Tim nodded. “Yeah. Technically, Jerome and I were in the Groom’s Platoon.”
Kamila glared at them. “We’re all in this together.Includingyou, Jana. We’ve even giving Anil a dishonorable discharge for you.”
“You don’t even know what he did,” Jana said.
“Doesn’t matter,” Kamila said. “Friends before dudes.” She frowned. “That doesn’t sound right.”
“Chicks before dicks?” Asha offered.
“Hoes before bros,” Tim suggested. “More inclusive language.”
“Thank you,” Asha said.
“Sisters before misters,” Rohan said. Kamila beamed at him, proud of her husband.
Jana shook her head, amazed that these were the people she wanted when everything was falling apart. She sighed. “I can’t dishonorably discharge Anil from my life—he’s Imani’s father.”
After a pause, while everyone awkwardly ate their charcuterie, Nicole turned to Jana, her face in that trademark no-nonsense look. “You do know that telling us what he did is an option, right? It might make you feel better. I know we’re a bit extra, but even Asha and Kamila can be grown-ups sometimes.”
Asha nodded. “We can be mature—we promise. What happened?”
Jana took a deep breath. These were her friends. And Rohan was right. Maybe she needed to let people in if she wanted them to understand her.
She told them about Maria telling everyone in the Think office that Anil had cheated on his wife with some woman. Kamila inhaled sharply after hearing the story. “Rohan, you’refriendswith this person?”
“Not really. We were in the same friend group in college, but now we’re just Facebook friends.”
Asha looked at Kamila. “We need to ruin her. Glitter bomb? Back in school, I replaced half this girl’s coconut shampoo with coconutoil. It still lathered up and looked the same, but she had stringy hair that wouldn’t dry right for weeks. That might be too complicated—Rohan, do you have a phone number for her? We could put a fake ad on Craigslist offering her service as a—”
“I thought you were going to try to be adults?” Rohan asked.
Asha nodded. “The Craigslist thing was going to beveryadult.”
Jana shook her head. “I don’t want revenge. She didn’t mean harm to me; it was just gossip. It’s always just gossip.” Jana felt a headache coming. She wanted it all to go away.
Back at Hatari, Anil had asked her what she really wanted, and she had said she wanted to go back to their two weeks. Back to when she felt like she belonged somewhere. In Anil Malek’s arms. Now she’d like to go back to the shower in Hatari. When he’d cared for her so tenderly after she felt emotional after sex. “She also said she thinks Nadia is back together with Anil,” Jana added quietly.
Everyone was silent for a few seconds. Finally, Kamila spoke slowly, voice tight with anger. “What the MacGyver’s muffins did you say?”
Rohan’s eyes were huge. “You did not tell me that part.”
Jana sniffled, nodding. “She said she saw a picture of them on Nadia’s Facebook, and they’re together. In D.C.”
Rohan shook his head. “That cannot be true.” He glanced at Tim and Jerome. “He would have told us. Did you ask him?”
Jana shook her head. “No. I will, but he’s out with Imani now. It is possible, though. Did he think to tell any of us the truth about his marriage five years ago?”
Kamila looked at Asha. “Forget this Maria—we’re sending Anil a glitter bomb.”
Nicole shook her head. “He has a four-year-old daughter. I’m pretty sure his house is already covered with glitter.”
Asha scowled. “The shampoo trick won’t even work on the stupid bald man. And I’m not putting coconut oil in his body wash, because then he’ll have soft, moisturized skin, and he doesn’t deserve that. Can we dull his razor blades so he has red bumps on his head?”
Jana couldn’t help it—she snorted a tearful laugh, almost sending a snot bubble on poor Potato, who was still staying close to her. “You are allridiculous. You don’t have to do this for me.”
Rohan looked around. “Has anyone else seen this picture?”
Kamila shook her head. “Facebook is the root of all evil, so no. It’s been months since I’ve been there.”
