63. Morning.

By the time Nan got downstairs for breakfast, Ed Kowalczyk long since left for work, Linda was out shopping with friends, and Drew had caught a ride with Linda to meet old schoolmates. Matt and Sid were at the breakfast table.

Matt had finished eating and was reading a newspaper as he finished his tea. Sid had been waiting for Nan to come down, a plate of fruit (sliced pineapple, papaya, and guava) in front of him. He had that distant look in his eyes that Nan was so familiar with, which dissipated the moment she came into view. He received her with a smile.

"You didn't have to wait for me," she told him.

"Good morning," Matt said, and returned to his newspaper.

Sid indicated his plate. "You should try these fruits," he said. "They're delicious."

Matt glanced at him over the newspaper, noting that he hadn't eaten anything or had a sip of his tea, now cold. How did he know how the fruits tasted?

"Thanks," Nan said, sitting down. Her mind was full of a hundred things, aggregated and waiting to be sorted out. She wanted clean clothes. She hadn't had time to even wash her underwear, and she doubted that even the resourceful Linda would have any on hand that were her size.

"I thought we might go into the city today," Sid said, pouring some tea for Nan, "and pick up a few things."

Without looking up from his newspaper, Matt said, "I'm probably going to stay in for most of today. Mom and Dad took the cars, but I can help you find a taxi, there are a bunch over closer to the university."

Sid smiled. "Thank you. But we don't want to put you to any trouble. We can find one ourselves."

"Your Hindi's pretty good," Matt said, still poring over his newspaper. Nan noticed that his manner was a bit like Ed's this morning, as though Matt was acting the part of the man of the house as the eldest male Kowalczyk present. Sid didn't respond. "How long did you live here?"

Sid paused, as he so often did when considering a question. "I suppose you could say I grew up here."

Matt nodded, and put down his newspaper. "India's funny that way. You can be away for a week and it feels like years, but then when you go back practically nothing has changed."

Sid cocked his head. "I see many changes. Everything is very different from the last time I was here."

"How long ago was that?"

Another pause from Sid. "It feels like a lifetime."

Matt frowned, but didn't say anything. Especially as someone who had lived in India, he was repulsed by New Age Americans who romanticized Indian spirituality. At least Sid had been here before, but he was laying the whole blissed-out hipster hippie thing on pretty thick. He decided to let it go. He had more than enough to worry about without trying to figure Sid out. He'd gotten up after Ed, Linda, and Drew had left, so he had no idea what had transpired downstairs last night, who knew what. He glanced at Nan. "Did you sleep well?"

Nan's face lit up. "I don't know if I've ever slept like that. Normally I can't sleep anywhere it's quiet."

"It's the travel, for sure. It wears you out to a point where you can sleep on anything," Matt said.

Nan made appreciative noises as she ate a small cube of papaya. "I've only ever had dried papaya," she said, recalling trips to food co-ops in Brooklyn with her parents. "This is so good!"

"It is pretty good," Matt conceded. "Mrs. Joshi has this trick of putting some lime on it. Cuts the bitterness."