Summary

After a long trip home, Bela and Subhash arrive to find the grass in the yard is as tall as Bela. Inside, Subhash finds a note in Bengali from Gauri telling him that she’s accepted a job in California and that he is a better parent and is rightfully the one that should raise Bela. She no longer cares what he tells her about Udayan.

Bela starts seventh grade, and Subhash hopes that the new school will be enough of a distraction for her, and for a while it seems to be, but then Bela begins to retreat into herself. She no longer seems to seek out his company, and becomes more and more like Gauri in temperament. He notices that she is beginning to develop a blossoming beauty. One day she asks to change rooms and move into Gauri...