Chapter 4
Rahat
Auntie Deepa pulled me through the front door before I had the chance to get my shoes off.
"Beta!" The scent of toasted cumin, frying onions, and the sweet tang of tamarind chutney hit me as she swung both arms around me and pulled me into a hug so tight that it was almost impossible to breathe.
She was a small woman, but one who'd never learned to do anything by halves.
"You're too thin," she said as soon as she pulled back. "Are they not feeding you in America?"
I smiled. "I eat plenty," I said before telling her about the Full English slash continental breakfast we'd just had.
She raised her finger as if making a point of contention.
"Breakfast was in London. London feeds you.
It's America that does not." She placed both her hands on my cheeks, and I felt six years old again.
"I've made chana masala with rice. There's also bhel puri because Priya said you'd been missing it. Now, come in, come in."
That explained the tamarind chutney, and the nutty scent that was making my mouth water. As she pulled me even further inside, she finally registered Rex beside me.
He was standing in the doorway with a wide-eyed expression on his face.
He looked very much like he was trying hard not to take up too much space in the small hall, which was pretty much impossible given the fact that he was built like a brick shithouse.
He caught my eye over Auntie Deepa's head, and I pressed my lips together to keep from smiling.
He was used to the chaos of the clubhouse, so I was sure he could handle himself. But Auntie Deepa was a force of nature, and from the look on his face, he was both delighted and unprepared for that.
"This is Rex," I said, even though Auntie Deepa already knew who he was.
She looked him up and down with the frank assessment that came from South Asian aunties, and then she nodded.
"You look like you need a lot of food to keep that body running," she said. Rex opened his mouth, and then closed it again. Which, I had to say, was the correct response. When Auntie tells you to eat, you shut up and eat. "Come. Both of you. Take your shoes off, and then we eat."
Priya appeared from the kitchen as soon as we were barefoot. She laughed and pulled both me and Rex in for a deep hug. After which, we handed out the presents I’d brought from Colorado, and received even more hugs in gratitude.
The afternoon was filled with too much food, and too many cousins, asking too many questions.
The television was at a volume that competed with the four separate conversations happening simultaneously.
Ashraf, my other cousin, and Priya's younger brother, discovered within three minutes that Rex knew something about motorbikes.
I guess his club jacket was a dead giveaway.
That was the end of any hope for other family members to grab his ear.
He sat on the living room floor with Ashraf cross-legged beside him, working through something on Ashraf's laptop while I ate a third portion of bhel puri and watched from the sofa.
Rex caught my eye at one point and gave me a look that said he was perfectly happy right where he was.
Although at some point, Rex found a moment to fix whatever issue Auntie had with her router.
It all brought a much needed smile to my face. I knew they'd love him. It was very hard not to.
Auntie Deepa pulled me into the kitchen on the pretext of helping with the tea. "You look happy," she said.
"I am."
She handed me the cups to set out. "He's a good man," she added as she poured the tea. "And very patient with Ashraf and all his questions. The rest of us too. That's not a small thing."
I laughed. Through the kitchen door, I heard Rex answering yet another question, and then he laughed, and a flush of joy warmed my body.
~
It was early evening when we finally left.
Auntie Deepa made sure to press a foil-wrapped package of leftovers into Rex's hands.
She made it a personal mission to ensure everyone was fed, to the brim.
At all times. And then some. He accepted it with a smile on his face, and she patted his cheek like he'd been hers since birth.
She fussed over us for a little bit before making us promise to come again in a day or two, and then rushing inside to answer the phone.
"If I don't make it back to America, tell people I died with a full belly in a heroic battle with chana masala," Rex said, making Priya laugh.
"I'm pretty sure next time you come, Mum might try to adopt you," she said.
"Sounds good. Gives me time to work on the next six upgrades your brother has planned for a bike I don't even own yet."
Priya shook her head and waved us off. I watched her go back inside and felt the pull of the warmth, of the lit windows and the noise still spilling from behind the closed door.
It was a good hour's walk from my auntie's house in Brixton to our hotel.
But it was a nice evening, and we could both do with walking off the copious amount of food we'd eaten.
Music spilled into the streets from the barbershops we passed, and the scent of jerk chicken filled the air as market traders shouted their prices.
The whole scene was loud and chaotic and filled with an energy I'd missed so much in Colorado.
Rex kept his hand on the small of my back, as if trying to keep me safe when we turned onto the main road, and he kept it there as we followed Brixton Road north, and passed long rows of Victorian terraces, and then the skyscrapers at Elephant and Castle.
"Your family is great," he said when the noise dropped to a low hum behind us. All that remained was the distant thrum of car engines and the faint shout of a market trader, calling it a day.
"Even though Auntie has decided that you're malnourished."
"Especially because of that. I've got a full container of rice and two more with types of curry I'd never tried before today." He had an easy, contented look on his face.
“I wished Mum and Dad were still alive to meet you,” I said, surprising myself.
“You don’t talk about them much.”
“What’s to say? They died and I miss them every day.
” I nudged him with my elbow. I wasn’t really sure why I’d brought them up now.
I guess, being in London, seeing Auntie Deepa…
“Mum wasn’t quite as homely as Auntie,” I said, and chuckled.
“She taught me chess when I was little, and never once let me win. Auntie Deepa would let me win. I thought she was cruel until I was twelve and I beat her properly. I don’t think I’ve ever been more proud of an achievement in my life. ”
“It sounds like something you should be proud of,” Rex said.
“Yeah.”
We rounded a corner and a man stepped out of the shadows, making me flinch. It was a stupid reaction and totally uncalled for. And of course, Rex noticed. His hand pressed flat against my back.
"Are you sure you're okay?" he asked and looked at me pointedly.
It was clear he was once again worried about Adam. I wanted desperately to fob him off, and I almost gave him the easy answer. "His name is Adam Dexter," I said instead. "He scared me once, that's all. Like I said. It was a long time ago. He doesn't scare me now."
Rex studied my face for a moment. I held his gaze. I wasn't sure if he was going to push for a better answer.
"Good," he said, and pressed his hand tighter against my back before pulling me in for a hug.
I looked at his face and noted the way the street lights caught the line of his jaw, the two-day shadow, and the set of his mouth.
He really was the best thing that ever happened to me.
There was not a chance in hell I'd let Adam fuck this up.
"Come on," I said. "Let's get back to the hotel. There's a thing or two I want to do to you," I added while biting my bottom lip.