Answer:Chapter 7
After Mr. Mehta dies, Chandra is called home for the funeral. The girls are excited for time to catch up, but they don't get much since Mrs. Mehta is too busy parading Chandra around to all of her friends and barking orders at Koly. You know, as Mrs. Mehta does.
Chandra tells Koly that her husband brought a computer and a TV home for them; she tries to explain the wonderful images and colors she gets to see.
She confides in Koly that she wishes she had learned how to read, like Koly suggested—when her hubby types on the computer, she doesn't know what the characters mean on the screen.
Koly notices that Chandra wear expensive clothes, gold bangles, and even has her toenails painted. Seeing her sis like that makes Koly think she can be happy one day, too.
When Koly shares with Chandra that she plans to run away one day, Chandra tells her not to do it. Who will take care of her?
Koly plans to take care of herself, thank you very much, but she doesn't bother saying this to Chandra.
Chandra leaves after a week, and Koly keeps herself busy with the chores.
Without Mr. Mehta's paycheck, Mrs. Mehta starts selling everything to feed them. When she goes to sell her husband's precious book of poems, though, Koly begs her not to—it was his favorite, after all.
Koly makes a bargain with her mother-in-law: She'll get her silver earrings and Koly will keep the book for herself.
It's not until after she hands over the earrings that she realizes this was Mrs. Mehta's plan all along.
One day Mrs. Mehta gets a letter from her brother in Delhi saying that she can come stay with him. When Koly asks where she will go, Mrs. Mehta says she'll come along, too.
Mrs. Mehta buys the train tickets for them with the money from the earrings. Even though Koly hasn't had a happy life during her three years there, she is said to leave the house.
They board the train and get off at the holy city of Vrindavan. This isn't their destination, but Mrs. Mehta suggests they get some air and a bite to eat.
They take a rickshaw to a temple, and Mrs. Mehta argues with the driver about the four rupees he wants to charge them.
She sends Koly off with a fifty-rupee note to buy some lunch, which Koly thinks is weird since usually she's not trusted with money.
When Koly gets back with their samosas, though, Mrs. Mehta is nowhere to be found. So she waits.
An hour goes by and then another, until finally Koly decides to ask around.
She comes across the rickshaw driver, who tells her that Mrs. Mehta boarded the train to Delhi right after he dropped them off at the temple.
With this, Koly realizes she's been ditched.
Step-by-step explanation
Chapter 8
Koly thinks about how foolish she's been. Mrs. Mehta didn't want anything to do with her, so of course it was only a matter of time before she got rid of the extra mouth to feed.
The rickshaw boy is named Raji and tells her that many people dump their widows in the city. Nice. Most of them end up chanting prayers in the temples all day, and the monks give them a little bit of food so they don't starve.
Koly wanders the streets looking for a place to stay.
Soon she figures out that she doesn't have enough money to pay for room and board, so she finds a house where she can stay for free—on the porch.
She heads to the government office to see about her widow's pension, but can't get it without an address. Guess what else she can't get? An address without her money. Let the good times roll.
Koly figures she'll have a life of chanting in the temple.
This doesn't exactly excite her, though, so she decides to head to the train station and look out for Mrs. Mehta. She knows her mother-in-law isn't coming back, but she wants to go just in case.
At the station, she sees Raji and asks him about what she should do. He tells her that he'll take her to a woman later in the day who can help, but Koly's not sure she believes him.
He also tells her to be careful—there are lots of dangerous people in the city.
Later, as Koly's waiting for Raji to return, a man comes up to her and offers to give her a pretty sari if she comes with him. Wink, wink, gross, gross.
Koly remembers what Raji said and tries to get away from the man, but he grabs her arm. She bites down on him as hard and he can, and he slaps her before running away.
When Raji finally returns at the end of the day, Koly is relieved to see him.
He takes her to meet a woman named Maa Kamala, who lets widows live with her.
She's a plump woman with a round waist and an even bigger heart.
She introduces herself to Koly and tells her that she can get a job in the bazaar. It's tough work, but someone has to do it.
Koly is so excited that she hugs Maa Kamala.
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