Omkar’s confidence was quickly countered by his father. “Don’t disrespect us. Don’t talk to us that way,” Neeraj yelled, puffing up his chest and turning a shoulder to Omkar as a warning. “Whose son is this? We have not raised a son to act like this and to think this way and to talk this way. We have not worked so hard to give you this life so you could wreck it. We forbid this match, Omkar. I am your father and because I am your father, I can tell you that this girl is not right for you. And I expect you to respect that. Now come inside.”

Neeraj motioned to Jarminder, who began to follow him back inside. Omkar hesitated a second before the futility of convincing them strengthened instead of weakened his resolve. Taking a final stand, he yelled, “Alright, I can see that you don’t respect what I have said. I can see that you do not respect that I love this girl. I can see that you do not believe you have raised a son who can love this girl. So maybe I’m not your son. Maybe you will disown me. I don’t care because I do love this girl, Papa, I love her whether you accept it or not.”

When the pause led to no compromise on either side, Omkar told Aria to wait outside. He walked past his parents and back into the store. Neeraj and Jarminder followed him, relieved. Despite his last words, they were convinced that he was going back into the store because he had given in to their reasoning. However, in the time it took them to walk back up the stairs to put the conflict entirely to rest, Omkar had dressed in the first outfit he could find. He had grabbed all the things he needed for class; he had collected his wallet and was now looking for the car keys.

“Omkar, Mama needs you to drive her to gurdwara this morning on your way to school,” Neeraj said, walking toward his room.

Omkar was further enraged by the way the obvious conflict was swept under the carpet of their plans for the day. He lacked the tolerance to stay there a moment longer. Keys in hand, he walked back out of his room and straight past his parents, ignoring his father’s comment. It was a disrespect that he had never shown them before. It felt both liberating and catastrophic.

Neeraj and Jarminder were so taken aback that by the time they yelled out after him, he had already reached the bottom of the stairs. They followed him, but by the time they got outside, Omkar had already ushered Aria into the passenger seat of his car. They watched him turn on the engine and drive away.