Half Girlfriend

‘It’s just a way they express love. We know, and they know, we
don’t have power. But we help keep the community together. You
shouldn’t shrug it off’
‘Anyway, I arrive in three weeks. I need to find something to do
there.’
‘You can help with the school.’
‘You are running it well.’
‘For how long? Plus, there are so many issues I can’t solve at this
age. Should I focus on the teaching or repair the roof? From teachers
on one side to labourers on the other, everyone eats my head.’
I laughed.
‘I’ll take care of the roof and any upkeep issues. You run the
school.’
‘Really?’
‘Yes, Ma.’
‘How much would it have paid you? The job you left?’
‘Let it be, Ma. How does it matter now?’
‘Tell me.’
‘Fifty thousand.’
‘A year?’
‘A month.’
My mother gasped so loudly my eardrum hurt.
‘You really refused that job to come and help in a village school?’
‘Yes, Ma. I told you. I’m booking a ticket on the Magadh Express.
See you in three weeks.’
‘I know what made you do this.’
My heart stopped.
‘What?’
‘Your royal blood. You are different. You deserve to be a prince.’
‘Prince has to go. Doesn’t have balance in his prepaid phone.’
My mother laughed as I hung up. Most Indian mothers would slap
a child if he left a high-paying job like that. My mother wouldn’t. She
knew life involved things greater than money. She had seen the lavish