The Cobra's Song by Supriya Kelkar

Author:Supriya Kelkar
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 2023-05-16T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 28

The seats were starting to fill up. Baba, Aai, Alaap, and Aaji sat in the first row next to Maya Auntie and Mayor Conovan, whose gray bob was bouncing along as she cheered on Lark. Lark was practice-singing “me-me-me” a bunch of times and blowing raspberries and doing whatever other strange exercises her voice teacher had taught her while Dottie lay by her side, ignoring the painful noises she was making. Lata Auntie was fixing the shiny gold fabric that was hanging lopsided for the stage’s backdrop. Deepak was with Penn, spinning a name-tag rack while irritating the shopkeeper.

“Not ‘Dee-pack.’ It’s dee like ‘My country, ’tis of thee.’ Well, actually your tongue is a little farther back than thee but it’s pretty close. And it’s definitely not pack. It’s more like puck,” Deepak said.

The man behind the table started to turn red. “Well, however you pronounce it, I don’t have a name tag for a dog like that. I just have American names.”

“That’s a microaggression,” Deepak said, having no trouble telling an adult that his words were hurtful and kind of racist since we were American, too. “And now that we’re on the subject, who do I talk to about changing the name of Accent Mark in the Park? It’s kind of othering. Things need to change around here.” He looked back, noticing me. “How about her?” Deepak asked.

“What about me?” I ignored the urge to scratch the scabs on my knees and avoid their conversation.

“See if they have your name,” Deepak replied.

Penn snorted.

“You shouldn’t laugh, Penn. They have ‘Penn’ right over there.” Deepak pointed to Penn’s name, right between Penelope and Penny.

Penn’s smile disappeared.

My voice went high and super polite. “Gee-tan-jelly.”

The man shook his head. “Sorry, kids. I’ve got Cooper, Duke, and Bailey, though.” He took the moment to escape Deepak and organize his leashes in rainbow order with his back to us.

“Why do you do that?” Deepak whispered to me.

“Do what?”

“Why’re you afraid to say your name right? It’s not T, it’s t,” he said, emphasizing the sound that no one in Deadwood could say unless they were desi. “And it’s not tan-jelly. If you’re too scared to say your name right, how will anyone ever get it right? My mom’s going to talk about this at her movie night tomorrow.”

I looked to Penn, who was staring at us with a wrinkle in his nose. He was clearly just now realizing he had been saying my name wrong his whole life, despite hearing my parents say it correctly.

“Yeah. I’ll be there,” I said, annoyed at both Deepak for calling me out and at myself. Why did I always mispronounce my name to make things easier for everyone else? I had to stop worrying about being an inconvenience for others. I had to own who I was and my feelings. Maybe I needed to speak up and tell Penn right now that he had been hurting my feelings lately.

Lata Auntie caught my eye as she finished fixing the curtain and waved.

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