Tahmima Anam - The Bones of Grace

Bulbul called out to Abboo. ‘Come, Joy,’ he said: ‘nothing like soaking your feet in this muggy weather.’ It wasn’t muggy at all; in fact, it was almost December and even a little chilly, but Abboo obliged anyway, edging his way to the swimming pool and rolling up his trousers.

‘Zubaida, dear, will you join us?’

‘Thank you, uncle, but I should probably—’

‘You ridiculous man,’ Dolly said. ‘She’ll ruin her sari. Let’s go inside.’ She pointed to a glass-walled room next to the pool, decorated in orange and gold. We sat down on the sofa and I looked up at the ceiling. I had been here before, but the house was strange to me now, all buffed up and shining, flowers wrapped around the banisters and bowls of potpourri on every tabletop. My mood turned sour. Dolly had sprayed the room with a heavy dose of rosewater and it was reminding me of a funeral.

‘I’m so glad we decided to keep it small,’ Ammoo said. She liked to reinforce the fact that she was in the throes of a good decision.

‘I did have a lot of trouble keeping out the crowd,’ Dolly said, ‘but you’re right, I’m glad it’s just us.’ She screwed up her face, delighted, then immediately frowned. ‘Only thing is, my other darlings are not here.’ Rashid’s younger brother Junaid was away at boarding school in Singapore, and his sister Ruby lived in New York.

‘Where’s Rashid?’ I asked. He had sent me a text message an hour ago and signed it Your future hubbs , which had made me feel slightly sick.

‘He’s gone off to get something or other. What will you have? Spring rolls? Fried shrimp? Coke, 7 Up?’

‘Anything’s fine with me,’ Ammoo said. ‘Zee?’

I didn’t reply. I kept my eyes on the ceiling. ‘I’ll have a Coke,’ Ammoo said, her voice high and bright.

‘Are you nervous, my dear?’ Dolly asked me. ‘How about a drink?’ And she winked.

‘White wine?’ I suggested.

‘Zubaida, really,’ Ammoo said, because I had ignored her look. We both knew Dolly didn’t mean it when she offered me alcohol, but I stood my ground, watching while Dolly walked over to a polished wooden cupboard and turned the lock on a small refrigerator, returning with two glasses and a sweaty bottle of Chardonnay. ‘Now, first things first. Do you want Army Golf Club or the Radisson?’

They were going to host a joint wedding reception. I turned to my mother and said, ‘You want me to get married at a golf club owned by the Bangladesh Army or at a five-star hotel?’

Ammoo got up, moved to the seat next to mine and squeezed my elbow. I turned my head away and found myself looking at a cabinet crammed with porcelain figurines. ‘Radisson,’ I said. ‘The food’s better.’

‘Only thing is, they won’t let you bring your own biryani,’ Dolly said, ‘which is so annoying. Hotel biryani is never as good.’

Ammoo nodded vigorously. ‘You’re absolutely right. It’s more expensive too.’

‘Oh, don’t worry about that.’

‘What I mean is, it’s more expensive but it’s not as good. Of course, the Radisson ballroom is very nice.’

I snapped to attention. ‘I hate biryani.’

‘Rashid adores biryani,’ Dolly said. ‘But never mind, we can do it at the Radisson.’

‘Oh, I guess I don’t mind, then,’ I said, pretending as if Rashid’s love of biryani was news to me.

Dolly took a sip from her glass. ‘We don’t have to. We like to be a bit different.’

‘How about an afternoon wedding?’ I said. ‘We can have lunch. Fish, even. That’s different.’

‘Oh I don’t know, darling.’

‘Zubaida,’ Ammoo said.

‘What?’

‘What’s gotten into you?’

‘I don’t want to change my name,’ I said, choosing one of the many things that had been bothering me.

‘But sweetheart, won’t it be nice to have the same last name as all of us?’ Dolly said.

I waited for Ammoo to come to my defence. ‘I suppose it’s my fault,’ Ammoo said, ‘since I kept mine.’

‘Well who knows what my name really is anyway,’ I said. All the sound went out of the room.

