The Bandit Queens (30)

“Are you sure you’re not just a bad cook?” He laughed. “I’m kidding, come on in.”

She looked past him but did not cross the threshold. “I don’t want to disturb.”

“Not at all. My youngest two are sleeping, but we can talk out back?”

She left her sandals outside. “Sure.”

He rubbed the soft space between Bandit’s eyes, and they closed in pleasure. “Hey! He can see me!” When had he removed his small earring? Like her, he wore no jewelry, and she saw the divot in his lobe.

She was soon busy ogling his home without appearing as though she were ogling. Really, all there was to the house could be observed at once. The space near the front door was also the common area, where makeshift toys littered the thin rug and the cement floor. A stack of steel plates and utensils were housed in a far nook. On either side of her were two bedroom doors, closed now. She imagined the younger two slept in one, while the older boys had their own room. Then Geeta noticed the charpoy leaning against the common room wall, legs sticking out like an insect’s. Like many people, Karem likely slept on his terrace beneath the stars.

Thinking about Karem in bed was not the smartest idea. But then, neither was a surprise nocturnal appearance at his home.

“Papa?” A boy in shorts and a torn red shirt that read Nike emerged from one of the rooms.

“Shh, it’s okay. Go back to sleep.”

The boy rubbed his eye. “I’m thirsty.”

“You are not.” Karem turned to Geeta. “This is Raees.”

“Hey, you’re the lady from the playground.”

She placed him after a moment. “Kabaddi kid?”

“Yeah.”

“Did you win?”

His smile turned alert. He was missing two bottom teeth. “Yeah. She said she wasn’t scared of you, but she was lying, ’cause everyone knows that you can make sweets taste like gobar if you get mad at someone.”

“I—er—how old are you, Raees?”

“Seven. It was my birthday last week.”

Which, Geeta realized now, was why Karem had corrected his kids’ ages on the way to Kohra. “Many belated happy returns.”

“Thank you. Wanna see my balloons?”

“Let’s not bother Geeta with that. She can see them some other time. And you need sleep.”

“What’s that?”

“This is Bandit.”

“Does he bite?”

“Not that I know of. He’s very gentle. Just let him smell you first.” She set Bandit down and Raees joined him, plopping cross-legged on the floor. Bandit rolled onto his back, front paws bent, his exposed belly both an invitation and demand.

“What kind of dog is he?”

“That’s a good question. I don’t know. I think he’s a lot of different things. I bet that’s what makes him so cute.”

“Is he the one you fed your husband to?”

“Raees!” Karem’s voice was appalled. “Apologize at once. I’m so sorry, Geeta.”

“It’s all right,” she said. That one stung more than the sweets comment. She’d forgotten herself. Forgotten that children were scared of her. Forgotten that she preferred it that way. “It’s not his fault he hears things.”

“Well, he didn’t hear it here.” Karem didn’t lift his gaze from his son. “Apologize.”

“I’m sorry, Geeta-aunty.”

“It’s okay, Raees. No, I didn’t feed my husband to Bandit.”

“So then what happened to him?”

“Another good question. Can you keep a secret?”

When Raees issued a somber nod, she bent at the waist and curled a finger. The boy floated closer. “I don’t know what happened to my husband.”

“That’s not a secret!”

“It’s not?”

“No, a secret is like when you break your father’s watch but then you say your sister did it ’cause she never gets in trouble for anything.” Raees clapped a hand over his mouth. “Sorry, Papa.”

Karem shook his head. Farah was right; his hair was very thick. Grey heavily decorated his crown and temples. “I’ll forget I heard that, but off to bed.”

But Raees was adroit in the art of dithering. He showered their guest with attention, avoiding his father’s unamused eyes completely. “Geeta-aunty, can I please show you my birthday balloons? Papa brought them all the way from Kohra.”

Geeta, too, ignored Karem. “I’d love to see them.”

Raees slipped inside his room. Karem stage-whispered, “Don’t wake your sister.”

“He’s a nice boy.”

Karem smiled. “He’s got a crush.”

She patted her bun demurely. “Oh, well, I wouldn’t call it—”

“He’s really taken to Bandit.”

“Yes.” Her hand fell. “The dog.”

Raees returned holding five strings. The speckled balloons still hovered near the low ceiling, but they were beginning to sag. The pastel skins puckered, no longer taut. For some awful, horrible, inopportune reason, Geeta thought of her breasts and how this was what she had to look forward to.

She offered the proud boy her soft applause. “Lovely!”