Dad wrapped an arm around her. “I’m so proud of you, sweetheart.”

When the pizza arrived, they ate sitting on barstools around the kitchen island. Without ever discussing it, they had abandoned the kitchen table after her grandmother returned to India.

“Mrs. Galbraith asked me to join the Science Olympiad team,” Karina said, feeling the need to fill the silence with something. “It’s usually just for sophomores and up, but she wants me to join now.”

“Great.” Dad poured himself some more wine. “You’re going to do it?” He turned to Mom with the wine bottle poised over her glass, but she shook her head.

“Yeah, I think so. I mean, it’s a commitment—a couple hours a week now, but a lot more the month before the competition.”

“I’m sure you can handle it. You’re already acing your classes. Don’t you think, Jaya?”

“Hmm?” Mom said, looking up from the salad she was pushing around with her fork.

“Shouldn’t she join the Science Olympiad team?” Dad repeated, pointedly.

“You’ve always been good at science,” Mom said. She left unspoken what they were all thinking: Karina had always been good at science and math, while languages and arts had been Prem’s domain. He’d had the most imaginative mind for telling stories; he even won the best essay prize last year for his comic strip featuring a superhero named WaterMan, who saved the world from impending drought. Now, Karina understood, she had to be everything, to fulfill all her parents’ dreams for her and Prem.

Suddenly, Mom stood and reached across the island for her phone. “We should go to the temple tomorrow, to give thanks for your report card.” She began dialing. “I’ll call the priest to arrange a prayer ceremony.” She was more animated now than she’d been all night, but not for reasons Karina wanted.

Karina looked at Dad with disbelief, but his expression was blank. Having been raised a half-hearted Lutheran, he was happy to leave the family’s spiritual well-being to her mother. It had been a cursory education: Mom had taught them a few Hindu prayers, taken them to the temple for Diwali, obliged Karina to tie a decorative thread around Prem’s wrist once a year in exchange for a coin. Now, Karina felt anger rise uncontrollably within her. She stood up and carried her plate to the sink. “God didn’t have anything to do with it.”

“What?” Her mother stopped, looking up from her phone.

“I said, God didn’t have anything to do with my report card. And I don’t want to go to the temple. I have a big history project to work on.” It was the last thing Karina wanted to be associated with, that nonsense that swept her mother away from their family for hours at a time.

The atmosphere in the kitchen was tense as they silently cleared the dishes. Afterwards, her mother retreated upstairs for her evening prayers, and Dad proposed watching a movie. Karina offered to make popcorn while he got settled on the couch. As the din of the popping kernels waned, she heard angry voices coming from upstairs. Karina moved toward the staircase in the hallway and heard her father shouting, “You have to do something, Jaya. You still have another child—have you forgotten her?”