A man entered with a tray of fried things. I picked up a spring roll.

‘Of course you don’t have to change your name,’ Dolly said.

I tore my eyes away from the cabinet and found Ammoo struggling to retie the bun at the back of her neck, pulling out and reinserting a series of black pins.

‘Okay,’ Dolly said, smiling. ‘Problem is this. Children should not be involved in the planning of weddings. Why don’t you go and see what the fathers are doing, Zubaida? Babu will be here any minute.’ Dolly liked to call Rashid ‘Babu’ and sometimes ‘Baby Babu’.

Abboo and Bulbul were drying their feet by the pool. ‘Is that wine in your hand?’ Abboo asked.

‘Transgression,’ I said, raising my glass.

Rashid appeared, holding a small rectangular packet and looking pleased with himself. I was struck by his confidence, as if there was no chance of things not working out as they should. For the twentieth, hundredth time that day, I pushed aside the thought of your voice and what you would have said about this party, my pink sari and my lacquered hair. ‘Where were you?’ I asked him.

‘Getting my secret weapon,’ he said, leaning in and kissing me on the cheek. He smelled strongly of cigarettes.

‘So, uncle,’ he said, turning to my father, ‘how’s the garment business?’

‘Good, good.’

‘You know the other factories are always complaining that you pay your people so well you make the rest of us look bad.’

Rashid passed the packet to his father, who unwrapped it carefully. Abboo sat up on his pool chair. ‘You know what a full wage costs? Only three crores more per year. Nothing. It’s the least we can do for taking the sweat from their backs.’

‘You’re still a leftie,’ Bulbul said, rolling a cigarette.

‘Something like that.’ Abboo turned to me. ‘Now I’m mostly handling domestic crises.’

Rashid put on a Beatles compilation and the two older men wiggled their ankles. The cigarette went back and forth.

‘They’re smoking pot,’ I said.

Abboo passed the packet to Rashid. ‘Here,’ he said, ‘you have my blessing.’

Rashid pulled a few leaves apart and shredded them between his fingers.

‘This isn’t going to end well,’ I announced.

‘Don’t worry, be happy,’ Rashid said, turning towards me with a pipe and a lighter. He leaned in, cupping his hand over the pipe and lighting the small brown tangle.

I inhaled. ‘I love you,’ I whispered, thinking I might like to get my feet wet after all.

It was time for the ceremonial part of the evening to begin. Dolly called me back inside and summoned her maid, who appeared with a garland of lilies and roses. The garland glistened, heavy with petals and the water that had been sprinkled on to keep it fresh. ‘Wear this,’ Dolly said; ‘it will make you look like a bride.’ I was intimidated by the word ‘bride’, so I obeyed, dipping my head and allowing Ammoo to drape the garland around my neck. Then Dolly, working quickly, slipped a veil over my head, securing it with a hair pin. We made our way downstairs, the veil and the garland slowing me down, Dolly’s hand grasping my elbow, the rosewater smell fading as we descended.

Downstairs, in the vast living room, I saw both my grandmothers: Nanu, dabbing her eyes with a handkerchief, and Dadu, my father’s mother, sitting erect and formidable with a plate of pistachios on her lap. Sally stood up when she saw me, and I gave her a small wave. The other assembled guests were a blur of silk saris and dark jackets. Dolly led me to a sofa and told me to sit down. Rashid appeared beside me. He had changed into a blue kurta, a present from my parents. He kneeled in front of me and held out his hand. I was moved by the tremor in his fingers as he removed the ring box from his pocket. It was the same ring he’d brought to Savar, but I had to wait until the ceremony to start wearing it. Now he held the velvet box in his hand and said, ‘Will you marry me?’ and I nodded, and everyone clapped, and he slipped the ring on my finger, and Dolly handed me a glass of milk with crushed almonds. Then Bulbul led us in a short prayer, which ended with everyone passing their palms over their faces, and Rashid sitting beside me, nudging me with his elbow the way he used to when I was a kid and the thought of touching him made my stomach tighten.