Chapter 13 - THE LETTER MY FATHER WROTE TO THE MAN WHO BETRAYED HIM
Dad’s letter to Arjun was not angry.
That surprised me.
Arjun,
You are Sadi’s biological father.
That gives you responsibility.
Not ownership.
I looked at Ravi.
He said nothing.
Dad continued.
If you ever decide you want to know her, come without lawyers, money, or conditions.
That hurt.
Arjun had been offered a door.
He never walked through it.
If you want her only because she is a Greedy heir, stay away.
Then:
I will not teach her that being wanted for inheritance is the same as being loved.
Sadi read the letter when her therapist agreed she was ready.
She cried.
Then asked:
“Did Dad hate Arjun?”
“No.”
“Why?”
“I think he hated what Arjun did.”
She thought.
“Different?”
“Yes.”
Important difference.
Then she asked whether she had to visit Arjun in prison someday.
“No.”
“Can I?”
“When you’re older, if you want.”
Choice again.
The family therapist became the least glamorous but most useful person in our lives.
Ravi started therapy too.
He pretended it was “strategic consultation.”
I called it therapy.
He glared.
Progress.
Our coffee dates became dinners.
Dinners became walks.
One night, we stood outside my apartment.
Same building.
Different feeling.
I no longer feared eviction.
Ravi looked at me.
“Diane.”
“Yes?”
“Can I kiss you?”
I stared.
The irony was almost offensive.
The first kiss had been bought.
Public.
Humiliating.
Without his consent.
Now the most feared man in Chicago stood on a cracked sidewalk asking.
I smiled.
“Yes.”
He kissed me gently.
No cameras.
No crowd.
No ten thousand dollars.
When we pulled apart, I said:
“That was better.”
He looked offended.
“Only better?”
“Significantly.”
He laughed.
Then Sadi opened the apartment window above us.
“GROSS!”
I covered my face.
Ravi looked delighted.
“Your sister likes me.”
“She likes ruining moments.”
Then Sadi yelled:
“RAVI, IF YOU HURT HER I’LL TELL GRANDMA ANIKA.”
Ravi’s smile vanished.
I laughed so hard I had to lean against the wall.
Apparently eighty-one-year-old grandmothers outranked mafia bosses.
Good.
Then Ravi became serious.
“I will not hurt you intentionally.”
I shook my head.
“Don’t promise impossible things.”
He stopped.
“Right.”
“Promise honesty.”
He nodded.
“Honesty.”
“Even when ugly.”
May you like
“Yes.”
That was enough.
