I don’t meet her eyes. ‘Hard to avoid around here right now. This room is hot as a sauna.’
I scrabble a quickOkin reply. Everyone will be busy and distracted tomorrow afternoon during the preparation for jaago. I shouldn’t have too much trouble slipping out for an hour.
*
‘What’s that?’ Harris is looking at my hands. ‘You been drawing on yourself or something?’
‘It’s mehndi.’ I put my camera down on the ground beside me and stick one hand out, palm up, for display. ‘For the wedding. I had to help at a party for my cousin, the bride-to-be. Like a bridal shower.’
The old pipe factory was signposted. Harris insisted the place was too exposed for us to talk, drove us both in the Pitbull to a spot further along the winding dirt road that follows the river. The place we’re sitting now, under trees near the water, is secluded enough for privacy. The day is bright so it’s hard to understand his caution, and the light here is so nice I want to use the camera as more than just an excuse to get out of the house.
‘A bridal shower.’ Harris leans back against a log. ‘Where they draw on your hands.’
‘It’s like a temporary tattoo,’ I explain. ‘You mix henna powder up with hot water, or black tea, or lemon juice –’
‘Lemon juice?’
‘To make it darker. Then you trace it on, leave it for a while, rub it off with mustard oil, and you’ve got this.’
‘Right.’ He sits up, grabs my hand and leans forward to look more closely. ‘It goes over the top, too.’
‘Yep.’ He’s cradling my right hand in both of his. A light warm humming has started in the small of my back.
He circles my wrist with his fingers, tracing the dark lines. ‘Show me the other one?’ I line up both my palms together, and now he’s starting to get it. ‘They match.’
‘Um, yeah.’ The pads of his fingers tickle on my skin. I clear my throat. ‘They’re mirror images, see? And then you put jewellery on – bangles and stuff. You get more jewellery around your ankles, sometimes on your toes.’
‘That’s cool.’ He releases me, sits back. ‘You’re going to a wedding.’
‘I can’t really get out of it,’ I admit. ‘My cousin, Jasminder, and her family… I lived with them for while after Mum died. They took care of me.’
‘So you feel obliged.’
‘Yes, but I want to go. A wedding is a big deal for the family. Dad’s driving up early tomorrow to attend. And Nani’s putting the thumbscrews on me to dress up properly, and put on all the make-up and jewellery…’
‘You’d look good, all dressed up and stuff.’ He catches my eye. ‘I mean, not that you don’t look good without it –’ Now his face has gone all rosy. ‘I mean –’
‘It’s okay, Harris. I get what you mean.’ I grin, rest back on my elbows on the grass and leaf litter. ‘The downside is the wedding will be exhausting. It’s, like, all day, and into the evening. We had the mehndi last night, and tonight is jaago, kind of a pre-wedding party. Then tomorrow is the ceremony. It’s just…really full-on.’
‘I’ve never been to a wedding,’ Harris says, contemplative.
‘If this is the last one I go to, I won’t complain.’ I see his amused expression. ‘I mean, it’s lovely, but I don’t know if getting married is high on my list just yet.’
‘Fair enough.’ He frowns. ‘Whatdoyou wanna do? I mean, you just finished high school. You skipped the chance to go travelling… There must be something.’
‘I don’t know.’ I study the sun on the river before making my confession. ‘Nick and Robbie put my name forward for a photography residency.’
‘What’s that?’
‘Like a scholarship. They pay for your travel and living expenses and stuff. The deadline to sign up for interviews is next Friday. It looks amazing, but…yeah, I can’t do it.’
Harris baulks. ‘Well, that’s bullshit – why can’t you?’
I frown at him. ‘I’ve told you. My family needs me here. Dad and Nani aren’t well, and my auntie –’
Harris makes a noise like he’s personally offended. ‘Come on, don’t give me that. You’re really good. You could study photography, go overseas like you planned. You wouldn’t have to be stuck here –’
‘I’m not stuck anywhere,’ I say firmly. ‘I have a job, and I have friends, and I have people who rely on me. Why would I throw all that away for some unknown quantity?’
