Sheena shrugged. ‘This is only what I heard from one of her daughters who came to the bank the other day to transfer some money over to them. She said Manjeet was talking like everything was back to normal, like he’d never left.’ She shook her head. ‘After everything he put her through! And she’s staying in that house that he bought with his girlfriend in Blackburn. I don’t know whether to consider her a loyal wife or a huge pushover.’
Both titles sounded like the same thing to Nikki. She surveyed the empty classroom. ‘I wish I’d had a chance to talk her out of it, or at least say goodbye. It’s a good thing we’ve added Tanveer and Bibi to the class. With Tarampal and Manjeet both gone, it will start to look like we have too few students to continue running the classes.’
‘Yeah,’ Sheena said. ‘There’s something else I need to tell you.’ She hesitated. ‘You have to promise not to be angry.’
‘Whatever you did, I’m sure it’s nothing which can’t be fixed.’
‘You won’t be angry?’ Sheena prompted.
‘I won’t be angry.’
Sheena drew in a breath and released her confession in one rapid stream. ‘I made copies of the stories to show to a few more friends.’
‘Oh.’
‘Are you angry?’
Nikki shook her head. ‘I suppose that’s to be expected. The stories would probably have got around by word of mouth, so a friend reading them isn’t so bad.’
‘The thing is, my friends were really into the stories, especially the one about the tailor. They made some photocopies for their friends. Their friends might like to come to class as well.’
‘How many friends are we talking about here?’
‘I don’t know.’
‘Three?’
‘More.’
‘Five? Ten? We need to make sure that we don’t raise any suspicions.’
‘More. Women outside Southall want to come to the class as well.’
‘How did this happen?’
‘Emails. Somebody scanned a story and all of a sudden they were being sent to mailing lists everywhere. One woman who approached me at the temple today lives all the way in Essex.’
Nikki stared at Sheena. ‘You promised not to get angry,’ Sheena reminded her.
‘I’m not angry,’ Nikki said. ‘I’m shocked. I’m …’ She looked around the classroom, at the empty seats, and remembered the anticipation with which she had arranged the tables on that first day. ‘I’m sort of impressed,’ she said. ‘I thought about compiling them into a book, but it never occurred to me to just make copies and send them around like that.’
‘I must admit, I didn’t intend for the stories to get around either. I just made that first copy for my friend who dropped in for a visit from Surrey because she was grumbling that she didn’t have anything good to read. She called me up right away and said, “Send more!” I scanned a few more but I made a mistake. I left the originals on the copier at work. Guess who returned it to me?’
‘Rahul?’
Sheena blushed. ‘He pretended he hadn’t noticed the words on the page but they must have caught his attention. At lunch the next day, he said, “You seem to have quite a colourful imagination.”’
‘Ooh,’ Nikki said. ‘What was your response?’
‘I just smiled mysteriously and said, “There’s a blurry line between imagination and reality.”’
‘Very smooth.’
‘Rahul won’t tell anyone,’ Sheena said.
‘I’m not worried about him,’ Nikki said. ‘My concern is that we won’t be able to keep these stories a secret from the Brothers.’
‘Mine too,’ Sheena said. ‘But if we hide, we’re letting them have all the power, no?’ The question was tentative but a new and noticeable strength edged Sheena’s voice.
‘That’s right,’ Nikki said. She opened the cassette player and pulled out the tape rather too enthusiastically, leaving a trail of brown tape caught in the machine.
‘Here, spool it back,’ Sheena said, handing Nikki a pen. Nikki took a closer look at the tape. ‘I’ve ripped it,’ she said. ‘Bloody hell. Tonight’s stories are gone.’
‘It’s all right. I can remember most of the details. I’ll write down what I can and I’ll read it aloud to the group next time,’ Sheena offered.
‘Thanks, Sheena,’ Nikki said. She gathered the unspooled tape and wrapped it neatly around the plastic casing. ‘That was my last cassette too.’
‘You don’t have any spares?’
‘I must have left them in the box I took to Tarampal,’ Nikki said. She was met with a questioning look from Sheena. ‘I took some story tapes to Tarampal’s house last week because I felt bad about not teaching her English. It was an apology of sorts.’
‘How did Tarampal react?’ Sheena asked.
‘She’s still keen to learn English but she refuses to come back to our class. I tried to persuade her but—’
‘Don’t let her come back,’ Sheena said. ‘It’s better without her.’
‘You dislike her that much? I know she’s a little more traditional, but I thought you all were friends.’
‘Tarampal isn’t anybody’s friend,’ Sheena said.
‘I don’t understand.’
The seconds ticked by almost audibly as Sheena studied Nikki, deciding. When she finally spoke, her voice was firm. ‘Whatever I tell you stays in this room, all right?’
‘I promise.’
‘First let me ask you something. Did you go inside Tarampal’s house?’
‘Yes.’
‘What was it like? Your first impression.’
‘It was really nice,’ Nikki said. ‘Everything looked recently renovated.’
‘Did you ask her how she paid for all those renovations?’
‘No, I thought that would be rude. I was curious about it, though. I got her contractor’s card and when I recommended those services to my boss, he said they were very expensive.’
‘I’ll bet they are. You’d only use top-notch contractors if other people were footing the bill,’ Sheena said.
‘Who?’
‘The community,’ Sheena said, gesturing at the window. The curve of the temple’s dome was visible in the window. People milled in the car park, their chatter rising to fill the pause. ‘Anyone with money is paying Tarampal to keep quiet about their secrets.’
‘Tarampal blackmails people?’
‘She doesn’t call it that,’ Sheena said. ‘She considers it a form of help. It’s the same thing her husband used to do.’
‘Has she ever asked you for money?’ Nikki asked. ‘Would she try to blackmail us over the classes?’
Sheena shook her head. ‘Very unlikely. She only targets the wealthy.’