Page 37 of Isn't It Obvious?
“Fine,” she says.
“Okay,” he says.
“I could ask Sanaa, you know.”
“So could I,” he says, even though they both know where Sanaa’s loyalties lie.
Elle sighs. “I won’t do that, though,” she mutters. “It feels wrong.”
“I won’t, either. Whenever you’re ready, you can tell me.”
“Not whenever you’re ready?”
“I’m waiting on you,” Ravi says.
“Can I at least knowwhyyou go by your middle name?”
Ravi smiles, leaning back against the pillows. Even if she’s not ready to share about herself, she wants to know about him.
He must wait too long, because she adds “Please,” and he closes his eyes and lets the sound wash over him.It’s not good, he thinks,how much I like this person I don’t know. How much I like this person I know I can’t be with.
“I wasn’t supposed to have a middle name,” he says. “But my dad’s best friend was called Kevin, and he died the week before I was born. So they gave me his name, always planning to call me by mine.”
“What was he like?”
“My dad’s friend?” Ravi asks.
“Yeah. I know you didn’t know him, but your dad must’ve talked about him, right?”
“Not really, actually. My dad doesn’t really… talk about hard things. Or things that are hard for him.” In Ramdeo Kissoon’s world, Ravi is one hundred percent straight. No, he’s a completely nonsexual being. It doesn’t matter what he or Suresh or his mom says. It’s just not something Ramdeo seems to think is worth trying to understand, unless and until Ravi brings a man home.
“Oh?”
“I’ll tell you about it, but not tonight.” Elle hums her assent, and Ravi continues. “Suresh talked about Kevin to me, though. Said he was a really fun uncle.”
“There you go,” Elle says. “In Ashkenazi Jewish tradition, you can only name a child after someone who has already passed, because the superstition is that it imparts some of their soul. It’s why we don’t commonly have Juniors or Thirds. Because if it’s a living person, it’s like you’re stealing from them. But if they’re gone, it’s saying that you loved them so much you want a piece of them to live on. I mean, I guess it’s sort of like that in a lot of traditions, but this is the one I know.”
“I like that,” Ravi says. “I’ll tell Suresh that I was destined to be the perfect uncle. This is why I’m more fun at bath time.”
Elle laughs softly. “I’m sure he’ll love that.” She clears her throat. “Ugh, I think my voice is getting sore from all the whispering.”
Ravi rubs at his neck. His is, too. “I guess I should let you go to bed,” he says.
“Text me later?” she asks, her voice shy. “Notlaterlater, but maybe tomorrow? Or, I mean—”
Ravi chuckles. “Yeah, I’ll text you tomorrow.”
“Good night, Kevin,” she says. “Thank you for listening to me.”
“Good night, Elle,” he says. “Anytime.”
He keeps the phone pressed to his ear until he hears the beep.
CHAPTER TEN
Yael and Charlie get to Gina’s show a little too on time for the kind of event it is, and they end up with seats along the catwalk. Charlie slings his coat over the back of his chair. “I’m getting us drinks. Want anything?”
“Surprise me,” Yael says, flipping through the program handed to her at the door. Maiden Oregon is the last of the four acts tonight, which Yael takes to mean that Gina’s good. Nervously, Yael glances around. People are filtering in slowly.
