Anita and Me

As Mr. Kumar drags Meena down the street, past the posh mansions, and toward the center of Tollington and Mr. Ormerod’s grocery shop, Meena screams that she is not lying. Meanwhile, she admires the countryside, noticing the industrial town of Wolverhampton in the distance, and wishes that she had not gone to Sunday school, which has taught her that what she is currently doing—lying—is sin. She wonders if she should confess and looks around her for help. From a distance, she sees her mother in a Punjabi suit, her brown skin and colorful clothing standing out among people’s white laundry.

Meena and her father pass the Big House, a mysterious, closed-off house that always looks deserted. The house stands on a former mine, which used to provide most of the area’s employment until it closed down in the 1950s. Since then, someone has bought the mine. That person leads a mysterious life, never appearing in public but proving that they probably live there because a van sometimes come to the house to deliver groceries.

Meena notes that everyone’s front yards are filled with flowers and gnomes, but that her own yard makes her feel embarrassed because her mother only uses it to grow fresh herbs that she uses in her Indian cuisine. She passes by Mr. Topsy’s house. She calls him Mr. Topsy because he calls her “Topsy,”—he says he cannot pronounce her name. While Mr. Kumar stops to chat with Mr. Topsy, Meena uses this opportunity to eat a piece of candy she has in her pocket.

When Mr. Kumar and Meena reach Mr. Ormerod’s shop, Meena recalls speaking to Anita Rutter and her closest friends, Sherrie and Fat Sally, a few days earlier. That day, Anita told Meena that the sailor on a commercial for cigarettes on Mr. Ormerod’s shop was her father Roberto, who received medals for serving in the Navy. Anita’s two friends then giggled and whispered to each other. Meena, who felt embarrassed because she was wearing a dress her mother had forced her to put on, tried to communicate silently with Anita that she was more rebellious than the dress implied. She felt gratified to see Anita laugh before heading off with her two friends. Nine-year-old Meena felt impressed that Anita, who was three years older, would take the time to talk to her.

The day after Anita told Meena about the poster, Meena saw Roberto at the bus stop and asked him about his time in the Navy. Roberto did not want to talk about it, as the episode seemed to bring him pain. Suddenly, when the bus arrived, Roberto called out loudly for the ladies to come and women immediately started exiting their houses, chatting animatedly with each other. Meena explains that these women all work at a factory together, having replaced men as the main people employed in the village since the mine’s closure. Now that the women have this important economic role, Meena notes that their husbands have become insignificant, staying at home while their wives leave for work. When the women pass by Meena, they say hello to her and comment on how pretty and cute she is. Meanwhile, Meena admires Roberto for being a tortured soul.

By the time Meena and her father reach Mr. Ormerod’s shop, Mr. Kumar confronts his daughter again, asking her if she is finally going to tell him the truth or if he should go ask Mr. Ormerod what happened. Meena knows that this is an empty threat because Mr. Ormerod always talks so much, trying to convince people to join or donate to the Methodist church. Mr. Kumar asks her again if Mr. Ormerod truly gave her candy for free or if she took the money from her mother’s bag. Meena is furious, arguing to herself that her mother should simply have given her the money in the first place. However, she fears her father’s angry look.

Meena recalls getting into trouble once, after a boy at school said that this region was called the Black Country because so many “darkies” lived there. Meena had said nothing at the time but had later kicked the boy in the face, leaving him with a bloody nose. The teacher had beat Meena on the legs as punishment, while Meena defiantly argued that her family was the only Indian family in Tollington and that the country looked green to her.

Meena knows that she should tell the truth to her father before they walk into Mr. Ormerod’s shop and thus make her embarrassment public. She hears a door slam shut and concludes that people must be watching her exchange, since Tollington residents always watch others, having so little to do. When Mr. Kumar pushes open the shop door, Meena finally admits that she was lying. She sees the disappointment on her father’s face. He lets go of her hand and walks toward their house without saying a word.