“I’m sorry I didn’t fight for us, Fia,” she said. “The day we decided to tell our families, I failed you. And I failed myself. I didn’t have the courage to stand up to my father, so I married the man he picked out for me and left you behind. I tried to make it work with Moti’s father. I really did.” Her eyes met mine for a brief second, an apology cocooning the shock of her revelation, before she went on.
“But you were always there. I hated you, Fia. If I’d never met you, if you hadn’t been so sure and unapologetic about who you were, I would’ve never fallen for you. Our friendship would’ve been just that. But seeing you again… I feel exactly the way I did all those years ago. I love you, Fia. I always have, always will.”
Dolly. And Fia.
What happened between you and my mother?Was it a guy?
It was most definitely a guy, Fia said.
Was he worth it?
I don’t know. You should ask Dolly.
I wasn’t the only one reeling from Dolly’s confession. Naani, Rachel Auntie, Joseph Uncle, Isabelle were all staring at her with their mouths open. She’d kept it from all of us.
Finally, Fia spoke. “I didn’t push you into the water.”
“No, you didn’t.”
“Then why did you accuse me of something so ludicrous?”
“Because I wanted to punish you.”
“For what? What did I ever do to you?”
“You make me feel things I don’t want to feel. Don’t you see? I didn’t choose this. I wanted to make different choices. Easier choices. And you just… You just… You won’t let me be. I convinced myself you were a mistake. I was young and curious, and I got carried away. But I’ve been running from the truth the whole time and I’m so exhausted. I love you, Fia. I’m ready to tell the whole world because that’s my truth and I can’t hide it anymore.”
Fia remained stone-faced. An ancient, fortified castle. Immutable. Unbreachable. Then the lights turned on, one by one, like a welcoming home for a lost loved one. “Well, it’s about time you came to your fucking senses.”
Dolly made a sound, like the one that had escaped me when I realized I was floating on my own. “Fia, I—”
“You hurt me, Dolly. You hurt me really bad. I don’t know if we can ever go back to the way things used to be. I need to process things. And I need to know you’re not doing this because your horoscope said it was a good day to come clean, or your tarot reader told you to go for it, or some psychic hotline re—”
“I turned to those things because I was afraid to make my own decisions. It was easier to transfer the responsibility. But no more, I promise. I’m not afraid anymore.”
As Dolly and Fia faced each other across the table, it felt like a wave had crashed and we were all swirling in the ebb. But I was wrong. The tide was still coming in. I caught a whiff of Vicks VapoRub as Naani adjusted her shawl and spoke.
“I’m moving back to India after the wedding,” she said. “To be with my first love. I found Prem Prakash Pyarelal on the internet. We’re both widowed now and want to spend the rest of our lives together.”
My mind reeled with her revelation. All this time, Naani hadn’t just been surfing the web on her phone. She’d been chatting with a man halfway across the world.
He fed me eggplant fritters,she told me.The secret looks, the butterflies in my stomach, the half-empty bottle of perfume he slipped into my hands.
“Dear God.” Rachel Auntie slammed her palms on the table. Naani stiffened beside me. I sensed a mother-daughter showdown, but Rachel Auntie turned to Joseph Uncle instead.
“The whole world is pairing up, and here we are, sleeping in separate cabins. Enough is enough, Joseph. You’re such a stubborn, stubborn man. Can’t you see I’m miserable without you? You could sell popcorn or porn and it wouldn’t make any difference to me. It’s time to stop sulking. I’ve given you enough space to brood. You are loved, Joseph. I couldn’t ask for a better man to go through the ups and downs of life. If you stopped feeling sorry for yourself long enough, you’d see that.”
Before Joseph Uncle could respond, Isabelle jumped in.
“I’m sorry, Dad,” she said. “I’m sorry if I made you feel I’m ashamed of what you do. You and Mom have treated me like a princess all my life. I’ve picked up more from the two of you than you might have wanted me to. Appearances have always been so important. Even when things are falling apart, you put your best face forward. I was painting my own faces on you, what I wanted everyone to see. All the while, I’ve been hiding my own truth from you.” She took a deep breath and gripped Thomas’s hand on the table. “I’ve converted to Greek Orthodox. Because I love this man. I love him more than whatever labels I was born with. He’s strong and honest and sincere. No matter what surprises life throws our way, I know we can get through it together.”
She glanced at George. This was Isabelle, accepting Thomas without his family’s fortune, without the lifestyle she envisioned for them.
I could feel the speculation lift off the table—the weigh-ins that hover in the background whenever someone marries into money.
She smiled at Thomas. “Through thick and thin, baby.”
The moment stretched out as Thomas averted his gaze. “Isabelle…”
