There's Something About Sweetie(27)

“Why not?” Pappa said. “It is an auspicious place, full of good omens.”

Ashish looked at Ma pleadingly, in a last-ditch attempt to salvage this thing. “Come on, Ma. Do you really think this is a good idea, or did Pappa bully you into it?”

Ma laughed. “Pappa does not bully me into anything, Ashish. Do not take my quieter nature as weakness. The mandir was my idea. And don’t worry, we’ll have three other equally well-suited places for you to take Sweetie.”

“That’s our deal; take it or leave it,” Pappa said.

“And if I don’t take it, you’ll tell Sweetie’s parents.”

“Correct.” Ma shrugged. “At least this way when we do tell them, we can say we kept a guiding hand on you two and made sure nothing untoward happened.”

“So, do you accept the terms?” Pappa asked. “Can we close the deal?”

Sighing, Ashish closed his eyes. “Yes. We can close the deal.”

“Excellent!” Ma said, smiling. “Then you better ask Sweetie to meet you here so we can give her the good news.”

“And so I can meet her, of course,” Pappa added jovially.

“Can’t wait,” Ashish mumbled, pulling out his phone.





CHAPTER 10





“Next month is someone’s seventeenth birthday,” Achchan said, stuffing an entire square of baklava into his mouth. Sweetie had two of the honey-covered sweets on her own plate as well, much to Amma’s distress. “What should we have at the party? Magician? Petting zoo?”

Sweetie laughed and tried not to roll her eyes. “Achcha, I’m not eight.”

“Okay, then, you tell me what you want and we will get it! What do the cool kids like nowadays?”

Sweetie ate a piece of baklava. “Well, I don’t know about the cool kids, but I thought one of those giant chocolate fountains would be cool. I’ve always wanted to try one, and it’ll keep the little kids happy too.”

“Not a good idea,” Amma said, folding her hands on the restaurant table.

“Alle?” Achchan asked. “Why isn’t it a good idea? I’ve heard they’re not too expensive.”

“I don’t think Amma’s talking about the cost,” Sweetie said quietly, though her hands shook under the table. Suddenly she was getting very, very tired of Amma’s irrational fixation with her weight. Maybe it was that single act of rebellion, going to see Ashish Patel and deciding to date him behind her back, but it was like something bright and volatile was beginning to spark inside of her. “She’s talking about my weight.”

Achchan cleared his throat. “Vidya … it’s her birthday. She’ll be having birthday cake, after all.”

“Athey. All the more reason she doesn’t need a chocolate fountain also.”

So now it was what she was wearing to the party and what she could eat there. What else might Amma want to sanction? How much air she could breathe? What words she could say, being a fat person? Maybe she shouldn’t even talk about food. You know, just in case people thought she was some kind of glutton. In case she embarrassed Amma again. She could feel the pressure of the words behind her teeth, building and building until she was sure she’d scream. “Bathroom,” she said instead, pushing out of the booth and speed walking to the ladies’ room, leaving two confused parents behind.

Her eyes were hot with tears, and she tried to blink them back as best she could. Luckily, the bathroom was empty. Closing herself in a stall, Sweetie pulled out her phone and dialed.

“Hello, Sweetie?”

Just hearing Anjali Chechi’s voice put her more at ease. “Hey. Are you busy?”

“Never too busy for you. What’s up, little sis?”

Sweetie grinned. Anjali Chechi was her older cousin: a successful surgeon, married to an equally successful video game developer, and … fat. She was Achchan’s oldest brother’s child, and she got on Amma’s nerves more than anything. Because how dare she be happy, successful, and fat? Amma especially didn’t like how Sweetie felt more comfortable in her own skin after talking to Anjali Chechi on the phone or after one of her visits. Amma’d once told Sweetie that Anjali Chechi would encourage her to remain unhealthy. Amma was of the opinion that surrounding Sweetie with Bollywood gossip magazines and fashion catalogs would inspire her to lose weight. But with Anjali Chechi, Sweetie could just be herself. She was constantly being forced to think of herself as the before picture, but when she spoke to her cousin, she saw that the after picture could include her just as she was right now. She didn’t need to lose weight to become the success story Amma so desperately wanted her to be.

“Nothing; just having an awesome time at lunch with Amma and Achchan, though.”

Anjali Chechi could obviously hear the sarcasm and hurt in her voice. She sucked in a breath. “Uh-oh. Lay it on me.”

“It’s not even worth getting into. It’s just more of the same, you know? You can’t wear that because it exposes too much of your fat skin. You can’t have a chocolate fountain on your birthday because you need to lose weight. You can’t date a thin boy because you’re too ugly for him.”

“Whoa, whoa. What’s this about a boy? What boy?”