One Amazing Thing

After Jiang’s story, the others continue with their specific chores, each reflecting over the story they just heard. Mr. Mangalam recalls how he had been in love, but the memory has been almost wiped out. He checks the office phones, which are still out. In the bathroom, Mrs. Pritchett considers taking one of the Xanax pills she has been hiding but decides to save them for later. When they gather again, Jiang reveals that she has an amendment to her story, and by not telling it would be to give a false representation of her life.

She continues her story, saying that Mr. Chan was very understanding of her situation, realizing that she must have been in love with someone else in India. He did not force himself on her; it was she who offered herself to him. It wasn’t until years later, when they established themselves in America, that she realized she loved him.

Lily volunteers to tell her story next, but Cameron asks her to wait. Amused, she agrees. Mr. Pritchett instead offers to go next. 

Mr. Pritchett’s story is from his childhood. He was raised by a single, working mother and his earliest memories are of his mother sleeping on the couch in her underwear. He fed himself cereal or peanut butter and jelly sandwiches and spent the hours while she was sleeping watching television. On weekends he and his mother slept late and read library books. Then his neighbor, Mary Lou, who worked part-time in a school cafeteria, brought him a stolen math workbook and Lance was hooked. It turned out he had a talent for math. His mother and Mary Lou were friends, and Lance was friends with Mary Lou’s son, Jimmy, until Mary Lou and Jimmy moved away.

When he was eight years old, Lance found a small kitten while playing in the empty field behind his apartment building. He wanted to keep the kitten as a pet, but his mother’s boyfriend Marvin didn’t like pets, so Lance was not allowed to keep it. Instead of getting rid of the cat, Lance kept it in an abandoned freezer in the backyard, lined with his own clothes. When Marvin was gone, Lance would prop open the freezer door so the kitten could breathe. One day, he returned to find the freezer door shut and the kitten suffocated to death. He was devastated, but his mother and Marvin didn’t notice.

When Lance was in the fourth grade, his mother died and he was sent to live in a foster home. His foster parents were decent people who kept him well-fed and clothed and made sure his homework was finished. He went on to compete in math contests and make a name for himself, but the memory of his mother reading to him in bed still reduced him to tears.

When Mr. Pritchett finishes his story, everyone is quiet. The noise of water gurgling grows louder. Cameron orders them to roll up their pant legs and sit on top of the employee desks, since the water continues to rise. Mr. Mangalam passes around sugar packets and everyone takes some greedily. Cameron brings back tablecloths from the storage area and they all wrap themselves in the tablecloths like blankets.

Mrs. Pritchett remembers that when she found out that they couldn’t have children, she wanted to get a dog, but Mr. Pritchett refused, saying that it would dirty the carpet. He finally relented, but when they went to a pet store to look at dogs, they walked by cat cages and Mr. Pritchett began to hyperventilate. Now she is angry that he didn’t tell her the truth.

Lily again offers to tell her story and Cameron again asks her to wait. Malathi offers to tell her story, if Mr. Mangalam will translate from Tamil. 

When Malathi failed tenth grade for the second time, her parents decided it was time for her to get married. In order to take a beautiful photograph for the matchmaker, Malathi was sent to Miss Lola’s Lovely Ladies Salon, where she received the bridal package. Her parents’ plan backfired, however, because Malathi decided she would rather become an employee in the salon than get married. Her parents were upset, but Lola gladly took Malathi as one of her employees and her parents relented, believing that soon she would tire of working in the salon and be ready to marry.

One of Lola’s customers, Mrs. Balan, was excessively wealthy and haughty. At first she only allowed Lola to work on her hair, although eventually she began to trust Malathi with her care as well. At the salon, Mrs. Balan complained about her son Ravi, who wanted to help the poor in their city rather than become a businessman. The Balans gave him money to open a school and Ravi began tutoring students. Eventually he also began to tutor the Balans’ servants. One night Mrs. Balan witnessed Ravi tutoring Nirmala, a servant girl. When the girl got something right, Ravi would hug her. Enraged, Mrs. Balan slapped Nirmala’s cheek and chastised her son for mingling with a servant girl. Ravi threatened his mother that if she sent Nirmala away, he would return to America. Mrs. Balan relented and allowed Nirmala to stay. She even brought Nirmala into Lola’s salon for a full beauty treatment, saying that Nirmala was going to accompany her to visit her relative Mr. Gopalan, a wealthy bachelor playboy. Afterwards, no one saw Nirmala again. According to gossip, Mr. Gopalan took a liking to Nirmala and she ended up staying with him as his new girl. Mrs. Balan returned home, happy to have Nirmala out of her way.

The next time Mrs. Balan visited the beauty salon, Malathi sought revenge on behalf of Nirmala. A botched hair treatment caused Mrs. Balan to lose her hair and Malathi to lose her job. When Malathi returned, shamefacedly, to explain her actions, Lola surprised her by being pleased. She handed Malathi a pouch full of money and a letter of recommendation so Malathi could get a job overseas. 

The others discuss Malathi’s story with interest, speculating on whether Ravi loved Nirmala and why Nirmala stayed with Gopalan, and wondering how women could be so cruel to each other.

Meanwhile the ceiling above them has been creaking. Cameron warns the group that the ceiling is likely to come down in the other room, beyond the partition. When this happens, they will run for the doorways and try to protect themselves there. Mr. Pritchett begins to fantasize about locking himself in Mr. Mangalam’s bathroom to light a cigarette. When he goes to the bathroom, however, Mr. Mangalam follows him, and he realizes the smell of smoke will give him away. Mr. Pritchett decides to wait until later to smoke.