Cadwell Turnbull - The Lesson

The plot is smooth and exciting, the polemics are subtle but smart, and the characters are heartfelt.

Tiphanie Yanique ,

author of Land of Love and Drowning

The Lesson isnt just a serious, important bookits also a fun and rewarding one.

Analog Science Fiction and Fact

[A] bold and provocative debutOn the island of St. Thomas, a family collides with intergalactic meddlers, stranding two lovers with souls in distant worlds. A forbidding panoply of colonial mischief.

Kris Lackey,

USA Today bestselling author of Nails Crossing

[A] rich debut novel about family, love, and loyalty in turbulent timesTurnbull uses a beautifully drawn cast of black characters to convey the complexity of ordinary hardship in extraordinary times.

Publishers Weekly (starred review)

A compelling and layered narrative that explores colonialism and our messy human flaws through a diverse and painfully real cast of characters. The Lesson is smart, full of dry wit and creeping dreada unique and artful debut.

M. K. England ,

author of The Disasters

Three families wind up in a horrific cycle of violence in a book about family in turbulent times in a debut that has been spoken of in the same breath as last years standout Rosewater .

B&N Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog

The Lesson is a story that should not be missed by readers who embraced such books as Emily St. John Mandels Station Eleven or even Arthur C. Clarkes Childhoods End Truly gripping and shocking.

SFF180

Copyright 2019 by Cadwell Turnbull
E-book published in 2019 by Blackstone Publishing
Cover and book design by Kathryn Galloway English
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
The characters and events in this book are fictitious.
Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental
and not intended by the author.
Trade e-book ISBN 978-1-5385-8466-8
Library e-book ISBN 978-1-5385-8465-1
Fiction / Science Fiction / General
CIP data for this book is available from the Library of Congress
Blackstone Publishing
31 Mistletoe Rd.
Ashland, OR 97520
www.BlackstonePublishing.com

To Mom, Sis, and Nanay

Water Island

Fifteen days before

A fter school, Patrice and Derrick rushed to beat midafternoon traffic. They got out of Charlotte Amalie gate fast enough, but it still took thirty minutes to pick up Derricks little sister, Lee, from Ulla F. Muller Elementary School and climb the steep hill to home.

They both lived at the same residence, an attractive two-story maroon-and-white house. Patrices family owned the house and lived on the top floor, while Derrick and his family rented out the bottom floor. Derricks family had been living there several years, since before Derricks father died. Now he lived there with his grandmother, Ms. Reed, and his little sister, Lee.

As soon as they parked, Lee ran downstairs. By the time Derrick and Patrice made it down into the house, she was already telling her grandmother about the day.

And then the teacher gave him six lashes, Grandma! Lee made emphatic gestures with her hands as she talked, mimicking the scene for her grandmother. He cried and cried.

Grandma Reed chuckled. Sounds like he deserve it, though.

It not funny, Grandma.

You two hungry? Ms. Reed asked, addressing Patrice and Derrick. They were standing near the doorway, not wanting to interrupt the conversation.

Afternoon, Grams.

Afternoon, Ms. Reed.

Well, you hungry, or what? Ms. Reed asked again.

A little, said Derrick.

Got some food on the stove. Fix your sister and Patrice a plate.

Derrick nodded and moved to the kitchen. Patrice followed. Lee kept talking to Ms. Reed, whose larger-than-life laughter echoed through the house.

The kitchen wasnt big, but they had managed to cram a dining room table into it. Derrick rinsed plates and shared out food. Light from the window over the sink emptied into the room, contrasting with the relative darkness of the rest of the kitchen. As Derrick stood in front of the window, Patrice watched him from behind, observing the way the light caught around his body like a halo.

Derrick brought all the plates to the table. Stew chicken, rice and beans, and fried plantain steamed on well-used china. He called Lee for food, and she came running in and sat in the chair next to Patrice, as she always did. Derrick and Patrice ate quietly and listened as Lee talked about her day at school, recounting to them all the things she had said to her grandmother in the other room. Then, when they were done, Derrick put the empty dishes in the sink, sent Lee back into the living room to watch cartoons with her grandmother, and took Patrice down the hall to his room, to begin studying for Ms. Robins biology test.

Arent you going to close the door? Patrice asked.

Grams said I cant close the door if I have a girl in my room.

We grew up together.

Thats the problem. You grown now. Cant have you up in my room with the door shut.

Patrice glared at him, communicating all she could.

Her words, Derrick said.

Boy, dont you close that door! Grandma Reed yelled from the living room.

I know, Grams.

Come here for a second!

Be right back, Derrick said. He grabbed some home clothes as he left to change out of his school uniform.

Patrice sat on Derricks bed. She dusted off her pleated navy-blue skirt and watched the green trees through the window as they swayed with the wind.

The heavy breathing of Derricks old desktop computer made the room seem alive. His walls were filled with posters, some drawn, some bought. Spaceships of different kinds. Star Trek s Enterprise. Star Wars Death Star. A hand painting of Firefly s Serenity. Battlestar Galactica. Stargate s Prometheus , Daedalus , and Destiny. Drawings of strange creatures with several heads; multiple eyes; and long, hanging limbs ending in large hands, talons, three-toe feet. On the desk next to his computer were stacks of comic books and National Geographic and Discovery magazines.

It seemed as though every time Patrice came over, Derrick had more posters and more books.

He had a bookshelf on his far wall. On it, the worn spines of paperbacks stood pressed tight together, their uneven sides forming a bar graph of color and book titles. The Foundation trilogy. 1984. The Left Hand of Darkness. The Earthsea series . Native Tongue. The Dispossessed. Green Mars. On the edge of the bookshelf, smashed between The Silmarillion and dark wood was a pristine hardcover Student Bible. Patrice pulled it out.

The book creaked as she opened it, the white pages flowing by as she thumbed through, making the sound of pigeon wings. She found a passage and started reading. Genesis, chapter 3. The hum of the desktop disappeared from Patrices awareness. She skipped to the end of the Bible. The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. The beasts of Earth rising up to kill men.

Yeah, Grams gave it to me, Derrick said. He was standing behind her.

Patrice turned to face him.

Derrick wore an old and torn blue shirt, his wiry, thin arms ending in the pockets of his white-and-blue sweatpants. He still had the awkward look of a preteen adjusting to the various changes to his body, but good looks were starting to peek out from his acne-ridden face.