Page 79 of Devil in Disguise
“Of course Pavani knows,” Mrs. Banerjee said. “She cooks very well.”
“How could my mom show her face if I didn’t know how to cook?” Pavani said. “An Indian wife who can’t cook? Impossible. Except that I’m not an Indian wife. Also, I don’t like to cook much.”
“One day,” Mr. Banerjee said, “you’ll think differently.”
Owen looked at Pavani and thought,Yeah, maybe not so much.That face had “champing at the bit to do my own thing” written all over it.
“And Owen,” Mr. Banerjee said, “we are all watching you with envy. I have to watch my diet every minute. Those aloo tiki you are enjoying, samosas, naan slathered with garlic ghee …” He sighed. “I can only dream, these days, and eat more cauliflower and dal.”
“It helps if you play football,” Owen pointed out.
“Yes. I see that. Although we call something else football.”
“Soccer,” Owen said. “I don’t think soccer and I would get along too well. Not that I can’t run, but I’ve got to admit, I’m better at pushing a man over. I’d still be chugging up the field, and everybody else would’ve made it to the goal already and be headed back my way again.”
“That is why,” Mr. Banerjee said, “they would make you the goalie.”
Everybody laughed, especially Pavani’s thirteen-year-old brother, Jihan, and Dyma wanted to squeeze Owen’s arm, except that she couldn’t. She was pure. She was sweet. She was wearing almost no eyeliner.
Jihan said, “See,Maji,playing football isn’t just for stupid boys who can’t learn!”
Mrs. Banerjee said something short and sharp, and Jihan stopped talking. Then she told Owen, “I’m sorry. Jihan misunderstood.”
“Ididn’t,”Jihan said. “You said …”
“Jihan,” his father said, and he shut up.
“No, that’s OK,” Owen said. “I get it. I’ve heard that before. When you’re my size and an offensive lineman—well, prejudice runs all sorts of ways, I guess.”
Dyma, for once, wasn’t talking. That was because it was actually pretty fascinating to watch Owen work his polite magic.
“Really,” Mr. Banerjee said. “You feel that?”
“Well, yes, sir, I guess I do,” Owen said. “Not to say that I lose a lot of sleep over it.” He smiled. “A man’s got to be confident in himself. Can’t worry too much about what the world thinks.”
Dyma wanted to say, “Owen has an engineering degree,” but once again, she restrained herself. She was rewarded when Pavani said, “Owen has an engineering degree.”
“Really,” Mr. Banerjee said again. “In what area?”
“Mechanical,” Owen said. “University of Texas. But as I told your daughter, that’s not nearly as impressive as Bioengineering, or Aeronautical and Astronautical like Dyma, not when you grow up on a ranch. The nearest mechanic’s pretty far away, which means that if you don’t learn how to do it yourself, it won’t get done. My dad took us boys out with him from the time we were little. Fixing things, doing your chores, and ignoring the weather—that’s pretty much the definition of ranch life. Not such bad preparation for the NFL, either.”
“Do your parents live close by?” Mrs. Banerjee asked.
“Yes, ma’am,” Owen said. “While I’m in Wyoming, they do. We’ve got a real nice little compound with three houses on it. My brother and his wife and their four boys, my parents, and then there’s mine. I sure do enjoy that.”
They were all practically purring, and then Owen said, “I realize it’s not soccer, but the Devils are coming up to play the Seahawks next week, and I’ve got a couple of extra tickets. If you’d like to take in an NFL game, sir, you and Mrs. Banerjee, and Jihan, too, I’d be happy to send them your way. Loudest stadium in the NFL, which means the Devils can use all the support we can get.”
When they were in Owen’s pickup and driving back to campus, Dyma said, “And the Oscar for best supporting actor goes to …”
Pavani said, “I don’t care. You’re in, Dyma!” She shrieked a little, Dyma shrieked back and hugged her, and Owen laughed.
“I think it was all the ma’am’s and sir’s,” Dyma said, when she had her breath back. “And the serious eating. I swear, Owen, I thought they were going to push me out the door and try to get you for Pavani. Filial dutyandloving her cooking?Andan engineering degree?”
“Never,” Pavani said. “The cattle killing remains highly unfortunate. Now, if you’d been a cricketer … then, the cattle might have been overlooked.”
34
Should’ve Spatchcocked
