She knew!
“Don’t jump to conclusions, Mom! I was not having a cigarette. I don’t smoke!” I lied. “And don’t try to change the subject here. Honestly, you know I can’t go to India. I can’t do this!”
“Esha.” She walked towards me and placed her hands on my shoulders. I could sense she was shifting her strategy, but I wasn’t going to give in. “Your father and I have tried not to force you to live life the way we wish you would. Instead, we have always secretly prayed that one day you would find your way back to us. This is the time to carry out your responsibility. You are his daughter. Your father has passed on, but he has made one last request. It is your duty to follow through on that request.
“You have a whole life ahead of you. This is your only chance to discover that other part of you, discover the part that you have shut up and put away all these years. You are a Sikh. You may not care, but it was an important part of who your father was. He wants you to discover why. Think of it as a challenge or an adventure, but please do this one thing for him, child.”
She held my gaze for a long time, then she patted my cheek ever so softly before she walked away. Damn that guilt trip!
“Mom,” I called out in defeat just as she reached the doorway.
“Yes?”
“What’s his name?” I asked.
“Who?”
“The son in India, what’s his name?”
“His name is Ekant, Ekant Singh.”
FOUR
Esha, I still can’t believe you’re going through with this,” Mandy said as she paced around my room. “I mean, India, it’s so . . . so . . .”
“Exotic?” Carrie offered.
“I doubt it’s exotic, Carrie,” Reet replied.
“Yeah, but so Third World, no? I mean, what are you going to do there, and can you even speak their language? How long will you be gone?”
“Mandy’s right, and dude, just think how annoyed we get here when we have to attend Indian stuff. Now you’ll be surrounded by it with no escape!” added Reet.
“Okay, calm down! And thanks for pointing that out, Reet. But, honestly, I don’t know how long, and I have no clue what it’ll be like. Trust me, this wasn’t my idea. As for the language, my father made sure long ago that my sister and I learned how to speak Punjabi, so I doubt that’ll be a problem.”
I was just finishing up my packing. The girls had been over since the previous night. They were dreading the idea of summer without me, but at the same time they were very excited over the prospect of me trying to survive on my own in India.
“So why are you going? Why can’t your sister or your mother go?” Mandy asked as she stood with her hands on her hips. She always was a bit overprotective with her girlfriends.
“Mands, you know why. It was my father’s wish. Besides, my sister is pregnant. She can’t travel, and Mom isn’t in any shape to travel either, and I don’t think in her state she should be getting more stressed out by having to face that family in India.”
“Oh yeah, I almost forgot about your brother . . . or . . . cousin . . . whatever. Dude, that’s messed up. What do you think he’ll be like?”
“I have no clue, but I’m sure I can handle him. I’m more concerned about carrying out my father’s request. Going to an unfamiliar place, carrying out these last rites, it’s totally not my scene. But . . . I feel terrible for the way I handled things with him,” I admitted. I put down the books I had spent the past half hour searching for and slumped onto my bed. “I mean, I wasn’t even there when he was . . . you know . . . in the end. I was too caught up in my own fear and denial.”
“Esha,” Carrie said as she placed a comforting hand on mine, “if you aren’t ready to do this, maybe you should wait a bit.”
“No. It’s already been a month,” I replied, getting back up. “I’ve thought about this a lot, and I have to make it up to my dad. I have to do this. I mean, I just have to go there, meet this son, go spread the ashes, then I can catch a flight back home. I’ll get out of there as soon as I can. It can’t be too hard, right?”
“I hope not! We’re going to miss you!” Mandy cried as she wrapped me in her arms.
“Wait! Me too!” Carrie threw her arms around both of us.
“And me!” cried Reet as she joined in.
“I’m going to miss you so much,” I said, as I thought sadly about the dreary weeks ahead of me while my friends enjoyed the wonderful summer weather in B.C.
“Summer’s going to suck without you, Esha. You better get your ass back here as soon as possible,” Mandy whined.
“You gotta do one thing for me, though,” I said as I broke away from the group hug.
“Sure!” she exclaimed with eyes wide.
“Promise me you’ll make Skanky Rachel’s summer hell and keep her away from Johnny!”
“For sure! She’s going down!” yelled Mandy with a stern face.
We all burst into laughter. I really was going to miss them.
“Esha, you ready?” My sister was standing in the doorway.
“Uh, yeah, just about, Sandeep. I’ll be right down,” I replied as I returned to my luggage.
“Hurry then, and meet us outside. We still have to go pick up the ashes from the funeral home,” she said as she turned around and went back downstairs.
“Okay, let’s jam, girls. Help me take this down.”
We each grabbed a bag and made our way downstairs. My sister, her husband, and my mother were just making their way out the front door. I threw on my shoes and gave the house a quick glance. It was time to go.
As I made my way to the door, I suddenly gave a very loud and unexpected sneeze. “Wow, sorry about that,” I said as the girls giggled.
“Oh no, Esha!” my mom yelled, running back into the house. “You sneezed before leaving! That’s a bad omen. Oh, Waheguru. Back into the house, everyone!”
“What? Wait. Mom, don’t be so superstitiously Indian! We can’t waste any more time. Come on, don’t believe this nonsense.” I grabbed my bag and walked out the door and started loading my things into the jeep.
“Esha, please, child, this is true. We cannot leave the house after someone has given a single sneeze. It is a bad omen!”
“Mom, I don’t believe that. Now I’m ready to go. Are you guys coming?”
My sister and her husband hesitated for a moment and exchanged worried glances before following me to the jeep. After a long time contemplating her options, my mother reluctantly joined us.
With the smile of victory on my face, I turned my attention to the girls, who looked somewhat bewildered by my mother’s weird reaction to the sneeze. “So I’ll see you when I get back then? Take care, have loads of fun, but try not to get into any trouble without me,” I said as I hugged all three.
“Oh, Esha, we’ll do our best,” Carrie reassured me with her usual comforting smile.
“Exactly babe, we’ll be fine. Just take care of yourself and write us a letter or something. They do