She draws Seema aside to discuss some matter. They whisper to each other, and you note that Seema seems a little uneasy, glancing over as if to reassure you. You wonder what they’re discussing.

Fiaz returns with Tahera. She looks a little downcast but makes no objection to the restaurant chosen for lunch. Divya can’t join you—she apologizes profusely, taking leave of Seema with an embrace—but the other two women can.

The six of you walk to the place—you can’t call it a restaurant, since it’s so shabby. It’s smoke-filled and sharp with the smell of stale curries, with cheap tables and chairs strewn in disarray on not particularly clean flooring. Seema’s friends don’t seem to mind, though, continuing their chatter on politics. Tahera keeps mum. You let her choose dishes for you. The dishes arrive floating in oil, but, apart from Tahera, everyone finds them delicious. You eat a little to not call attention to yourself, but you decide that you’ll have to cook a proper meal for Seema’s friends—to treat them to a real feast, to thank them for supporting your daughter.

After lunch, Fiaz takes you all back to Seema’s apartment, none inclined for further sightseeing.

“Thank you so much, son,” you tell Fiaz when he’s leaving, in Urdu, in as perfect and chaste a diction as you can contrive. You’re brimming with gratitude, for the morning of course, but also for his reassuring presence in Seema’s life. “You must come to dinner. I must feed you something I’ve cooked with my own hands.”

“You shouldn’t put yourself to so much trouble, Aunty. All the pleasure was mine.” He replies in Urdu too.

You grasp his palms in your bony fingers, unwilling to let him go without securing his consent. It will be harder later, for you sense Seema shift uncomfortably, ready to intervene. “You must come. Otherwise I’ll be very disappointed.”

“Of course. Just say the word, and I’ll come wearing a pajama, with drawstrings to loosen.”

When he’s gone, you start planning the dinner you’ll cook. You’ll ask Seema to invite her other friends too. You’d like to feed them all, at least once. You know Seema will resist, but you’re determined to override her. You have little time to make amends for all the sorrow and pain that your silence and inaction have perpetuated.

29

It’s late afternoon. The ghosts of the morning still torment the two sisters.