“She loves to cook, but she doesn’t do much lately.” He rubbed the cat’s head sticking out of his pocket.
“My parents are more… distant,” Marley said. “Like, it seems like they don’t care to get to know me. Right before the surgery, Mom gave me chocolates and made a big deal about them being my favorite, but they were caramels. I hate caramel—it gets stuck in my teeth. I always ate the fruit fillings and left the caramels when I was a kid. I wonder if Mom resents that I could have surgery to prevent getting sick like she did.”
Nikhil had no idea what to say to that. He couldn’t imagine what her family was going through, and he didn’t want to say the wrong thing.
“I’ve always been independent,” Marley said. “So maybe she doesn’t think I need her now.”
“Do you need her?” Nikhil said.
She shrugged, then took a spoonful of soup. It must be cold by now. Nikhil wondered if he should warm it up again.
“My parents think I’m a bum who would never amount to anything,” he said.
She turned to him. “Do they know you’re the Bronze Shadow?”
“That’s a recent development. But before that, I didn’t get a lot of roles. Random tech guy, or shopkeeper, and always the comic relief. I even had to put on a fake Indian accent a few times. When the roles dried up, I relied on my side hustles.”
“What side hustles?”
He chuckled. “All of them. I drove for Uber, waited tables, was an extra on film sets. I worked so many catering jobs that I can make eight dozen turkey sandwiches in half an hour. Still, I couldn’t have afforded LA rent without a roommate.” He ran his hand through his hair. “My parents think that because Riz Ahmed and Dev Patel make movies, then there must be plenty of roles for Brown guys, so I must not be trying hard enough. And my brother… he’s always planted the idea in their head that I was a waste of space. Even now, when he’s…” His voice trailed. He didn’t tend to tell people what was going on in his family. Families like Nikhil’s didn’t air their dirty laundry.
“Even when your brother’s what?”
Nikhil ran his hand over his face. He should tell her. He was living with her now; she would probably find out about his family drama. And Marley was honest with him about her situation. “My brother’s in prison.”
Marley’s eyes went wide. “What? Why? Is he okay?”
Nikhil nodded. “It’s a minimum-security place a couple of hours from here. White-collar crime. He scammed some people in a real estate deal… I don’t know all the details—I don’t want to know. Anyway, my parents refinanced the house to pay for Arjun’s defense. The house was paid off by then. I tried to convince them not to do it—I mean, I didn’t know if my brother was guilty or innocent, but he’s always been a little shady, you know? More concerned with the acquisition of wealth than how it was acquired.”
“Wow. He was found guilty, then?”
Nikhil nodded. “He’ll be there for a while, and my parents had an enormous new mortgage to show for it. When I got the Bronze Shadow, I paid off that mortgage.”
“Holy shit,” Marley said. “And they stilltalkto your brother?”
“Of course they do.” Nikhil knew he sounded bitter. “He’s always been the golden son. The businessman with the BMW and designer suits. Not the family-fuckup actor that no one’s heard of. But now the tables are turned, and I’m successful and he’s in prison and I think no one knows what to do with that. Anyway, I wanted to be close to home for a bit to make sure Mom and Nalini are okay.”
“What’s the matter with your mother and sister?” Marley asked.
Nikhil didn’t answer. He didn’t know if he should. Marley had her own family drama—she didn’t need his, too.
“Never mind. I don’t mean to intrude,” Marley said.
“No, it’s fine. Mom’s always been a bit… moody. But I’m pretty sure she’s got full-on depression now. She’s barely left her room since Arjun was sentenced. But we can’t convince her to get help.” He sighed.
“I’m sorry. It’s probably hard… her oldest kid in prison. What’s going on with your sister? Is she okay?”
He smiled. “Yeah, Nalini is great. She’s the smartest one of us. She’s on a scholarship for university and wants to go to med school after this. She has ADHD, though, and she needs someone to… you know, look out for her. Keep her on track.” He chuckled. “We used to call her the Phone Annihilator because she lost or broke her phone every few months. She’s been better lately, though. And she’s so resilient. She could take care of the rest of us.”
“You dote on your sister.”
“She’s the baby. We all do. But I want themallto be okay. Mom seems to be detaching herself from the world even more.” He sighed. “Why did I think the fuckup son could help, anyway?”
“Of course you’re helping! You paid off their mortgage! And now you’re here helping me! You’re the furthest thing from a fuckup I’ve ever met. You’re…” Her voice trailed off.
“I’m what?”
“You’re an amazing friend. And… you’re literally a superstar. You’re going to be huge.”
