THE rusted gate creaked open, followed by the gentle crunch of footsteps on gravel. Xaniyah stepped into the compound, her basket balanced on her hip, filled with the harvested cranberries, and the smell of the field clinging to her clothes like perfume from the earth. She was finally home.

But as she approached the front door, her ears caught the sharp voice inside.

"I said I won’t have it! I will not be in the same university with her!"

It was Danica.

Xaniyah paused, her hand ...