“Yes,” Jaya said, washing her hands as Karina loaded the containers into a bag and handed it to Keith. “I just need to get one more thing. I’ll meet you outside.”

Jaya was taking a statue of Saraswati on their journey, a smaller replica of the one standing in the shrine upstairs. The goddess of learning would bring blessings to Karina as she began her university career, and Jaya planned to say some extra prayers on the drive. She had specially procured the idol a couple of months ago and tucked it away for safekeeping. But where? she thought as she rummaged through the house. It wasn’t in her dresser drawer, though she came upon the solid silver Ganesha figurine to send to Devesh and Chandra in London as a blessing for their new home. It wasn’t in the temple room, although she saw that the diya and incense had finally burned out, so she took a moment to clean them up. She couldn’t very well leave a mess in the temple for two days while she was gone. Just imagine what kind of calamity she might invite.

“Mom!” Karina called from downstairs. “We’ve got to get going or we’ll hit traffic.”

As if traffic was the worst thing that could happen on this important day. Let her make the journey without the Saraswati, and they would see how much misfortune could befall them. She could hear Keith’s loud car engine starting up outside. Ah! She remembered suddenly and went to the closet in her bedroom, where she retrieved the Saraswati from the top shelf. She slipped it into her handbag and headed downstairs. Good. Now, she was ready.

* * *

After ten minutes of waiting in the car with the engine running, Karina finally saw her mother emerge from the house. Karina reminded herself, as Mom climbed into the passenger seat, to stay calm and cheerful today. She had grown accustomed to her mother’s living in her own head, being late, forgetting things, and she had learned to compensate, but it still annoyed her. Her parents were cordial with each other in her presence; their marriage had seemed to fade away rather than explode in fireworks the way other kids described. Yet she still felt the need to be their bridge; she was keenly aware of being the one thing that still joined them to each other. Would they even see each other anymore, after she left? Would they still talk?

Following her father’s car through the neighborhood, Karina expected to feel some nostalgia. But instead, she was ready to get out of this life, to leave behind the memories of Prem and her parents’ divorce, the house that felt empty with half her family missing, the school where everyone looked at her with pity. The only people from school she would miss were Izzy and Mrs. Galbraith. She and Izzy had spent nearly every weekend night over the summer at each other’s homes, collecting clothing and dorm room furnishings to pack for college. Izzy, ever confident as she headed to Brown, had already declared her major as English and was plotting to get a publishing internship in Manhattan next summer. Karina’s insides clenched at the idea of being so far away from her one true friend. She knew Izzy would easily find new friends and an exciting new life.