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Khenan Wins
Khenan Wins
Khenan Wins
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Khenan Wins

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Dive into the inspiring journey of Khenan, an independent 11-year-old with extraordinary mental skills! After the heartbreaking loss of his mother, Khenan finds strength and support in his friend Candice, propelling him to take charge of his future. Despite his struggles living with his aunt, he learns to adapt and face challenges head-on.

When bullies threaten his peace, Khenan's determination shines as he handles the situation on his own, without seeking adult help. Though he may stumble, his commitment to doing the right thing and correcting his mistakes never wavers. Driven by the desire to find his father, Khenan first seeks help from Candice's father, and when that plan falters, he turns to his wise neighbor, Mrs. Blake, who becomes a pivotal ally in his quest.

This captivating story is packed with educational materials, including multiple choice quizzes, essay questions, research prompts, reflection questions, suggested activities, and answers to deepen the reading experience. Get ready to be inspired by Khenan's resilience and determination! ?✨

LanguageEnglish
PublisherPeltrovijan Publishing
Release dateAug 2, 2024
ISBN9781937143718
Khenan Wins
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Author

Jo Dinage

Jo has always been sensitive to what she calls the rip tides of society. In a seemingly calm ocean, rip currents can easily suck you in. There, as in the real world, your survival will depend on your knowledge of the currents, your ability to swim in the deep, your will to live, plus luck and a prayer.

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    Khenan Wins - Jo Dinage

    ​​​​Chapter 1: ​​Khenan says, Move!

    Khenan was afraid. He was in a bad spot, and there was no way out. Trickles of sweat ran down his face and even down the inside of his school shirt. A proverb from one of the study books bought for him by his Aunt Carol suddenly materialized in his mind: Long cut draw sweat, short cut draw blood .

    By now Khenan should have learned to stay clear of short cuts, especially after what happened last week, but no, he had to go and do it again. His school was on the main street which was dotted with several small shops. However, he was walking behind the shops rather than along the main road, along a dirt track which was popular with schoolchildren. Not many adults came this way. There were children around but no one was close – not that it mattered. Last time there were others around too, but no one helped.

    While Khenan had been thinking about what to do, Jerome and his friends had come closer. Leave me alone! Khenan backed away slowly. His eyes darted from side to side, searching for a way out. He would be in real trouble if they backed him up in a corner ... again. That was what happened last week.

    A lot of the children used a hole in the fence, on the far side of the playing field, as a short cut to and from school. Khenan had used it before, but last week as soon as he climbed over the fence, they cornered him. There was no way he could run and nowhere to hide. When he got home with scratches on his face, and a swollen and bloody nose, he told Mrs. Blake that he tripped and fell on the sidewalk. She believed him – but only just. He didn’t want to worry her.

    Leave me alone, the ringleader, Jerome, mimicked in an intentionally shrill and whiny voice, turning to two boys, Desmond and Bryan, who followed him.

    All three laughed.

    Jerome and his two friends were Khenan’s main tormentors. He hated them! Ever since he started sixth grade at this new school these three had been harassing him. Generally, they didn’t do anything in the classroom, especially if the teacher was there, but they teased him unmercifully on the play grounds during recess or outside the classroom. It was getting so bad that some of the other children were starting to avoid him. Maybe they were afraid they would get picked on too. There were also a few who were now following Jerome’s lead and had started picking on him.

    You only gave us a few dollars today, Shorty, Jerome continued. Who gets only that for lunch money?

    He’s trying to short change us, man, Bryan taunted as he moved to stand beside Jerome. Does he think we stupid?

    C’mon, Shorty, Jerome grinned. All you got to do is give us some money and we’ll leave you alone.

    Yeah, Desmond agreed as he smacked his clenched right fist into his left palm suggestively. We don’t want to hurt nobody. You give us the money. And everything will be cool.

    C’mon, Shorty, give up. Jerome held out a hand, giving a ‘come-on’ gesture with his palm facing upwards.

    Shorty. It was a nickname he hated. Jerome had started calling him ‘Shorty’ almost from the first day of school. It was two months now and he was getting sick of it. The teasing was also getting worse. It was just words at first but last week Jerome had started demanding money. Last week was also the first time they had beat him up. That was because he refused to give away any of his lunch money. Since then, he had started paying them but now they wanted more...What would they do next?

    All this was because of his size. Khenan was about a full head shorter than most of the girls in his class and shorter than every boy. All three of these boys towered over him. Even Bryan, the shortest, was still a good half-head taller than he was. Jerome was both taller and heavier.

    Then he was skinny. No matter how much food he ate, he never seemed to gain any weight. There was no way he could win a fight against them. Khenan wished his aunt would send him back to his old school, the private school he had attended since kindergarten. But she said she couldn’t afford it...

    I finished it. I haven’t got any left.

    Did you hear that?  ‘I haven’t got any left.’  Jerome mocked his words. You think you better than us just ‘cause you went to private school, eh Shorty?

    They were getting too close. Khenan’s heart was pounding as he took another cautious step backward.

    I don’t want to get beat up again, he thought. Then use it. I’m afraid. Use it! Suppose it doesn’t work. Try! Arguing with himself wasn’t working. He licked his lips nervously and briefly closed his eyes. Bryan was the smallest. Maybe it would work on him...

