Adeena’s Career: An Irony
Although Adeena is pursuing a pharmacy, which is a prestigious course, her dream is to own and run a café. Lila expounds, “She (Adeena) worked there part-time to help pay for pharmacy school—which she’d put on hold temporarily—but was already threatening to drop out and follow her dream of opening her own café.” Owning a café would not be as high status as being a pharmacist. Her family would be disappointed that she quit her pharmacy education to run a café. Adeena's threats mean she is doing the course because it is what her family desires. Her true passion is owning a café, even though it is not esteemed.
Lila’s Cries
After Derek's collapse, Lila becomes guilty. She speculates that their ingredients may have contributed to Derek's demise. She wonders, "What if Derek had an allergy we didn't know about, or his medication caused a weird reaction to one of our ingredients? We knew he was diabetic, but he was always eating sweets." Lila's worries are unfounded because it is Derek's responsibility to know his allergy. Lila and her aunts would not know how the ingredients they use in their recipes would affect the different customers they serve there. Furthermore, Derek engages in the ironic behavior of consuming sweets when he knows they are not good for a diabetic like him.
"Telling it like it is."
Derek believes that he is a straight-talking guy whose views are accurate. However, Lila observes, “Derek was the kind of guy who prided himself on "telling it like it is." In his mind, that meant calling people out over every imagined slight." Derek is hypercritical. He aims to find faults in others and the meals he consumes at the café. He likes being impressed, but he does not impress other people. He would not need to imagine things if he were an unqualified straight talker.
