The doctor steps in front of me, as if he means to keep me hidden, or protect me. He lowers his head, doing his best to look ashamed. “What has brought you here?” he says. “You told me you were no longer doing night patrols in Shimla...”
The captain shines his flashlight over both of us. I stay behind the doctor, who now shields his eyes with one hand.
“Is this what I think it is?” the captain says. I hear the sly smile in his voice. The way he says it tells me that he’s putting on a show for his men.
“This is awkward,” Dr. Kumar says, apologetically. “Not to mention inconvenient.” The doctor chuckles.
Now the captain’s voice softens. “So this is why you asked me about smugglers running gold?”
Before I step out from behind the doctor, I undo a few hooks on the front of my blouse, putting my cleavage on display. I keep my eyes fixed on the ground. “We are sorry, Ji,” I say, “to trouble you.”
A few men snicker. The captain comes a little closer to me, and I’m hoping he’s more interested in what I’m showing him than what we might be doing with the sheep.
“I heard a rumor that this woman is living with you. But I didn’t believe it.”
Dr. Kumar attempts another embarrassed laugh. “News travels fast.”
“The mountains have ears, Doctor.”
“Ah, then the mountains have also told you that my wife is still living with me, too.”
Now the men laugh louder.
“Chup!” the captain tells his men, asserting his authority.
I fight the urge to look behind us, at Lakshmi, who must have heard this exchange. After everything she’s done for us, she has to listen to this disgusting talk!
Dr. Kumar looks at me, tenderly, as if I am the only thing that brings him joy. “We have to sneak away, you see,” he says. “This is the only time we can...”
He reaches into his pocket, pulls out a wad of rupees and insists the captain take them as a “gift.” “To make up for the trouble that we’ve caused you, Sahib.”
The captain clears his throat but doesn’t hesitate to take the rupees being offered. He dithers only a second before the money disappears inside his jacket pocket.
I pull on the doctor’s arm. “What about...you know?”
Dr. Kumar turns to me; one side of his face is lit up by the policeman’s flashlight, the other is in darkness. His expression is bewildered, and alarmed. He’s taken by surprise and seems to think that I’m about to undo everything he’s done to get us out of trouble.
“The gold,” I say, “just outside Shimla.” I give the captain a shy, apologetic glance. “The doctor doesn’t like to get people in trouble, Sahib.” I turn to the doctor again. “That business. What is it called? Can—Canra—?”
We’re both now looking at the captain. His head is tilted, his interest piqued.
“I remember now,” I say as if I’ve just remembered. “Canara!”
The captain says, “Canara?”
I lower my voice to a whisper. “Where they move the gold. But, Sahib, you must already be knowing about it.”
Hastily, the public servant clears his throat, glances at his men. Then he nods, several times. “Of course, of course. But how did you find out?”
Dr. Kumar pulls me to him, smiling. I can almost believe that he’s in love with me. “The mountains have ears.”
Now the doctor looks at the captain, then at me, and hastily puts his hands together in a namaste. “But please, Captain. Don’t tell my bibi. It would break her heart.”
“You can rely on me, Doctor. As for my men—” he glances behind him “—I can vouch for them.”
Bukwas! By tomorrow morning, the rumor mill will be working overtime at the hospital.
I wonder how Dr. Kumar will be able to hold his head up after this.
16
LAKSHMI
Shimla
We didn’t talk about what just happened on our way back from the lower pasture. It was awkward with all three of us present. The only time Nimmi spoke is to tell us she had arranged for a local shepherd to move the sheep tomorrow.
I don’t know why, but I felt wary about bringing up the altercation with the police. I couldn’t say exactly why but wondered if I might not like his answer. Still, it kept replaying in my head, like a broken film that’s stuck in the projector, slapping the machine with every revolution of the reel. I saw the way that Jay reacted when confronted by the captain, pretending—so convincingly—to be having an affair with Nimmi. Even I almost believed him. I was crouched behind a tree trunk far into the darkness, but I could still make out the silhouettes of Jay and Nimmi. He was holding her in an embrace, and then he kissed her!
Did he feel anything? Did she?
There are nurses at the hospital and the clinic who have a crush on Jay. They see him as the kind, and bashful, doctor. But I’ve never felt they were a threat. The jealousy that overwhelmed me when I saw him holding Nimmi was entirely new. And, after all, I am the one who insisted Nimmi live with us, for now.
Should I be worried? No. A liaison between the two of them is inconceivable. Jay loves me; he’s always claimed he fell for me the first time he saw me at Samir Singh’s house twelve years ago. I have no reason to believe he hasn’t been faithful during our marriage.
As the three of us step onto the front veranda, I can hear the phone ringing inside. I know Moni won’t answer the phone—she doesn’t trust it. I hurry to unlock the door. The only phone calls we get late at night are from the hospital for Jay. Sometimes Radha calls from Paris, but she’s careful about calling, as the charges are exorbitant, and she calls only on her girls’ birthdays, and on Diwali.
But the phone call is not from Radha or the hospital. It’s Kanta, telling me the Royal Jewel Cinema collapsed tonight.
She quickly assures me that Malik, and her family, are fine, which sets my racing heart at ease.
But she’s speaking quickly, and she’s crying. I don’t catch every word and have to ask her to repeat herself. “I’m so glad we didn’t take Nikhil to the cinema tonight,” she says. “He was furious with us because he wanted to be in on the excitement. So many of his classmates were going...” She stops herself, and I can hear her sobs. When she manages to calm herself, she says, “Oh, Lakshmi. It was horrible for everyone. People were hurt. They were crying. The biggest project for the palace so far—the maharani invested all that money to build it! And Manu was in charge of it. He’s beside himself! Says he has no idea how it could have happened.”
“How many were hurt?” My mind is sprinting through the names of everyone I used to know in Jaipur. Hai Ram! Were any of them there? Were they hurt?
“We only know that the actor, Rohit Seth—you must have heard of him—died instantly. He fell to the first floor when his part of the balcony gave way. Many people sitting just below the balcony were injured, too. A child is being treated—we heard his leg was badly crushed. A woman is in critical condition. She may survive, or not. It’s touch and go.” She blows her nose and takes another moment to control herself. I can picture Kanta with her phone, twisting the black plastic coil around her finger, leaning back against the hallway wall. I can see her shake her head, dramatically, and wring the handkerchief she’s soaked with tears.
“They’ll try to blame this all on Manu! He’s convinced of it. But it isn’t Manu’s fault! You know that he’s meticulous about his work! The last to leave the office every day. He checks and double-checks the figures, quantities, the costs of labor and materials. He constantly goes over everything. You should see how carefully he checks our bills at home—I can’t even watch him do it. If he finds an error, or an overcharge, he just assumes I haven’t paid attention. Baap re baap!”