    Back up! He screamed mentally, opening his eyes to focus on Bryan. Leave me! Back up!

    Bryan, who had been moving forward aggressively, suddenly stopped. The boy blinked, dropped both arms to his sides and took a step back. He seemed uncertain, confused  and unable to continue his forward momentum.

    It worked! It’s working! Elated at his initial success, Khenan tried to make eye contact with Jerome and Desmond. However, both boys had their faces turned toward Bryan.

    What’s with you, man? Jerome asked.

    Khenan decided to continue his focus on Bryan. Move away! Leave me!

    I...I... There was now a terrified look on Bryan’s face as he unwillingly took another step backward.

    Jerome turned to look at Khenan, What...

    Before he could continue, Khenan made eye contact and repeated his mental command. Back up! Leave me!

    Like Bryan, Jerome was initially disorientated, then slowly, reluctantly, he too took a step backward.

    Khenan relaxed slightly as he continued issuing mental commands. Leave! Move away! Jerome and Bryan were backing away! Against their will, they were backing away!

    Desmond was just bewildered. He grabbed hold of Jerome’s arm. What’s happening? What’s up with you?

    Khenan decided not to push his luck. Their confusion would not last long. Besides, he could not keep up the mental commands indefinitely. He turned and ran. He fled back to the main road and continued running. He passed the shops then the supermarket. The supermarket was the midpoint. He had four more streets to go before he turned off the main road. Now there were just houses. Two more streets to go. On a normal day, the walk would take about twenty minutes to complete at a leisurely pace. This time he ran the entire distance in less than ten minutes. He didn’t stop until he was at his gate. There he doubled over, gripping his sides, gasping and trying to catch his breath, trying to recover before going inside. He was shaking, shivering really.

    He had done it!

    It was while in first grade that Khenan first found he could influence people, a little. The very first time Khenan tried was when he wanted one of  the candies that his best friend Gerard had. Khenan had already eaten his candy. After begging and pleading and getting nowhere, he had simply turned to his friend and said, Give me some!

    To the surprise of them both, Gerard gave Khenan the candy. Afterwards Gerard started crying and told on him. The teacher believed he had deliberately taken away his friend’s candy and he got into trouble. He was forced to give  it back.

    Since then, whenever he really wanted something, Khenan tried demanding that the person give it up. Because the mental commands did not always work, and when it did work it would be on children around his age, he had learned that it just did not pay to use the ability much. Besides, the children he tried it on in the past would say he forced them to do something, which just about always got him into trouble. Fortunately, no one had realized that the forceful order had been given mentally, until now!

    This time was different. For the first time he had forced more than one person – and both at the same time – to do something they didn’t want to do, to move away. Maybe his mind powers were getting stronger!

    Could other people do this too? Khenan didn’t think so. No one had ever tried to make him do  anything. But just now he had definitely made Bryan and Jerome obey his command. This was scary. And now they knew. He shivered again. The children in his class knew! What would they do?

    ​Chapter 2: ​​A secret

    He walked slowly up the short pathway to the front door and rattled the padlock that locked the grill screen door.

    That you, Khenan? a voice called.

    "Ti, it’s me, Miss Blake. Bonswè." Mrs. Blake was St. Lucian. She had taught him to say good evening in Creole. He had also picked up ‘yes’, ‘no’ plus a few other greetings and simple phrases. He liked practicing and he knew she loved hearing her native Creole, even his beginner’s attempts.

    Mrs. Blake opened the front door then unlocked the grill screen door. She was really short. His head was already pass her shoulder and she was an adult. He often wondered how short she was as a child if she was so short as an adult. But thinking that just made him gloomy because that meant there was no hope for him to get taller when he finally got to be an adult.

    Mrs. Blake was also wide. Her body nearly filled the doorway and Khenan had never seen her in anything except long, shapeless, house dresses which buttoned down the front and reached well below her knees. Even the clothes she wore to church on Sundays looked similar. The only difference is that her church dresses were usually less colorful than her regular dresses. Khenan thought it should be the other way around. Her hair was almost totally white, and so thin that Khenan could see her scalp even though it was combed back into a bun.

    Mrs. Blake  had eyes, which were gray with age, but loving and kind.  I left something for you to eat in the kitchen, she said. Your auntie said you was to eat then do your homework. After that she wants you to water the flowers out front then you can watch TV or play or whatever. She’ll be late. She’ll get in after seven. So, if you need anything you just call me, okay?

    "Mèsi, Miss Blake." Khenan nodded with his thanks. He really liked Mrs. Blake. She was always nice to him and, unlike his aunt, her words and actions did not confuse him. From his experience with her, Khenan knew that as long as he did his homework, Mrs. Blake was not fussy about when he did it.

    According to what Khenan had overheard from listening to his aunt’s conversations with her friends, Mrs. Blake, a retired accountant, had relocated to Jamaica after marrying a Jamaican. However, her husband had died long ago and she had no children. She lived on one side of the house and he and his aunt lived on the other. Her apartment had one bedroom, while his aunt’s had two bedrooms. There was a common entrance

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