The Reading List

As she moves on to The Kite Runner, Aleisha acknowledges she has come to look forward to the time she spends reading each morning. The new book is about two friends in war-torn Afghanistan trying to win a kite-flying competition. When she waits in line at the grocery store, the book sticking out of her handbag, a woman, a stranger in line, cautions her that the book is so sad it nearly “killed” her (141). As Aleisha exits the store, she runs into the guy with the beanie. She is a bit flustered. Seeing how much she has to carry, he offers to help and identifies himself as Zac. He sees the book in Aleisha’s handbag and tells her how sad the movie was. Ignoring that, Aleisha assures him she is fine without help and heads home. She locks the front door, feeling like she’s in Manderley, the fictional estate in Rebecca, and settles down to begin The Kite Runner.

The jangling of the telephone interrupts Mukesh’s quiet. It is Nilakshi, who offers to come over Saturday and make dinner. Mukesh agrees to the offer, even though he is still reading Rebecca, the story of a newly married woman who feels the ghost of her husband’s first wife lingering in the household.