‘I’m sure she doesn’t feel that way.’
‘She does. She said so. She went, “Nikki left, now you’re in a haste to leave as well. What am I supposed to do?”’
‘She’ll have her freedom,’ Nikki said. But then she thought about it. Mum would be completely alone, with nobody to talk with, nobody to fill the long evening silences.
Mindi hiccupped.
‘Maybe we should chat when you’re sober,’ Nikki said.
‘That’s the kind of thing I would say to you.’
‘Not any more, you drunkard.’
Mindi giggled and hung up.
In the early evening, Nikki left her flat for the pub, her satchel slung around her waist, noticeably lighter without the women’s stories. She was still smiling from her conversation with Mindi in the afternoon. When Nikki turned the corner, her smile vanished. Jason was standing in the pub’s entrance.
‘Nikki,’ Jason said. ‘I am so sorry.’
Without a word, Nikki breezed past him. He followed her to the door. ‘Please, Nikki.’
‘Go away, Jason. I’m busy.’
‘I want to talk to you.’
‘That’s nice. Do I get any say in when we get to talk?’
‘I couldn’t come in that day. I should have called, but … look, my mind is completely muddled and—’
‘And you’ve forgotten basic manners?’ Nikki snapped. ‘You could have texted. It takes ten seconds.’
‘I wanted to speak to you in person. I’m so sorry, Nikki. I came here to talk to you, to apologize.’
Nikki entered the pub but sneaked a glance at Jason’s face. He looked more tired than sorry. Nikki felt herself relenting but she didn’t want to. ‘What did you want to talk about?’ she asked crossly.
‘It’s really a sit-down sort of conversation,’ Jason began.
‘I’m busy right now. Sheena told my class to be here at seven.’
‘The writing-class women? They’re meeting here?’
Nikki nodded.
‘What happened to the community centre?’ Jason asked.
‘Kulwinder discovered what was really going on and she cancelled the classes. I was effectively fired.’
‘How did she find out?’
‘She walked into class and heard everything. We had lots of new members and we weren’t being careful enough. Anyway it’s a long story, and I don’t want to get into it right now. Sheena’s driving them over, and they’re due any minute.’
‘Can we meet after your class is finished? I’ll come over.’
‘I’ve got a lot on my mind at the moment and clearly, you do as well.’
‘I’d like a chance to explain myself to you,’ Jason said. ‘If you’ll just hear me out. Just tell me when and where to meet you and I’ll be there.’
‘Just one chance,’ Nikki said. ‘Nine thirty, my place.’
‘I’ll be there.’
Nikki raised an eyebrow.
‘I’ll be there,’ Jason repeated firmly.
The first few women appeared nearly forty-five minutes after the start time. They stood tentatively in the doorway and peered in, their faces scrunched up with distaste. Sheena pushed through.
‘That was hard bloody work,’ she muttered to Nikki. ‘Once they figured out I was taking them out of Southall, they started asking all these questions. Where exactly are we going? Which part of London? I don’t recognize that sign – where are we? I finally pulled over and said, “We’re going to Nikki’s pub, all right? If you don’t want to go, you can get out here and take the bus home.”’
‘And?’
‘They all stayed,’ Sheena said. ‘They were too scared. Preetam started praying loudly.’
Nikki approached the doorway. ‘It’s me, ladies.’ She smiled. ‘It’s so lovely that you made it.’
Arvinder, Preetam, Bibi and Tanveer huddled together and stared. ‘Is this everyone?’ Nikki whispered to Sheena.
‘There was another car of women following me but they may have got lost,’ Sheena said, checking her phone. ‘Or maybe they decided to turn around.’
‘Come in,’ Nikki said. ‘The weather’s taken another turn for the worst, hasn’t it? It’s warm and cosy inside.’ The widows’ silence rattled Nikki’s confidence. This was going to be harder than she thought. ‘We serve soft drinks and juice,’ she said. The women did not budge. ‘And chai,’ she said. This was an exaggeration – they had Earl Grey but she could throw in some milk and cinnamon. Bibi’s expression brightened slightly. Nikki noticed that she was rubbing her hands together. ‘It’s cold out here,’ Nikki said. She gave an exaggerated shudder. ‘Why don’t you come in and have a warm drink?’
‘No,’ Preetam said just as Bibi took a tentative step forward. ‘This is not a place for Punjabi women. We don’t belong here.’
‘I live here,’ Nikki said. ‘In the flat upstairs.’ She felt a fierce and sudden pride in this decrepit pub. ‘I’ve worked here for over two years.’
‘If we go inside, people will stare at us,’ Tanveer said. ‘That’s what Preetam means. It’ll be like when we first arrived in London. They’ll see us in our salwaar kameez and they’ll be thinking, “go back to where you came from.”’
‘They used to say it,’ Bibi said. ‘Now it’s not so common but we can still see it in their eyes.’
Arvinder shifted uncomfortably from one foot to the other. Nikki took her pinched expression as agreement. ‘You’re all afraid, I know,’ Nikki said. ‘I’m very sorry that people have been unkind to you. But I chose this pub especially because it’s the kind of place where everybody is welcome.’
Bibi continued rubbing her hands. ‘What if they make us drink beer?’
‘Nobody can force you to drink beer,’ Nikki said.
‘What if they pour the alcohol into our tea while we’re not looking? Hmm?’ Bibi asked.
‘I’ll watch very closely to make sure it does not happen,’ Nikki assured her.
Suddenly, Arvinder pushed past the women and entered the pub. Nikki was just about to feel proud of her persuasive skills when she heard Arvinder’s loud broken English: ‘Excuse me please toilet where?’
‘I told her not to drink all of that water before we left,’ Preetam grumbled. ‘She kept complaining about how dry her throat was.’
Tanveer coughed. ‘I think she’s catching my bug,’ she said. ‘Nikki, did you say there was tea?’
‘Yes.’
‘I would like some, please,’ Tanveer said. She wrapped her arms around Bibi’s frail shoulders and rubbed them vigorously. ‘Come, Bibi. You can warm up inside.’ Both women shot apologetic glances at Preetam as they ducked into the pub.
It was just Preetam left. ‘Hai hai,’ she whispered. ‘I’ve been betrayed.’ It wasn’t clear if Preetam was addressing Nikki or some invisible audience.
‘There’s a television inside,’ Nikki said.
‘So?’
‘There are some good English soap operas on.’
Preetam turned up her nose at this idea. ‘I won’t understand them.’
‘You’re very good at making up stories based on what’s happening on the screen though,’ Nikki reminded her. ‘Why don’t you come in and do that? The other women love your tales.’
It probably signified nothing, but Preetam hesitated for a moment before she said ‘no’. Nikki sighed. ‘You’re all right with waiting for us out here then? We might be a while.’