BooksBarbecue
Back Side by Side Save as PDF
Chapters (50)
  1. Cover Page
  2. Half Title Page
  3. SIDE by SIDE
  4. Dedication Page
  5. Epigraph
  6. Part I: Fall
  7. 1.
  8. 2.
  9. 3.
  10. 4.
  11. 5.
  12. Part II: Crawl
  13. 6.
  14. 7.
  15. 8.
  16. 9.
  17. 10.
  18. 11.
  19. 12.
  20. 13.
  21. 14.
  22. 15.
  23. 16.
  24. 17.
  25. 18.
  26. 19.
  27. 20.
  28. 21.
  29. 22.
  30. 23.
  31. 24.
  32. 25.
  33. 26.
  34. 27.
  35. 28.
  36. 29.
  37. 30.
  38. 31.
  39. Part III: Rise
  40. 32.
  41. 33.
  42. 34.
  43. 35.
  44. 36.
  45. 37.
  46. 38.
  47. 39.
  48. 40.
  49. Acknowledgements
  50. About the Author

“Kavita,” Mrs. Stone says. “There you are, dear. You wouldn’t mind fixing us a brew, would you? Two sugars in mine, ta. Oh, and there’s a box of cream teas on the counter.”

“I take three sugars,” Maya tells Kavita, eyes glued to her mobile.

Without a word, Kavita retreats to the safety of the kitchen. Through the thin wall, she hears the men chatting, toasting, clinking glasses. Mechanically, she goes about making tea.

When it’s ready, she smooths out the creases of her face until she is blank, and carries out a tray of tea cups and cakes, bowing in front of the ladies as they help themselves. As she stoops in front of Mrs. Stone, the tray begins to rattle in her hands.

“Ah, bless,” Mrs. Stone says. She slurps a sip. “Goodness, Kavita, are you all right? I must say, you do look a bit peeky, dear. Not coming down with flu, I hope. The last thing I need at the mo’ is a sore throat to go with my runny nose, goodness me!”

After the tea is passed around, Kavita slips back into the kitchen with the empty tray, until Mrs. Stone calls upon her again. She doesn’t know how long she can maintain this state of shaky, forced calm, how long she can suppress the rumblings beneath her skin.

Back in the front room, she takes a seat beside Maya, who shifts ever-so-slightly in the opposite direction.

“My tea’s too sweet,” Maya says, flat.

Kavita sits, mutely, knifing her nails into the scar on her palm. While it doesn’t hurt as much as she would like, as much as she knows she deserves, for now it will have to suffice.

Meanwhile, the words continue to funnel in her head, a bedlam she fights to contain within her statue of a body, as she trembles in ways no one else can see.

17.

Hours later, they drive back to the Stone’s. As soon as they enter the house, Kavita tries to pull Nirav aside and tell him what’s happened, but he has to write his speech, and he is in a mood. It can wait a little longer, she tells herself.

Soiled with travel, she craves a shower, and the solitude of the washroom. She grabs a change of clothes and slips upstairs. As soon as she locks the washroom door, the words surge back to her with even more virulence, as if they have absorbed every bit of the force she used to push them down, and now they are pushing back—they are pushing her over.

No one knows about him.

No one knows about him.

No one knows about him….