“Uh-huh,” said Aru, uninterested.
“Me and Lizzo have something in common.”
Aru didn’t say anything. She thought the driver would take her silence as a hint, but he kept going. “Tough day, huh?”
“Yeah, you could say that.”
“Well, not as bad asmyday. I stubbed my toe first thing in the morning. Horrible.”
“Mm-hm.”
“That war in the Otherworld looks pretty awful. Getting lots of calls from people who aren’t sure where to go or what to do,” he said, sighing. “You know, people always think they don’t know the answers, but if you ask me, they just haven’t looked hard enough.”
I didn’t ask, thought Aru mutinously. But years of ingrained Southern politeness made her smile instead, even though her eyes screamedNO SPEAKING!
“You know, thelasttime there was a war this big, the gods got super involved.”
Aru raised an eyebrow. She did know that. Even Lord Krishna—one of the most powerful avatars of the supreme deity Vishnu—had taken part, although he’d refused to wield a weapon. Instead, he’d served as Arjuna’s charioteer, steering him through the battle.
Aru huffed. It wasn’t fair. She had Arjuna’s soul, but it wasn’t like she was walking hand in hand with her best god pal and getting free advice like he did. With that kind of help, she probably would never have lost Vajra in the first place. And she wouldn’t have had to deal with the Sleeper after their first encounter, because she wouldn’t have hesitated to destroy him.
“The gods don’t seem to care much this time,” said Aru. “They’ve given up on the whole thing.”
“Gods are mysterious beings.”
Aru rolled her eyes. She knew that better than anyone at this point.
“Must’ve been really hard for Arjuna all those years ago,” said the driver, humming as he turned on his light indicator to make a left turn. “All that doubt. I mean, that’s where the Bhagavad Gita came from. It’s a conversation between a demigod and the god driving his chariot. Ever read it?”
“No.”
She knew what the Gita was. It was a deeply holy scripture. Sometimes her mom quoted lines from it, but it was complicated and unwieldy and half of it made no sense to her, so all Aru could do was nod sagely and pretend she understood. Most of the time that worked.
Maybe I should’ve paid more attention, thought Aru.
She peered inside Aiden’s backpack. Baby Boo slept happily, his feathers glowing like banked embers. The crest of blue fire on his head waved up and down as he napped.
She wished she could talk to Boo.
Is this what you thought would happen?she asked him.
BB didn’t respond.
I never even got to tell you how mad you made me, thought Aru.I keep thinking about that. You made a mistake, but you did it because you loved us. My dad did the same thing. Andmy mom. What ifI’vemade a mistake? What am I going to do? What’s going to happen?
“It’s not really up to you, is it?” asked the driver.
Aru was startled out of her thoughts. “What?”
“Ah, that’s just me putting my own spin on the sacred words. I mean, I can drive my car supersafely and wear my seat belt every day, but I can’t stop other drivers from ignoring all the road rules, and I can’t stop a meteor from hurtling out of space and striking me into oblivion.”
“Uh…great?” said Aru.
“Ilovetaking people places, but do I expect a massive paycheck?” said the driver. “Nah. It brings me peace of mind just to do what I feel is right. I find joy in thedoingand not thereceiving, you know? It’s pretty great. Minus the Atlanta traffic, which, ugh, can get fairly annoying.” The driver glanced in the rearview mirror. “Do you have a job? Babysitting or dog-sitting? Maybe some volunteer work?”
I’m a professional disappointer, thought Aru.But I’m still working on my business cards.
“Not anymore,” she said.
