Oleander Girl Read Online Free PDF Page B

whispers against my throat. But I suddenly feel I’m not ready for that, either.
    As soon as the Mercedes backs out of our driveway, I confront Grandfather. “How could you do this without checking with me!”
    “It is a very auspicious date. That’s important. I want to make sure your marriage is luckier than your mother’s.”
    “But, Grandfather, surely there are other auspicious dates later. I need more time!”
    He shakes his head and starts to turn away.
    I put my hand on his arm, unwilling to give up, but he says tiredly, “Not now, Korobi.”
    His skin has a yellow cast; his eyes are red-veined. He lists a little as he makes his way into the house. Worry pricks me, and I swallow my anger for the moment. I’ll let him rest. But I’m not going to let him rush me into the biggest event of my life.
    Grandmother looks concerned. “I had better get your grandfather his heartburn medicine. You lie down, shona, and get some rest before your big party.” She picks up the crystal dish of cardamom seeds. In a moment she, too, will disappear after him.
    “Grandma, wait! I’ve got to talk to you!”
    “I know you must be taken aback by your grandfather’s decision. I was, too. Maybe we can discuss it with him after he wakes up—”
    I blurt out the words because there’s no good way to say them. “Someone was in my room last night. I think it was—my mother.”
    I wait for Grandmother to dismiss my foolish notions with a laugh and send me off to bed, but she pales and takes a step back. The crystaldish falls from her hand and shatters; tiny silver balls go flying over the veranda.
    “Why do you think that?” she whispers.
    “I felt it.” Even to my ears, my answer sounds weak. But Grandmother accepts it. Her hands are trembling.
    “Did it—she—say anything to you?”
    I shake my head, disconcerted. I had no idea that my pragmatic grandmother believed so strongly in ghosts. But even if she did, why would the thought of her dead daughter’s spirit agitate her like this? I realize that I don’t want to know the answer.
    “Maybe I imagined it.”
    “Maybe you did,” Grandmother says, but without conviction.
    “I’ll go lie down now.”
    “You do that.”
    “You rest, too.”
    “Yes.”
    But when I look back from the doorway, she is still standing among the broken glass, scattered cardamom seeds surrounding her like a field of frozen tears.

TWO

    I n the white marble hall of the hotel, I’m waltzing with Rajat. The music is a river and we’re dancing in it. It winds against our bodies, muscular as a serpent. Rajat holds me close, palm pressed against my chiffon back. And that is good because I might otherwise float away. On my own I am a clumsy dancer, but Rajat makes me feel elegant and unabashed. Wherever my eyes fall, guests are appraising us. Beside the piano, the diaphanous windows, the sleek, polished bar, the hand-painted urns crowded with blossoms, the overflow of gifts on tables inlaid with ivory. Guests whisper to each other as they raise their glasses and smile. I’m unused to such scrutiny, but I hold myself tall and allow Rajat to twirl me around. My long hair, which I shampooed and powdered with glitter and left loose, streams behind me. My collarbones rise like wings from the daring neckline of my kurti. My shoulders shine. Some of the smiles are serrated as knives. I feel them on the nape of my neck.
    There is in particular a slender girl in silver with a beautiful, pale face, an intense mascara glare. I’ve never seen her before, but I know right away who she is. Sonia. Mimi, seething when she discovered that Rajat was seeing me, had told me about Sonia.
    “He used to be crazy about her, and no wonder. She’s the most gorgeous girl I’ve seen—and she has style! Buys all her clothes abroad, belongs to the most expensive clubs. We’d see them together at partiesand think how perfect they looked together. I bet he’s sorry he broke up with her.” She looked at me and shook