Page 48 of The Academy
We’ll tell her the truth,Ruby said. She then went on about TikTok andEuphoriaand some article inNew Yorkmagazine and Davi not batting an eye.
No, Vik thought. It was wrong, Davi was still a child. She was sophisticated, yes, but their family life had a sanctity, one they would irreparably damage if they introduced Saylem to Davi.
“We can’t do it,” he said. “I’ll die on this hill. It was fun while it lasted, but Saylem has to go.”
Ruby laughed, which was another way of sayingDie if you must, Vikram.He had no veto power—not in their marriage, not in their business partnership. Ruby’s family had fronted the money to startOut of Office, and their homes in Belgravia and outside Montepulciano had been gifts from Ruby’s parents, now deceased (so Vik couldn’t even appeal to the traditional values of his in-laws). Vikram had often joked that his last name might as well be Singh. Ruby was both queen and king of their castle.
Saylem would stay.
Did Vikram feel vindicated when Davi reacted to Saylem’s presence exactly the way he had feared—with visceral disgust, confusion, and finally anger, expressed by slamming doors and chopping off her beautiful long hair? He did not; he felt only guilty and complicit. He longed to pull Davi aside and explain that this was all her mother’s doing, but he and Ruby vowed long ago to present a united front where Davi was concerned. And so, he told her a lie about Saylem bringing a much-needed boost to their creativity.
He offered to fly to America to accompany Davi back to school but she said no thank you, she’d prefer to go alone. Vik booked her a first-class ticket to Boston and arranged for car service to transport her to Tiffin. He even instructed her driver to make a stop at Chick-fil-A because this, Vik knew, was her American favorite.
By the time Family Weekend rolled around, Ruby and Saylem were inseparable—but even so, there was no universe in which Saylem would accompany them to Massachusetts.
Except yes, apparently, she would.
“Are youmad?” Vikram asked Ruby. “What are we going to tell people?”
“We’ll tell them she’s our creative director,” Ruby said.
Vik supposed he should be relieved that Ruby agreed to a cover story. He’d feared she would simply say to the other Tiffin parents, “This is Saylem, our lover. We’re polyamorous.”
He insisted that Ruby be the one to tell Davi that Saylem was coming, which she did from the insulated comfort of their Mercedes. Vikram opened the garage door to see Ruby in the car with her head pressed back against the rest, eyes closed as she talked, as though willing herself to remain calm. When Ruby opened her eyes and saw Vik watching her, she waved him away.
“How did it go?” Vik asked later.
“Poorly,” Ruby admitted. “But please don’t forget, Vik. We’re the parents and she’s the child.”
As much as Vik dreads the weekend, it ends up being fine. Davi greets Saylem with a formal handshake and aGood to see you again,and then they proceed to lie to everyone they meet about Saylem being OOO’s new creative director. In years past, Ruby had been secretly disdainful about how bucolic and “quaint” western Massachusetts is. (“Not a bottle of Dom Pérignon within two hundred miles of here,” she’d said, probably accurately.) But this year, with Saylem in tow, Ruby delights in the foliage, the equestrian-themed needlepoint kneelers in the chapel, the boisterous cheering at the American football game (a sport Ruby doesn’t understand, but when Saylem tells them that she’s a “Cincinnati Bengals fan,” Ruby pretends to know what that means).
Vik doesn’t care about Ruby and Saylem. (He booked two rooms at a local inn and sleeps in the second room alone.) He cares only about Davi. Her grades are, by all accounts, good, she’s surrounded by friends at all times—the other girls stick to her like lint to a sweater—and she even takes a selfie with Vik in front of the student union and posts it to her Instagram stories. (There are no pictures, nor is there any mention, of Ruby or Saylem.)
But did Davi seem… happy? She’d lost her closest friend the spring before. Back then, both Vikram and Ruby were keenlyattuned to Davi’s moods. They asked if she wanted to see a therapist but she declined; she preferred to sort it out on her own.
Now, however, Vik notices that the light in Davi’s eyes has dimmed—or perhaps just changed. It isn’t genuine, he can tell.
He informs Ruby that he’s going to attend the seminar called Your Child’s Mental Health, a conversation facilitated by the school chaplain.
“What on earthfor?” Ruby says.
How can Vik explain? He knows there’s something wrong with Davi and he suspects it’s their fault.
“Doesn’t she look…thinto you?” he says. “And off-color?”
“She’ll kill you if you go to that seminar,” Ruby says. “Everyone will think she’s unwell. That’s the last thing she wants.”
Vik has to admit this is probably true.
“I think she looksamazing,” Saylem says, and it takes enormous willpower for Vik not to snap,You don’t get a say when it comes to our daughter, sorry.“And she’s been eating. She has an impressive appetite.”
Vik wonders if he’s worrying about nothing. Davihasbeen eating. She does have an impressive appetite.
Family Weekend Steakhouse Menu
Friday, October 17
Popovers, Parker House rolls, freshly churned butter
