Chapter 35
Leo walks off the plane in Newark airport with long, purposeful strides.
Yes, it was a little extreme to fly to New Jersey instead of just calling Simran, but he needed to see her.
He doesn’t want a phone call where she can brush him off; this is the type of thing they need to work through in person.
He’s determined to show Simran that she can try to push him away but he won’t let her.
But neither will he give up on the things he needs from her.
For the first time in years, he feels nervous at the thought of seeing her.
He speeds up his walk from the gate into the terminal.
This time, he’d just like to get out of the airport like a normal traveler.
Pulling his phone out of the pocket of his jeans, he curses his sister when he sees the shattered screen—it died on his way to the airport.
He scans the arrivals hall looking for the taxi line and sees drivers waiting with signs for their C-suite passengers and a family with young children dressed in dinosaur costumes, and Veena aunty looking right at him with Ashok uncle looming tall at her shoulder, and—
Leo’s brain does a record scratch.
Veena aunty is here. And she is waving to him, though it’s more a beckoning as she shifts from foot to foot. Like she’s expecting Leo. He walks forward, as if his body automatically obeys her, until he stands in front of them on the other side of the waist-high metal barricade.
“Aunty?”
“Hello, Leo,” Veena perima says. “Simran told us to come pick you up.”
Nothing quite computes in Leo’s brain as he tries to add this latest piece of information to his limited understanding of what’s going on. “Where is she?”
“She and Kavitha went to Toronto,” Veena aunty replies, exasperation in her voice as if Leo is slow on the uptake.
“Sim is—I mean, Simran is in Toronto?” Leo asks, clutching the top bar of the barricade. She went back to Toronto. For him?
“Yes. But by the time they got there, you had already left.”
Yes. For him. Something within him releases.
Veena aunty gives him a full eye roll. The familial resemblance to Simran has never been stronger. “Your generation is always glued to that phone until you need to be,” she complains before shaking her head from left to right. “Chalo chodo. Let’s go back home, I hate the airport.”
Stunned and still trying to comprehend what’s happened, Leo trails Veena aunty and Ashok uncle as they go to the elevator bay that leads to the parking lot.
“Uncle, Rishi texted me about you going to the hospital,” Leo says. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Not okay. No more pakodas,” Ashok uncle says mournfully. Then his head lifts. “Walk tomorrow?”
Leo grins. “Seven a.m.”
Once they reach the house, Veena aunty immediately puts him to work with a wave of her hand, indicating he’s to help her in the kitchen.
“I was thinking,” Veena aunty says. Leo is surprised when a mischievous smile steals over her face. “We cannot keep letting you make terrible chai.”
He cringes but also can’t help but smile back.
By some miracle, Veena aunty is teasing him.
He stands next to her at the kitchen counter and follows her instructions: grating ginger, pulverizing the black nubs of cardamom into powder in a mortar and pestle, heating the milk and turning off the burner at just the right time so it doesn’t boil over.
When he lifts the cup to his lips, she pulls it away in that rough manner that has become familiar to him.
“Don’t do that. You’ll burn your tongue and the whole taste will be ruined.
These things take time, you understand?”
He’s starting to.
They wait and she blows on the cup to cool it. As Leo does the same, Veena aunty says, “Simran told me. That she loves you. You two are together, nah?”
Leo freezes, mouth still puckered, and it takes him another moment to realize what she has just said: Simran has told her aunt about them.
More than that. She told Veena aunty she loves him.
And Veena aunty has let him in her house knowing that.
“Uh … yes, Aunty. We are.” Blinking, he takes a deep breath, steadying his nerves to give the heartfelt confession he’s been practicing in his head. “I love S—”
“Okay. The temperature is right,” Veena aunty interrupts.
“Drink your chai now.” She takes a big gulp of hers.
Leo does the same, and the sweet, velvety liquid hits his tongue and sets his brain buzzing.
He takes another sip and then another and by the time he has drained his cup, in seconds, his big speech is completely forgotten.
Veena aunty is smirking at him. “You like it?” she asks.
He pulls the cup back to his nose and breathes in the scent. “It’s incredible. I can’t believe you didn’t throw the chai I made for you in my face.”
Veena aunty laughs, an actual guffaw, and Leo thinks there might be magic in this tea.
“It’s not your fault. No one taught you.
But if you’re going to be part of an Indian family, you need to know these things.
Next time you come, I’ll teach you how to make sambar and rasam. ” She looks at him pointedly.
Leo blinks rapidly. Did she say—and was she inviting—and did this mean—
But before he can respond, Veena perima speaks again. “Simi is very stubborn. ‘Ziddi,’ we call it in Hindi. Some people say I can also be like that. I don’t think so. Only when others don’t listen to me.”
Leo smiles and takes a second to practice the words in his head before he says them out loud. “Adudan enakku piddikum.”
Veena aunty turns to him, shocked. “You speak Tamil?”
“Nan kathunutten,” Leo replies. He’s learning, though he might have got his tense wrong. “Aur Hindi bhi.” And Hindi too.
Leo basks in the look of begrudging respect Veena aunty gives him. “You will call me once a week. Naan Tamil peshuven so you can practice. Aur Hindi bhi. You’ll get nowhere if you only talk with Simi. And I can practice my French with you.”
“Allons-y,” he replies, and she gives him a tight nod of approval.
He’s fairly sure he’s just agreed to a light berating on a weekly basis.
Veena aunty moves away from him, refilling Leo’s cup without asking.
He gulps down the second just as quickly and then helps take the utensils and dishes they used to the sink.
A faraway look steals across her face, happy and sad at the same time. “You know who taught me to make chai this way? Jija Saheb.”
“Who is Jija Saheb?” Leo asks.
“My brother-in-law. Simran’s father,” she replies.
Not a moment later, Veena aunty is back to her busybody self.
She pulls out her phone. “Okay, let’s call Simi.
No long conversations, just tell her you’ve reached safe.
” She begins to hand the phone to him but then pulls her arm back.
“Actually, it’s good you’re here. Before talking to her, go get the ladder from the garage and take the lights down. ”
Just the thought of getting back up on the roof makes Leo’s kneecaps feel like they’re disintegrating.
They’re getting along so well, but he can’t get back on that ladder.
Steeling himself, he says, “Actually, Aunty, I’m sorry but I can’t.
I’m afraid of heights. Going up the first time was really difficult for me. ” He swallows. “Is … is that okay?”
He braces himself but she reaches out and swats him on the arm. “Aiyo, pagal, of course. Why didn’t you say that? Who goes up on the roof of a house when they’re afraid of heights?” She tuts. “I know you like Simi, but there’s no need to do all these sorts of foolish things for her.”
She dials Simran’s number and puts it on speakerphone. This is going to be a group call, he realizes.
“Perima?” Simran’s voice comes through the phone, worried. “Did you find him?”
“Sim, it’s me,” Leo says. “My phone died. Your aunt and uncle picked me up at the airport.”
“Leo.” She breathes his name more than she says it. “I—”
“You’re on speakerphone,” he interjects.
“Oh. Okay.” He can hear the hesitation in Simran’s voice.
“See, Simi? He’s safe. You come back here and you two can talk then,” Veena aunty tells her.
With that, she hangs up. Leo has no choice but to do what Veena aunty says, which he realizes is probably going to be happening a lot more.
He doesn’t mind all that much. He knows now he can say no when he needs to.