Samir watches the bee walking around in a circle on his arm and carefully flicks it in the direction of the window. It flies out.
“Are the columns of the balcony the only part of the cinema house that are compromised?”
He shakes his head, pushing away from the front seat. He slouches in the back, surveys the roof of the car. “We will have to take that place apart. Salvage what we can. But we have to rebuild it pretty much from scratch.” His gaze comes back to me. “It will ruin the business, but I want to leave with my reputation intact. Ravi will not destroy that. In fact, whatever he made selling that gold is going back into rebuilding the Royal Jewel Cinema.”
“You’re going to fold Singh-Sharma?”
“No choice. MemSahib has spoken. Parvati—of course she was there when Ravi confessed—says we stop operation after the cinema house is rebuilt and go to America. She’s heard from friends that there is a great retirement community in Los Angeles.”
“Retirement? But you’re only—”
“Fifty-two. Don’t remind me. She’s got it all figured out.”
“Why does that not surprise me?”
“We’re going to go into real estate.” He scratches the bristles on his chin. “I can’t be an architect in America without getting licensed there, and I’m too old to go back to school. So real estate it is.”
“What about Ravi? Govind?”
He inches forward and leans his arms on the top of the front seat again. “Govind has already told us he is going into finance in New York, not engineering. He has an American girlfriend. Doesn’t want to come back for an arranged marriage. And Ravi...well, he’ll probably do real estate with me in Los Angeles.” He gives me a lopsided smile. “Looks like Sheela will be living in a joint family whether she wants to or not.”
I take a deep breath and turn my body so I’m facing forward again. It looks like the game is winding down. We watch it for a while.
“You owe Manu Agarwal an apology,” I say.
There’s a pause.
“I’ve told the Maharani Latika what Ravi said. She’s disappointed, naturally, and upset that, no matter what, the disaster will be remembered as the fault of the palace. But Manu’s job is safe.”
Samir is not going to personally apologize to Manu. Had I really expected him to? Do the Singhs ever apologize to anyone? At least the maharanis know Manu was not to blame.
I feel Samir’s finger graze my cheek. I tilt my head away from him.
“Marriage to Jay suits you. I miss his friendship, but you can’t be friends when you’re in love with the same woman.”
My mouth falls open. Blood pounds in my ears. But I don’t dare turn around.
Twelve years ago, I would have welcomed those words. To know that he cared this much. Not today.
I can’t be having this conversation. I love my husband. I could have loved Samir, but Parvati staked her claim on him a long time ago. She makes the key decisions in their lives. And he lets her. Does that make him weak? Has he always been the less powerful Singh and I just never noticed? Or is he more perceptive than I give him credit for? After all, isn’t Parvati the one who always manages the disasters in the family?
I clear my throat. “Don’t try to contact Nikhil. Ever.”
From the back seat, I hear rustling. He’s opening a fresh pack of cigarettes. “Moving to America will help with that.”
I hear the flicking of the gold lighter. A stream of cigarette smoke fills the front of the car when he exhales.
Out on the cricket field, the game is over. The players are shaking hands with one another. Private-school etiquette. In the distance, Malik and Kanta are all smiles waiting for Niki to join them.
I hear the back door open. In the side mirror, I see Samir get out of the car and come to stand by my window.
“Samir?”
“Um?”
“If Manu is any indication of what Niki will grow up to be, Ralph Waldo Emerson was right. The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
I look up at him. He’s smiling at me. He gives me an army salute and ambles away.
29
MALIK
Jaipur
Once we all learn that Singh-Sharma is going make the Royal Jewel Cinema whole again and that Manu has been reinstated as director of Palace Facilities, we decide to celebrate with a feast. Saasuji has made her special chole subji and Niki’s favorite cake. Baju makes dal, rice, an okra subji and potato pakoras. Manu brings back besan laddus, cashew burfi and kheer with pistachios from the sweetshop. Neither Auntie-Boss nor I have had a chance to write letters back home this whole time, so we call Jay at home.
I hear Jay tell Boss that Nimmi and the kids are back home now because the heat is off; his commissioner chum has eliminated the danger.
I ask to speak to Nimmi.
“Today is Rekha’s birthday.” Nimmi sounds happy. In the background, I hear Rekha singing “Happy Birthday” to herself. “Dr. Jay and I have made a cake. And guess what?”
With a pang, I realize how much I’m missing not being in Shimla. “What?”
“I wrote Rekha’s name on it. In Hindi!” She laughs that lovely deep laugh of hers.
“You should see it! It’s so pretty!” Rekha has grabbed the phone from her mother. I laugh and tell her I have a present for her birthday. “A present?” she says before Nimmi takes the phone back.
“Please, Malik, no more crickets! We can’t find the one Rekha let out of the cage!”
I hear the smile in her voice and find myself grinning, imagining her face when I put the gold chain around her neck. Through the phone I hear Madho Singh exclaim, “Namaste! Bonjour! Welcome!” He must know they’re talking to me.
I hand the phone back to Auntie-Boss so she can say goodbye to her husband. She tells him, “We’re coming home tomorrow.”
As she hangs up, I say, “You said we.”
“I did.”
“I thought you wanted me to stay and learn with Manu Uncle?”
She laughs and takes my arm, leading me away from the family to the Agarwals’ front veranda. “Malik, why did I want you to come to Jaipur?”
“To learn the building trade.”
She lowers herself on the veranda porch swing and pats the seat next to her. I sit down. “Did you succeed?”
“Yes.”
She nods. “In your time here you learned enough about the business to know when something isn’t right. Why else did I want you to come?”
“To keep me from getting involved with...certain types of people.”
“Did you succeed?”
I narrow my eyes, not sure what she wants me to say. “Well, I know I don’t want to be involved with the likes of Ravi Singh. But I knew that way back when he first got involved with Radha.”
She smiles at me faintly. “So there’s no need for you to be here anymore. I don’t think there ever was. Nimmi asked me to let you go. She said you only do things because you feel an obligation to me.”
I’m about to object, but she places a hand on my arm to stop me. “I’ve been giving it a lot of thought, and she’s right, Malik. You are your own man now. Have been for a long time. I think I overstepped. Maaf kar dijiye?”
“Why do you need to be forgiven, Auntie-Boss? If we hadn’t been here in Jaipur, think what might have happened to Manu. And Niki. I’m glad we came.”
She looks skeptical, as if she doesn’t quite believe me but wants to.
“But it is time to go home. I agree.”
Now her face breaks into a smile.
“Besides,” I say, “I’ve helped Niki become a star cricket player. I’m counting on him to help us make our millions.” We share a laugh.
Birds are twittering in the courtyard of the Agarwals’. In the evening twilight, the headlights of scooters and cars scissor between the spikes of the iron fence beyond. We listen to the honks of tongas, the twinkle of bicycle bells and the shouts of rickshaw drivers looking for passengers.