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Reeva threw a pillow at her face. “Oh my god, out!”
CHAPTER 12
Day 7
Satya Auntie sippedher chai in delight. “This is delicious, Sita, thank you. You can really taste the grated nutmeg.”
Sita glowed in response and took a self-satisfied bite of her gathiya. They were all sitting in the kitchen having a late breakfast, with Satya Auntie as the guest of honor. The funeral was the next day—which meant they had to go and visit their dad’s body that evening to start stage one of the prep. None of the sisters had any idea what this prep actually involved, which was why Satya Auntie had come over to explain what was required. So far, all Reeva had ascertained was that they had to dress their dad in his favorite outfit.
She hadn’t been able to take in anything else after that. She was still trying to absorb the fact that the first time she was going to meet her dad as an adult, he was going to be both naked and dead.
“So have you managed to find out any more?” asked Satya Auntie. “About your dad and everything that happened?”
The three sisters all shook their heads morosely.
“We have some theories,” said Jaya. “An affair is the top one. But we can’t figure out if Dad did it with Leela or if Mum did it with someone else and Dad found them and went cray.”
“Or both,” said Sita.
“But we don’t have any proof for either of them,” added Reeva. “It’s all conjecture.”
“We tried to reverse psychology Mum,” said Sita. “But we didn’t get much out of her. She’s jealous of Leela, which suggests something happened with her and Dad. And that whatever happened is partly her fault for not being a good wife, which is, well, surprisingly self-aware of her. But other than that, it’s the usual—that it’s too painful to relive whatever it was that happened.”
“And that whatever it was happened toReeva,” added Jaya, looking pointedly at her eldest sister. “She was the one most affected by it all.”
Satya Auntie’s eyebrows raised in surprise. “Really? And you don’t know what it might be?”
Reeva shook her head. “Nope. It’s so frustrating.” She hesitated.
“Do you think Dad was violent?” asked Jaya. “Like, for example, if he’d found out Mum had a lover, could he have attacked him?”
“It’s another theory,” explained Sita as their aunt’s eyebrows shot up in surprise again.
“I... wouldn’t say so,” said Satya Auntie slowly. “For me, his flaws were more around him being so headstrong. Like how he didn’t contact me—his younger sister—for decades, until I reached out first.”
“Sounds like someone I know,” said Sita, jerking her head toward Reeva.
“They’re completely different situations,” cried Reeva.
“But you have to remember that I didn’t see him for a long time,” added Satya Auntie. “I missed a lot of his life, and those were the years he never wanted to talk to me about. The Hemant I knew wasn’t violent—if anything, he was very gentle. Especially with animals. But... I do know that there was a lot he hid from me.”
Reeva felt a warm glow inside her. Her dad loved animals. And he was gentle.
“Fair enough.” Sita shrugged. “If he did lose it, it would have been because of Mum’s behavior. No surprise there.”
“Well, that’s not—” said Satya Auntie.
“It’s okay,” interrupted Jaya. “We know what Mum’s like. Most things are her fault. Even if Reeva likes to think otherwise.”
They all turned to look at Reeva. “What?” She’d been lost in yet another daydream about what life would have looked like if she’d grown up with their dad. A daydream she didn’t want to leave.
“What are you thinking about?” demanded Sita.
“Just Dad. What he was like. I love that he took care of animals.”
“Oh yeah,” said Sita. “Reeva’s become a crazy cat lady.”
“No, I just happen to have a cat. A cat that I love.”
