Part 26 (1/2)

”They found out,” Rasika gasped.

”Found out what?”

Rasika appeared not to know how to answer this question. Her eyes darted around, as if trying to see the answer in the air. Then she closed her eyes, shuddered, and opened them again. She looked like she'd been deflated. Her eyes were sad and distant now. ”The wedding's off,” she said in a monotone.

”Why?”

Rasika held a palm up to her face and peered at it. She rubbed it with the thumb of the other hand, as though trying to wipe off some dirt. Abhay remembered that gesture-she had done the same thing at Ledges, although then she had been wiping off mascara. Now, her palm seemed clean.

It was awkward trying to talk in the muddy yard. His cousin's motor scooter was parked on the narrow pathway between the house and the compound wall, and his uncle's car was in the driveway.

”Let's take a walk.” He ducked inside and slipped on a pair of sandals. When he returned, Rasika was still standing in the same position, still rubbing her palm.

”Come on.” He headed toward the gate. When she didn't move, he grabbed her by the elbow and steered her out with him. It was so early that the traffic hadn't really started yet. He led her around the corner to a little high-walled park tucked between the houses. It was filled with trees and a formal arrangement of greenery, a bricked path going around in a square, and several concrete benches. No one was here at this hour. This park was too small to be useful for the fast-paced morning walking that many Indians seemed to engage in. Abhay dropped onto the bench closest to the entrance. He knew from experience that the far corners of the park smelled distinctly of urine.

Rasika sank down beside him. She looked crumpled.

”Tell me everything,” he said.

”The wedding's off,” she repeated. ”Yuvan saw us.” She looked up at him plaintively. ”You shouldn't have put your arm around me.”

”What? When?” He tried to think when he had last had his arm around her, and remembered the big tree at Lalbagh. In order to play along, he had put his arm around her as Khaleel was taking the photo. ”How could . . . was Yuvan at Lalbagh?”

”His brother showed him a picture. They took a picture.”

He remembered the group of young men, Mayuri's cousin and friends. One of them had taken a photo. ”Mayuri's cousin?” he asked.

She nodded, and sat up straighter. ”Yuvan is Mayuri's cousin. On her father's side.” Her eyes were clear and hard now. ”His brother was at the park.”

”Didn't you recognize him?”

She shook her head. ”I've only seen him once, when Yuvan and I first met. I didn't recognize him yesterday. I wasn't really paying attention, I was so busy wanting to protect Mayuri.”

”Well, you can explain, can't you? I mean, you were only flirting to draw attention away from Mayuri. Just tell the truth.”

Rasika looked at him, and her eyes gradually grew dull. ”No.” She shook her head. ”I couldn't do that to Mayuri.”

”Well, Mayuri will have to tell the truth, then.”

”She's backing them up.”

”What?”

”She's telling everyone that I asked her to drive me to Lalbagh so I could meet you there.”

”That's insane!” Abhay was outraged that Mayuri would drag his name into her sordid affair. ”You've got to set things straight.”

Rasika shook her head sadly.

”Why not?”

”I just . . . don't want to stoop that low.”

”It's not stooping, it's standing up for yourself.”

”I don't want to point fingers at Mayuri. I'm not that kind of person. I've lied in the past, but only to protect myself. I don't tattle. I've never done anything to get anyone else into trouble. Anyway, I don't know if anyone would believe me. Even my mother has bought into the whole thing. Yuvan's father called this morning to tell us their decision, and Amma woke me up by screaming at me. That's why I had to leave the house. I think she's always suspected me. Remember when Mita Auntie saw us at that hotel in Cleveland, and told everyone?”

Abhay nodded. That seemed so long ago now. He was proud of Rasika's integrity toward her cousin. ”So Yuvan believes Mayuri?”

”I don't know what he believes. He didn't call, his father did. His family's already involved. It's a mess.” She turned her eyes toward him, and they seemed soft and open. Her mask had dropped away.

”I would think Yuvan would at least give you the benefit of the doubt and listen to your side of things.”

”What can I say that would convince him? I'm not innocent.”

”You mean you're not innocent because we've had a relations.h.i.+p?”

Rasika nodded. ”Mayuri knows about that. Last night we stayed up late talking. I felt like she understood me. And now she's telling all the details to everyone.” Rasika covered her face with her hands. ”I can't go back.” She was still for a moment, and he realized she was crying. At first she seemed to be trying to control herself, holding her breath and wiping at her eyes, and then she let go. It sounded like the tears were ripping out of her.

There was something wild about her now, something true, and he loved that. When she stopped shaking with emotion, he said, ”At least you're free now. You never wanted to marry him anyway.”

She took her hands from her face and looked at him, and he felt he could see into her soul.

Then her tear-filled eyes narrowed and turned sharp. ”You could marry me.” Her voice had a rasping quality.

”What?”

”Everyone thinks we're together anyway. You could marry me. Everything's all ready for a wedding next week. You could fill in and be the groom.” She looked up at him with pleading eyes, yet the mask was there again.

He stood up, as a way to gain more control over the situation. ”Of course, I'll marry you. But not like this. I don't want to marry you as a subst.i.tute.” He paced in front of the bench. ”In a way, it's good this happened. You didn't even want to marry that guy. Now you can be who you really are. You don't need to pretend anymore. Now you can decide what you really want to do.” Abhay stopped pacing and let out a deep breath. Rasika wasn't even looking at him. Her eyes were narrowed, and she was gazing off to the side, as if thinking of something else.

”You don't understand me,” she said. ”No one understands me.”

Crows screeched and cawed in the dark branches overhead. The quacking beeps of a motor scooter pa.s.sed by outside the walls of the garden. Various smells reached them on the morning breeze-snacks being fried in oil, cow dung, a whiff of roasting coffee.

Rasika stood up.

”You ready to go home?” Abhay put a hand on her elbow. ”I know you can be strong. They'll get over this.”

Abhay took her hands and looked into her eyes. They seemed cold and distant. What might happen after she stood up to her parents? They might be together. He pressed her fingers in his. ”I think it'll work out fine,” he whispered.

She suddenly pulled her hands from his, s.n.a.t.c.hed her purse up from the bench, and peered into its depths.

”What's wrong?”

”I'm-I don't have any money.” She let the purse drop to the ground. ”I spent it all. This morning I had enough to pay for the auto to your house. That's all.”

Abhay pulled out his wallet and offered several hundred-rupee notes. She hesitated, and then put out a hand. He picked up her purse and handed it to her.

”I'll give you the phone number at my grandmother's house.” He scribbled on a sc.r.a.p of paper.