Summary

Ajay starts having Minakshi over to his house when his parents aren't there. She continues to represent escape and a better future for Ajay, however this makes him more impatient with his mother. Ajay helps his mother bathe Birju almost every morning, and one morning Ajay became increasingly impatient and angry because his mother was telling him that he helped take care of Birju because of guilt, not love. Shuba's accusation causes Ajay to strip down to nothing as he yells at his mother. She yells back, saying that if Birju were all right she would tell him to "Take your stupid grades and die," (page 175).

Ajay is in 11th grade now. Sometimes he got to go out to the movies with Minakshi, since he told his parents he was meeting friends and she told her parents the same. He was happy having a...