None of this seemed to be well-received or received at all. Eventually he became frustrated with his daughter’s cold shoulder and erupted one day at Cash, the affable old superintendent, who had come to the apartment to fix their fridge, which had been oozing a black syrup for three days.
“What kind of business are you running, coming after three days? This is unacceptable, inexcusable, unprofessional, irresponsible …”
Cash reached into the pocket of his overalls, pulled out a lollipop, and presented it to Leena. He always had a sweet for Leena and all the tenants’ children, regardless of whether they were still children, and it made her feel precious every time. “Now, what seems to be the problem?” Cash said.
“The problem is that our problem started three days back!” Hemant barked.
Leena directed Cash to the fridge, where he began wiping up the syrupy substance with a rag.
“That’s it, you are just going to clean the mess? I could have cleaned it. You have to fix the fridge. You know what a fridge is, no?”
“That’s it, stop screaming at Cash!”
Hemant could not believe that his daughter had broken her silence. He threw his arms around Cash and started thumping him on the back and laughing, as if he were a defendant who had been pronounced not guilty by a judge and was now rejoicing with his lawyer.
“Thank you,” Cash said, returning the thumps in a joyful yet bewildered way.
Hemant gave him a few parting thumps and said, “Okay, good work, keep working, good name, very auspicious.” Then he turned to his daughter, who, he’d forgotten, was still angry.
“How could he possibly make that much money?” Leena burst out. “He is going to leave and go back to India.”
“Cash?”
“Prem!”
“Would that be so bad?”
“Papa!”
“Were you not mad at him for agreeing to the idea? How could he do such a thing?” A leaf fell from the ceiling and landed on the floor between them. “Look, you have upset Hriyan,” Hemant said.
Four buildings over and two back, the ugliness of that fateful day had plagued Prem every second of every day since he’d left the Engineers’ and moved in with Beena. When she arrived home that night and found him slumped at her doorstep, drenched, with his belongings and a long face, she immediately put on a huge pot of chai. The scent of lemon and asafetida from hours spent preparing her venerated pickles was still with her, which comforted Prem, though pickles and anything Indian grocery–related would forever remind him of Leena.
For two days, he remained tight-lipped, moping around the apartment, barely eating, never showering, drinking chai after chai, until Beena demanded at last to hear the whole story.
“He said what?” Beena cried when Prem related the details of Hemant’s proclamation. “Is he crazy?”
Prem was on his knees working on the wobbly front doorknob though he had never held a screwdriver in his life. Beena regularly persuaded people who came over for one thing to help out with something entirely else, such as the plumber who routinely found himself rearranging furniture. “He is not crazy, he just wants a good life for his daughter.”
“So what will you do?”
“It’s hopeless. It is without hope. I should just jump from a bridge.”
Beena threw a potato at him. “If you say that again, I will hit you with my rolling pin.”
“Ya, fine,” Prem said, continuing to fiddle with the knob.
“What you are needing is a list,” Beena said. “To help you see better.”
“Ya, good, okay. A list. What should go on the list?”
“First option, forget about her.”
“That is the first option?”
“It is not in the order of importance.”
“Uh, okay. What’s next?”
“Get her to run away somewhere with you.”
“What kind of option is that?”
“No? I thought you would like that one.”
“I don’t. Anyway, she is mad at me. She won’t run even to Drug Fair with me.”
“Okay, so you will not be running away.”
“Correct.”
“Next option is, talk to your father.”
The doorknob fell off and landed with a clang on the floor. “There is nothing to talk about with him. He will say, ‘Who does this grocerywalla think he is, demanding one million dollars?’ Then he will order me to come home and leave behind this nonsense. Also, Leena would not like it at all if I showed up with one million dollars to her father’s door.”
“Is she crazy?”
Prem picked up the knob and shoved it back into the door. “Okay, what’s the next option?”
