—
Fine
BY THURSDAY, RAFIQ Uncle has gone back to the village. He has finished his business in the city.
That evening, Reeni comes over to 3A to watch the news. She arrives early, so we go out to the balcony.
“Umma,” I say before I close the door behind us. “Don’t forget to tell us when the news starts.”
“I don’t think I have ever seen you so eager to watch the news,” my mother grumbles, but there is a gleam in her eye. She’s been gleamy since my uncle left.
And another funny thing. I think my parents have forgotten to scold me for being rude to Rafiq Uncle.
Reeni and I stand on the balcony and look at the parrots fussing in the raintree. The pink-flowery, feather-leafy branches have to be clipped every now and then, so the squirrels don’t get into the flats and make a big mess.
Reeni coughs and shuffles her feet.
“Are you sick?” I ask. “Have you caught a cold? Does your stomach hurt?”
She looks as if she would like to curl up in some corner and disappear quietly.
“No,” she says. “I’m not sick.”
“Then what?”
“Nothing,” she says.
“Something,” I insist.
“Nothing.”
“Something. Tell me.”
“I can’t.”
“Am I your friend?” I demand.
“Ye-e-s,” she says.
“Then? So? Tell!”
“Okay, fine.” She tells. “It’s Daddy.”
“Your daddy?” I lower my voice. “Are your parents still fighting?”
She shakes her head so hard her plaits flop from side to side.
“No,” she says. “But that’s how I found out, because they’re talking to each other again and I overheard them. They were arguing about Book Uncle all this time! And I didn’t even know.”
“What? What did they say?” Why is it so hard to get this story out of my friend? I try to be patient. “Reeni, just tell me from the beginning, okay?”
She says all in a rush, “He sent the letter. He did. But it was for the association, because otherwise we would have to pay a fine. He was only trying to help, Yasmin.”
“What letter? What fine? Reeni, I’m not a mind reader. Will you tell me what you’re talking about?”
“The letter to the city!” she wails. “Complaining about Book Uncle! Only he wasn’t complaining, really. Just explaining that it was Book Uncle and not us.”
What does she mean? That must be the letter that the istri lady told us about, that some nasty person sent to the city saying nasty things about Book Uncle.
The nasty person was Reeni’s dad?
And what does she mean, we would have to pay a fine? That does not seem fine at all. It all seems more puzzling than ever.
“Yasmin,” Umma calls. “The news is going to start in just a minute.”