I wanted to tape the note next to the stainless steel water dipper. That way when they went to get a drink of water from the red earthen pot, they’d see it. But I was afraid that if Mummy read my note she’d get mad. So I tore it into tiny pieces and threw it out the window and watched it float to the ground. Waiting for Mummy to leave for temple, I fell asleep on the couch. Vivek came and nudged my arm. “Wake up, Jeeta. Mummy’s been gone for an hour and I’m hungry. What can I eat?”

“Eat a pigeon,” I said, bolting upright. I stared at him until tears rolled down my cheeks.

Vivek ran to Chiraj. Chiraj went in the kitchen and brought a glass of water, handed it to me, and then began to gently rub my back. Vivek sat on the floor fanning me with a peacock feather fan, tightly clutching its bamboo handle.

“Why are you crying, Jeeta?” Vivek kept asking me. He squinted his eyes, searching my face.

I grabbed him and pulled him close to me.

“It’s fine if you don’t talk. You’ll live longer,” he said.

“What?”

“Mr. Shah told our class that everyone gets a set number of words in life to use. When that number is used up, you die.”

I smiled.

“Mr. Shah tells the same story to his class every year. He told us the same thing,” Chiraj said, shaking his head. “He wants you to be quiet, that’s all.”

Vivek looked confused. I told him, “Mummy, Foi, and Hema Auntie all talk much more than Pappa or Fua. Don’t you think that for every word given to men, ten words are given to women?”

“At least,” Chiraj said.

We all laughed.

Chiraj went back into the kitchen. A few minutes later he came out with a mixture of fried yellow lentil mixed with pomegranate, chopped onions, and raw mango pieces, and three spoons. He surprised me; I didn’t think he even knew how to cut a pomegranate or chop an onion so finely. The three of us ate from the same bowl.

I called Sarina and talked to her for a while.

“Come over tomorrow and spend a day with me, and I’ll change your mood,” she said.

After dinner I asked Mummy if I could go to Sarina’s house.

“What will I do without you?”

“For one day can’t you do without me? I work so hard every day. Even Naran gets a day off every week, and you won’t let me spend a day with my friend. I’m going!”

“Choop. If you ever talk like that again I’ll pull your tongue out. I wasn’t much older than you when I had a home, a husband, and a child on the way. And I was grateful.”