“Dadi and Dad said you were going to be emotional about it,” Bindu replied as she picked up a napkin to clean some of the chai spray that landed on the table in front of her. “And you are kind of proving them right, Kareena.”
Kareena pushed back from the table, her brain racing to try to compute what was happening. “This is Mom’s home. It’s her dream home. She designed and built it from the ground up! We built it from the ground up.” Kareena had even helped repair doorknobs and light fixtures in an effort to keep her mother’s vision and passion alive. “Dad, why am I only finding out about this now? Why does Bindu know about it before me?”
“Beta,” her father said gently. He folded his hands in front of his empty cereal bowl. “I know how close you were to your mom and how much this house means to you, too. How you thought maybe one day you’d live here. But I think it’s time we all moved on. I can sell it, and then take the money and buy myself a retirement home. Your sister is moving out soon, your grandmother is thinking about moving back to India—”
“Dadi is going back to India?”
“Your father has worked hard almost all his life,” Dadi said as she prepared a parantha. She pinched dough and rolled it into a small ball before flattening it with a slap of her palm. “It’s time for him to enjoy himself. And for me to go back home.”
“Dadi, you’ve been here for eighteen years,” Kareena said. “This is your home. And Dad, this house meant a lot to you, too. I refuse to believe that you’re going to sell it without talking about it with me!”
“I don’t know why you’re surprised,” Bindu said. She scrolled on her phone as if nothing of importance was being discussed at the table. “He’s been hinting about this forever. Mom isn’t here anymore. He can do whatever he wants with the house. It doesn’t automatically belong to you just because you painted a few walls.”
Kareena pressed a palm to her breaking heart. Did no one else care their home was going to be sold off? Or at the very minimum, did no one else see how wrong it was for them to cut her so cleanly out of a major decision? She’d been the one taking care of it all while her father worked and her sister did god knows what on YouTube and her grandmother went to card parties in the afternoons.
“Your mom loved this house,” her father said quietly. “But it’s important for all of us to move on. And we, your sister and grandmother and I, all agree. The only reason why it hasn’t fallen apart yet is because of you, but you have to move on, too.”
“Sit down and drink some water,” Dadi said. “You’re wheezing again.”
This was getting nowhere and fast. Kareena turned back to Bindu. “You’re completely okay with losing our mom’s home, Bindu? For real?”
Bindu shrugged. “It’s just a house. Loken and I are thinking about getting a place closer to the college so it’s easier for us to get to work.”
Kareena pressed her palms against the table and leaned in toward her father. “Dad, you’ve always known that I wanted this house!”
“Which is why I didn’t ask you.” His eyes looked sad like they always did when he thought about Kareena’s mom. “You have our old car. You can focus all your attention on fixing that, rather than trying to renovate a family home as well.”
“Fine, then I’ll buy it from you. Just like I bought the car from you before you tried to sell that off as well.” She had savings. Her entire financial plan would go to hell, but she’d move things around if she had to. She had to at least try.
Her father leaned back and let out a laugh. He patted his round belly as if she’d told a joke instead of offering to save her childhood home. “There is no way you could afford the down payment on this house for what I’m listing it for. Especially not now with your job that pays you so little compared to what you used to be making.”
His words were like a dozen tiny cuts. Dream job or not, she wasn’t earning enough for parental approval, apparently. But that didn’t matter right now. She had to figure out how to stop this madness. She had to stall as long as possible.
“When are you retiring?” Kareena asked.
He raised an eyebrow in her direction. “December. I’m listing it end of September.” He named a figure that had her eyes go wide. Damn New Jersey housing market.
September was not nearly enough time to save for a large down payment. Kareena looked at Bindu, then at her grandmother who was eyeing her from the kitchen. Then she homed in on the gold letter boxes on the table. The answer seemed both absurd and perfect at the same time.
“The wedding money,” Kareena blurted out. “You said you had wedding money set aside for me. Why don’t you give that to me now to use as a down payment for the house?”
“No way,” her father said. “That money is only available to you once you’re engaged. Which I’ve been trying to encourage you to do for the last six months.”
The only people in the world who ever made her want to throw things were her family. “I don’t understand why you won’t just work with me here! If that money is earmarked for me, anyway, then think of it as a birthday present. You know, for the birthday you forgot?”
Her father gave her an exasperated look, as if she was the one being completely unreasonable here. “I started saving that money because your mother and I wanted to give you and your sister a wedding gift. We didn’t have anything when we started our lives together, and our hope was to give you a nest egg for when you begin your future.”
“News flash! I’m thirty. My future has already begun. I don’t need to be married to have one.”
“Call it tradition,” he said mildly. “These are the rules. I’m not changing them. If you want the money, then you have to find your jeevansathi first.”
Jeevansathi. Soul mate. Kareena wanted one in her life so badly, but actually finding her match was time consuming, and painful. That was one of the reasons why she’d pushed it off for so long.
“What an excellent idea!” Dadi said, waving a spatula in the air. “Beta, I can always reopen your Indian dating profile. You know, you can find someone in time for your sister’s engagement party. Loken’s family won’t worry that there is something wrong with us then because the oldest daughter is still single.”
Kareena had to take even breaths just so she wouldn’t strangle anyone. This is what she hated the most about her family. It was as if they never listened to her, and she ended up screaming at them at the top of her lungs just to get them to pay attention. “I’m not getting engaged or married just because my younger sister is getting married! That’s such an archaic practice and I expected better from both of you. And, Dadi, your matchmaking skills aren’t exactly great.”
She still had nightmares from the date in law school.
“Beta, it was one bad match, and his prison sentence was only six months. It’s not like he killed someone. Just some bad checks, no?”
“Oh, that makes it so much better.” Kareena waved a hand at all three individuals staring at her. “I want a freaking love marriage. Hearts, flowers, the works. Someone who understands me and doesn’t make me lose my ever-loving mind.”