I told Thatha. “I’m happy with this man. I thought that would be important to you.”
Thatha shook his head, defeated. He didn’t say anything. He was coming to terms with the fact that he was not master of my father’s house, that when push came to shove, Ma would always stand by her husband and they both would stand by me, regardless of my decision and their consequences.
“And at least,” Ammamma said with a broad shrug, “he is white, not some kallu.”
I froze.
Damn it!
Had I forgotten to mention Nick was black?
TO: PRIYA RAO
FROM: NICHOLAS COLLINS
SUBJECT: SORRY!
I AM SO SORRY FOR BEING OUT OF TOUCH ALL DAY YESTERDAY BUT THINGS HAVE BEEN A TOTAL MESS. I WENT TO LUNCH WITH STEVEN AND SUSAN TO THIS PUB IN THE CITY AND SOMEONE GOT AWAY WITH MY LEATHER BAG AND MY LEATHER JACKET. MY CELL PHONE WAS IN THE JACKET AND MY PALM ALONG WITH MY COMPUTER WAS IN MY BAG . . . I AM COMPLETELY FUCKED!
I THINK I HAVE SOME OLD STUFF ON YOUR LAPTOP SO ONCE YOU’RE BACK YOU CAN HAVE A LOOK AND LET ME KNOW. FOR NOW, I HAVE LOST ALL MY CONTACTS BUT AT LEAST I HAVE SOME CDS THAT I USED TO BACKUP MY HARD DRIVE TWO MONTHS AGO.
I SPOKE WITH FRANCES AND SHE TOLD ME YOU WERE WORRIED. I’M RIGHT HERE . . . A LITTLE LIGHT ON HI-TECH TOYS BUT RIGHT HERE.
HOW WAS EVERYTHING? ARE YOUR GRANDFATHER AND FATHER FEELING ANY BETTER?
I CAN’T WAIT FOR YOU TO COME BACK HOME. AND FRANCES TOLD ME THAT YOU AGREED TO GET MARRIED THIS FALL IN MEMPHIS? ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT? I THOUGHT YOUR HEART WAS SET ON MONTEREY OR CARMEL, SOMEWHERE BY THE OCEAN. AND SHE SAID THAT YOU WANT TO GET PREGNANT BY THE END OF THE YEAR? I’M ASSUMING THAT A LOT OF THIS IS WISHFUL THINKING ON HER PART, IN ANY CASE, WE’LL TALK ABOUT IT WHEN YOU GET HOME.
OH AND I HOPE YOU HATED THAT GUY THEY TRIED TO HOOK YOU UP WITH.
I LOVE YOU AND I MISS YOU, SO COME HOME SOON
NICK
Epilogue Ready to Eat
The avakai arrived with an Indian who was coming to the Bay Area and whose parents Ma and Nanna knew. Raghunath Reddy didn’t seem to mind carrying the midsized glass jar. “One amongst the many,” he told me when he dropped the mango pickle off at my office, which was right next to his. “I have two more jars and one sari to deliver,” he added.
Nick thought the pickle was too spicy but continued to eat it without ghee or rice, which was as close to killing yourself as you could come with the hot-hot pickle.
My experience with India in the summer had left me with a better understanding of Nick and my relationship with him and my family. Nick was pleased that I didn’t end up marrying a nice Indian boy and assured me that he had never thought about leaving me because I couldn’t tell my family about him.
“We come from different cultures, I understand that,” he said. “I was frustrated at times but never enough to not want to be with you. This is who you are; you’d not be you if you didn’t care about your family.”
It was a relief to be back in the U.S. This was familiar territory and I didn’t feel like a cross between a delinquent teenager and a bad daughter anymore. That feeling had passed when Ma, at the Hyderabad International Airport, had waved good-bye with tears in her eyes.
I got an email from Nate with all the family gossip. Thatha was not speaking with Nanna anymore as the last time they talked, which was just a week ago, they ended up talking about me and almost came to blows. Ma was back to normal, bitching and moaning that I didn’t call enough and when I did, she bitched and moaned that I talked too long with Nanna and wasted my money.
“Write long letters, tell everything there, don’t waste money on phone calls,” she said. “Send email, send us a picture of Nick. We still haven’t seen him.”
Lata had ballooned up with her advancing pregnancy and couldn’t wait for the baby to get out. Despite Jayant’s insistence she refused to have an ultrasound done. When I called her, she told me that she thought it was another girl and that she was just fine with that. She even had a name picked out, Nithila, which