BEEP. ‘Hi, Papa, Rohini just called me, wanted to check you’d got her message? She texted me to say she’s on her way to yours.’
BEEP. ‘Hi Dad, it’s Deepali. Rohini told me you have signed up for the sponsored walk this year! Brilliant. I am going to come round soon with my fitness DVDs for you. Mummy used to love them. Kept her very healthy. Might be good for you to start looking after yourself too.’
It was ten minutes to eleven, and Mukesh was listening to Rohini’s message for the fourth time, just to check he’d got all the details right. Eleven-ish arrival. Five o’clock hair appointment. No need to feed Priya. Phew. He ignored Vritti’s message, knowing she didn’t need or want a reply; Vritti always played the role of Rohini’s messenger. And he did not like the sound of Deepali’s fitness DVDs one bit. As far as he could remember, Naina only pretended to like them, so Deepali didn’t feel she had wasted her money.
As he scrawled all the specifics on a pad of Post-it notes, left here by Rohini for this precise reason （‘Papa, you never seem to listen to the details of my telephone messages; how about I keep this next to the phone so you can write things down?’）， the phone trilled again and his heart began to race. He pulled out more Post-it notes in case Rohini had any more instructions ahead of her impending arrival.
‘Ha – I am nearly ready, I promise. Eleven a.m.,’ Mukesh gabbled, jumping into action.
‘Hello, is that Mr Patel?’ said a male voice.
‘Yes,’ Mukesh responded, cautiously this time. ‘It is Mr Patel. Who is speaking?’
‘Hi Mr Patel, this is Kyle from the Harrow Road Library. We spoke the other day. We have a book on request for you that has just become available.’
‘But, but I haven’t put a request in for anything. I don’t know how to do that.’
‘Are you sure? We have To Kill a Mockingbird on file.’
‘I didn’t order it, I promise. I am so sorry for wasting your time,’ Mukesh rushed through his apology.
‘Oh, that is odd. Maybe it’s a technical error. Would you like me to cancel the request? I have it here for you, but I can put it back on the shelf.’
Mukesh was about to reply, when a thought struck him. He saw his scribbled handwriting on the Post-it note: Priya … no need to entertain or feed. A book was a book, after all … and if the librarian couldn’t recommend one, maybe this technical error was the closest he’d get. He didn’t have any time to waste. Maybe this could entertain Priya after all! It could be the start, to show her that he was trying to understand. ‘I will come and get it today, if that is okay?’
‘Of course, Mr Patel.’
‘Thank you, young man, thank you. How do I collect?’
‘You just need to come to the library with some ID, as I believe you’re yet to collect your new library card – is that right? – and give the person at the desk your request. Simple as that!’
Mukesh wasn’t sure it sounded simple, but he’d have to work it out. He felt a flutter of butterflies in his stomach. ‘Thank you, thank you, young man.’
As he put the phone down, the clock struck eleven and there was a knock on the door. ‘Rohini! Priya!’ Mukesh opened the door, a smile plastered across his face. ‘How lovely you both look!’ Rohini was in her work attire, a linen trouser suit and very trendy spectacles. She nodded towards him, her business face on too.
‘Thanks for doing this so last minute, Papa. I’m sure you two will have lots to catch up on,’ Rohini said, and Priya and Mukesh looked at each other – clearly both thinking, ‘When have we ever had lots to catch up on?’
For a moment, Mukesh felt his heart drop. ‘We’re going to the library today, actually!’
Priya looked up at him, confusion written all over her face.
‘Great,’ Rohini said, trying to hide her surprise. She headed towards her car as Priya hurried into the house, resuming her usual position, book in hand.
‘Rohini,’ Mukesh called to his daughter, and she stopped in her tracks. ‘What’s To Kill a Mockingbird about?’
‘Huh?’
‘The book, what’s it about?’
‘Oh, Papa. It’s so long ago I read it. I don’t really remember – I can just about remember it made me cry once. I think Mummy comforted me. She thought I was stressed about my exams, but it was just the book.’ Rohini’s mind had jumped back to that day, he could see it in her eyes. ‘You’re not going to get it out for Priya, are you? From the library? I think it might be a bit grown up for her right now.’