I scanned the room. It wasn’t a huge, fancy place, but for a big city like Mumbai, this was as good as it got for a young couple, unless, of course, you were very rich. The kitchen was set up in the corner and consisted of a gas stove, a small refrigerator, and Formica cupboards to hold the dishes. Nimita had arranged the new stainless steel thalis, plates, small bowls, and pots on the bottom shelf, and glass bottles filled with various colored lentils and beans on the top shelf.

The sofa and two matching chairs were facing a television sitting snugly in a glass case with a cover. The bed and the steel-gray Godrej cabinet were in the short part of the L-shaped apartment. It gave privacy usually impossible to achieve in such a small place.

Because Nimita had vision problems, Mummy had taught her to organize things so she wouldn’t have any trouble finding them. Nimita followed Mummy’s advice, so her house always looked like it was ready for an inspection.

After a while I felt better, and I hung on to Mohini as we climbed down the dark stairs and walked out into the blinding glare of the sun. Then I felt sick all over again.

I couldn’t go swimming the next day. I was so mad at myself for being stupid enough to eat something cold from a street vendor. When Mohini came home after swimming she said, “The teacher asked about you.”

“Did you tell her I was sick?”

“Yes, I told her and also a couple of other nosy people who wanted to know where you were.”

“Who asked about me?”

“No one special. Only the ones we see every day. I think someone else would have asked about you if I had let him.”

“You mean Neel?”

She shrugged her shoulders. Why didn’t you let Neel talk to you? I wanted to ask, but it was better if we didn’t talk about him. If she pretended that Neel didn’t exist, she couldn’t ask me to stop smiling or talking to him.

I cursed myself for not talking to Neel earlier, for eating kulfi and missing the last day of swimming, for never asking him his last name. If I’m lucky I might see him next year, I thought. I felt like the sky burdened with the weight of dark clouds, mourning the loss of the sun.

On the first of June, three days before the beginning of school, Mummy asked, “What would you like to eat on your birthday besides ladu?”

Every summer I talked about my birthday until all of my family was tired of hearing about it. Last year Mohini had said, “If you mention your birthday one more time, I won’t give you the present I’ve bought for you.”