Mercy and Grace: A Novel by Anoop Judge

Author:Anoop Judge [Judge, Anoop]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lake Union Publishing
Published: 2023-09-18T16:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 19

“Kids these days,” harrumphed Ranveer as he watched the birthday girl, Mahi, walk sulkily up onto the small stage at the front of the white marquee. The marquee was packed with party guests, many of whom had been dancing on the dance floor that had been laid out in front of the stage and, like something out of a seventies disco, was spilt into squares that lit up with different colors. The DJ had been playing for almost two hours, and Adi was in the middle there somewhere, although Gia had lost track of where.

“Look how miserable she is,” Ranveer went on, “and her father has done all of this for her birthday.”

Sonia shushed her husband and pointed to Chad, who was standing a few feet away from the rest of them on a small set of steps, filming the proceedings and the upcoming speech.

“We have done all of this for her,” Sonia corrected her husband, while keeping her voice low.

Gia had to agree; as far as she could tell, everything about the party seemed to be going well. All the teenagers and their parents—the latter appearing at least as important to Sam Khosla as the kids were—looked like they were having a great time. Gia had watched them separate into different groups at the start of the evening, naturally forming into little tribes—the sporty kids with their buzz cuts and bulging biceps, and the more intellectual ones with plates full of sushi instead of seekh kebabs. The silver-haired, arty-farty parents who sported rimless glasses, the business-tycoon parents with their Rolexes and Botoxed foreheads, and Palo Alto’s core of Indian social elite (the Aunty Army, as Dolly referred to them) who’d initially gathered to look snootily over the spread being offered before drifting apart into small groups, giving each other air kisses and backhanded compliments. “How was Croatia, darling?” “Great! Did Sid have any fun in Machu Picchu with his orphanage volunteering?” “You know, the kids had never been to a jungle safari before, so we . . .” This was, Dolly had informed her, a potential new source of clientele for the company. The food was good, the drink plentiful, the music just right—and all their hard work was being blessed by great California weather, the setting almost dreamlike under an azure sky that was taking on the color of slate in the twilight.

“You know what I mean,” Ranveer said, at least now remembering to keep his voice quieter. “How many children’s fathers would pay for such a lavish event? Yet she looks like someone has just slapped her. It must be embarrassing for poor Sam.”

Gia noticed Sonia mock her husband’s comments while he looked in the opposite direction and then mouth something along the lines of “Poor Sam, my ass.” What she actually said a moment later was, “You were here earlier, were you not, when Gia told us about the pool boy?” Her tone was exasperated.

“And I would have thrown him out too,” Ranveer replied. “No daughter of mine would risk getting herself pregnant with someone she could never marry.

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