Page 64 of Tasty Cherry

I bought this house and moved Arya in with me.

Then we had the Haley situation.

Maybe Arya has never felt security, particularly with Dad leaving when she was so little. I probably did my part when I was blindsided by a woman.

Am I doing it again? Is this why Arya seems so quiet since learning the one-nighter is staying around?

“You okay?” I ask her.

“Mmm hmm.” She sips her coffee, her eyes on the mountains.

I turn my attention to the view. “Remember what Mom used to always say?”

“Devi, the earth, is a goddess to be protected and admired.” She smiles against her cup. “Do you still touch the ground when you wake up to apologize for stepping on Devi?”

Now it’s my time to smile. “I do. It’s a habit. Sometimes I touch a window, if I’m not on the ground floor.”

“Really? That’s a good idea. I always thought it was silly to touch the rug, especially on the second floor.”

We both get a good laugh at that.

“I should call her,” I say.

“I did yesterday. She’s good. All the aunties keep her busy. They want to find her a proper man.”

“She should get divorced.” This was one of the situations with my father that stuck in my craw when I learned about it. Since they never had a legal agreement for separation, he never paid child support.

I don’t have any use for the man.

Arya romanticizes him, only knowing him from the pictures where he’s tossing her in the air or tucking wildflowers behind her ear. Even now, at twenty-six, I’m not sure she understood all the ways in which our father screwed Mom over, meeting her in New Delhi, getting her pregnant, which I totally blame him for, and dragging her to America.

Then, just leaving.

Of course, Mom was educated and smart. She had been studying to be a doctor when she was whisked here. She shifted to training as a physical therapist since she could finish quickly and support us. We ended up fine.

He hadn’t helped at all.

My phone buzzes.

It’s a photo of Mila with the donkeys. My heart feels pierced as I look at her, laughing with one of the miniature animals nibbling her ear.

Arya leans over to look. “Is that her? She’s pretty. And young. Younger than me.” Arya leans away again. I sense her unease.

“Nothing’s going to come between us. I won’t do that again.”

“It’s fine. You have a life. I should get one of my own.” She presses the mug to her cheek. “I can’t mooch off of you forever.”

“But you love your art class.”

“It doesn’t work for paying the bills. I know that. I just…I don’t know. I feel lost.”

“How can I help?”

“You already do. A place to live. Food. I’ve noticed how you keep taking my car to fill it with gas.”

“I don’t mind.”

“I know I don’t really contribute.”