to say. She had
never had a makeover before. “Well, in that case, let’s go.” She
had actually starting to get excited, but it soon faded once they
got to the mall. Seeing all the skinny girls trying on the
skinny-girl clothes made her feel really self-conscious. She was
scared to try anything on, because she knew it wouldn’t fit, as
usual. Then would come the standard flood of depression and triple
chocolate ice cream.
    “Oooh, this would go great with your skin,”
Kalimah said, holding a purple blouse up against her sister.
    “I don’t wear purple. It makes me look like
Barney.”
    Kalimah chuckled. “You wouldn’t look like
Barney, but we can try another color. How about this black, silk
tank? It says ‘sophisticated, but still ready to party.’ Ooh, and
then you could pair it with these pants,” she said grabbing a pair
of jeans from the next rack. “And those heels,” she said, running
down the aisle toward a pair of red pumps. By the time Kalimah had
the entire outfit, she was out of breath. “Well, what do you
think?”
    Malikah didn’t hear a word her sister said.
She was too busy staring at Muhammad from across the room. Kalimah
noticed that her sister was paying no attention and soon figured
out why.
    “Is that Muhammad over there?” she asked. “I
haven’t seen him in so long. He looks really nice.”
    “Yea, he does,” Malikah said, finally coming
out of her trance.
    “Don’t tell me you still like