#255 A Happy Meal- Sandip Roy
Don’t Let Him Know is called a "Novel in Stories", with each
chapter being a snapshop or a vignette all linked into one tale. I’m not sure
if each will work as a true short story, but I’m intrigued with the concept and
so I will give it a shot.
The first chapter, Happy Meal introduces Romola, a widow
recently moved to California from Calcutta. Her son Amit, the man of the family
since his dad died brought her here to be easier to take care of. On his trip back to Calcutta to finish his
father’s affairs, he found a letter address to Romola, from a family friend he
recognized as his Uncle. It was written before his parent’s marriage, and
showed that his mother was in love with another man. He confronts his mother,
but is quick to understanding.
“The past she thought could always be wiped clean like a
kitchen counter if you were careful enough.”
But if you weren’t, “…the past seemed too complicated to
explain now, full of serated edges that could rip everything to shreds.”
This realization that her past is done, and her son is no
longer a boy in need of protection throws her for a loop. “She was tired, so
tired of always being the one who had to smooth things over, the one who had to
keep things running.”
She is confused in this new place, bot geographically and
metaphysically, she has a sudden urge to indulge herself is something
forbidden, something new, something truly American…a McDonalds Hamburger.
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