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The problem was that her sisters didn’t want to hear any of this. Sita had refused to speak another word to Reeva after her mic drop moment of likening her to their mother (an insult that could have been surpassed only by comparing her to their father), while Jaya had told Reeva that her behavior was “not cool” and it was “seriously rude” of her to talk about her and Rakesh’s relationship in front of everyone. Reeva did semi-regret the way she’d outed Jaya. She’d never used the phraseknocked upbefore and was unsure why she’d chosen her dad’s funeral as the place to start, but she also felt that Jaya’s anger was unfairly disproportionate. She was the one who’d taken Reeva’s boyfriend; having that revealed in public wasnothingin comparison. And yes, Jaya was currently crying loudly in the bathroom, but she cried all the time, and Reeva had spentyearssobbing after Rakesh had left her. It had been the worst time of her entire life. But when she’d tried to tell Jaya that outside the funeral, she’d stormed off and gotten straight into the car with Sita and the twins, leaving Reeva alone with no way to get home. In Reeva’s opinion, it was both unnecessarily immature and a waste of a £15 cab ride home. But no one seemed to care what she thought.
“Reeva?” a female voice called out from behind the door, accompanied by a light knock.
“Yes! Come in!” cried Reeva eagerly. Finally, one of her sisters had seen sense.
“Hi, Reeva.” It was Satya Auntie. She gave Reeva a small smile and walked into the bedroom, closing the door behind her. “How are you doing?”
Reeva looked down at the faux-wood floor. She was humiliated that Satya Auntie had seen her Jerry Springer outburst in the crematorium. As proud of herself as she was for speaking the truth, she knew she could have handled it differently. And bydifferently, she meant better. “Um. Okay. I’m... I’m really sorry, Satya Auntie. For ruining your brother’s funeral. I didn’t mean to.”
“He’s your dad as much as my brother. You don’t need to apologize to me.”
Reeva hesitated. “I feel like I do need to explain things at least. You see, I worked out the secret. The reason my parents felt it was best to keep Dad out of our lives all this time.” She took a deep breath. “He killed my cat.”
“What?!”
“Okay, I know it sounds crazy. Like,reallycrazy. But bear with me, okay? I used to have a black cat when I was a child—the one you remember my dad talking to you about. Kavita Kaki told me. And I’ve been having all these dreams where a black cat gets attacked by someone and ends up dying. I thought it was about Fluffy Panda and the twins. But now I know it was about my cat, and the person attacking it was Dad. I remember it all. The crying and screaming. How hurt I was. BecauseI saw the whole thing.”
Her aunt stared at her blankly. “You saw your dad kill your cat?”
Reeva nodded. “Uh-huh. And now I see it every night in my dreams.” She paused. “I know I sound insane. But it’s real, I promise.”
Her aunt exhaled. “I... don’t know what to say, Reeva. It sounds like an awful thing to go through no matter what you did or didn’t see.”
“But I did see it!”
“Is there no way it could just be dreams rather than memories?”
“No, it happened,” said Reeva firmly. “I remember it now. Not all the details, but I remember enough. And it’s exactly what you said to me; I have the answers within. This must be the trauma that’s given me alopecia.”
Satya Auntie looked worried. “Have you entertained the possibility that you could be wrong? That your memory might not be what you think?”
“Nope.” Reeva shook her head adamantly. “It makes perfect sense. I’m telling you—I remember being there. It’s hazy, yes, but it’s slowly coming back to me. And why would I have been dreaming this for so long if it wasn’t true?”
“There are a lot of reasons why we dream certain things,” said her aunt cautiously. “It doesn’t mean they’re all memories. It could be your subconscious trying to communicate something else to you.”
“Trust me, it’s a memory. Don’t you think it’s something Dad could have done? Did you never see him get angry and lose it?”
Her aunt hesitated. “Well, once... It was one of the last times I saw him before I left. He’d been out with his friends, drinking, and when he came back, I told him I was leaving. Leaving my family, my future marriage, and my chance of respectability. He was furious and he... well, he smashed a portrait.”
Reeva cried out triumphantly: “See! That’s exactly the kind of thing someone capable of killing a cat would do. And what about in the last decade? Have you seen his anger?”
Satya Auntie shook her head. “No, I honestly haven’t, Reeva. I mean we’ve had the odd disagreement, but he’s been very calm these last few years. I think his religion helped him. He learned how to respond rather than react.”
“Exactly! He sought redemption after feeling so guilty about his previous actions,” said Reeva. “No wonder he lived the sacrificial life of a monk, saving all that money. He wanted to make it up to us.” She remembered she was talking to her father’s sister and softened her voice. “Look, I’m not saying he was a terrible person. Maybe he hurt the cat during an accidental moment of anger. But... he still did it.”
“I don’t know, Reeva. It’s hard to jump to conclusions without him being here.”
“But you just said it yourself! He smashed things when he was in a rage. Before he became religious and involved with the mandir lot.”
Her aunt looked pained. “Maybe. But would your mum really have left him because of a cat? I seem to remember her buying fur long after it was acceptable. And referring to people’s pets as vermin.”
“She would have panicked that he’d hurt one of us next,” explained Reeva. “Or hurt her. She’s seen enough Bollywood films; she knows what abuse looks like. And remember, I saw it all. She would have been appalled that her five-year-old daughter had to watch her cat get killed by her father.”
Her aunt’s face fell. “Oh, Reeva. I don’t know what to say. It’s all so awful. But I just don’t want you to get it wrong. Things aren’t always what they seem. Even in our memories.”
“I know what I saw. And I don’t care if it was an accident or if Dad had issues,” said Reeva stubbornly. “To me, this is unforgiveable. And I know my sisters will agree.”
“You haven’t spoken to them about all of this yet?”
