AP Literature

Mrs.Belmonte
Daisy Luna
Kalimba worked long hours in homework until 3.00 AM every day and woke up
or s!hool at " getting only 3 hours o sleep. #he dark wrinkly sa!k under her eyes said it
all sin!e it would be the irst thing you would look at when you saw her a!e. $he had no
!hoi!e though as the oldest o the siblings sin!e she had to set the e%ample. At home she
always told that she had to be!ome somebody in lie and edu!ation was the only way out
o the poverty her amily was in. Living in a one room bedroom with a amily o & having
to share two twin beds was not how she wanted to live or the rest o her lie. 'er and
her two sisters had to sleep hori(ontaly making their legs hang o the bed while her three
brothers shared the other bed sleeping the same way as well. 'er )* year old parents
would sleep on a !erami! !old loor with only a plasti! under them and a old musty
blanket over them.
$he was +& , a senior with bla!k thin straight ponytail ranked number + in the
s!hool in the !ity o -eliano. $he had been awarded golden awards or having pere!t
attendan!e and never was she on!e late to any o her !lasses whi!h e%plains why she was
a straight A student and o!ourse everyone wished they had her grades. .ith the grades
she had you !ould get into the !ollege o your !hoi!e without a problem.
Kalimba was never the one who would intera!t with !lassmates. /ot a 0hi1. /ot
even a smile. $he wouldn0t even bother to ask her tea!her or help when she 2uestioned
hersel on a problem. Asking 2uestions 3ust showed you !ouldn0t deal with situations on
your own a!!ording to her.
1'ey um... Do you know how to solve this problem41 her !lassnate asked her one day
during Algebra. Kalimba stayed still eling how the blood was lowing inside her veins.
$taring at the !ollege ruled blank sheet o paper inront o her and and slowly nodded
her head. 15k thanks1 her !lasmate said. Kalimba 3ust heard how her !lassmate walked
o telling another !lassmate how rude Kalimba was or not wanting to help when she
didn0t even want the answers, she was 3ust seeking or help. Kalimba asked hersel how
!ould she help when she didn0t even know what was going on. $he didnt even have a !lue
o what was being tought hersel every day in s!hool. But she was okay with this though.
.hen she got home she would igure it out be!ause there was nothing better than
igurinthg how to do something on your own.
Kalimba !at!hed the bus that arrived at 3.60 that aternoon . 7our minutes ater
!lass ended so she would not loose any time o her homework and maybe, 3ust maybe
there was a !han!e that she !ould inish early and sleep. #he 6nd sibling in the amily,
Myra, was laying down with her stoma!h a!ing down in bed staring down at Kalimba
who was in the !erami! loor doing homework and wondering why it took her sister su!h
long time to !omplete it. $he asked Kalimba i she needed any help ater she was done
studying on her own but Kalimba reused. 1.hy would she say no when all 8 was trying
to do was help41 Myra thought to helsel.
1Look Myra, 8 don0t need your help9 8 i have been doing my homework on my own and
have gotten better grades than 8 thought 8 !an surely do this on my own1. Kalimba replied
to her sister with a sharp voi!e. Myra didn0t want to keep on bothering her sister so she
went o her parents ad told them what happened between her sister . 8nstead o going to
talk to Kalimba about how wrong she was to talk like that the only thing that her dad said
was1 Leave her alone. $he doesn0t need your help. Let her do it alone and she will learn
how to do her homework even i she struggles1. 1Dad, id this why we have been living in
this poverty or so long4 Myra replied.