That Thing about Bollywood by Supriya Kelkar

Author:Supriya Kelkar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 2021-05-18T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 21

I fought off every thought about my feelings over the next few days, concentrating instead on homework. It actually worked. There were no new Bollywooditis outbursts. If I could figure out how to turn off my background music and undo the makeovers, I’d actually be free of the magic.

I stood before a produce shelf at Ralphs, trying to brainstorm, as Ronak helped Dad load the cart with vegetables for yet another homecooked dinner. A dinner that tasted nothing like my mom’s cooking. I thought about what I had scratched out in my notebook. I seemed to always come back to that. Could my parents really have something to do with the magic? It did all start right after they announced they were separating, didn’t it? My palms grew clammy so I stared hard at the variety of potatoes in front of me, trying to be calm.

“You know what makes some of those potatoes sprout?” Dad asked, turning toward me. “The starch in them turns to sugar and the potato works hard to make that happen. Without hard work, there’s no growth.” He glanced down at me, one eyebrow raised, expectantly.

I sighed, knowing another Dad talk was coming. “You saw my quiz?”

“Mrs. Kulkarni emailed me and Mom. You have to work harder, Sonali.”

“I was sick that day. I will,” I said, hoping Dad would stop the lecture. When I shopped with Mom, she would talk my ear off with stories of the vegetable vendors selling produce on wooden carts they wheeled through her childhood neighborhood. Or her garden, full of chiku, bor, and jaamphal trees. They were fun stories. Not lectures about grades like with Dad. Sometimes it felt like I just couldn’t relate to him.

“Just be thankful Mrs. Kulkarni is giving you a chance to raise your grade with that extra-credit assignment next week,” Dad added. “That girl giving the talk is just two years older than you and already halfway through college.”

I wasn’t thankful. I was annoyed. I had no interest in hearing someone talk about math for an hour and then spend hours writing about what she had said about math. Instead of telling him how I felt though, I grabbed a handful of purple potatoes. I ran my fingers over the smooth skin and occasional bumps when someone squeezed my hand.

“Sonali!” It was Revati Auntie, my mom’s friend, dressed in her scrubs from the hospital.

I felt the tight hold of her hand on mine and, for a second, felt jealous that she had just seen my mom at work, or eaten lunch in the cafeteria with her, or any of the things I couldn’t do this week, unless I called her on the phone to chat or FaceTimed while I ate at the house and she ate at the apartment.

The grocery store shelves suddenly become turned neon pink as Revati Auntie pulled me in for a hug and waved Dad and Ronak over. “Ronak! Look how tall you’ve grown!” Auntie bent down to squeeze his cheeks while still holding on to me.

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